Solar Street Light Pre-Shipment Inspection Checklist

Before the visit: documents and sampling

Agree the reference documents first — approved specification, priced BOQ with its line numbers, GA and foundation drawings, wiring diagram, controller setting sheet and packing list — and agree how many units will be opened, either through a sampling plan such as ISO 2859-1 with an agreed acceptance quality limit or by opening every crate. Write the chosen approach into the purchase order together with the right to reject and the remedy; a clause that says only “inspection allowed” gives you nothing to act on.

Quantity, packing and identification

• Count every line against the packing list, and the packing list against the BOQ: ordered, produced and packed should agree.
• Check that crates suit their contents, that poles are supported along their length rather than hanging on their ends, and that luminaires and panels are protected from abrasion.
• Confirm moisture control — desiccant, sealed liners, ventilation — since a container on a humid sea route can arrive with condensation on metal parts.
• Check lifting points, strapping and load distribution; overloaded axles and top-heavy stacks commonly cause transit damage.
• Confirm serial numbers match the packing list and the documentation pack, so a failure in year three can be traced to a batch.

Luminaire

Check the housing for casting defects, sharp edges and coating damage, and confirm the gasket is present, correctly seated and not pinched. Look at the lens for scratches, dirt in the optical chamber and moulding marks suggesting a different optic from the approved sample, and verify the label: model, power, colour temperature, IP and IK ratings, and batch. Where a sample was approved before production, photograph the supplied unit beside it, and confirm any separate driver’s make and model against the approved list.

Battery and battery management

The battery is the component most likely to be quietly substituted, so check chemistry, voltage, capacity and dimensions against the specification, not just the label. Measure terminal voltage and, where a load bank is available, have the manufacturer discharge a sample to the agreed end-of-life voltage and record the amp-hours delivered — the only way to tell a genuine 100 Ah pack from one that reaches the number by optimistic rounding. On lithium packs, test that the BMS disconnects at the low-voltage threshold and refuses charge below the low-temperature limit, and record the cut-off values. Confirm the pack ships at a sensible partial state of charge, and ask for that state to be marked on the crate.

Controller: settings are a deliverable

Ask for the controller to be powered up and read out in front of the inspector. Record battery type and charge profile, absorption and float voltages, temperature compensation, low-voltage disconnect and reconnect points, the dimming profile with its time windows, and the clock or latitude setting, then photograph the settings screen for at least one unit per batch. A controller delivered on factory defaults is a design failure that appears only once the lights are on the poles. Confirm the glands are fitted and the current rating matches the array.

Panel

Watch the flash test on the manufacturer’s equipment and record measured power, voltage and current against the nameplate. Check for cracked cells, chipped edges, delamination, bubbles and frame damage, and inspect the junction box, bypass diodes and connectors. Electroluminescence imaging, where the factory has the equipment, reveals micro-cracks a visual check misses. Note the module dimensions, since they determine the mounting bracket and the wind area used in the structural calculation.

Pole, coating, cabling and accessories

Measure what is measurable: pole length and diameter above the base plate, wall thickness at several points with a gauge, straightness, base plate size and thickness, bolt hole spacing and orientation, and the arm or spigot angle. Check the galvanizing for runs, lumps, bare patches and weld spatter, and have the coating thickness measured with a magnetic gauge along the pole and around the weld zones, with readings recorded against the standard named in the tender. Confirm the anchor bolt template matches the base plate, and if the battery sits in the foundation, check its compartment, lid, lock, sealing and drainage.

Cabling and small parts are counted the same way: check the cable cross-section rather than trusting the printed sheath, confirm the insulation is rated for the exposure, and count connectors, glands, fuses, isolators, earthing parts, fasteners and the quoted tamper-resistant fixings against their BOQ lines. Spares deserve a physical count too — a spare controller, fuses and the plug or adapter needed to read the controller. Anything not in the crate at this point should be treated as absent rather than promised.

Documentation, evidence and who inspects

Collect the document pack at the same time: photometric report and IES/LDT files, module and battery test reports from the manufacturer, the lighting calculation, GA and foundation drawings, the as-built wiring diagram, the controller setting sheet, the packing list and the warranty statement. If a document is a generic photocopy with the model number added by hand, ask the supplier to obtain a version that names the actual product.

Evidence should be photo and video, dated, with the crate and serial label visible in the frame so each image ties to a specific unit. Ask for the inspection immediately before loading and again at loading, because goods can be substituted in the gap. The inspection can be done by the buyer’s engineer, a third-party inspection company or a sourcing partner acting on the buyer’s instructions — the point is that the inspector works to the buyer’s specification and reports to the buyer, not to the factory. Some of these checks are worth writing into the tender itself, as discussed in how to specify solar street lights in a tender, and the component list they refer to comes from reading the BOQ.

How we can help

We are a China-based trading and project sourcing company, not a manufacturer. We review specifications and BOQs, match a product and configuration to your site conditions, source from qualified manufacturers, and manage quality through to pre-shipment inspection. If you are preparing a tender or specification and want a second opinion, contact us.