{"id":617593,"date":"2026-10-10T03:21:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T03:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.olympiajournal.com\/news\/story\/617593\/angelo-zandona-explains-how-to-read-a-ul-9540a-report-and-why-it-matters.html"},"modified":"2026-10-10T03:21:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T03:21:40","slug":"angelo-zandona-explains-how-to-read-a-ul-9540a-report-and-why-it-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pennsylvania-magazine.com\/news\/story\/617593\/angelo-zandona-explains-how-to-read-a-ul-9540a-report-and-why-it-matters.html","title":{"rendered":"Angelo Zandona Explains How to Read a UL 9540A Report and Why It Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"
Fire and life safety consultant Angelo Zandona is helping demystify one of the most important documents in battery energy storage: the UL 9540A test report.<\/div>\n

Los Angeles, California – October 10, 2026 –<\/strong> Angelo Zandona<\/a>, who has more than 22 years of experience in fire and life safety consulting, works regularly with battery energy storage systems, or BESS. These systems store large amounts of electricity for the power grid and are a key part of the shift toward cleaner energy.<\/p>\n

Before any large battery site can be built, it has to clear a set of safety reviews. One of the most important pieces of evidence in that review is a document called a UL 9540A test report. Angelo Zandona’s goal is to explain in plain terms, what those numbers mean and why they carry so much weight.<\/p>\n

What UL 9540A Actually Is<\/strong><\/p>\n

UL 9540A is a fire test method. Its formal title is the Standard for Evaluating Thermal Runaway Fire Propagation in Battery Energy Storage Systems, and it measures how a battery fire behaves once it starts.<\/p>\n

A testing agency forces a lithium-ion battery to catch fire and then monitors what happens. The idea is to learn how a fire spreads, how much heat it releases, and whether it jumps from one unit to the next. Angelo Zandona explains that the test is about understanding what happens when one does.<\/p>\n

Why the Report Is So Crucial<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the United States, this test is not optional for most large projects. Many states require it, and without UL 9540A test data, large BESS projects often cannot receive approval from local authorities.<\/p>\n

The official who grants that approval is called the Authority Having Jurisdiction, or AHJ. This is usually a fire marshal or building official. The AHJ decides whether a project is safe enough to move forward. Angelo Zandona often works alongside these officials, helping translate technical data into decisions. Based on the findings in a UL 9540A report, an AHJ may waive certain space and capacity requirements.<\/p>\n

The Levels of Testing<\/strong><\/p>\n

One thing Angelo Zandona stresses is that not all UL 9540A reports are equal. The test method uses a hierarchical four-level structure. Each level looks at a larger piece of the system.<\/p>\n

The testing starts small, at the level of a single battery cell. If a fire spreads, the testing moves up to the module level, which examines a full battery module. From there it can move to the unit level and finally to the installation level, which looks at the system as it would actually be built.<\/p>\n

When no fire spread is detected at a given stage, the testing program can stop there. It means the problem stayed contained. Angelo Zandona explains the practical takeaway being, the more complete the test data, the more confidence an official can have. Installation-level data is considered the gold standard for approvals at commercial and utility scale.<\/p>\n

What the Numbers Tell You<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Angelo Zandona reviews one of these reports, he looks past the raw figures to the story they tell. He checks the peak heat release rate, measured in kilowatts, and the total heat energy produced. He also looks at whether the fire spread to neighboring cells or modules. He checks the gas measurements, which is important for ventilation and explosion control. And he looks at whether any reignition appeared during the 24-hour monitoring window after the test.<\/p>\n

Each of these data points connects to a real design decision. Heat release affects how far apart units should be placed. Gas data connects to deflagration analysis under standards such as NFPA 68 and NFPA 69, which deal with venting and preventing explosions. Angelo Zandona works with all of these standards in his consulting practice.<\/p>\n

Turning Data Into Decisions<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Angelo Zandona, the UL 9540A report is a starting point. The test data has to be read correctly, applied to the specific site, and combined with other studies like hazard mitigation analysis and water supply evaluations. This is why Angelo Zandona encourages project owners not to treat the report as a box to check. The goal is to understand it, and to make sure the people approving the project understand it too.<\/p>\n

Building Trust Through Clarity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Angelo Zandona believes that clear communication is part of good safety work. When a fire marshal can understand why a site is safe, approvals move faster and communities feel more confident. By helping clients and officials read these reports with confidence, Angelo Zandona aims to close the gap between complex engineering and real-world decisions.<\/p>\n

Angelo Zandona continues to provide specialized fire and life safety consulting for battery energy storage systems and complex infrastructure projects nationwide. His work spans hazard mitigation analysis, emergency response planning, deflagration analysis, and the technical documentation that keeps clean energy projects both safe and on schedule. More information is available at https:\/\/angelozandona.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Media Contact<\/span>
Company Name:<\/strong> Keystone Fire Consultants<\/a>
Contact Person:<\/strong> Angelo Zandona
Email:<\/strong> Send Email<\/a>
Address:<\/strong>2108 N St. Suite N
City:<\/strong> Sacramento
State:<\/strong> California 95816
Country:<\/strong> United States
Website:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.keystonefireconsultants.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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Fire and life safety consultant Angelo Zandona is helping demystify one of the most important documents in battery energy storage: the UL 9540A test report. Los Angeles, California – October<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pennsylvania-magazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617593"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pennsylvania-magazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pennsylvania-magazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pennsylvania-magazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pennsylvania-magazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pennsylvania-magazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617593\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pennsylvania-magazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pennsylvania-magazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pennsylvania-magazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}