UL Solutions has announced a new testing protocol that addresses fire organizations’ demands for improved evaluations of battery energy storage systems for residential use.
It recently appeared UL 9540B Survey of research for large-scale fire testing for residential battery energy storage systems (BESS) includes a test protocol with a robust ignition scenario and improved acceptance criteria for BESS in residential environments. The latest test method focuses on the fire propagation behavior of a BESS if a thermal propagation event occurs during the life of the system that leads to an internal fire.
UL already tests the fire safety of energy storage systems, but this is mainly aimed at a larger scale. UL 9540, the Standard for Energy Storage Systems and Equipment, and UL 9540A, the Test Method Standard for Evaluating Thermal Runaway Fire Propagation in Battery Power Storage Systems, were developed to ensure the safety of the propagation behavior of thermal runaway energy storage systems to address and evaluate. . UL 9540B specifically evaluates the fire propagation behavior of residential BESS and works together with UL 9540 and UL 9540A to provide a holistic approach to safety and fire behavior.
UL 9540B testing is not intended to be used in place of UL 9540A fire propagation testing to determine compliance with BESS installation codes and standards such as the IFC and NFPA 855. Instead, this test sequence can generate large-scale fire data that fire officials can use. helping them evaluate residential BESS installations.
“UL Solutions listened to the fire service’s concerns and together we developed a test solution that provides an acceptable level of fire safety without creating unnecessary barriers to the deployment of safer, cost-effective residential energy storage systems,” said Robert Marshall, deputy chief San Mateo Consolidated Fire Protection District.
“At UL Solutions, we want to use our safety science expertise to help our many stakeholders find solutions to the challenges facing the rapidly evolving energy transition landscape,” said Milan Dotlich, vice president and general manager of UL Solutions Energy and Industrial Automation group . “The development of UL 9540B in just a few months demonstrates our commitment to quickly delivering effective safety tools to support the renewable energy transition.”
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