Baekhyun E&S Secures KC Certification for Solar Safety Devices, Plans to Supply Continuous Monitoring Technology to Schools and Public Facilities

As the importance of safety management for solar power generation systems installed at schools and public facilities grows, Baekhyun E&S, led by CEO Kang Younggyu, has obtained KC certification for its non-contact thermal distribution sensor and rapid shutdown device (RSD) and is moving to expand supply to the market.

Baekhyun E&S has developed an integrated system that continuously monitors temperature changes inside solar combiner boxes and lowers the voltage on the module side when an abnormal condition occurs. Following the certification, the company plans to expand product supply to public and private power generation facilities.

As solar power facilities have become more widespread, maintaining existing systems and addressing fire risks have also emerged as important challenges. This is particularly true at facilities such as schools, where it can be difficult to have specialists dedicated to electrical equipment on site. Such facilities need regular inspections as well as tools to continuously monitor the condition of their equipment.

Safety management for solar power systems is also a key priority under the “Haetbit Ieum School” project led by the Ministry of Education and the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation. The company expects the use of continuous monitoring technology to grow in response to efforts to strengthen safety management, including shortening the statutory inspection cycle from four years to one year and expanding thermal imaging inspections.

Given these industry trends, market demand is expected to rise more sharply in the future for certified preventive safety equipment, as companies proactively secure relevant technologies.

Baekhyun E&S’s thermal distribution sensor is installed inside a solar combiner box and uses a non-contact method to monitor temperature distribution. It monitors heat conditions even when regular inspections are not being conducted and is designed to detect abnormal temperature rises early, including those caused by poor electrical connections or component degradation.

While conventional arc, smoke, and flame detectors focus on identifying specific abnormal conditions or signs of fire, Baekhyun E&S’s sensor monitors changes in temperature distribution inside the combiner box. However, abnormal heat does not precede every arc event, so the sensor should be used alongside other safety devices and inspection systems.

The RSD, which works with the thermal distribution sensor, receives a shutdown signal when a preset risk condition is detected and lowers the voltage of the solar modules. Baekhyun E&S said it conducted performance tests at the Korea Conformity Laboratories (KCL) in accordance with U.S. electrical code NEC 690.12 and confirmed that the voltage was lowered 0.27 seconds after the shutdown signal was transmitted.

Separately from these tests, the company obtained domestic KC certification for the thermal distribution sensor and RSD. The company said this confirmed that the products comply with applicable domestic certification standards and established a basis for supplying them to public facilities and private power producers.

Solar power systems can continue to generate voltage from their modules depending on sunlight conditions, even after some power sources have been shut off. Baekhyun E&S plans to combine abnormal heat monitoring with rapid shutdown functionality to reduce the risk of electric shock to facility managers and firefighters and help prevent fire damage.

For school solar power systems, temperature data gathered through continuous monitoring can be linked to facility management and used to identify signs of abnormal conditions, even when specialists are not on site.

Another feature of non-contact monitoring is that it can reduce the need to open combiner boxes to inspect their internal condition. Accumulated temperature data can help address inspection inconsistencies arising from differences in workers’ experience and provide information on when abnormalities occur and how they develop.

The company expects these functions to reduce the management burden on school facility managers and help make more efficient use of maintenance personnel in the field. However, monitoring systems do not replace statutory inspections or checks by specialists, and their actual impact on cost savings and accident prevention may vary depending on operating conditions at each site.

Baekhyun E&S said it obtained disaster safety product certification from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in June this year. It also holds a range of certifications and designations, including Public Procurement Service Excellent Product designation, New Excellent Product (NEP) certification, New Excellent Technology (NET) certification for disaster safety, Excellent Performance Certification (EPC), and Small and Medium Business Technology Market certification.

In May this year, the company relocated its headquarters to Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, and converted its Gunsan plant into a branch, reorganizing its research and development and production operations. The company plans to expand into public procurement and private markets with its certified products, and to pursue safety improvement projects that replace combiner boxes and key equipment at aging power plants.

To this end, the company established a “Safety Modernization Repowering Division” and plans to expand its business into the energy storage system (ESS) sector.

Baekhyun E&S CEO Kang Younggyu highlighted the company’s acquisition of KC certification following tests conducted in accordance with NEC standards and disaster safety product certification. He said the company would expand equipment supply and technology development to improve the safety of aging solar power systems.

He added that the company plans to provide safety management systems suited to the operating characteristics of solar power and ESS facilities and focus on reducing fire risks and electrical accidents that may occur in the field.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.