Some of the electronics used in vehicles (ECUs, Gateways, Dashcams etc) may be mounted externally and are exposed to Sunlight. Many of these electronics have plastic housings/enclosures.

Due to exposure to Sunlight and solar radiation, it is anticipated there would be weathering effects and degradation. IEC 60068-2-5 and other standards refer to Xenon arc based testing to verify the effects of UV radiation. Different test procedures/cycles were defined in literature. But, the standards do not specify the test duration or number of cycles to be tested. As a thumb rule, 500 or 1000 hours of testing is being done as per many Plastic materials qualification standards.

I would like to know if there is any correlation between the field load, number of years and the tests? How much duration should I test if my product is expected to work in field for 5 years? Can we deduce the test duration based on region? Europe may receive different levels of sunlight when compared to north america.