Egypt has enforced its previous decision to oblige importers of heaters and solar cells to abide to new quality standards and test their imports starting from October.

Government sources told Daily News Egypt that companies importing solar power production equipment would be paying fees for testing their imports to ensure the quality and efficiency of the products coming to Egypt. A certificate would be issued for product compliance.

The decision was issued last year by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Amr Nassar, and asked importers to adjust their situation. The violators will be subject to penalties of Law no. 48 for 1941.

Daily News Egypt has obtained a list of the quality testing fees at the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA). The maximum testing fee is estimated at EGP 40,000 for each container, whether it contains heaters or solar cells.

General testing fee stands at EGP 240, EGP 1,800 for insulation resistance test, EGP 2,100 for thermal shock testing, EGP 2,000 for electrical power testing, EGP 2,000 for measurement of the radial distribution of the heat transfer coefficient of the solar cell, and EGP 2,000 for temperature performance test.

The fee of humidity freeze cycle test has been estimated at EGP 3,450, EGP 3,900 for thermal cycling exposure test, and EGP 1,700 for leakage testing.

According to the Chairperson of the NREA, Mohamed El-Khayat, numerous importers of heaters and solar cells have been conducting tests for their products in the renewable energy laboratories, including the Arab Consulting Office, the agent of Suntech Power, adding that the decision will be mandatory starting from October.