Battery System Guidance Framework for England

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daza asked Apr 15, '24

Battery System Guidance Framework for England

Hi everyone not sure if you are aware but some guidance has just been published in the UK about battery locations, while the headlines are mainly around loft installs it goes wider to things such as cell size, tools required in order to detach DC cables ventilation of battery/batteries mono systems, Bartery Monitoring and Management Systems (BMMS) like Victron, it’s more geared to the batteries being a second source of an original fire.

Those of you designing systems now may want to use or design your systems to incorporate as much as you can this paper is only guidance but the paper has big players in the electrical and battery industry that had input into producing this doc so it has weight and you can bet your last pound this is what insurance companies would be using to not pay for anything. Hope this helps you guys and girls out. It’s free to download those of you that want to digest it. Not sure if the devolved governments will take this on but looks like it could be happening.

Here is an overview of the doc

**What is PAS 63100:2024 – Protection against fire of battery energy storage systemsabout?**

Electrical battery energy storage systems (BESS) are a key part of domestic renewable energy systems and it’s expected there will be a sharp rise in the number of systems being installed in homes.

To help installers manage the fire related hazards associated with BESS, PAS 63100:2024 covers requirements for fire-safe installations.

**Who is PAS 63100:2024 – Protection against fire of battery energy storage systems for?**

Suitably competent designers and installers of BESS that forms part of electrical installations; for dwellings and similar simple electrical installations;
manufacturers of products forming part of the installed BESS; and
bodies providing independent certification of products, design and installation of BESS.

**What does PAS 63100:2024 - Protection against fire of battery energy storage systemscover?**

PAS 63100:2024 specifies requirements for fire safety in the installation of small-scale electrical battery energy storage systems (BESS) in domestic dwellings using stationary secondary batteries as the medium for energy storage.

PAS 63100:2024 defines fire safety requirements for the installation of BESS components including:

physical requirements for battery units;
battery management;
power conversion equipment (PCE); and
fault management and fail-to-safe operation of all control and monitoring functions.

PAS 63100:2024 also covers installation requirements for:

installation location in respect of safety and external influences that affect fire safety; and
protection against fire.

The PAS does not cover:

battery systems with nominal voltages on the AC and/or DC side exceeding low voltage as defined in BS 7671;
secondary batteries with total capacity not exceeding 150 Wh incorporated into products or systems that are the subject of harmonized or designated standards (e.g. intruder alarm systems, carbon monoxide alarm systems, fire detection and alarm systems, pluggable uninterruptible power systems, portable appliances, audio/video and information technology equipment);
domestic dwellings exceeding 200 m2 in floor area;
transportation of batteries;
systems incorporating second life batteries;
BESS that use alternative forms of energy storage;
BESS in high-risk residential buildings; and
BESS connected before a distributor’s cut-out or a consumer’s meter (collective PEI).

**Why should you use PAS 63100:2024 - Protection against fire of battery energy storage systems?**

The provisions in PAS 63100:2024 are intended to reduce the risk of batteries in dwellings becoming a source of ignition, and to limit the impact of a battery fire if one occurs. It helps installers manage the fire safety related hazards associated with electrical energy (battery) storage systems in homes in the UK.
It helps installers develop their expertise and commitment to safety. This can enhance the installers’ reputation in the eyes of customers.
A sharp rise is expected in the number of systems being installed. PAS 63100:2024 can help set a robust fire safety benchmark for small scale battery storage installations, increasing user confidence that systems will be safe and will function reliably, effectively and efficiently.
Environmental protection. PAS 63100:2024can helping maximize the effectiveness of renewable energy technologies such as solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. This in turn contributes to climate mitigation.
New markets. By supplying a nationally agreed specification for fire safety in the installation of BESS in domestic dwellings, PAS 63100:2024 can help installers enter new markets.
Risk mitigation. It can help strengthen risk management in association with the use of electrical battery energy storage systems in homes.

Product Details

Descriptors

Electrical installations

Domestic electrical installations

Fire safety

Storage batteries

Dwellings

Specifications

View moreHide

ICS Codes

13.220.01 Protection against fire in general

29.020 Electrical engineering in general

91.140.50 Electricity supply systems

Committee

ZZ/3

International relationships

—

ISBN

978 0 539 28917 6

Publisher

BSI

https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/electrical-installations-protection-against-fire-of-battery-energy-storage-systems-for-use-in-dwellings-specification/standard

The orgs, companies and government bodies involved in the steering Group

uk battery storage installation guidance

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Answer 1 · 2024-04-15T20:16:19Z

nickdb answered · Apr 15 at 08:16 PM

Sounds like more waffle from bureaucrats that have no clue about what they are regulating. Job creation and pushing more costs onto the consumer.

Tesla shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence as fire-prevention. Just saying..

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Answer 2 · 2024-04-15T20:34:34Z

daza answered · Apr 15 at 08:34 PM

@nickdb it always starts this way though but you got MCS there too and yes the check sheet is long!

