Questions You Should Ask Your Off Grid Equipment Supplier Before Making A Purchase.

There are a good many good off grid suppliers out there here in Canada, but it appears there are more and more sales people that have got very little to no knowledge about the products they are selling and even less knowledge about electrical safety or what is required for ESA (Electrical Safety Authority) inspections to pass. In order to obtain home or cottage insurance your insurer will ask you for the ESA certificate before providing coverage.

Another factor to take into consideration is the amount of time your provider is spending with you to accurately analyse your electrical energy needs.

Here are a few questions you should always ask your supplier and if you get vague answers it is probably a good idea to not purchase from them. As we all know BBB (Bullshxx Baffels Brains). Here we go:

• Is the proposed equipment you are supplying all certified to Canadian standards?
• Do the charge controllers, if utilised, have arc fault protection?
• Does the equipment include lightning protection for AC and DC?
• Are the batteries supplied suitable and certified for residential use?
• Does the Energy Storage System have all certifications necessary? UL 1973, UL 9540A and also the UL 9540 system certification in conjunction with the inverter equipment being used. Ask for documentaion, don’t settle for a verbal.
• Does your supplier provide engineering support for an ESA Plan Review?
• In case of LIFEPO ESS, do they have a built in BMS? (Battery Management System)
• Before you purchase a LIFEPO ESS that is going to be installed in a dwelling make sure you have the necessary deviation granted by the ESA before you purchase.
• Is the battery ventilation equipment supplied for flooded batteries?
• Are the batteries suitable for prolonged cold storage?
• What is the percentage of self-discharge of the batteries per month?
• Is the mounting gear engineered for wind and snow load in my geographical area?
• If the PV modules will be mounted on a roof of a dwelling, is the necessary rapid shut down included?
• Are the electrical conductors sized and certified according to code?
• Are the line losses calculated and within allowable limits?
• Is over current protection included for all circuits as necessary?
• Am I purchasing a Pure Sine inverter?
• Is this sytem expanadable in the future for increased energy demand?
• What are the warranties for each individual piece of equipment?
• Can you quantify the self-consumption of your equipment?
• Can you supply me with previous customers contact info to verify their overall satisfaction of the equipment you sold to them? (Don’t settle for reviews posted on their website.)
• Does your supplier tell you what is not included in the purchase to complete your project?

If you are not 100% satisfied with the answers, flags should go up and a re-evaluation of the supplier should be considered.