C&I BESS Pre-Shipment Inspection: How to Clear 10 Cabinets for Shipment

The supplier emails to ask whether it can book collection. Ten battery cabinets are ready for a factory that already has solar PV. On the factory acceptance test (FAT) summary, the row for remote start and stop reads 10/10 Pass. As the EPC project manager authorised to release the order, can you give logistics the go-ahead?

In this worked example, hold off until your engineer can trace each result to the cabinet that will go on the truck. One test record in the report belongs to the cabinet in the row above it. What you ask the supplier for next determines whether it can resolve the issue at its desk or needs to put a cabinet back on test.

The C&I BESS pre-shipment inspection starts before that email arrives, while the cabinets are still accessible and you can establish which ten units the supplier intends to ship.

Start with what the purchase order requires for each cabinet

Open the approved configuration and FAT procedure that go with this order. The supply list calls for ten cabinets of the same model, each with its battery and power conversion system (PCS) in the same enclosure. The buyer and supplier have agreed to ship all ten together. Your engineer reviews the technical evidence, and you sign the batch release.

Find the remote start/stop item in the procedure. On this order, the supplier agreed to demonstrate the function on each cabinet. Its factory test equipment sends the start and stop commands that would normally come from the site's energy management system (EMS). For each command, the record must identify the cabinet under test and show the corresponding state feedback. When the report arrives, your engineer will be looking for exactly those two things in each record.

The actual EMS stays at the customer's factory. The EPC commissioning lead will verify the complete command and feedback path once the cabinets are installed there (if you're still agreeing test and documentation terms for a future order, see how to choose a C&I BESS supplier). Write that split into the procedure so both teams know which part is theirs.

Match the ten cabinets to the order before packing

On the factory floor, use 01 to 10 as short project references. Beside each one, enter the serial number from the cabinet nameplate. The model designation appears on all ten plates. The serial number is what lets you pick out cabinet 07 again after the units have been packed.

With the supplier's representative, check each unit against the configuration. While the interior is visible, confirm the specified battery and PCS configuration and the visible assembly items covered by the inspection. Work through the listed accessories at the same time. If an item will travel in a separate box, record which cabinet or group of cabinets it belongs with. The packing list will need to account for it later.

If you're witnessing remotely, ask the representative to show the project reference and the readable nameplate as part of the same cabinet inspection. Ten close-ups of identical interiors are hard to sort out afterwards. Keep the cabinet-to-serial-number list you made during the inspection. It gives you a way to check the supplier's test records independently of what someone named the files.

Trace the 10/10 FAT result back to cabinet 07

You've worked through the other FAT items. Now open the remote start/stop row in the BESS FAT report and follow its references into the test records. For each cabinet, compare the identifier inside the record with your serial-number list. Then read the result in sequence. Under the factory setup, which unit received the start command? What state did it report back? Can you follow the stop command and the subsequent feedback for that same unit?

At cabinet 06, everything lines up. The record identifies the serial number you took from its nameplate and shows both commands and responses. Open the record listed for 07 and the same serial number appears. Go back to the index. Both entries open the very same record. That's the whole problem, in one click.

Finish checking the remaining units so you know the extent of the issue. You now have traceable results for nine cabinets, including 06, whose record is valid. Whether 07 passed its test is still an open question, and the batch release stays on hold. It's tempting to call this a failed test. It isn't. Calling it a failed start/stop test would send the supplier looking for a hardware or controls fault that the evidence does not establish.

Raise it with the supplier's test engineer as a query they can act on: identify the remote start/stop item, point out that the links for 06 and 07 both open the record for 06, and supply the nameplate serial number for 07. Ask for the original test record for that serial number, showing the simulated commands and the cabinet's feedback. That is more useful than asking for another copy of the whole report.

Suppose the reply contains a photo of a cabinet display showing “Running”. Start with which cabinet it is. Even if the supplier can identify the cabinet in the image, a single operating state doesn't show what initiated the run or how the cabinet responded to the stop command. Keep the query open until the agreed sequence can be traced.

Close the record gap and hand over the site EMS test

The supplier finds cabinet 07's original record under its serial number. The error occurred when the records were indexed. The supplier corrects the link and issues a revision note identifying the affected entry. Renaming the record already filed against 06 would still leave you with only one cabinet's results.

Have your engineer open the revised index as the next reader would. Follow the link for 07, match its identifier to the nameplate list, and confirm that the factory setup, start and stop commands, and resulting feedback satisfy the test item. Then open the link for 06 once more. Both entries should now lead to their respective records. Note on the original query who reviewed the fix, which report revision they used, and the date it was closed.

If the supplier cannot retrieve an attributable original, the issue stays open. Arrange for the supplier to repeat the check on 07 using the procedure and submit the identified result for review. Could the other nine leave first? That would require a split shipment permitted under the order, buyer authorisation and revised logistics arrangements. This project retains the single collection.

There is still one line your commissioning lead needs to see. At the supplier's factory, a test device issued the commands. At site, the EPC team must verify that a command from the actual site EMS reaches the intended cabinet and that the EMS receives the feedback from that cabinet. Put that task, its owner and the post-installation verification point in the handover. The buyer can now close the query on 07 while the site team keeps its own test open.

Reconcile the packing list and sign the batch release

Take the final packing list and work backwards from the package numbers. Your receiving team should be able to pick out the package holding cabinet 07, find its serial number and retrieve the corrected FAT record. Do the same reconciliation across the batch and locate the separately boxed accessories. Counting ten cabinet packages alone would miss an accessory box left off the collection.

Before signing, ask the supplier whether anything affecting a tested function was disconnected, replaced or reconfigured after FAT. If so, identify the affected cabinet, record the change and have your engineer review what needs to be checked again before release. Confirm with the people handling collection that the shipping documents required for this consignment are ready. The final packing check is complete, and there are no outstanding changes affecting the results.

Shipment release record for 10 C&I BESS cabinets

The grouped entry below represents eight cabinets checked individually.

Reference the final packing list and revised FAT report in your written release, and identify the ten units covered. Record when you signed. Logistics can now arrange collection. The commissioning lead has a named test to carry forward when those same serial numbers arrive on site.

Preparing a cabinet order? Contact GeePower Team. Ask which functions can be verified at the factory for the quoted configuration. Ask, too, how the per-cabinet results can be supplied under your project agreement. Discuss your Cabinet BESS configuration with GeePower.