HELP! Canada Inspection Issue

Re: HELP! Canada Inspection Issue

As you are likely aware of, the warranty offered by the vendor does not have anything to do with the product being certified to meet a CSA or UL standard.

Exactly which model of Canadian Solar panel did you purchase?

Canadian Solar has the ETL/UL certification documents avalable on their website here: http://www.canadiansolar.com/front_content.php?idart=27
(find your model, then from the drop down list of certificates pick ETL/UL)

Alternatively, you can search for "Canadian Solar" on the Intertek/ETL directory here:
http://etlwhidirectory.etlsemko.com/WebClients/ITS/DLP/products.nsf/$$Search?OpenForm

http://etlwhidirectory.etlsemko.com//WebClients/ITS/DLP/products.nsf/vwSearch?SearchView&Query=FIELD%20ListHead%20Contains%20Canadian%20Solar%20or%20FIELD%20CatCode%20Contains%20Canadian%20Solar%20or%20FIELD%20Title%20Contains%20Canadian%20Solar%20or%20FIELD%20ProductInformation%20Contains%20Canadian%20Solar&SearchOrder=1&SearchMax=1000&SearchWV=FALSE&SearchThesaurus=FALSE&SearchFuzzy=TRUE

(you'll want the CAN/ULC-ORD-C1703 listing, not the US-only UL-1703)

Hopefully if your model is listed on one of these documents, you can provide it to your inspector and that will be OK. Alternatively, talk to Canadian Solar and see if they can provide documentation that will make your inspector happy.

Re: HELP! Canada Inspection Issue

adam1984 wrote: »

Thanks guys. The inspector i am referring to is electrical. The model is CS6P-215PE, and canadian said it was UL listed and would be fine in canada, however it states that it is Required to have ULc and ETLc. Unsure what the issue is, however ill let you guys know how it turns out. But yes, it could be that UL-1703 is not the same as the UL logo with the c after it. Just wondered if anyone had came across this issue before. I tried researching and talking with both parties. and then i got that link you sent, but this model wasnt on there. It only lists the certifications CS6P-P series, not CS6P-PE. we'll see how this goes. Thanks again

The CS6p-pe certification can be found here:
http://www.canadiansolar.com/en/products/e-modules/e-module-cs6p.html

Page 6 of the pdf file you'll find on that page from ETL indicates that the listing includes model numbers:
"CS6P-xxxyy where "xxx" can be any number 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175, 180, 185, 190, 195, 200, 205, 210, 215, 220, 225, 230 to represent the output power and "yy" can be M or P to represent mono or poly crystalline cells or ME or PE to represent a Mono-crystalline e-module or Poly-crystalline e-module."

Similarly, the listing on the Intertek ETL site indicates:
"Model Nos. CS6P-xxxyy; where xxx can = 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175, 180, 185, 190, 195, 200, 205, 210, 215, 220, 225, 230; yy can = M, P for Mono, Poly Crystalline Cells; ME, PE for Mono-Crystalline e-module, Poly-crystalline e-module. "

While I'm not an electrician, and I've only had one experience dealing with ESA for my own system, this listing seems to suggest you are ok, unless your inspector wants to be really absurd about insisting the listing mark with the little "c" be physically applied by the manufacturer to the product and not just printed on separate paperwork. (Of course my opinion here is worth just about as much as you've paid for it....this really comes down to what the inspector wants to see and what the product manufacturer can provide).

I was researching this model last year before I decided to purchase another product. As I recall, Canadian Solar's "PE" series or "e-module" series are basically just made with a slightly less expensive grade of silicon called "UMG" (upgraded metallurgical grade) as compared to their regular poly-silicon panels. Wikipedia tells me that UMG is 99% pure silicon, compared to the 99.999% pure semiconductor-grade silicon used in microchips and most traditional pv panels.