The plastic components of rural lighting electrical ready boards in Africa are required to meet the UL94 V 0 flame retardant rating, with a conventional assessment thickness of 1.5mm, which is also the general technical bottom line for rural lighting projects in Africa. This application scenario has a special environment, with many thatched and wooden structures in residential areas, and a lot of combustibles in the surrounding area. Once the internal short circuit or overload of the electrical Ready Board Box triggers an arc, the burning and dripping of plastic parts can easily cause a fire, and strict requirements are placed on flame retardant performance.

According to the UL94 V 0 standard, after two 10 second flame applications, the residual combustion time of the sample should not exceed 10 seconds per application, and no ignited droplets that can ignite cotton should be produced. After the fire source is removed, it quickly extinguishes and can effectively prevent the fire from spreading outward. Although UL94 V 1 does not ignite droplets, its self extinguishing time limit is 30 seconds, which poses a higher risk than V 0 and is generally not selected as the main option for this scenario; UL94 V 2 allows the generation of flammable droplets and is strictly prohibited from use; HB is of horizontal combustion grade and has no self extinguishing ability. It is prohibited to use it on key components such as shells, terminal blocks, and insulation brackets.

The project selection often uses UV resistant modified flame-retardant PC materials, and the yellow card report must correspond to the actual molding thickness of the product. The V-0 report with a thickness of 3.2mm cannot replace the 1.5mm test result. At the same time, it should be noted that UL94 flame retardant rating and glow wire test (GWT 750 ℃/850 ℃) are two independent indicators that cannot be replaced by each other. Eskom's bid usually requires both to be met. The metal box itself does not meet UL94 standards, only polymer components such as plastic shells, insulation separators, and terminal bases are required to comply with this flame retardant requirement, reducing the risk of rural power distribution fires from the material source.