Solar A Mark

Welcome to Solar A Mark, a certification program administered by SAHWIA for the solar air heating industry, building owners, incentive providers and governments

The Solar A Mark is a quality and certification mark with the primary purpose of providing authoritative performance ratings, certifications and standards for installed solar air heating systems including building integrated solar air systems.

View the list of current Solar A Mark certified solar air heating systems.

Most existing product certifications are designed to certify products made in a factory which are then shipped to a jobsite. These certifying marks are generally not designed for building integrated installations where the final assembly of the solar collectors takes place on a building and not in a factory. Solar A Mark addresses this omission in current standards and offers consultants, clients and building owners a quality assurance that procedures are in place to ensure the solar system is integrated into the building in accordance with the solar design and installation drawings.

SAHWIA represents solar air manufacturers around the world and has promoted the need for an international test standard and certification mark. Solar A Mark is becoming recognized in many countries as the first of its kind international certification program for solar air heating systems. It signifies a Seal of Performance that can be used internationally. The letter “A” in the name Solar A Mark implies “Air” collector or “A” for best in its class or both.

The Solar A Mark is a voluntary certification mark issued by SAHWIA for its members’ products. It demonstrates compliance of those products with the requirements of an independent test standard such as the CSA F378.2, the upcoming common EN ISO Standard EN 12975-2 / ISO 9806 for solar air collectors as well as documented procedures for building integrated systems.

Solar A Mark products cover solar air collectors of all types including open and closed loop, glazed, unglazed or partially glazed panels, manufactured and site build or building integrated panels and other types that may become available. It does not, however, apply to solar water collectors.

Requirements:

• Test laboratories shall be nationally accredited and be recognized by one or more certification bodies.
• The product shall be tested and test results reported according to accepted test standard such as CSA F378.2 or the new draft Standard EN 12975-2 / ISO 9806
• Only members of SAHWIA may apply for a Solar A Mark for their solar air collectors.
• Licenses to use the Solar A Mark are granted by SAHWIA.

The performance information is listed in a standard format to allow clients to compare various solar air products.

Design and Ownership of the Solar A Mark

The certification trade mark is the  property of SAHWIA
A graphic representation of Solar A Mark logo is

Fees

There are fees for the right to use the Solar A Mark and its logo.
The fee for certifying a typical system is split into an application fee and annual certification fee.
The initial Application Fee is $1,000 plus $500 per system or collector to be evaluated.
Annual Maintenance Fee per active Certification is $1,000.00
Participant and Maintenance fees are billed annually on the anniversary of the Participants enrollment in their first Solar A Mark program.

A Solar A Mark certification is issued after:

• Initial evaluation of procedures to ensure quality production and installation
• Sample collector performance tested to a recognized test standard such as CSA F378.2
• Testing done by  a 3rd party testing agency capable of testing to the Standard
• Solar collector certified by a recognized certification organization such as CSA or SRCC and copy of certificate and test report sent to SAHWIA.
• Receipt of inspection and commissioning methods for building integrated systems
• Payment of fees