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Answer 3 · 2024-04-15T21:32:17Z

Yeah I've been following this story over the last couple of weeks since the guidance was published. I think I first saw it on eFixx YT channel and then Gary Does Solar did a video and just tonight Artisan Electrics did one. The Artisan story is a bit click-baitey for the title but actually it's a very good piece by Jordan and is well explained and considered.

The main driver behind these new guidelines is to protect fire fighters from having heavy, lithium batteries falling through ceilings when they are in a property trying to put a fire out. There are already provisions in BS7671 to ensure that wiring is safe from premature collapse by for example installing fire proof metal cable clips on T&E cables every so often. That said, there are a number of other scenarios where it would certainly be preferable if batteries were not inside a property anywhere, even with "safe" chemistries like LiFePo4. So I think on the whole this is a good move even though it will inconvenience some people.

Completely coincidentally, I have recently moved my own installation from under our oak staircase to our detached garage. We couldn't install it in the garage originally as we had a major refurbishment underway and the garage was not frost or even weather proof. The refurb is far enough along now that I could safely move the equipment out of the house and it seems like this was very well timed!

I still have a bit of tidying of cables to do and I need to buy some suitable sized trunking to complete that, but my installation is now moved and fully operational. I used Hardie tile backer board behind all the gear this time rather than plywood and I have to say it's a really nice surface to mount stuff to. Feels very solid even with the 30Kg inverter. Manageable to work with too since you can buy it in 1200x800mm pieces which join together to form 1200x2400. I'm going to build a cupboard around the equipment to protect it further. I even left a space for another charge controller as I want to install a few more PV panels to act as my winter array (vertically mounted on the south wall). And there is space for another battery module.

Answer 4 · 2024-04-16T04:20:25Z

daza answered · Apr 16 at 04:20 AM

@Craig Chamberlain yeah I’ve been following it all over YouTube loads of people are talking about it, good to see your ahead of the curve, there is a lot there and some of it no matter how hard you are trying would be unachievable.

Mine is the air vent 1 meter from a door or window, well it’s a meter away from the houses door and windows but not the ones in the garage itself where the batteries are. Have you seen them talking about pinch pull DC cable like the pylontech style having to be either key or tool for disconnecting protect from DC arching if disconnected under load does a secure garage or outside shed constitute needing a key tool to access I would say yes. But i think this battery space is about to get boged down we know what MCS are like.

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nickdb ♦♦ commented · Apr 16 at 05:50 AM

I guess in urban environments where systems are installed inside the home, and particularly above ground, they may have a point, but to me, batteries aren't the issue.

I can't find data that shows what the incidence of commercial battery fires are, especially ones professionally installed. I suspect it is insignificant.

Where I have had "near misses", has actually been the devices themselves, poor quality components like fuse holders, and lastly, wiring/cabling faults.

imo It is better when a global standards body try set standards rather than local regulators.

Fortunately, here, most if not all, buildings are all cement and systems on the ground, often in the garage or an external room, so fire is easier to contain.

That said, on my own, we have fitted smoke detectors (not even a local legal requirement) and lithium friendly fire extinguishers. Better safe than sorry.

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kevgermany ♦♦ nickdb ♦♦ commented · Apr 16 at 06:33 AM

UK has many houses with wooden floors and a cellar/significant air gap under. Loft installations would be quite nasty if the supports burned through. That said, those houses will also have a heavy cold water tank in the loft as well.

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daza kevgermany ♦♦ commented · Apr 16 at 10:54 AM

Yeah think there thinking is the heavy object will fall into the fire and make the fire rage once the battery has been ignited by the fire, if the water tank fall yes definitely has potential to kill someone but the water isn’t going to feed the fire.

but they do talk a lot about weight although water storage in the loft is a heavy beast all in it’s own right 1litter of water equal to one kilogram and your going to have 200 to 500 litter tanks in the loft only real problem with weight is loading up the roof space with a tank in there already and then batteries on top But for me just too much wood in the loft I don’t like the idea Of that and the cold and heat that the battery is exposed to.

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Craig Chamberlain kevgermany ♦♦ commented · Apr 16 at 11:05 AM

Yeah, the difference is that the water tank will help the fire fighters because mostly they are made of plastic and will melt through and release their water rather than crash through the ceiling. Watch the movie "The Towering Inferno" for a good example! :)

I think the bigger issue though is just the presence of the batteries in the dwelling makes it a "hazmat" issue for the fire fighters. They would prefer to be spraying water from a safe distance onto externally mounted batteries than trying to spray it onto batteries in a loft. Also, as Artisan Electric's video shows, many loft battery installations just have batteries lying on the floor and not bolted to a gable block wall or anything, so they are at risk of premature collapse and rupture if the fire weakens the ceiling they are resting on.

