UL White paper , UPS vs ESS Status of North American regulations and standards for UPS and ESS
UL White paper , UPS vs ESS Status of North American regulations and standards for UPS and ESS,
UPS and ESS,
▍What is cTUVus & ETL CERTIFICATION?
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), affiliated to US DOL (Department of Labor), demands that all products to be used in workplace must be tested and certificated by NRTL before being sold in market. Applicable testing standards include American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards; American Society for Testing Material (ASTM) standards, Underwriter Laboratory (UL) standards, and factory mutual-recognition organization standards.
▍OSHA, NRTL, cTUVus, ETL and UL terms definition and relationship
OSHA: Abbreviation of Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It is an affiliation of US DOL (Department of Labor).
NRTL： Abbreviation of Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory. It is in charge of lab accreditation. Up to now, there are 18 third-party testing institutions approved by NRTL, including TUV, ITS, MET and so forth.
cTUVus： Certification mark of TUVRh in North America.
ETL： Abbreviation of American Electrical Testing Laboratory. It was established in 1896 by Albert Einstein, the American inventor.
UL： Abbreviation of Underwriter Laboratories Inc.
▍Difference between cTUVus, ETL & UL
| Item | UL | cTUVus | ETL |
| Applied standard |
Same |
||
| Institution qualified for certificate receipt |
NRTL (Nationally approved laboratory) |
||
| Applied market |
North America (US and Canada) |
||
| Testing and certification institution | Underwriter Laboratory (China) Inc performs testing and issue project conclusion letter | MCM performs testing and TUV issues certificate | MCM performs testing and TUV issues certificate |
| Lead time | 5-12W | 2-3W | 2-3W |
| Application cost | Highest in peer | About 50~60% of UL cost | About 60~70% of UL cost |
| Advantage | An American local institution with good recognition in US and Canada | An International institution owns authority and offers reasonable price, also be recognized by North America | An American institution with good recognition in North America |
| Disadvantage |
|
Less brand recognition than that of UL | Less recognition than that of UL in certification of product component |
▍Why MCM?
● Soft Support from qualification and technology: As the witness testing lab of TUVRH and ITS in North American Certification, MCM is able to perform all types of testing and provide better service by exchanging technology face to face.
● Hard support from technology: MCM is equipped with all testing equipment for batteries of big-sized, small-sized and precision projects (i.e. electric mobile car, storage energy, and electronic digital products), able to provide overall battery testing and certification services in North America, covering standards UL2580, UL1973, UL2271, UL1642, UL2054 and so forth.
Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) technologies have been used in various applications for many years to support continued operation of key loads during interruptions of power from the grid. These systems have been used in many different locations to provide additional immunity from grid interruptions interfering with the operation of defined loads. UPS systems are often used to protect computers, computer facilities and telecommunication equipment. With the recent evolution of new energy technologies, energy storage systems (ESS) have proliferated rapidly. ESS, particularly those using battery technologies, are typically supplied by renewable sources such as solar or wind power and enable the storage of energy produced by these sources for use at different times.
The current US ANSI standard for UPS is UL 1778, the Standard for Uninterruptible Power Systems. and CSA-C22.2 No. 107.3 for Canada. UL 9540, the Standard for Energy Storage Systems and Equipment, is the American and Canadian national standard for ESS. While both the mature UPS products and the rapidly evolving ESS produced have some commonality in technical solutions, operations and installation, there are important differences. This paper will review the critical differentiations, outline the applicable product safety requirements associated with each and summarize how codes are evolving in addressing both types of installations.
A UPS system is an electrical system designed to provide instantaneous temporary alternating current-based power for critical loads in the event of electric grid failure or other mains power source failure modes. The UPS is sized to provide an instantaneous continuation of a predetermined amount of power for a specific duration. This allows a secondary power source, e.g., a generator, to come online and continue with power backup. The UPS may safely shut down non-essential loads while continuing to provide power to more important equipment loads. UPS systems have been providing this critical support for various applications for many years. A UPS will utilize stored energy from an integrated energy source. This is typically battery bank, supercapacitor or the mechanical movement of a flywheel as an energy source.
A typical UPS using a battery bank for its supply consists of the following main components:
