#Hardware certifications for Japan

33 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

gleaming pilot
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Hello !

Being in Japan, I am trying to understand why the Smart Home market here is so far behind the rest of the world I know (France and what Home Assistant YouTubers are showing).

For instance, for Zigbee devices you can only find Third Reality, Ikea and Philips Hue devices. Some devices from China are available on Amazon for 3 times the price on Aliexpress but I wonder if they can legally be used in Japan. SwitchBot is dominating the market here, there are some closed solutions too. A standard called Echonet Lite exists but beside Smart Meter, I have yet to come across such devices.

I discovered that there is a need for a radio certification for Zigbee devices and also a certification for home electronics using outlets.

Any plan to get these certifications for Home Assistant hardware to be legally usable in Japan ?

MIC The Radio Use Website｜Conformity Certification System｜Technical...

Radio station equipment, regulations conformity, system,

south cliff
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Home Assistant itself only sells host hardware (the Green and the Yellow) and the ZBT-1 (for now). It has nothing to do with Zigbee certification when it comes to devices. That would be up to manufacturers themselves.

gleaming pilot
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I am sorry, it is not about the ZigBee certification, it is about if the final product can be sold legally in Japan. It is probably a Japan specific requirement.
For example, the radio certification is for devices emitting any radio signal under a certain threshold and is targeted to manufacturers and importers.

deft peak
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The only thing HA makes that'd be relevant here would be the ZBT-1 Zigbee coordinator

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Everything else is made by others, and it'd be down to them to sort any certification needed

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HA couldn't have those other manufacturer's devices certified as they have no involvement or control

gleaming pilot
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For example, are the Green and Yellow sold by seeedstudio manufactured by then too?

Another question is, does it mean that for the green, as it does not qualify as a radio station according to the Japanese law, changing the power outlet is enough?

deft peak
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The Yellow is designed by HA, but manufactured by others (and then you add the Pi)

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The Green has no radios

gleaming pilot
deft peak
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(again, the Green is designed by HA but made by others)

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There's also zero need to buy either of those

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HA runs on a very wide range of hardware

gleaming pilot
# deft peak HA runs on a very wide range of hardware

Thank you very much for the answers!

I know, but the technical knowledge needed to use HA is really low on a green, in a country where people do not understand English and thus have a low amount of documentation available, it would be nice to have access to it. 😁

For the ZBT-1, HA is manufacturing it directly?

deft peak
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No

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HA manufacturer nothing themselves, but they're responsible for the design

gleaming pilot
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Ok, thank you! I will ask Seeedstudio if they can do something

deft peak
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Making that kind of thing is specialised, a lot of people that "make" them do the design and have somebody else build them

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I'd go looking at manufacturers like SMLight, or the Sonoff E Zigbee dongle. They're likely big enough to have the option of certification

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I say option because it's never cheap, and that is a factor

gleaming pilot
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I see, thank you for the explanation, I am a total newbie in this world. 😁

deft peak
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If certification costs $10K then that has to be funded somehow, and expected profits have to (far) exceed that

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(many certs cost far more)

gleaming pilot
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Thanks for all the explanation!

grim shell
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@gleaming pilot i m not sure how i ended here but im in the same situation as you, i live in japan and i struggled to find device compatible with home assistant.
Echonet lite work great for me tho and allowed me to have all my aircons / solar panel / floor heater / bathroom etc connected to home assistant.
if you need help with anything, send me a message.

gentle trellis
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According to the datasheet of the ZBT-2, it seems like it's only certified to be sold in the US (FCC), EU (CE), Australia and New zealand (RCM). However, there is a "Mutual Recognition Agreement" between the US and Japan that lets products essentially share certifications, so maybe it's just a matter of sending the application? Or maybe the US cert is already enough?

In any case, there's really nothing end consumers do except ask nabu casa (and maybe just roll the dice and hope customs don't notice)

gleaming pilot
gentle trellis
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Yeah that was also my takeaway, if the test reports pass the US's cert body then it wil also pass for Japan's, but you still have to apply for it separately

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As someone wanting to sell electronics, certifications are going to be my bane of existence >.>

gleaming pilot
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Sometimes, I wonder if I should not try kickstarter to get some devices certified for Japan. It looks so complicated though

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Where do you plan to sell electronics?

gentle trellis
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On my own webshop, probably also going to do a Kickstarter for certifications and initial stock once a working prototype is done. It is really a scary black box.

gleaming pilot
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Yeah, it is scary, I wonder what happens if they say "no", do you have to pay again? I wish you the best for your adventure! Would enjoy it if you document it