IEC 62109 is the safety standard for power conversion equipment in photovoltaic systems — the inverter and its electronics — covering protection against electric shock, energy, fire and mechanical hazards. IEC 62116 is the test procedure that proves an inverter disconnects when the grid is lost (anti-islanding). Together they make a PV inverter safe to touch and safe to connect.
IEC 62109-1:2010 Minimum requirements for the design and manufacture of power conversion equipment in PV systems — protection against electric shock, energy, fire, thermal and mechanical hazards. The base that every PV converter must meet.
IEC 62109-2:2011 Inverter-specific safety requirements, used jointly with Part 1. Covers grid-interactive, stand-alone and multi-mode inverters, including those tied to batteries or storage.
IEC 62109-3:2020 Particular requirements for electronic devices integrated with photovoltaic elements — module-level power electronics such as optimisers and microinverters.
IEC 62116:2014 A test method, not a product standard. It proves that a utility-interconnected inverter detects loss of the grid and disconnects, preventing a dangerous island.
(PCE) A photovoltaic array produces direct current; the inverter turns it into grid-quality alternating current. That box sits between high-voltage DC strings and the public network, so it must be safe to touch and safe to connect. Two IEC documents cover those two duties. IEC 62109 is the product-safety standard for the inverter and its electronics. IEC 62116 is the test that proves the inverter behaves correctly when the grid disappears.
IEC 62109 treats the inverter as power conversion equipment and sets the floor for protection against electric shock, stored energy, fire, thermal and mechanical hazards. It comes in parts that are used together: 62109-1 carries the general requirements, 62109-2 adds the specifics for inverters — grid-interactive, stand-alone or multi-mode, including those tied to batteries — and 62109-3 addresses electronics built into the modules themselves, such as optimisers and microinverters. A certificate to Part 2 only counts alongside Part 1; they are never split.
The dangerous failure mode of a grid-tied inverter is an island: it keeps energising a dead section of network after the utility supply is lost, endangering maintenance crews and risking damage on reconnection. IEC 62116 is the controlled test that removes the grid and confirms the inverter detects the loss and trips within the required time. Passing it is a precondition for connection in most markets, working alongside the national grid code that fixes the voltage and frequency decoupling thresholds.
PV inverter standards are one layer of a stack. The modules upstream are qualified by IEC 61215; the completed system is commissioned and tested per IEC 62446; the DC installation follows IEC 60364; and the inverter’s emissions and immunity are governed by IEC 61000 so it neither pollutes the grid nor is disturbed by it.