Fighting Fires With Solar Panels

Lots of pipes and a few thin wires photo 9 indicate a solar hot.

Fighting fires with solar panels.

Specifically this study focuses on structural fire fighting in buildings and structures involving solar power systems utilizing solar panels that generate thermal and or electrical energy with a particular focus on solar photovoltaic panels used for electric power generation. Paul mcallister a firefighter in rhode island told a local television station that firefighters often attempt to fight fires from outside the building rather than enter the house if there are solar panels on the roof. After all putting water on an electrical fire is not smart right. Dc arc faults are quite simply electrical energy flowing through an air gap which in turn creates an electrical arc.

Panels take up needed space on the roof. Solar plays an important role offering an alternative infrastructure of energy generation and distribution that will protect vulnerable communities from different threats of fire and disaster. Combine the dc arc with a combustable material and fire is the result. 1 2 courtesy of u s.

The national electric code which is adopted in all 50 states mandates the automatic shutdown of solar inverter. Firefighting is intrinsically dangerous and battling a blaze in a building equipped with solar panels only adds to the list of perils firefighters have to confront. Most are designed to withstand large hailstones and high winds. After all solar panels don t have tail pipes.

Since solar panels are everywhere from home roofs to roadside signs to supermarkets firefighter training is intended to deal with all the challenges that may arrive when fighting fire with solar products involved. Unless alternative environmental factors are at play solar panel fires are caused by one thing dc arc faults. Today in the united states demand for solar is at an all time high and the fire service must become educated and trained on the. Only solar electric systems pose significant firefighter hazards but note that solar shingles may be hard to spot photo 8.