Stahlin provides state-of-the-art electrical enclosures made from non-metal material for outdoor and indoor industrial use. All types of electrical junction boxes enclosures are manufactured with the highest attention to detail.

Non-Metallic Enclosures

Jeff Seagle | Stahlin

What are some of the differences you have found in the Renewable Energies market compare to some of the other industries you have been involved with since your company Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosures since 1960?
Renewable energy projects are cost intensive on the front end and require many years (decades) before yielding a solid return on investment. It is imperative that systems produce flawlessly from the time the installation first goes on line. The proper selections of components that support the longevity and durability of the installation become critical choices in the process.
 

So how have you tried to address these differences ?
The company expanded the scope of its product differentiation by developing and applying material formulations developed to meet the needs of enclosure users in renewable energies industries. For example,  solar installations by their very nature are UV intensive, and thus the damaging impact of the UV energy must be addressed.  UV attacks materials and works to break apart their substrates.  This degradation can lead to the structural breakdown in certain materials and over a period of time to potential failure of the system.  Stahlin has developed a patented material labeled as SolarGuard® .   It specifically addresses UV degradation and greatly retards its impact so that it is no longer an issue to performance in outdoor applications.


Have there been other challenges that Stahlin has to over come to be successful in this industry?

 As a company that has been involved with protecting electrical controls we have had always had to meet many standards such as 4X,NEMA 4X, 6P and IP66, IP68. However, to be able to offer our  enclosures in this industry we need to have the  UL1741 Certification. So this past year we put our efforts to acquire it and recently made an announcement that we now have attained the standards provided by no other enclosure manufacturers.

The UL1741 standard, entitled Distributed Generation Power Systems Accessory Equipment, is an Underwriters Laboratory (UL) standard essential to product safety and reliability issues within the distributed generation market.

Stahlin enclosures were evaluated under the UL1741 standard for inverter, converter, controllers and interconnection systems equipment for "Use With Distributed Energy Resources" within the United States. Stahlin enclosures were also evaluated under the CSA-C22.2 No. 107.1 "Standard for General Use Power Supplies," for use in Canada.

UL File number E333478 denotes Stahlin enclosures as a photovoltaiccombiner box component and  recognizes the required achievements obtained under prior UL 746C, Polymeric Materials "Use in Electrical Equipment Evaluations" for outstanding UL94-5V flammability rating. UL94-5V is a standard that not all current enclosure manufacturers have attained, especially in tandem with NEMA 6 or 6P type ratings established under UL-50, Enclosures for Electrical Equipment.


Any additional advice you might have for other companies looking to break into this market?
 As I mentioned above the length of time your product must survive in this harsh environment is longer than most other industry. As a result, most renewable energy product specifiers demand to know that they will. So we found the only way to assure these specifiers is to offer a long term warranty. So last year, Stahlin started to offer a ten year product warranty, significantly longer than any other enclosure manufacturer.


Personal Bio
Jeffrey Seagle, President of Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosures, has more than 20 years of experience in the electrical enclosures industry. As President, he has led the company to significant growth through innovative product initiatives, such as the patented composite formulation, SolarGuard®, and helped Stahlin move into a leadership position in their market. Under his leadership Stahlin was selected as one of the "101 Best and Brightest Places " in Michigan and has also been recognized for customer satisfaction excellence under the J.D. Power and Associates. Mr. Seagle earned his BSME from Purdue University and his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AltEnergyMag

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