Solar label questions inspectors settle

Solar labels are the permanent warning and identification markings a photovoltaic system needs on its equipment — the disconnects, inverters, combiners, the service and the meter. In Canada the set comes from CSA C22.1:24 Sections 64 and 84 plus the local utility, and on a finished install they are usually engraved lamacoid plates rather than stickers. A grid-tied Ontario house on a string inverter takes about 20 of them.

A solar placard is a larger plate — up to 11 by 8.5 inches for a single-line diagram — that describes the whole installation rather than one device: the rapid-shutdown notice for first responders, the single-line diagram, the location of the disconnects. It is mounted where a fire crew or an inspector looks first — the service, the meter or the building exterior. The trade also calls them PV placards or solar plaques.

A solar lamacoid is an engraved two-layer plate used as a solar label or placard. The engraver cuts through a coloured cap into a contrasting core, so the lettering is the material itself rather than ink; white letters on red is the Canadian solar convention. It is also spelled lamicoid, and called a phenolic tag or legend plate.

No — not by name. ESA Bulletin 64-5-4 Q7/A7 says labels must withstand the elements and be permanent and legible, and gives lamacoid, engraved metal plate, or equivalent as examples. Lamacoid is an accepted example, not a mandate. Manitoba Hydro is the one utility that names the product outright: its Informative Bulletin 64-0 states that all solar photovoltaic labels are required to be engraved lamacoids, red background with white lettering.

A grid-tied Ontario house on a string inverter takes about 20 plates. Microinverters drop it to 16, because there is no DC disconnect to label. Adding battery storage takes it to 24. Four plates is not a complete set for a Canadian install.

White on red for the photovoltaic warning sign, and that one is in the Code: CEC Rule 64-200(3) says a warning sign for a photovoltaic system shall be in capital letters at least 9.5 mm high, white on a red background, and Saskatchewan's TSASK Appendix M reproduces it. Manitoba Hydro and Nova Scotia Power both require engraved plates, red background, white lettering. For identification plates no current Canadian rule we have found sets a colour. BC Hydro's sample net-metering drawing shows its DG disconnect ID labels black on white, and some B.C. inspectors ask for that.

It is priced per plate — a charge for each plate plus a rate on its engraved area — so a 21-plate Ontario house costs more than a 16-plate microinverter job and less than a 29-plate commercial roof. Build the kit on this site and the price is on the last screen, before you send anything. No minimum order and no account required.

One to three business days from approved artwork, shipping Canada-wide from Burlington, Ontario. No minimum order and no account required.

For the photovoltaic warning sign, CEC Rule 64-200(3) says capital letters at least 9.5 mm high, white on a red background. TSASK reproduces that text in Saskatchewan's Appendix M, and its 2024 interpretations apply the 9.5 mm to the word WARNING. ESA Bulletin 64-5-4 A7 covers the exterior labels Section 84 calls for, not this sign. Nova Scotia Power accepts reduced lettering where the equipment is too small, as long as it stays legible, so the inspector decides. Our Saskatchewan set engraves WARNING at 9.5 mm; other provinces' plates are laid out to each plate's published letter height. If your inspector wants 9.5 mm headings, ask and we will cut them larger.

Because the DC circuit disappears. A string or central inverter means there is an accessible DC circuit, so you need the 64-200(1) DC disconnect ratings plate — 5 by 3 or 6 by 3 inches depending on the province — plus the ungrounded-conductor warnings, and above 750 Vdc a DANGER plate on every enclosure carrying those circuits. Microinverters or AC modules remove all of that and add one AC-module system ratings plate. Same house, same array: 16 plates versus 20.

BC Hydro does not set a colour. Its current standard, DGTIR-100 Rev. 3 (July 2026), sets no colour or size for labels, and FortisBC's Rev. 14 sets none either. BC Hydro's sample net-metering drawing, marked SAMPLE, shows the DG disconnect ID and location labels black on white and the two warnings red, and some inspectors ask for black on white on those ID labels. The black-on-white 3.5 by 1 inch figure came from the superseded 2013 NMIR R1, for the revenue-meter notice. Our kit ships white on red, and the two BC Hydro ID labels are in the builder cut black on white for the inspectors who ask for them. The CEC photovoltaic warning sign stays white on red under Rule 64-200(3).

Yes, in two ways. Hydro-Québec E.12-01 labels are in French, and several of them are grommeted hang tags in black on white — lockout tags under CSA Z462 — rather than engraved plates. Read the installation location before cutting. E.12-05 and E.12-06 were withdrawn into E.12-01 Annexe E on 2025-11-17.

Only honestly, and only so far. Where the rule text permits two markings to share one plate we take it, and a service-only re-label is a real seven-plate order rather than a full kit. Below that the lever is a stock pre-nested SKU with no per-job layout, not fewer required plates.

Yes — Canada-wide from Burlington, Ontario. The catalogue covers every province and territory, including the French Hydro-Québec set.

No. No minimum, no setup fee and no account required. A single 4 by 1 inch disconnect tag is a real order and it still gets cut.

An engraved two-layer laminate — commonly called a lamacoid. A coloured cap over a contrasting core; the engraver cuts through the cap so the legend is the layer underneath. There is no ink or adhesive to fade, curl or wash off, which is why it survives on a south-facing wall.