An inspection that happens after the container is sealed is not an inspection. It is a negotiation you will lose. Pre-shipment inspection is the last moment when a defect can still be corrected inside the factory instead of argued about at destination, and on solar street lights it matters more than on plain fixtures: each unit is a light engine, a battery pack and a controller sharing one housing, and a fault in any of the three surfaces weeks after commissioning, when the balance is paid and the poles are already up.
This checklist is the one we would use if we were the buyer. It covers what to verify, how to verify it without a laboratory, which records to demand by batch, and what to do when a line fails.
What Pre-Shipment Inspection Does and Does Not Cover
PSI verifies conformance to the purchase order at the point of packing. It answers one question: are the goods in these cartons the goods on this PO, built and packed to the agreed standard? It is not a design review, not a type test, and not proof of performance in your climate. Those belong to the sample stage and to the certification file.
The timing rule is simple. Inspect after every unit is finished and after the factory aging run is complete, but before the pallets are strapped and the container is loaded. If you inspect mid-production you will be shown the best units on the line. If you inspect after loading you will be shown photographs.
Who attends is less important than what gets recorded. A third-party inspector, your own engineer, or a factory QC report followed by independent re-verification all work, provided the evidence is photos, measurements and serial numbers rather than a one-line pass verdict.
1. Identity and Configuration Match
Two solar street lights can look identical from three metres away and differ by forty percent battery capacity. Start with the label, then verify the label against the goods, not against the PO alone.
- Model code and PO line number on the carton label and on the fixture nameplate.
- Rated wattage, system voltage, and CCT as ordered (for example 4000K or 5700K, not whatever is on the shelf).
- Battery chemistry and capacity in Wh, compared with the PO figure, not with the marketing name of the model.
- Solar panel wattage and cell type.
- Bracket type and pole diameter range: a 60 mm clamp on a 76 mm pole is a site problem, not a factory problem, once it ships.
- Controller profile and any optional modules written on the PO.
Then open one unit per model and read the battery pack label. The pack is the single most commonly substituted component in this product category because it is hidden, expensive, and invisible on a datasheet photo. Our all-in-one A21 and split A01 product pages list the battery capacity of each variant, which gives you a baseline to check against.
2. Workmanship and Housing
Workmanship defects are cheap to fix in the factory and expensive to fix on a pole. Inspect in daylight with a torch at a low angle, which exposes coating and gasket problems that frontal light hides.
- Powder coating: coverage at edges and around mounting holes, no bare metal, no drips, consistent gloss between units of the same batch.
- Lens and optical cover: no scratches, no mould flow lines over the LED array, no dust sealed inside the optical chamber.
- Gaskets: seated flat in the groove, not pinched, not stretched, no gap at a corner. A pinched gasket is the most common cause of a later water claim.
- Cable glands and breather membranes: tightened to the housing, thread sealed, membrane intact and not painted over.
- Welds and fasteners on the bracket: full penetration, no spatter, correct torque, no thread damage.
- Housing interior: no swarf, no loose screws, no desiccant bag left rattling against the controller.
3. Aging and Burn-In Records
Ask for the aging log before you look at the product. The log should be tied to your batch or serial range, with start and end times, duration, and the units pulled as failures. A factory that cannot produce this document is telling you something useful.
Confirm whether aging was run on every unit or on a sample. Both are legitimate policies, but they are not the same promise, and the difference shows up in the first month of field failures. At Qichenshop, finished units run full aging cycles before packing, and each production batch is recorded so a warranty claim can be traced back to the unit; the same four capabilities are listed on our about page, in the section buyers usually skim.
On the floor, watch one unit run at full output for at least fifteen minutes and step it through the dimming profile. Flicker at a specific level, an unexpected step-down, or a driver that runs too hot to touch all point to a controller or thermal design that will not survive a summer.
4. Light Output Verification
A handheld lux meter at a fixed distance is enough to catch an inflated datasheet. Mark a distance on the floor, centre the meter under the fixture, and record the reading for three units of the same model. Consistency across units matters as much as the absolute value: a spread wider than a few percent means binning is not controlled.
Ask which lumen figure the datasheet quotes. Fixture lumens are always lower than the bare LED rating because of optical and thermal losses, so a supplier comparing bare chip lumens with a competitor’s fixture lumens is not lying about the number, only about the comparison. If the model is sold with a lighting simulation for your project, check that the simulation input matches the measured output.
