On January 12 of 2012, the California Energy Commission (CEC) adopted regulations for battery charger system (BCS) and provided minimum energy efficiency requirements for the battery charger systems. The BCS defined by CEC covers all rechargeable batteries or devices incorporating a rechargeable battery and chargers used with them. The Regulation covers a very wide range of products, such as notebook, cell phone, DECT phone, MP3/MP4, portable DVD, AA/AAA battery charger, wireless headphone, power tools, and many portable household appliances used with rechargeable batteries, etc.
The regulations divide battery charger systems into four separate categories:
1. Small battery charger system (a rated input power ≤ 2 kW)
2. Large battery charger system(a rated input power > 2 kW)
3. Inductive battery charger
4. Battery backup and Uninterruptible Power Supplies
The effective date is as below:
1. Most small consumer charger systems manufactured on or after February 1, 2013;
2. Large battery charger systems and certain USB-based small consumer charger systems manufactured on or after January 1, 2014;
3. Non-consumer charger systems manufactured on or after January 1, 2017.
As for small battery charger system, the following requirements shall be met:
Table 1 Standards for Small Battery Charger Systems
| Performance Parameter | Standard |
|
Maximum 24 hour charge and maintenance energy (Wh) (Eb = capacity of all batteries in ports and N = number of charger ports) |
For Eb of 2.5 Wh or less: 16 × N |
| For Eb greater than 2.5 Wh and less than or equal to 100 Wh: 12 x N +1.6Eb | |
| For Eb greater than 100 Wh and less than or equal to 1000 Wh: 22 x N+1.5Eb | |
|
For Eb greater than 1000 Wh: 36.4 x N +1.486Eb |
|
|
Maintenance Mode Power and No Battery Mode Power (W) (Eb = capacity of all batteries in ports and N = number of charger ports) |
The sum of maintenance mode power and no battery mode power must be less than or equal to: 1x N+0.0021xEb Watts |
Inductive charger systems shall meet either the applicable performance standards in Table 1 for small battery charger system, or shall use less than 1 watt in maintenance mode, less than 1 watt in no battery mode, and an average of 1 watt or less over the duration of the charge and maintenance mode test.
Battery backup and uninterruptible power supplies shall consume no more than 0.8+0.0021 x Eb watts in maintenance mode where Eb is the battery capacity in watt-hours.
Besides, CEC provides marking requirements for battery charger system. And each manufacturer shall also file with the Executive Director a statement for each appliance that is sold or offered for sale in California.
CEC requires the test done at an approved test laboratory. TUV SUD operates CEC approved testing laboratories for battery charger system, and also operates the EPA recognized certification body and testing laboratories for battery charger under ENERGY STAR program. TUV SUD can provide one stop service to help manufacturers comply with CEC regulation.
