Buyer note: use this guide to structure the first technical discussion. Final sizing, compatibility, document scope, and commercial terms are confirmed for the actual project.
Key takeaways
- Give suppliers the same site and duty assumptions so proposals are comparable.
- Request usable energy and operating limits in addition to nameplate capacity.
- Define who supplies every balance-of-system component and service.
- Tie technical evidence to the exact quoted model and document revision.
1. Project basis and operating objective
State what the system must do, where it will operate, how success is measured, and which operating mode has priority when objectives conflict.
- Site, destination, application, and project schedule
- Normal, backup, islanded, maintenance, and failure modes
- Interval load, renewable, tariff, outage, and grid data
- Target power, duration, reserve, availability, and dispatch priority
2. Electrical, controls, and site interface
Define the point of connection and require a responsibility matrix for the battery, PCS, EMS, transformer, switchgear, protection, metering, communications, civil work, fire system, and commissioning.
- AC and DC voltage, power, fault, protection, and interconnection data
- EMS, SCADA, protocol, metering, remote access, and cybersecurity requirements
- Ambient, altitude, enclosure, acoustic, seismic, corrosion, and access conditions
- Foundation, cable route, transformer, switchgear, fire, and auxiliary-power scope
3. Performance and evidence package
Ask for nominal and usable energy, continuous and overload power, efficiency basis, auxiliary demand, thermal limits, derating, degradation assumptions, alarms, and current model-specific compliance evidence.
- Controlled technical datasheet and configuration identifier
- Operating window, temperature limits, derating, and unavailable states
- Applicable certificates and reports with exact model references
- Drawings, manuals, alarm matrix, maintenance plan, and spare-parts list
4. Commercial scope and acceptance
Commercial comparisons should use a common incoterm, destination, quantity, scope, schedule, payment basis, warranty document, service responsibility, and factory and site acceptance criteria.
- Included equipment, software, documentation, services, spares, and exclusions
- Packaging, transport, destination, unloading, installation, and storage
- Production, factory test, shipping, site test, commissioning, and handover milestones
- Written warranty, support path, response scope, and acceptance test procedure