If you look at the joist sizes in a typical loft floor (aka the floor below's ceiling) they are something like 4x2 or maybe even lighter, and are not intended to have any significant load on them. Folks already put hundreds of Kg of "stuff" in their lofts and wonder why the ceiling plasterboard starts cracking at the joints, and then they happily put 250Kg of batteries up there too. If there is a water tank up there then it should be sitting on a reinforced structure but the batteries will just be sitting on the chipboard on top of 4x2 joists at 400-600mm centres.

I'm also very wary of regulator's over reaching but I think leaving it as it stands is equally worrying. Regulation is inevitable so let's hope we get sensible, practical regulation and not just lots of hand wringing over what could in theory happen.

ps. Seeing Tesla on the list of advocates of this guidance makes me wonder if that'a because they don't (to my knowledge anyway) have any battery products that can't be housed outside. And given that they historically used NMC chemistry in their products, I don't expect they'll want to support different handling of LFP battery products, at least until they fully switch over to LFP for future products. I've heard that PW3 uses LFP but it wasn't entirely 100% clear last time I checked.

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daza Craig Chamberlain commented · Apr 16 at 07:34 PM

@Craig Chamberlain no Tesla have had the only real outside environment battery as it’s heated and cooled unlike a lot of them I had a hard look until I found victron setup Powerwall 3 just announced has LFP but that one isn’t heated so not sure what that’s all about.

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Craig Chamberlain commented · Apr 16 at 11:28 AM

I'm not too concerned about the more minor details of the guidance. For example, my batteries in the photo above are next to a doorway, but there is also an alternate exit route through the main 3m x 3m garage door 10m behind me. The is an electric door which could be disabled in a fire but has a manual winding handle next to it too. I'll also be boxing the batteries in with a plasterboard stud wall and door so will have some amount of fire protection anyway.

Also, for the battery module connectors, I think that can easily be addressed by housing the batteries in a locked plant room/cupboard or inside a lockable server rack. I don't think the connectors themselves will necessarily need to require a tool to detach.

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ejrossouw Craig Chamberlain commented · Apr 16 at 02:32 PM

What is spectacularly overlooked is the fact, that as below, is the typical scenarion of tiny UK boxes (now official that it is even worse than places like Japan). No heat pumps possible here and this also applies to many semi detached dwellings and others. CU under the stairs and this theme worryingly continues with the still incredibly small new builds on many large estates. The recommendations are spectacularly out of touch with the realty of how unsuitable so much of the UK housing stock is for any form of renewable energy products and why there are so many "questionable" installations out there. I have always advised my customer against loft installations as I would not support it for various safety reasons. Until the industry wakes up and actually starts building housing fit for this purpose, it will only ever be recommendations or the drive for carbon reduction will stop in its tracks. Maybe there is some consolation in microinverters and V2G allowing you to park your "batteries" on the pavement hopefully not running the fireman over in the process and that is only if there is any parking available.

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Craig Chamberlain ejrossouw commented · Apr 16 at 03:29 PM

Agreed.

I wonder though, if a loft installation could potentially be made safe enough if the equipment was mounted to a suitably fire resistant part of the building fabric (eg. gable brick or block wall) and if linked smoke detectors were installed. Maybe only LFP batteries would be permitted, and maybe only to a certain max weight. They could even have some sort of premature collapse "tethers" to ensure the batteries can't drop through unless the entire roof structure has collapsed. There could be mandatory automatic safety features for use in such locations such as intumescent seals or enclosures and rapid DC disconnects. Maybe they also need inspection every 2 years instead of 5 or 10. Lots of things could be done to make this safe(r).

We already see examples of gas explosions causing catastrophic damage to rows of terraced houses but nobody has banned having gas supplies to houses.

As for heat pumps, I wonder how long before we see "in roof" heat pumps to be used on terraced houses where the roof is the only viable location.

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ejrossouw Craig Chamberlain commented · Apr 16 at 05:39 PM

... that will take some doing getting the heatpump up the loft ladder through the small hatch or even craning it in on a new build. There are indeed AC coupled wall mounted storage solutions, which I agree can be mounted on the firewall in the loft if you can actually get it to fit through the hatch ;) and not seriously injure yourself trying. There are some contradictions in keeping it well ventilated as it will also fuel a LifePO4 fire so maybe time for a serious rethink in the sense of containment units, a reinforced wall mounted support for loft batteries or simply ensuring the roof structure is re-treated with a fire retardent as a min requirement for such installs in these older properties? That being said, battery manufacturers invest a lot of time in ensuring storage is becoming safer and the likely cause of fires will only be the result of a bad install or another electrical fault which is apparently still the biggest cause of house fires. PS - Nice to see your batteries are now keeing their cool in the new location ;)

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daza ejrossouw commented · Apr 16 at 07:28 PM

Very true with the ventilation fuelling the fire but I don’t know if there thinking was to allow smoke to move both are equally as bad life wise.

I would like to think they went with the fire brigade but your guess is as good as mine.

very true on the housing stock, but saying that the old stock is probably better as it’s mostly brick as opposed to a lot of the new builds that are just brick faced built with timber frame.

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