NM 06.8.001: Morocco's solar street light standard

NM 06.8.001 “LED solar street lights for public lighting – General requirements” (IMANOR, 2024) is the first Moroccan text that states what an NM 06.8.001 solar street light must prove: luminaire efficacy ≥ 130 lm/W, an autonomy test of 16 h continuous at ≥ 40 % of rated flux, a charge controller and a battery designed for ≥ 5 years of service, and a PV module whose lowest edge sits ≥ 3 m above the ground. Since Law 12-06 and Decree 2-22-431, referencing NM standards is mandatory in public procurement: a solar public-lighting specification that does not cite it is incomplete. This guide reads each clause the way a design office or a commune's technical department needs it.

What is NM 06.8.001 and who wrote it?

NM 06.8.001 is a Moroccan standard prepared by technical committee CN 033 “Electrical products” of IMANOR (Institut Marocain de Normalisation), filed under ICS 93.080.40; the draft went through public enquiry EP 52/2024, which closed on 30 September 2024. It does not replace the existing luminaire standards; it assembles them. The luminaire is still judged against NM IEC 60598-1 and NM EN 60598-2-3, LED modules against NM IEC 62717 and NM EN 62031, the PV module against NM CEI 61215 and 61730, the battery against NM CEI 61427-1 and NM CEI 62133 for LiFePO4, and the lighting level against the NM EN 13201 class chosen by the contracting authority. For a commune, a scattered list of standards becomes one set of requirements that can be cited in a single line. A note on method: the clause numbers below come from the draft submitted to enquiry (September 2024); the homologated text is purchased from IMANOR and its thresholds must be checked before being frozen in a specification.

Which solar street lights fall within its scope?

The scope (§1 and §3.1 of the draft) covers LED solar street lights designed to reach a predefined NM EN 13201 lighting class on public roads. Three points matter to a buyer:

• new installations and all-in-one modules mounted on existing poles are both covered: replacing a sodium head with a solar head on an existing pole is within the standard;
• façade-mounted solar luminaires are excluded;
• a hybrid grid back-up supply is allowed.

In other words, a solar floodlight in a farmyard or a wall light on a residence is outside NM 06.8.001; a solar head fitted on a communal lighting column is inside it.

What must the luminaire and its LED modules prove?

§5.1 requires an efficacy of ≥ 130 lm/W for the complete luminaire, measured to NM IEC 62722-2-1 — that is, the flux actually leaving the luminaire divided by the power it draws, not the efficacy of the LED chips. An LED module rated 180–220 lm/W does not by itself guarantee 130 lm/W at luminaire level once optical, driver and thermal losses are counted: ask for the luminaire test report, not the diode manufacturer's sheet. LED modules must comply with NM IEC 62717 (performance) and NM EN 62031 (safety); the standard also refers to the EMC and photobiological texts (NM IEC 61547, NM EN 55015, NM EN 62493, NM EN 62471).

PV module: why the 3 m rule?

§5.2 requires modules certified to NM CEI 61215 (performance) and 61730 (safety) and one simple siting rule: the lowest edge of the panel must be at least 3 m above finished ground, against vandalism and theft but also against shading by vehicles, hedges and buildings. On an all-in-one module the rule is met as soon as the pole is 4 m; on a split kit it dictates the height of the panel bracket, not only that of the luminaire.

What must the charge controller be able to do?

§5.3 is the most demanding clause for entry-level products. The controller (NM CEI 62509, NM IEC 62093) must provide 0–100 % dimming, an astronomical clock and automatic weather-adaptive dimming computed from night length and the energy left in the battery; its output may go up to 48 V DC and its service life must be ≥ 5 years. A lighting-management node (NM IEC 62386) remains optional. In practice, a street light that runs at full power until its battery is empty cannot comply: the standard requires it to “reason” in available Wh.

Battery and autonomy: what does “16 h at 40 %” mean?

§5.4 defines autonomy by a reproducible test: 16 h of continuous operation at no less than 40 % of rated luminous flux, at 25 °C, per NM IEC 62722-2-1. This is not “three rainy nights”: it is a laboratory test that can be compared from one bid to the next. Nominal voltage must lie between 12 and 48 V DC, service life must be ≥ 5 years, and the chemistry must meet its own standard (LiFePO4 and Li-ion: NM CEI 62133; gel: NM EN 60896-22). Three locations are allowed: a box at the pole base, the concrete foundation, or the luminaire and PV module, provided it can be reached without removing the panel. With a mean daily maximum of 35 to 39 °C in the hottest month in Fès, Marrakech or Ouarzazate, where the battery sits is a service-life decision, not a detail.

