The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) will begin implementing a decision to oblige importers of heaters and solar cells to conduct product tests next month.
Government sources told Daily News Egypt that companies importing solar energy products are obliged to conduct product tests at the General Authority for Standards and Quality and the NREA to verify their quality in exchange for paying the concerned laboratories’ testing fees.
The sources explained that the main objective is to ensure the quality and efficiency of products which are imported and installed in Egypt, and issue a certificate of competence if they meet the specifications. In case the products do not get tested, they will be seized and their circulation will be prohibited. Additionally, law penalties will be enforced on all violators.
The decision, issued by the Minister of Trade and Industry Amr Nassar last year gave producers and importers time to adjust their conditions, provided that the employees of the concerned administrative bodies who occupy the position of judicial officers are responsible for proving crimes that contravene the provisions of Resolution No 48 for 1941.
DNE has obtained the price list of tests at the NREA. The maximum price for all tests amounts to EGP 40,000 per container, whether for heaters or solar cells.
The price of the virtual test was EGP 240, EGP 1,800 for the insulation test, EGP 2,100 for the exposure to climatic conditions test, EGP 2,000 for the electrical power measurement, EGP 2,000 for measuring the heat parameters of the solar model, and EGP 2,000 for measuring performance at high temperatures.
The freezing and humidity tests cost EGP 3,450, EGP 10,300 for heat testing, EGP 3,900 for the thermal cycle exposure, EGP 1,700 for the current leakage test for solar models, EGP 1,000 for the electrical lighting test, and EGP 500 for the solar models peeling test.
Chairperson of the NREA, Mohammad El-Khayat, said that a number of importers of heaters and solar cells have been testing their products at the NREA labs for a regular period of time, including the Arab Consultative Office, an agent of Suntech, and the decision will be mandatory and will come into force next month.
He explained that the authority has a laboratory to test all products at the highest level, and the decision aims to ensure the quality of products in Egypt, as well as to avoid causing losses to importers if the specifications do not match or if products were poorly manufactured.
He continued: the prices of tests and inspection are not high, and there are laboratories for testing insulation, freezing, moisture, peeling, etc.
