diy solar

diy solar

EG4 LifePower4 no UL Label - Failed Inspection

Glad to hear you got everything sorted out and can finally enjoy the system.

Where do you think you would be if you didn't post on the forum about your issues?
 
42OhmsPA said:
Glad to hear you got everything sorted out and can finally enjoy the system.

Where do you think you would be if you didn't post on the forum about your issues?
Click to expand...

I'm glad he got it sorted out for sure.

I sent sales at SS an email yesterday with no response....
 
Axotopia said:
Update:

The Electrical Inspector just inspected and approved the batteries 30mins ago.

Signature Solar (SS) had been exceptionally supportive and responsive throughout the process of exchanging the LifePower4s with units that has UL listing factory printed on the chassis. Have to thank the entire team at SS for pulling thru for me, which I was not expecting; even the Electrical Inspector today commented he was impressed.

SS's communication was very expeditious once I got on the radar. The turn around once SS received my RMA units was also quick. The reason it took a while was that there were multiple unforeseen delays. The RMA freight back to SS was during the X'Mas-NY holiday season, and SS replacement unit freight to me was hit by winter weather delays. Also had some personal obligations that delayed my Electrical Inspection.

20/20 hindsight, if you are having your solar install inspected by local AHJ, and anticipate needing UL labels on components, be it batteries or inverters, it is best to correspond with SS's Sales team to verify what you absolutely need before placing an order. Don't rely on the literature downloads as I have learned, there may be multiple versions of the same product that could get shipped. This probably is true for other companies as well.

The original LifePower4 units I received worked really well and all cells were all well balanced. It was definitely a hassle having to disassemble the batteries from the racks, packing them safely onto pallets, and living without batteries for 6 weeks. Hard to anticipate for first-timer DIY and nuances of different Electrical Inspectors, but hopefully wiser going forward.

Lastly, I would like to express my deep gratitude to everyone at Signature Solar for helping out.
Click to expand...
Yaay! Congrats! Thank you so much for your update @Axotopia ! And you are so incredibly welcome! This feedback makes me, and I know the rest of SS, but mostly me, extremely proud 👏 🥳🎉 We're here, so don't hesitate to reach out with any future questions or concerns!
 
Whelp... I am in Washington State. The inspector has rejected the UL paperwork I have from Signature Solar and is insisting that the batteries must have a UL sticker on them. I contacted Signature Solar and was told to contact EG4. Waited an hour and fifteen minutes on hold only to have EG4 dump me to voicemail.

So... has anyone been able to secure UL stickers from EG4? (I have 16 LifePower4 48v batteries and 2 LL 48V batteries so this is a big deal for me.)
 
Matt_West said:
Whelp... I am in Washington State. The inspector has rejected the UL paperwork I have from Signature Solar and is insisting that the batteries must have a UL sticker on them. I contacted Signature Solar and was told to contact EG4. Waited an hour and fifteen minutes on hold only to have EG4 dump me to voicemail.

So... has anyone been able to secure UL stickers from EG4? (I have 16 LifePower4 48v batteries and 2 LL 48V batteries so this is a big deal for me.)
Click to expand...
You can’t just slap stickers on it yourself.
 
Matt_West said:
Whelp... I am in Washington State. The inspector has rejected the UL paperwork I have from Signature Solar and is insisting that the batteries must have a UL sticker on them. I contacted Signature Solar and was told to contact EG4. Waited an hour and fifteen minutes on hold only to have EG4 dump me to voicemail.

So... has anyone been able to secure UL stickers from EG4? (I have 16 LifePower4 48v batteries and 2 LL 48V batteries so this is a big deal for me.)
Click to expand...
Wow
2 months after the OP and the same thing!?!?
That freight fee for a literal ton of batteries is gonna look peachy. I hope you receive amicable resolution
 
The crux of the question is this:
If the signature solar batteries are ETL listed to UL standards, but not UL listed to UL standards, does it matter?

What I am gathering from these discussions is that technically, an ETL listing is fine, it means the battery is safe.
However many jurisdictions are adopting the attitude that with a battery they won't accept the ETL listing, even though they accept that for almost any other product as qualifying as UL certified.

The reason for this is experience with batteries that have thermal runaway, I am guessing. In other words the NMC chemistry lithium batteries have resulted in over regulation where it applies to the newer, safer Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries. However, I have a copy of the thermal runaway test -- in my case it is for the EG4 Powerpro battery --- and it is quite thorough, probably as thorough as the thermal runaway test carried out by the actual Underwriters Laboratory.

