Overview

At present, the lamps exported to Europe and the United States are mainly LED products. When it comes to LED standards, for Chinese manufacturers, the high technical and safety standards of Europe and the United States are invisible technical trade barriers. The industry believes that if domestic LED lighting practitioners want to break these technical barriers and enter the overseas market, they must first understand the safety, electromagnetic compatibility, performance and other requirements of European and American LED standards for LED lighting products.

1. Major European and American standard organizations and certification marks

UL: It is the abbreviation of Underwriter Laboratories Inc., which is the most authoritative and largest private institution in the world engaged in safety testing and appraisal in the United States.

FCC: The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the US government and is directly responsible to Congress. The FCC coordinates domestic and international communications by controlling radio broadcasting, television, telecommunications, satellites and cables.

ETL: ETL is the abbreviation of the American Electronic Testing Laboratories. ETL was founded by the American inventor Edison in 1896 and enjoys a high reputation in the United States and around the world. The "us" on the lower right means it is applicable to the United States, the "c" on the lower left means it is applicable to Canada, and both "us" and "c" are applicable to both countries.

Energy Star: Energy Star is an energy saving program led by the US government and mainly aimed at consumer electronic products. The Energy Star program was launched by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1992 with the aim of reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

IEC: International Electrotechnical Commission is the world's earliest international electrotechnical standardization organization, responsible for international standardization work in the fields of electrical engineering and electronic engineering. Nearly 100,000 experts from all over the world are involved in the formulation and revision of IEC standards.

ENEC: (European Norms Electrical Certification), European Standard Electrical Certification is a universal European standard used for specific products that meet European standards (such as lighting equipment, components, and office & data equipment). The ENEC mark is a universal mark for European safety certification. Since 2000, the "ENEC" mark, which was originally only allowed to be used by European manufacturers, has been open to all manufacturers around the world.

2. Standards for LED products exported to the EU market

Exporting to EU countries requires safety certification tests (LVD) and electromagnetic compatibility certification tests (EMC). The main certification marks are CE and ENEC. The certification reference standards mainly include: IEC/EN:60598-1 (General requirements and tests for lamps), IEC/EN:60598-2-3 (Safety requirements for road and street lighting lamps), IEC/EN62031 (General safety requirements for LED modules) IEC/EN:61000-3-2 (Harmonic current emission limits for single-phase input current ≤16A equipment), IEC/EN:61000-3-3 (Limits for voltage fluctuations and flicker in low-voltage power supply systems), IEC/EN61547 (Electromagnetic compatibility immunity requirements for general lighting equipment), IEC/EN55015 (Limits and measurement methods for radio disturbance characteristics of electrical lighting or type equipment).

3. Standards for LED products exported to the North American market

The main certifications for exporting to the North American market include UL, ETL, FCC and ENERGYSTAR. The UL certification of LED road lighting products refers to the two standards of UL8750 or UL60950 and UL1598, and does not test the EMC characteristics of lamps. The ETL certification test refers to the same standard as UL. FCC certification refers to the test limit standard of FCC Part 15B, Class A digital device, and does not test the safety characteristics of lamps; ENERGYSTAT mainly targets the photoelectric performance requirements of LED lamps for residential and commercial lighting, and LED road lighting is not included for the time being.

FCC is a mandatory certification for the radio disturbance (EMI) characteristic limits of telex video products stipulated by the federal law of the United States. The FCC certification test of LED lamps is quite different from the electromagnetic compatibility certification test in the EU CE, which is mainly manifested as follows:

1. The FCC certification of LED lamps only tests EMI (radio disturbance) and does not include EMS (radio interference suppression) test items; the electromagnetic compatibility test in CE requires certification tests for both items;

2. The FCC certification of LED lamps is divided into Class A (LED lamps used in industrial and commercial environments) and Class B (LED lamps used in residential environments). The test limits of the two categories are completely different. There is only one standard for the radio disturbance test limit in CE certification, and the limit size is equivalent to Class B in FCC;

3. LED lamps

4. The FCC certification conducted disturbance sweep test frequency of LED lamps starts from 0.15MHz to 30MHz, and the CE certification conducted disturbance sweep test frequency starts from 9KHz to 30MH;

5. The FCC certification space radiation disturbance sweep test frequency of LED lamps starts from 30MHz to 1GHz, and the CE certification space radiation disturbance sweep test frequency starts from 30KHz to 300MH;

6. The FCC certification requirements are more stringent, and its EMI certification test limit standard usually requires a margin of more than 6dB. The CE certification EMI test margin is 3dB or more (including the margin after the reading point);

