Solar placards
Solar placards are the engraved plates that describe a PV system to someone who has never seen it — the rapid-shutdown notice, the single-line diagram, where it shuts off. Solar Labels engraves them as solar lamacoids, worded for your province.
A label identifies a switch. A placard tells someone who has never seen the building what is on the roof, where it shuts off and what is still live after they open it. 9 of them sit in a Canadian solar kit, and they are the ones a fire crew reads at three in the morning.
Of 58 plates in the national catalogue.
279.4 × 215.9 mm. The diagram plates need the area; a 4 × 1 tag cannot carry a drawing.
Locations, voltages, a single-line drawing. None of them can be stocked blank.
Placard, label, tag — the difference on a Canadian job
Placard
Mounted where a responder or an inspector will look first — the service, the meter, the building exterior. It carries information about the whole installation rather than the one device it is screwed to: the single-line diagram, the rapid-shutdown notice, the location of the disconnect. Big: 11″ × 8.5″ for the diagrams, 5″ to 7″ wide for the rest.
Label
A warning or an identification on one piece of equipment. “PV AC DISCONNECT”. “TERMINALS ON BOTH LINE AND LOAD SIDE MAY BE ENERGIZED IN THE OPEN POSITION”. Mostly 5″ × 1.5″ and 5″ × 2″.
Lamacoid
Not a category of sign at all — a material and a process. Engraved phenolic, cut through a coloured cap layer into a contrasting core, so the legend is the substrate rather than ink on top of it. Both placards and labels are made as lamacoids on a Canadian solar job because that is what survives outdoors. More on solar lamacoids →
Rule 64-218(7) of C22.1:24 — renumbered from 64-218(6) — calls for a label stating that the PV system is equipped with rapid shutdown, at the supply-authority meter and at the consumer's service equipment. It is the single most commonly missed plate in a residential kit, because a homeowner never sees it and the installer is already off the roof by the time anyone asks.
Two of the placards below come from the fire authority rather than from C22.1 — array boundary marking and the emergency shutdown procedure. Whether they are asked for depends on the municipality, so the builder treats them as questions rather than defaults.
Every placard in the national set
| Plate & rule | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| Meter location and service box diagram 64-076(3) · 64-902(1) | At the meter location and service box. |
| Rapid shutdown placard at meter and service equipment 64-218(7) | At the supply authority meter location and the consumer's service equipment location. On buildings without exterior metering the location may need to be agreed with the local fire department. |
| Building source and disconnect location placard 64-076(3) · 64-902(1) (also shown by SK24 under 64-218(7) and 84-030(2)) | At the supply authority meter location and the consumer's service equipment. |
| Single-line diagram of the interconnected system 84-030(2) · 64-218(6) · 64-104(5) | Conspicuous location at the supply authority disconnecting means; NSP also requires it inside at the main service panel and any PV sub-panels. |
| Energy storage - building placard 64-902(1) | On the building or structure containing the energy storage system. |
| Firefighter / first-responder placard house | At the main entrance or service entrance, per the fire authority. |
| Emergency shutdown procedure house | At the main service disconnect and the inverter. |
| Array boundary / roof marking house | At the array boundary and roof access points. |
| Photovoltaic power source placard 84-030(1) once reworded to MB24 items 8-9 text; house as currently engraved | At the meter base / service equipment as directed by the utility. |
Rule numbers are printed as the source document writes them, and most provincial and utility standards were drafted against the 2021 Code. Nine Section 64 numbers changed in C22.1:24 — the renumbering is here.
Solar placard questions
What is a solar placard?
A solar placard is an engraved plate, larger than a device tag and up to 11 by 8.5 inches for a single-line diagram, that describes a whole photovoltaic installation rather than one device — the rapid-shutdown notice, the single-line diagram, the disconnect locations. It is mounted at the service, the meter or the building exterior, where a fire crew or inspector looks first. Also called a PV placard or solar plaque.
Which solar placards does a Canadian install need?
The national base set has 9 placards. The ones almost every grid-tied job carries are the rapid-shutdown placard at the service (C22.1:24 Rule 64-218(7)) and the single-line diagram of the interconnected system at the service equipment (Rule 84-030(2)). Array boundary marking and an emergency shutdown procedure come from the fire authority and depend on the municipality. Your province and utility can add more.
Are solar placards engraved or printed?
Either can be acceptable: ESA Bulletin 64-5-4 asks for labels that withstand the elements and stay permanent and legible, and gives lamacoid and engraved metal as examples. Manitoba Hydro requires engraved lamacoids outright. Solar Labels engraves every placard as a lamacoid, with the job's own values cut in rather than written on.