Department of Energy Battery Charger Regulation
What you need to know about new charger performance requirements
As per new U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) regulations, battery chargers that are manufactured on or after June 13th, 2018 will be required to meet certain efficiency levels when tested in accordance with 10 CFR Appendix Y to Subpart B of Part 430 test procedure. The battery charger will also have to be registered with the DoE via the DoE CCMS database system. The DoE released the regulation to ensure that all chargers meet energy efficiency minimum performance requirements during all potential charging/operational modes.
The DoE has created a new metric for establishing the efficiency of battery chargers, the Unit Energy Consumption or UEC. The UEC will be used to evaluate “wasted” energy during a charger’s operational modes, with limits on the amount of allowable energy waste. Wasted energy is defined as energy that is drawn from the power source, but lost or unused during a chargers operation.
Why this is important for you:
In order to prevent your charger from becoming ineligible for sale in the United States’ market, manufacturers will be required to undergo MANDATORY testing to verify their charger’s performance. Regardless of manufacturing location, whether in the United States or abroad, all chargers entering the United States market after June 13, 2018 must be tested to comply with the new DoE regulation.
The chargers falling under the DoE regulation will be subjected to energy measurements in all modes of the charger’s operation and standby. This means your charger must perform adequately during charging, maintenance, standby, and OFF modes in order to meet the requirements. Examples of impacted products include, but are certainly not limited to:
- Laptop chargers
- electric toothbrushes
- cell phones
- power banks
- Nearly any rechargeable electronic device that is not FDA-approved for medical applications.
How MET can help:
MET Labs is a leader in evaluating electrical/electronic products for energy efficiency, and is one of just a handful of labs that tests for ENERGY STAR, NRCan, CEC and CE Marking. We provide single-source testing for CEC, DoE, NRCan battery charger certification as well as battery testing & certification for all battery chemistry types.
MET tests and certifies products to energy efficiency requirements for the EPA’s ENERGY STAR® program, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), California Energy Commission (CEC), EU CE Marking, and Department of Energy (DOE). MET Labs has a dedicated Battery Testing Lab, with multiple state-of-the-art battery analyzers, to provide the highest level of accuracy and seasoned battery testing engineers.
Have a charger that needs to be certified? Contact us for assistance or Request a Quote.