Bess compliance housing thermal solutions
Battery storage governance is getting tougher. Can we simplify compliance?
The energy density of battery energy storage systems (BESS) is increasing. That’s great news for the planet, as higher-capacity batteries mean we can store more renewable energy, enable faster EV charging, and accelerate the clean energy transition. However, there’s a catch. With more energy stored in smaller spaces, safety risks rise, and a growing number of regulations around BESS installation are slowing the journey from design to delivery. Being ready for rapid deployment in multiple regions requires a housing and protection system design that can meet a wide range of compliance requirements.
Design flexibility into your housing and cooling
Thermal runaway and fire protection requirements are primarily driven by battery chemistry. For lithium-based chemistries in particular, international safety standards are designed to ensure consistent protection across all environments. This means the core safety measures don’t typically change. However, there’s still value in designing flexibility into your housing systems. Ambient temperatures in hotter climates may place additional demands on thermal management, so being able to adapt cooling and ventilation features without redesigning the core enclosure is wise.
With the right partner, you can realize modular enclosure and cooling designs that meet international fire protection standards for your battery storage application while accommodating configuration changes, such as adding enhanced thermal management, thereby ensuring safety compliance.
Prepare for seismic activity from the start
In earthquake-prone areas, seismic hardening isn’t optional. It’s mandatory. But even if your initial deployment is in a low-risk area, incorporating at least a baseline level of seismic resilience into your design from the start can avoid costly retrofits later.
Nerve Smart Systems is an innovative company reshaping the electric vehicle (EV) charging industry. When they collaborated with nVent SCHROFF, seismic considerations were incorporated into the BESS design, ensuring that a reinforced cabinet variant could be produced for certain markets, while a standard version served others without unnecessary cost or complexity.
Prepare for local building regulations
Wind speeds, snow loads, flood risks – physical enclosure requirements can vary by location. The key is to design for the majority of scenarios with a modular base system, then make targeted adjustments for specific regions. Rather than radically altering the housing for each market, a better approach is to prepare variants that address the most common regulatory differences. For example, Europe may require less stringent seismic protection than the US and Japan, while certain regions need snow-resistant roofs or wind bracing.
In the case of Nerve Smart Systems, a modular design allowed snow-resistant features to be added where needed without changing the core cabinet design, reducing cost and lead time while maintaining compliance.
Introducing nVent
At nVent, we work with you early in the design process, shaping our housing and protection solutions around your innovations. We can cover a broad range of testing on your behalf – from seismic resilience to thermal management – so you can focus on performance and market expansion.
Our modular approach means you get tailored solutions that meet diverse compliance requirements, but without the delays and expense of fully custom builds. That means you can get to market faster, stay competitive in multiple regions, and keep safety at the heart of your battery storage projects.
Are you ready to learn more?
Outdoor Modular Cabinet for Battery Storage
The modular outdoor cabinet is a flexible, secure solution that ensures smooth and reliable operation of sensitive electronics in outdoor areas. It has been tested and certified for a wide range of applications, from battery storage to use in wayside rail applications.