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Certification is not a blanket promise that every DALI-2 product will work in every installation. The exact brand, GTIN, firmware, hardware version, product ID, DALI-2 Part coverage, wiring design, and commissioning settings still need to be checked for the proposed system.
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What DALI-2 certification means
DALI-2 certification is the DALI Alliance’s formal conformity program for components used in DALI-based lighting-control systems. A manufacturer submits a product for the applicable tests; the Alliance verifies the test results and publishes the certified product record. Only products that complete certification may use the DALI-2 trademarks, according to the Alliance’s certification overview.
This is a significant change from the original DALI version-1 registration model. Version-1 compliance relied on manufacturer self-declaration, while DALI-2 adds Alliance verification of test results. The practical benefit is evidence that a specific product has been assessed against the relevant requirements, rather than relying solely on a supplier’s statement.
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- The Shelly DALI Dimmer Gen3 is a Wi-Fi-enabled smart dimmer featuring a DALI single master application controller. It supports LED control gear compliant with DALI Part 207 and provides a guaranteed bus power supply of 10mA, accommodating up to five DALI control gear units. In addition to its primary functions, it also serves as a Bluetooth gateway for enhanced connectivity. Designed for maximum versatility, it seamlessly works with both single- and dual-button switches and operates independently without requiring a hub.
- Compatible with Alexa, Google Home, Home Assistant - Connect your Shelly device to Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Home Assistant, Samsung SmartThings, and other smart home platforms. Control lights and appliances with voice commands, create automations, schedules, and scenes, and manage your smart home from anywhere.
- Smart Dimmer for DALI Lights - Seamlessly control high-end DALI luminaires with the Shelly DALI Dimmer Gen3 and integrate them into your Shelly smart ecosystem. Enjoy precise, repeatable brightness control along with additional features designed for easy maintenance. Excellent integration with external Shelly sensors and input controls enhances automation and improves the functionality of your home or office space.
- Optimizing Commercial and Specialized Spaces - Integrated into a DALI lighting network, the Shelly DALI Dimmer Gen3 delivers flexibility and precision for dynamic environments. Ideal for open spaces, conference halls, retail areas, and hospital operating rooms, it enables easy lighting adjustments to enhance functionality and comfort.
- Shelly is one of the fastest-growing Smart Home brands, offering automation solutions for homes, buildings, and businesses. Device include a 3-year warranty and professional support. With the Shelly Smart Control App, you can configure and manage devices remotely, get real-time notifications, and create personalized scenes by combining Shelly devices to trigger automated actions across your smart home.
The program is intended to improve confidence in interoperability among DALI-based devices made by different companies. The Alliance describes that as a confidence benefit, not as an unconditional compatibility guarantee. A certified product can still be unsuitable for a particular controller, bus power arrangement, firmware combination, application, or installation design.
Which products can be certified?
DALI-2 covers more than the control gear that switches or dims luminaires. The certification scope includes control gear, control devices, and bus power supplies. The control-device category includes equipment that sends commands or provides input to the control system.
Application controllers
Application controllers implement lighting-control logic and issue commands to other DALI devices. In a building project, this may be the component that translates schedules, occupancy logic, scenes, or user commands into DALI messages. Its certification record should be checked separately from the record for the luminaires or control gear it operates.
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Presence, occupancy, daylight, push-button, and other input devices can be submitted as DALI-2 control devices. A sensor’s certification does not by itself establish that a particular application controller will interpret every input exactly as the project expects; the system design and configuration still matter.
Specialized control gear
The Alliance’s 2022 announcement also identified color-control products and self-contained emergency-lighting control gear within the certification program. These products address applications that need more than basic on/off or dimming behavior, so the relevant DALI-2 Part and product function should be recorded in the specification.
D4i products
D4i certification is an extension of DALI-2 certification, as described in the DALI Alliance product database. A D4i marking should therefore be checked through the product record, alongside the product’s DALI-2 identity and applicable features.
DALI version 1 and DALI-2: the practical difference
The table below separates the main differences that affect product selection and project risk.