5. Battery, BMS and Charging
Battery checks at PSI are about identity, protection and state, not about running a full capacity test on site.
- Pack voltage within the normal operating window, and no unit arriving at zero volts.
- Pack label: chemistry, nominal voltage, capacity in Ah and Wh, manufacture date and lot code.
- BMS present and wired: over-charge, over-discharge, over-current and short-circuit protection, plus low-temperature charge cut-off where the destination requires it.
- Charge acceptance under the actual panel: current rising when the panel is illuminated, tapering as the pack fills.
- State of charge for shipment, and the lithium battery documents that must travel with the goods.
If the shipment contains lithium packs, the paperwork is part of the inspection, not an afterthought. Our guide to shipping solar lights with lithium batteries explains which documents the factory issues (UN38.3 test summary, MSDS, dangerous goods declaration where required) and which obligations stay with the importer at the destination port.
6. Sealing and the IP65 Claim
IP65 is a defined class: dust-tight, and protected against water jets from a nozzle. It is not a claim of immersion resistance, and a hose test in a car park does not reproduce the factory test. What you can verify at PSI is the condition of every sealing interface, plus the factory record for the water-ingress test.
- Every gasket compressed evenly, with no visible gap at corners or around gland entries.
- Gland threads sealed, cable strain relief working, no cable pulled tight against the housing edge.
- Breather membrane present and clean; a blocked membrane turns a sealed housing into a condensation chamber.
- Water-ingress test record for the batch, with the units tested and the result.
Sealed fixtures pass water-ingress testing to IP65 before shipment on our line, fixture by fixture, and the records stay with the batch. If a supplier shows you a certificate but no per-batch test log, you have a type test, not a production control.
7. Controller Configuration
Controllers ship with a default profile. If nobody checks it, your dusk-to-dawn street light may arrive set to a five-hour timer with motion dimming at a threshold that never triggers.
Read the settings back on at least one unit per model: switch-on threshold, switch-off delay, timer profile, dimming levels and the motion sensor sensitivity and hold time. Confirm each value against the PO. Where a project calls for smart platform integration, Wi-SUN, Zhaga or a city management system, that is optional and customizable integration which must be configured and tested project by project, not assumed as a standard feature of the fixture.
8. Packing, Drop Test and Shipping Marks
Packaging failures look like product failures on arrival, and the claim lands on the factory either way. Inspect the carton, not just the fixture.
- Carton grade and board thickness adequate for the unit weight; corner protection and foam at the panel edge.
- One unit per carton with internal blocking, so the fixture cannot move when the carton is inverted.
- A drop test performed in front of the inspector on one packed carton, from the height your forwarder’s handling justifies, followed by opening the carton and re-checking the unit.
- Pallet pattern, strapping and stretch wrap; desiccant for humid sea routes.
- Shipping marks, side-up arrows, and the battery handling label if applicable.
Checklist Summary
The table below is the version we hand to inspectors. Print it, add your PO numbers, and require a photo or measurement against each line rather than a tick.
| Area | What to verify | Accept criteria |
|---|---|---|
| Configuration | Model, wattage, CCT, battery Wh, panel Wp against PO | Every line matches the PO; label matches the goods |
| Workmanship | Coating, lens, gaskets, glands, welds, interior cleanliness | No bare metal, no pinched gasket, no loose parts |
| Aging | Batch log with duration and failures; live run at full output | Log covers the batch; no flicker or unexpected step-down |
| Light output | Lux at fixed distance on three units; CCT | Readings consistent between units and consistent with datasheet basis |
| Battery | Pack label, voltage, BMS functions, charge acceptance | Capacity and chemistry match PO; protection working |
| Sealing | Gasket compression, gland sealing, breather, batch IP65 record | All interfaces sealed; per-batch test record provided |
| Controller | Switch threshold, timer, dimming, sensor settings read back | Settings equal the PO profile, not factory default |
| Packing | Carton grade, blocking, drop test, pallet, marks | No damage after drop test; marks complete and legible |
The Document Package
Documents fail inspections more often than products do, because nobody owns them until the forwarder asks. Split the list by who is responsible, and confirm it before the balance payment, not after.
