PV1-F / H1Z2Z2-K Solar Photovoltaic Cable
PV1-F/H1Z2Z2-K-1.5-35
Two independent cross-linked walls, tinned Class 5 conductor, and a 25-year outdoor rating that EN 50618 actually tests for.
Solar PV & EV Charging Cable
The DC side of a photovoltaic array is the harshest low-voltage environment in a power plant. Cable lies on a hot roof or in desert gravel where the sheath surface passes 90 °C und
The DC side of a photovoltaic array is the harshest low-voltage environment in a power plant. Cable lies on a hot roof or in desert gravel where the sheath surface passes 90 °C under full sun, it carries current continuously for six hours a day, and it is expected to do that for twenty-five years. EN 50618 and its IEC equivalent IEC 62930 were written for exactly that combination of heat, UV, ozone and DC voltage, and they test for it rather than assume it.
Two constructions carry most of the world's PV wiring. PV1-F is the designation used inside the EN 50618 world for 1.0 kV DC cable; H1Z2Z2-K is the harmonised code for the 1.5 kV DC version that 1500 V arrays now require. Voltcore builds both on the same tinned Class 5 conductor and the same electron-beam cross-linked compound, and holds TÜV Rheinland type approval for the PV cable range. The EV charging side of this subcategory is built to EN 62196-2 and uses the same stranding practice with a TPU outer sheath.
4 constructions in Solar PV & EV Charging Cable
DC 1500 V Solar String Cable
PV-STRING-1500V
String and home-run cable for 1500 V blocks, supplied cut to the length your array layout actually needs.
Type 2 Mode 3 EV Charging Cable (EN 62196-2)
EV-T2-M3-EN62196
A mode 3 charging lead built around the EN 62196-2 interface, in 16 A to 63 A three-phase and single-phase configurations.
EV Charging Cable with Signalling Control Pair
EV-CP-2x0.5
The control pilot and proximity pair carried inside the same sheath, screened so the PWM signal survives next to the phases.
PV1-F or H1Z2Z2-K: which designation does your market use?
Both codes describe a tinned flexible copper conductor with two cross-linked halogen-free walls. The difference is the voltage the construction was type tested at, and the market that writes the code on the drum. PV1-F traces back to the TÜV 2 PfG 1169 specification for 1.0 kV DC. H1Z2Z2-K is the harmonised code created when the industry moved to 1500 V DC arrays and EN 50618 took over.
In practice a European EPC that is stringing a rooftop at 1000 V will write PV1-F on the tender, and a utility-scale EPC at 1500 V will write H1Z2Z2-K. Voltcore prints the code the project needs on the sheath and supplies the matching TÜV licence reference with the quotation, so the inspector can check the mark against the licence before the cable is pulled.
- 1000 V DC projects: order PV1-F
- 1500 V DC projects: order H1Z2Z2-K
- Both share 1.5–35 mm² and tinned Class 5 conductor
- Ask for the licence reference with the quotation, not after shipment
What makes a solar cable last 25 years outdoors?
Four failure modes kill DC cable in the field, and the standard has a test for each: thermal ageing of the compound, UV and ozone attack on the sheath, water ingress at the conductor, and mechanical damage during pulling. EN 50618 answers the first with a 20 000 h endurance test at 120 °C, the second with UV and ozone exposure clauses, and the third with a long-term DC immersion test.
The compound is the part that separates a cable that survives from one that does not. Electron-beam cross-linking turns a thermoplastic into one that will not melt and flow at 250 °C during a short circuit. Adding UV stabiliser to the compound itself, rather than relying on carbon black alone, lets the sheath be made in red or blue as well as black without losing the outdoor rating.
- 120 °C for 20 000 h thermal endurance is the number behind the 25-year claim
- Tinned copper stops galvanic corrosion at a humid junction box
- Two walls, not one: insulation plus sheath, each measured in mm
- Water immersion and UV clauses are separate tests, both required by EN 50618
Type 2 mode 3: what the signalling pair actually does
A mode 3 charging cable does more than deliver power. Two small conductors inside the sheath carry the control pilot and the proximity pilot signals between the vehicle and the charge controller. The control pilot tells the car what current the supply can give; the proximity circuit tells the car how much current the attached cable itself is rated for, through a resistor in the connector.
That resistor is why the cable and the connector must be specified together. A 1.5 kΩ resistor tells the vehicle 13 A, 680 Ω tells it 20 A, 220 Ω tells it 32 A, and 100 Ω tells it 63 A. If the resistor and the conductor cross-section disagree, the vehicle will draw more current than the cable was built to carry, and the cable is the part that heats up.
- Name the rated current first: 16 A, 32 A or 63 A
- Confirm the proximity resistor value matches that current
- State the phase arrangement: single-phase 3 cores or three-phase 5 cores
- Decide the sheath compound: TPU for cold climates, TPE where cost leads
Request pricing across Solar PV & EV Charging Cable
Include cross-section, core count, voltage grade, route length and installation method — those five determine price more than anything else on the page.
- Engineer-reviewed before pricing
- Reference drawings issued with the quotation
- Free sample up to free sample up to 5 m