The purpose of this document is to provide procedures and guidelines to carry out acceptance tests for solar thermal power plants, of any concentration technology, with the uncertainty level given in ISO/IEC Guide 98-3.

This document establishes the measurements, instrumentation and techniques required for determining the following performance parameters for a given period:
• available solar radiation energy,
• plant electricity consumptions,
• net electricity generation,
• non-solar energy,
• net plant efficiency.

Other parameters that characterize the solar thermal power plant system features are not dealt with in this document but are the subject of other complementary standards.

This document specifies the characteristics of a calculation tool that serves as a reference for expected electricity production during the test period and under the real-time solar irradiance and other meteorological data.

This document is applicable to solar thermal power plants of any size using any concentration technology, where the sun is the main source of energy, and all elements and systems are operative. Such power plants can optionally have non-solar energy sources, such as natural gas or other renewable energies, and a thermal storage system.

This document is applicable to acceptance testing in such power plants, as well as in any other scenario in which their performance must be known. Acceptance tests serve for the purpose of verification of a contractual performance measure, and for establishing claims in case of nonfulfillment of performance. In this document the owner, builder, financier, and any other entity interested in knowing these features are called "parties involved".