UL certification is a non-mandatory certification in the United States, mainly for product safety performance testing and certification, and its certification scope does not include the EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) characteristics of the product. The following is a brief introduction to the UL8750, UL1310 and UL60950 involved in LED road lighting products. UL8750 applies to the minimum safety requirements for LED lighting source components to be installed in non-hazardous locations with a rated 600V branch or lower, and also applies to the minimum safety requirements for LED light sources connected to isolated (no effective connection) power supplies such as batteries and fuel cells; UL1310 applies to Class 2 power supply equipment that includes an input voltage of 120 or 240Vac, connected to a 15 or 20A AC branch circuit or potentially less than 150V grounded through software or direct insertion, using an insulating transformer and rectifiers and other components to provide DC or AC energy, and is expected to be used to provide energy for low-voltage power operations; UL60950 applies to safety standards for information technology (IT) equipment, including mobile phones, computers and their peripherals, such as projectors, printers, etc., and also includes power supplies with outputs that can carry LPS (limited power supply) safety circuits;

In the UL certification of LED lighting products, UL1310 or UL60950 can be selected for driver power certification testing. The main differences between the two standards are as follows:

1. UL1310 is a CLASSII (power supply with limited voltage and capacity) power supply equipment safety standard. Power supplies certified by UL1310 are CLASSII power supplies. When using CLASSII power supplies for cUL (Canadian market) LED lighting fixture certification, relevant safety tests can be exempted; UL60950 is a safety standard for information technology (IT) equipment. Its applicable certification scope is larger than UL1310, but when using power supplies certified by UL60950 for cUL (Canadian market certification) LED lighting fixture certification, relevant safety tests cannot be exempted;

2. The UL1310 standard stipulates that the output voltage is the maximum output voltage of the power supply under any load condition (including no load) for the exposed contact The voltage peak is 42.4V. When the device does not contain a device that can automatically disconnect the power supply in the output circuit, the maximum output volt-ampere is no more than 100 volt-amperes; UL60950 defines that under normal output voltage conditions, the voltage between any two accessible circuit parts, or the voltage between any accessible circuit parts and the protective grounding terminal of Class I equipment, does not exceed 42.4V AC peak, or 60V DC value;

3. UL1310 certification is only applicable to CLASSII power supply equipment in the power grid with a rated voltage of 120 or 240Vac. UL60950 is applicable to information technology products with a rated input voltage not exceeding 600Vac. For the driving power supply of UL-certified LED lighting products in the 277V voltage system, only the UL60950 standard certification test can be cited.

UL certification

UL certification is a non-mandatory certification in the United States, mainly for the detection and certification of product safety performance. Its certification scope does not include the EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) characteristics of the product. The following briefly introduces the UL8750, UL1310 and UL60950 involved in LED road lighting products. UL8750 applies to the minimum safety requirements for LED lighting source components to be installed in non-hazardous locations with a rated 600V branch or lower, and also applies to the minimum safety requirements for LED light sources connected to isolated (no effective connection) power supplies such as batteries and fuel cells; UL1310 applies to Class 2 power supply equipment that includes an input voltage of 120 or 240Vac, connected to a 15 or 20A AC branch circuit or potentially less than 150V grounded through software or direct insertion, using an insulating transformer and rectifiers and other components to provide DC or AC energy, and is expected to be used to provide energy for low-voltage power operations; UL60950 applies to safety standards for information technology (IT) equipment, including mobile phones, computers and their peripherals, such as projectors, printers, etc., and also includes power supplies with outputs that can carry LPS (limited power supply) safety circuits;

In the UL certification of LED lighting products, UL1310 or UL60950 can be selected for driver power certification testing. The main differences between the two standards are as follows:

1. UL1310 is a CLASSII (power supply with limited voltage and capacity) power supply equipment safety standard. Power supplies certified by UL1310 are CLASSII power supplies. When using CLASSII power supplies for cUL (Canadian market) LED lighting fixture certification, relevant safety tests can be exempted; UL60950 is a safety standard for information technology (IT) equipment. Its applicable certification scope is larger than UL1310, but when using power supplies certified by UL60950 for cUL (Canadian market certification) LED lighting fixture certification, relevant safety tests cannot be exempted;

2. The UL1310 standard stipulates that the maximum output voltage of the power supply under any load condition (including no load) is exposed The contact voltage peak is 42.4V. When the device does not contain a device that can automatically disconnect the power supply in the output circuit, the maximum output volt-ampere is no more than 100 volt-amperes; UL60950 defines that under normal output voltage conditions, the voltage between any two accessible circuit parts, or the voltage between any accessible circuit part and the protective grounding terminal of Class I equipment, does not exceed 42.4V AC peak, or 60V DC value;

3. UL1310 certification is only applicable to CLASSII power supply equipment in power grids with a rated voltage of 120 or 240Vac. UL60950 is applicable to information technology products with a rated input voltage not exceeding 600Vac. For the driver power supply of UL-certified LED lighting products in the 277V voltage system, only the UL60950 standard certification test can be cited.