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| Comparison point | DALI version 1 | DALI-2 |
|---|---|---|
| Verification | Compliance relied on manufacturer self-declaration. | The DALI Alliance verifies submitted test results before certification. |
| Product scope | Version-1 registration covered control gear. | Includes control gear, control devices, and bus power supplies; the Alliance also identifies application controllers, sensors, other input devices, color-control gear, and self-contained emergency-lighting control gear within the broader program. |
| Product checking | Use current manufacturer and Alliance information for legacy equipment. | Check the exact product record in the public Alliance database, including brand, GTIN, firmware, hardware version, and unique product ID. |
| Program status | The Alliance’s 2022 announcement said version-1 registration had ended; confirm current policy in Alliance materials when handling legacy products. | Certification remains available only for DALI-2 Parts covered by the current test sequences. |
DALI-2 is therefore not simply a new logo for the same registration process. It combines a broader device scope with independently verified testing and a more precise public product identity.
Does DALI-2 guarantee compatibility between brands?
No. Certification is designed to increase confidence that products follow the relevant DALI requirements, including when equipment comes from different manufacturers. It does not remove the need to validate the complete system.
Compatibility can depend on details such as:
- Whether each product is certified for the DALI-2 Part that the installation uses.
- Whether the submitted hardware and firmware match the versions in the Alliance record.
- Whether the application controller supports the functions exposed by the sensors, control gear, or emergency-lighting equipment.
- Whether the project has an adequate, correctly configured bus power supply and a controller that can address the planned devices.
- Whether scenes, groups, colour commands, emergency tests, and other functions are configured consistently during commissioning.
For a construction project, treat certification as a risk-reduction check, not as a substitute for a coordinated controls design. Require the proposed system’s product list, confirm each identity in the database, and resolve any firmware or hardware mismatch before procurement.
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- DALI COMPATIBILITY: Professional LED driver with DALI dimming protocol support for precise lighting control and automation integration
- POWER OUTPUT: LED driver module designed for constant current output, providing stable and reliable power delivery
- CONTROL FEATURES: Advanced dimming capabilities with smooth fade transitions and multiple operating modes
- PROFESSIONAL GRADE: Industrial-quality electronic component engineered for commercial and professional lighting applications
- VERSATILE DESIGN: Compatible with various LED lighting fixtures and systems requiring professional dimming control
What is a DALI-2 control device?
A DALI-2 control device is a certified component that provides control intelligence or input to a DALI lighting system rather than functioning solely as the luminaire’s control gear. It may generate commands, detect conditions, or translate user actions into DALI messages.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Control device versus control gear
Control gear is associated with operating the light source, such as regulating output from a luminaire. A control device generally supplies the decisions or inputs: an application controller may execute logic, while a sensor may report occupancy or light level. A bus power supply supports communication on the DALI line. A complete installation can contain all three categories, and each category has its own certification record and product identity.
Why the distinction matters on drawings and submittals
Schedules that list only the luminaire driver can hide uncertified or mismatched sensors and controllers. Identify the control-device manufacturer, model, GTIN, firmware, hardware revision, and DALI-2 Part in the controls schedule. This makes substitutions easier to assess and gives the commissioning team a traceable list.
How to check whether a product is DALI-2 certified
Use the Alliance’s live public product database. A logo on a box or datasheet is useful as an initial signal, but the database record is the decisive product-identity check.
- Open the database. Go to https://api.dali-alliance.org/products and search for the manufacturer and model.
- Match the brand and product. Confirm that the database entry uses the same brand and product designation as the submitted equipment. Similar model names or family-level marketing names are not enough.
- Match the GTIN. Compare the product’s Global Trade Item Number with the database record. If the GTIN differs, stop and ask the manufacturer to clarify the relationship.
- Match firmware and hardware versions. The Alliance states that certification is valid only when the tested product’s firmware and hardware versions match the database entry. Record those versions in the submittal and verify them on the delivered unit.
- Confirm the unique product ID. The product must have a valid unique ID in the Alliance record. Save the record or its identifying details with the project documentation.
- Check the certification type. Determine whether the record is DALI-2 or D4i and identify the covered function or Part. Do not assume that a D4i extension covers every feature of a product family.
- Recheck after substitutions or updates. A hardware revision or firmware update can change the identity that was tested. Repeat the database check whenever the supplier proposes a substitution or a field update.
This process is especially important when a distributor supplies a product under a private label or when several regional packaging versions exist. Certification attaches to the tested, identified product, not to a vague category name.