Someone needs to do a court challenge that will establish a legal precedent, so that homeowners can rely on the ETL listing for installation of their systems and not have to ask for special exceptions from their local AHJs to use it for battery installs.
 
rmassuser said:
The crux of the question is this:
If the signature solar batteries are ETL listed to UL standards, but not UL listed to UL standards, does it matter?
Click to expand...
That's not what's going on here. For some unknown reason, SS stocks two versions of their batteries, one with UL mark on the chassis and one without. And they don't bother to keep it straight before mailing out 1/2-1 ton pallets of stuff to their customers.
rmassuser said:
What I am gathering from these discussions is that technically, an ETL listing is fine, it means the battery is safe.
However many jurisdictions are adopting the attitude that with a battery they won't accept the ETL listing, even though they accept that for almost any other product as qualifying as UL certified.

The reason for this is experience with batteries that have thermal runaway, I am guessing. In other words the NMC chemistry lithium batteries have resulted in over regulation where it applies to the newer, safer Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries. However, I have a copy of the thermal runaway test -- in my case it is for the EG4 Powerpro battery --- and it is quite thorough, probably as thorough as the thermal runaway test carried out by the actual Underwriters Laboratory.

Someone needs to do a court challenge that will establish a legal precedent, so that homeowners can rely on the ETL listing for installation of their systems and not have to ask for special exceptions from their local AHJs to use it for battery installs.
Click to expand...

Personally I'm going to need more authoritative evidence that major AHJs have rejected ETL certification.
 
As I have said before, Christmas tree lights have rather a rather nice 3D UL type stickers so just buy some of those and peel the sticker off and put it on your battery 😀
 
rmassuser said:
The crux of the question is this:
If the signature solar batteries are ETL listed to UL standards, but not UL listed to UL standards, does it matter?

What I am gathering from these discussions is that technically, an ETL listing is fine, it means the battery is safe.
However many jurisdictions are adopting the attitude that with a battery they won't accept the ETL listing, even though they accept that for almost any other product as qualifying as UL certified.

The reason for this is experience with batteries that have thermal runaway, I am guessing. In other words the NMC chemistry lithium batteries have resulted in over regulation where it applies to the newer, safer Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries. However, I have a copy of the thermal runaway test -- in my case it is for the EG4 Powerpro battery --- and it is quite thorough, probably as thorough as the thermal runaway test carried out by the actual Underwriters Laboratory.

Someone needs to do a court challenge that will establish a legal precedent, so that homeowners can rely on the ETL listing for installation of their systems and not have to ask for special exceptions from their local AHJs to use it for battery installs.
Click to expand...
I have been directly involved in the UL certification process with UL staff on my company's site.....not impressed!
 
zanydroid said:
That's not what's going on here. For some unknown reason, SS stocks two versions of their batteries, one with UL mark on the chassis and one without. And they don't bother to keep it straight before mailing out 1/2-1 ton pallets of stuff to their customers.
Click to expand...
Does anyone have a photo of the UL sticker on an EG4 Lifepower4 48v 100ah battery. I have been up all night looking and can't find a photo of the UL label on the internet.

Thanks,
Matt
 
Firstrapid said:
Why not.... The paper work is there to back it up. Sounds like a "woke" bunch of inspectors and they need a wake up call!
Click to expand...
It’s the UL policy on how their trademarked/protected stickers can be applied. Either at manufacturer or at approved facility.

If you Google for retroactive listing mark for other UL9540 products it’s not just a problem of EG4, there are manufacturers of batteries and cabinets that explicitly say buying pre-UL finalization copies even with identical hardware does not retroactively make those old copies compliant
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
EG4 UL Listings?
Replies
1
Views
326
AZ Solar Junkie
A
1
Anyone Pass inspection with home built EVE 280AH batteries and JK200ABMS on shelf next to Sol-Ark inverter?
Replies
8
Views
220
G00SE
G00SE
E
Passing inspection with mix-and-match components
Replies
8
Views
389
wheisenburg
wheisenburg
S
EG4 48v Lifepower4 to Venus OS using RS485
Replies
1
Views
135
solarDavesolar
S
M
Still dealing with nightmare inspection
Replies
4
Views
354
DIYrich
D
Back
Top