Draft Details

1.1 General 

This Document provides a guideline to support the installation and energy performance commissioning of residential behind-the-meter battery energy storage systems (BESS). It does not include fire and safety requirements covered under the Canadian Electrical Code (CE Code) Parts I and II as well as the National Building Code of Canada (NBC).

This Document is intended to support interested parties, including but limited to, system designers, installers, inspectors, and homeowners, by providing guidance on the proper installation of BESS systems in residential behind-the-meter installations.

This Document is intended to reference the different requirements across the Canadian provinces and territories for residential behind-the-meter BESS system installations and provide guidance for specifications that are not covered under these requirements.

1.2 Inclusions

This Document applies to stationary BESS systems in residential applications, covering both AC and DC-coupled systems with stand-alone or hybrid configurations using lithium-ion and other commonly used battery chemistries.

This Document is intended to be used for the following:

a) Pre-installation procedures:

   i. Site assessment;

   ii. System sizing and selection, with considerations for on-site photovoltaic (PV) installations; and

   iii. Permits and regulations checklist;

b) Installation procedures:

i. Electrical installation;

ii. Mechanical installation; and

iii. Equipment listing;

c) Commissioning procedures:

i. Energy performance pre-commissioning checks and initial checks;

ii. Performance evaluation testing; and

iii. Documentation and reporting.

d) Post-installation procedures:

i. Hand-over and user training;

ii. Operating procedures;

iii. Maintenance and inspection;

iv. Repair and troubleshooting; and

v. Decommissioning.

1.3 Exclusions

This Document does not requirements for the following:

a)    Electrical and fire safety requirements. This Document will cross-reference the applicable standards and codes that are required in the different Canadian jurisdictions;

b)   Construction and marking requirements;

c)    Commercial, institutional, or industrial installations;

d)   Utility-scale or front-of-the-meter installations;

e)    Mobile applications; and

f)    Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) integrations.

1.4 Terminology 

In this Document, “shall” is used to express a requirement, i.e., a provision that the user is obliged to satisfy in order to comply with the standard; “should” is used to express a recommendation or that which is advised but not required; and “may” is used to express an option or that which is permissible within the limits of the Standard.

Notes accompanying clauses do not include requirements or alternative requirements; the purpose of a note accompanying a clause is to separate from the text explanatory or informative material.

Notes to tables and figures are considered part of the table or figure and may be written as requirements.

Annexes are designated normative (mandatory) or informative (non-mandatory) to define their application.

1.5 Units of measure

The values given in SI units are the units of record for the purposes of this Document. The values given in parentheses are for information and comparison only.