DALI-2 Parts and current certification availability
DALI-2 certification is Part-specific. The Alliance’s certification-status page reports that its allowed-Parts document was updated in June 2026. Parts that are not included in the DALI-2 test sequences cannot yet be certified. Check the current DALI-2 certification status before specifying a function that appears new, specialized, or outside common control-gear and sensor categories.
This status limitation matters when a product advertises a capability that sounds compatible but has no corresponding certifiable Part. Ask the manufacturer which Part was tested, then verify that the database record and the current allowed-Parts information agree. If no applicable Part exists, describe the feature as a manufacturer-specific implementation rather than presenting it as DALI-2-certified behavior.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A construction-project workflow for using certification
Certification delivers the most value when it is built into the project process rather than checked after installation.
1. Write a device-level specification
List the required control functions and identify every device category: control gear, application controllers, sensors, user inputs, bus power supplies, colour-control equipment, and emergency-lighting control gear where applicable. State that proposed products must have a matching DALI-2 or D4i record.
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2. Review submittals before approval
For each proposed device, collect the brand, model, GTIN, firmware version, hardware version, unique product ID, and applicable DALI-2 Part. Compare those details with the live Alliance record and retain the checked information in the submittal log.
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- Suitable for ESP32-C6-Pico / ESP32-S3-Pico development boards, supports sending DALI signals to lighting source controllers and achieving customized control of multiple lighting groups
- Compatible with Pico interface, based on the ESP32-C6-Pico header, suitable for ESP32-C6-Pico / ESP32-S3-Pico
- Onboard DALI communication screw terminal for connecting external DALI devices
- Comes with examples for ESP32-S3 / ESP32-C6, enabling customized control through simple modifications
- DALI2 expansion Module for ESP32-Pico series boards, Supports DALI communication for customized control of multiple lighting groups
3. Coordinate the complete system
Check that the application controller, sensors, control gear, and bus power supply support the required functions together. Confirm addressing, grouping, scene requirements, colour behaviour, emergency-lighting tests, and any interface assumptions with the controls specialist.
4. Control substitutions
Do not approve a replacement merely because it carries a DALI-2 logo or has a similar model name. Run the same identity and Part check for the substitute, and update drawings, schedules, and commissioning files.
5. Commission against the approved list
At handover, compare installed labels and firmware with the approved database records. Test the specified control functions and document any approved changes. This creates a usable record for maintenance and future firmware work.
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In an announcement dated May 17, 2022, the DALI Alliance reported more than 2,300 DALI-2 products in its online database, including more than 1,800 DALI-2 control-gear products and more than 1,600 registered DALI version-1 control-gear products. Those figures are a historical snapshot from 2022, not a current database count. The live database should be used for present-day availability and identity checks.
The same announcement illustrates why the Alliance emphasizes certification and public records. As General Manager Paul Drosihn said on May 17, 2022: “We encourage all users to look for the DALI-2 or D4i logos, which confirm that the product is certified by the DALI Alliance and is fully compliant with the relevant specifications.” The quote supports using the marks as a screening aid; the exact database entry remains necessary for the product-level checks described above. The announcement is available from the DALI Alliance.
Common problems and how to resolve them
The model appears in marketing material but not in the database
Ask the supplier for the exact certified model, GTIN, firmware, hardware version, and unique product ID. Do not treat an “equivalent” family member as certified until its own record is found.
The product record has a different firmware or hardware version
Hold approval and determine whether the delivered version is an updated certified submission, an older certified version, or an uncertified variant. Obtain written clarification and a matching database entry before commissioning.
A certified sensor does not behave as expected
Check the application controller’s supported functions, the relevant DALI-2 Part, addressing and configuration, and the bus power arrangement. Certification does not configure the system or guarantee that every controller interprets every optional feature identically.
A proposed feature has no allowed Part
Review the current status page. If the Part is absent from the test sequences, it cannot yet be presented as DALI-2-certified. Specify the function as a manufacturer-specific feature only if the project accepts that dependency and the supplier documents it.
Bottom line
DALI-2 certification makes digital lighting controls easier to specify and verify by combining independently checked test results with a public product record. It broadens the program beyond traditional control gear to controllers, sensors, other input devices, bus power supplies, and specialized equipment. For reliable construction projects, use the certification mark as a starting point, then confirm the exact database identity, firmware, hardware, GTIN, unique ID, and applicable Part before approving a system or substitution.
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