Should I choose a C&I battery cabinet by kW or kWh?

Both. The cabinet must meet the site's peak power in kW and hold enough energy in kWh for the discharge window. A unit with enough kWh but too little kW will trip or limit output exactly when the site needs it.

How much usable energy does a 112 kWh cabinet deliver?

At 90% depth of discharge, about 101 kWh is available from the battery. After round-trip losses, the delivered energy is roughly 91 kWh. Treat that as a ceiling and keep a margin for ageing, temperature and an unexpected load.

Can two cabinets be paralleled for more power?

Parallel expansion is configured per project. The factory confirms the busbar, protection, communication and layout for the number of units in the design; it is not a plug-and-play catalogue option.

Is liquid cooling better for a hot site?

Liquid cooling holds cell temperatures more evenly during long, high-rate cycles, which can help in a hot climate. It also adds a cooling loop to commission and maintain. The right choice depends on duty cycle, ambient temperature and local service capability.

What information is needed for a cabinet sizing proposal?

Peak kW, daily kWh or a load curve, the grid import limit or tariff window, the backup load and hours, the PV size, and the site conditions. With those six inputs, the engineering team can propose a configuration and a quotation.

Solar Street Light Distributor Guide: MOQ, Lead Time, Cost

Why distributors get surprised by solar street light quotes

A solar street light is not one product. It is a luminaire, a photovoltaic panel, a lithium battery, a controller and a mounting system, and each of those has its own minimum order, its own production slot and its own certificate. When a quote looks inconsistent between two suppliers, the difference is usually in how those five parts are counted — not in the LED.

This guide walks the four questions that decide whether a distributor can hold a delivery date: MOQ, lead time, documentation and installed cost. It is written for the buyer preparing a tender or a first container, not for the end user choosing a lamp.

1. What actually sets the MOQ

Suppliers quote an MOQ per model, not per project, and the number is driven by how the product is built:

Housing and tooling. A die-cast or extruded body with a custom colour or a private label needs a run long enough to justify the tooling setup; a standard body does not.
Battery pack configuration. Capacity variants (for example 12.8 Ah versus 25.6 Ah) often share a cell, so mixing capacities in one order is easier than mixing chemistries.
Panel specification. A monofacial or bifacial panel in a non-standard wattage is usually the true bottleneck, because panel lines are scheduled in runs.
Packaging. Retail cartons, branding and manuals add a print run on top of the production run.

Ask for the MOQ per SKU, and ask separately for the MOQ of a mixed container. A supplier who can only quote one number is usually quoting the housing, not the system. For distributors building a range, the split solar street light range is the easier starting point: panel, battery and fixture are specified separately, so a container can carry several power classes without new tooling.

2. Where lead time is actually lost

Production time is rarely the problem. These are the stages where dates slip, in the order they usually slip:

Configuration freeze. Every change to wattage, battery capacity or pole height after the deposit restarts part of the queue.
Battery cells. Cell supply is the least predictable input; ask which cell is being used and whether it is in stock at order date.
Simulation and approval. For tender work, the lighting simulation often has to be approved before production. E-Able Power answers a sizing request with a DIALux simulation and a proposal within 2–3 business days, but the client's approval is outside anyone's control.
Inspection. A third-party inspection slots into the calendar; book it with the production date, not after it.
Shipping space. Container space, not production, sets the arrival date in peak season.

Ask for a lead time broken into production days and shipping days, with the inspection date named. A single "30 days" figure hides the two stages that actually move.

3. Documents to request before a tender

Public tenders and larger distributors will ask for the same short list. Request it once, in one email, and keep it with the quotation:

Document	What it proves	Ask for
ISO 9001 / ISO 14001	Factory quality and environmental management	Current certificate with scope and expiry
CE declaration	Compliance route for the luminaire	DoC plus the test report, and the model list it covers
Battery transport documents	The pack can be shipped by sea or air	UN38.3 report and MSDS for the exact pack
Cell test report	Cell-level safety standard	IEC 62619 or equivalent, naming the cell model
Warranty statement	What is covered, and for how long	A written statement per component, not per system
Lighting simulation	The layout meets the tender's lux target	DIALux file plus the PDF report for the actual pole layout

One caution that saves arguments later: a CE declaration covers the models listed on it. Check that the model you are buying appears on the report, and ask the supplier to confirm in writing if it does not.

4. Installed cost per pole, not price per lamp

Distributors lose margin by comparing lamp prices. The number the client cares about is the installed cost per pole, and it has four parts:

Luminaire and energy system — the lamp, panel, battery and controller as one kit.
Pole and foundation — often bought locally; the pole diameter, wall thickness and anchor pattern still come from the luminaire supplier.
Installation — crane or lift hire, crew time, and the number of poles one crew can complete per day.
Service over the warranty period — battery replacement is the only component that is normally replaced inside a warranty window, so ask how the pack is accessed.

On high-mast and sports projects the fourth item dominates: the fixture is high enough that every service visit needs a lift, which is why the high-mast LED range documents optics, surge protection and mounting separately — they are the parts that decide whether a service visit can be planned.

What to put in the enquiry

One page of inputs returns a specification instead of a price list: road type and width, target illuminance or the reference standard, pole height and spacing, operating hours per night, required autonomy in days, site location, and the quantity per model. Add the pole drawing if one exists.

E-Able Power answers that enquiry with a system layout, a DIALux simulation and a commercial proposal; send the site conditions here and the reply comes back as a specification you can put in front of a client.

Frequently asked questions

Can a distributor order a mixed container?

Yes, and it is the normal way to open a market: several power classes of one body, or two families, in one container. Ask for the MOQ per SKU and for the mixed-container rule separately, because they are different numbers.

Is lead time shorter for repeat orders?

Usually yes for production, because tooling and configuration are already frozen, but not for cells or shipping. Ask for the split between production days and shipping days on both the first and the repeat order.

What warranty should a distributor promise onward?

Promise what the factory states in writing, per component. If the factory gives five years on the luminaire and a different term on the battery, the distributor's own terms should say the same, or the gap becomes the distributor's cost.

Do I need a lighting simulation for a private project?

Not always, but it is the cheapest way to avoid a re-installation. A simulation against the actual pole layout is the only way to know whether the spacing meets the target before the poles are ordered.