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Details of Decree 6997 on Mandatory Solar Standards

On 8 October 2020, Decree 6887 was issued, giving mandatory status to national standards related to solar energy and photovoltaic systems. 

The Decree, that could be downloaded at the end of this page, lists the concerned standards issued by the Lebanese Standards Institution (LIBNOR) and designates the Industrial Research Institute (IRI) or any other internationally-accredited laboratory for verification.
 

List of Manatory Standards as per Decree 6997
List of mandatory standards as per Decree 6997 of 2020

 

It is to be noted that LCEC had identified in 2014 and within the MED-DESIRE project (co-financed by the European Union under the ENI CBC MED Programme 2007-2013) a set of solar PV standards adopted on a voluntary basis by LIBNOR since 30 October 2003. These standards were outdated and needed updating. It was also identified that some standards needed to be adopted as technical regulations (as mandatory) "in order to ensure enforcement within the booming market for solar PV in the country", as highlighted within the project deliverables.

In this context, a proposal was prepared within MED-DESIRE and submitted to LIBNOR on 4 February 2015. It included the update of existing standards and the adoption of others. A national committee "NL TC 180 - Solar Energy" was created at LIBNOR on 5 February 2015 including all stakeholders. A large number of these standards was approved by the committee on 16 September 2015, proposed to the board of LIBNOR for official adoption, including a suggestion to transform selected standards to technical regulations. In the meantime, other standards were being discussed within the committee, including an update on the existing mandatory standards for solar water heating technologies.

Decree 6887 is a culmination of efforts in the field of solar standardization and certification aiming at removing technological barriers to solar market development. These efforts included state-of-the-art assessment, capacity building on solar standards and quality supply chain for solar technologies, study visits to solar testing facilities, and feasibility assessment for solar PV testing in Lebanon.