Independent testing laboratory UL Solutions has announced it will begin using a new testing protocol for battery energy storage systems in residential settings.
The safety protocol directly addresses fire service organizations’ demand for enhanced evaluations.
The recently published UL 9540B Outline of Investigation for Large-Scale Fire Test for Residential Battery Energy Storage Systems includes a testing protocol with a robust ignition scenario and enhanced acceptance criteria for residential BESS. The latest test method addresses the fire propagation behavior of a BESS if a thermal runaway propagation event leading to a fire were to occur during the system’s lifetime.
The organization previously developed the energy storage industry’s safety benchmarks – UL 9540, the Standard for Energy Storage Systems and Equipment, and UL 9540A, the Standard for Test Method for Evaluating Thermal Runaway Fire Propagation in Battery Energy Storage Systems.
The new UL 9540B is not intended to replace any of the previous standards but rather work together with UL 9540 and UL 9540A. This test sequence can generate large-scale fire data for fire officials to assist them in evaluating residential BESS installations.
“UL Solutions listened to fire service concerns, and together, we developed a test solution that provides an acceptable level of fire safety without introducing unnecessary impediments to the deployment of safer, cost-effective residential battery energy storage systems,” said Robert Marshall, deputy chief of San Mateo Consolidated Fire Protection District, in a statement.
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