Table: the numerical requirements of the NM 06.8.001 draft

Poles, IP/IK and installation: what the standard leaves to the client

§5.7 refers metal poles to NM EN 40-4 to -7 (steel, aluminium) or NM EN 14229, hot-dip galvanised to NM ISO 1461, with a corrosivity class chosen per NM ISO 12944; installation follows NM 06.1.004. IP and IK ratings, however, are “specified by the client” (§7): a silent specification requires nothing. Our recommendation, to be written in so many words: IP66 and IK08 for coastal lots (Casablanca, Mohammedia, El Jadida, Agadir), IP65 and IK08 inland, backed by an NM EN 60529 / NM EN 62262 report. A customs reminder that matters for the financial package: the pole is of Moroccan origin (25 % safeguard duty on imported poles, HS 7308.90.10); the customs classification of the luminaire is confirmed by our freight forwarder.

Marking and manual: the clauses acceptance visits forget

§9 requires, on the pole or on the all-in-one module, a unique identifier, the trademark of the party placing the product on the market, the year of manufacture, the battery identification and the reference “NM 06.8.001”. §10 requires an operation and maintenance manual written at least in Arabic: block diagram, battery type, voltage and capacity, charge and discharge regime, mounting, emergency isolation, cleaning and expected performance by season. For a commune these two clauses found the maintenance register: without an identifier per pole, nobody can trace which battery was replaced and when.

Why is the NM reference mandatory in a public tender?

Article 35 of Law 12-06 on standardisation and Article 5 of Decree 2-22-431 on public procurement require the technical specifications of public contracts to refer to Moroccan standards. IMANOR's guide “Applying standards in public procurement – Public lighting” (February 2026) states what is at stake: public lighting accounts for 30 to 40 % of a territorial collectivity's energy consumption and is usually its first budget item. Two marks must not be confused: the NM mark is a voluntary product certification issued by IMANOR; the Cم marking (Law 24-09, Order 3228-13, Orders 2573-14 low voltage and 2574-14 EMC) is mandatory and comes with a supplier's declaration of conformity. To turn these requirements into clauses ready to paste, see our tender specification guide.

Where does LALOGO stand on NM 06.8.001?

Our all-in-one solar street lights LS-A60 to LS-A140 and our split kits LS-S60 to LS-S120 are designed to these references: LED modules of 180–220 lm/W, replaceable LiFePO4 batteries (3.2 V built into the all-in-one, 12.8 V in a pole-base box on split kits), an MPPT controller with programmable time and dimming profile, dusk-to-dawn sensor and PIR detector. The NM 06.8.001 file for the range is in progress: we claim no conformity until the test reports exist, and values not yet measured (complete-luminaire efficacy, IK, the 16 h test) are “on request”. Stated autonomy remains “up to 12 h per night, 3–5 days of reserve at the default profile”; autonomy depends on irradiation (sizing on December) and on the dimming profile.

Key takeaways

• NM 06.8.001 (2024) covers LED solar street lights for public lighting, new or as all-in-one heads on existing poles; façade wall lights are out of scope.
• Four numbers to require: ≥ 130 lm/W (complete luminaire), 16 h at ≥ 40 % flux at 25 °C, ≥ 5 years of service for controller and battery, PV module ≥ 3 m above ground.
• IP and IK are for the client to specify; with no value written in the specification there is no requirement.
• Referencing NM standards is mandatory in public procurement (Law 12-06 art. 35, Decree 2-22-431 art. 5); Cم marking is mandatory, the NM mark voluntary.
• The clauses quoted come from the September 2024 draft: buy the homologated text from IMANOR before freezing a specification.

Sources

• IMANOR, catalogue, NM 06.8.001 — imanor.gov.ma
• IMANOR, public enquiry EP 52/2024 — imanor.gov.ma
• IMANOR, draft PNM 06.8.001 (DC-30-09-2024) — PDF
• IMANOR, Guide “Application des normes dans les marchés publics – Éclairage public”, February 2026 — PDF
• MCINET, products subject to the Cم marking — mcinet.gov.ma
• Le360, safeguard measures on public-lighting poles — fr.le360.ma