| Document | Issued by | Needed for |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial invoice and packing list | Factory | Customs, freight booking, cargo insurance |
| Test reports: aging log, IP65 water-ingress record | Factory QC | Your quality file and any tender documentation |
| UN38.3 test summary and MSDS for lithium packs | Cell or pack maker, passed through the factory | Carrier acceptance, destination dangerous goods handling |
| Certificate of origin, Form E where applicable | Factory or chamber of commerce | Preferential tariff treatment in ASEAN markets |
| Warranty statement with batch reference | Factory | Claim handling after commissioning |
| Import permits and destination certification | Importer | Customs release in the destination country |
The last row is not a formality. Export documents are ours to issue and we issue them with the shipment; import clearance, local certification and any permit tied to the destination market belong to the importer. A supplier promising to handle destination clearance is either misunderstanding the request or overstating what a factory can do.
How Deep to Sample
Full inspection of every unit sounds rigorous until you see the cost and the calendar. In practice, split the work by risk.
- 100 percent check on labels, quantities and carton marks, because mismatches there are systematic rather than random.
- Functional checks (light output, controller settings, charge acceptance) on a sample across the batch, with at least one unit from each packing pallet.
- Destructive or semi-destructive checks (opening the battery compartment, drop test) on one or two units agreed in advance.
Third-party inspection firms usually work to ISO 2859-1, general inspection level II, with acceptance quality limits around zero for critical defects and low single digits for major defects. Confirm the exact levels in the inspection order, because the same visual defect can be major under one plan and minor under another.
Common Failures at This Stage
| Failure | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Label says one configuration, pack says another | Production pulled a similar model to fill the schedule |
| Gasket pinched at a corner | Assembly speed over sealing discipline; a water claim in six months |
| Controller left on the default profile | No configuration step between assembly and packing |
| Carton too thin for the unit weight | Packaging chosen by price, not by drop height |
| Aging log exists but is not tied to a batch | Traceability is a claim, not a record |
| Lithium documents missing at booking | Paperwork handled after the container is booked, not before |
If the Inspection Fails
A failed inspection is a normal event in a factory that makes things. The response defines the relationship.
- Hold the shipment and photograph every defect with the serial number visible.
- Agree the rework scope in writing, and require 100 percent re-inspection of reworked units rather than a fresh sample.
- Keep the balance payment tied to the re-inspection result, not to the production completion date.
- Refuse the offer to ship spare parts with the container as a substitute for rework. Spare parts solve the factory’s problem, not yours.
Batch Traceability: The Part Buyers Forget
Everything above produces records. Traceability is what makes those records usable a year later, when one unit out of two hundred fails in the field and nobody can tell whether it came from the same battery lot as the other failures.
Ask for the mapping before loading: unit serial or batch code, aging log entry, battery lot, controller firmware version. With that mapping, a warranty claim can be verified to the unit and a suspect lot can be isolated instead of argued over. Our warranty policy describes how claims are handled from the first report to the replacement decision, and why batch records shorten that path.
Where Inspection Sits in the Buying Process
Pre-shipment inspection is the fourth step of a longer sequence: factory audit, quotation comparison, sample validation, pre-shipment inspection, then container loading and commissioning. If you are still selecting a supplier, our factory audit checklist covers the questions to ask before the first order. If you are validating the product itself, the sample order guide lists the four field tests that a factory inspection cannot replace. The wholesale buying guide walks the whole path from RFQ to container loading, including payment terms of 30 percent deposit and 70 percent before shipment.
How Our Process Maps to This Checklist
Everything in this article applies to our own shipments, so it is fair to state where we stand. Complete all-in-one units are assembled under one roof in Jiangmen rather than traded from third parties, so the battery, controller and light engine inside a housing are configured by the same production team that inspects them. Finished units run full aging cycles before packing, sealed fixtures pass water-ingress testing to IP65 fixture by fixture, and each batch is recorded so a claim can be traced to the unit.
Buyers and their third-party inspectors are welcome to schedule a pre-shipment inspection through their sales contact, and the aging log and water-ingress records for the batch are prepared from the same production file used for warranty. Standard production lead time is 15 days, customized configurations run 15 to 25 days, minimum order quantity starts at 50 units, and quotations stay valid for 30 days so a late inspection does not silently invalidate your pricing.
Send us your purchase order and target inspection date through our contact page, and we will return the batch aging log, the IP65 water-ingress record and the full export document set for your shipment, together with an inspection checklist tailored to the exact models on order.
