by BETTER FARMING STAFF
Huron County fire chiefs are working to come up with an approach to fires in buildings with solar panels on their roofs but until they do at least one chief isn’t sure how his volunteers might respond to such a fire.
Steve Cooke, part-time chief of the Central Huron fire department, says there are a number of dangers firefighters have to consider approaching a fire in a building with solar panels on the roof. He says he is not saying they won’t respond, but how they respond is up leaders on site. “It’s going to be an individual call,” Cooke says. “Having said that, if there’s a rescue, we’re gonna do it.”
A Bullet News Huron report earlier this week says Cooke raised the issue at a council meeting where an application to add a large solar array to a farm building was being considered. “There is a possibility that if a structure has a massive solar panel system on its roof, that we wouldn’t be fighting the fire,” the report quoted Cooke as saying. The report said he added: “We’re not spraying water on 600 volts, that’s all there is to it.”
In an interview with Better Farming, Cooke said he expects a meeting of Huron County fire chiefs this week will lead to the establishment of a committee to come up with standards for fighting fires where solar panels are involved. He said they will also be drafting standards for solar panel installation.
“We’re in the process of developing an operational guideline that we’re going to make universal across the county so we’re all operating on the same page so if we have to go to a mutual aid call with another fire department, we’re all operating the same way.” He says there are 15 volunteer fire departments covering all of Huron County.
“The bottom line on it right now, because we don’t know enough yet, is if it’s dangerous, it’s not worth anybody’s life,” he said.
Cooke said the only safe water stream they can use fighting solar panel fires is fog, which restricts reach. They are not allowed to use foam, either.
The chiefs drafting the guidelines, Cooke says, will be working with health and safety guidelines put out by the Ministry of Labour and the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office. Ministry guidelines say fire departments should develop policies and operational guidelines to deal with solar-panel fires.
“The primary hazard for firefighters dealing with photovoltaic (PV) installations is electric shock,” the guidelines say. “An array of multiple panels can produce DC current and voltages above 600 volts. This represents a hazard for firefighters if they come in contact with damaged panels or energized exposed wiring during firefighting or ventilation operations.”
The ministry guideline says panels cannot simply be switched off. They will always remain energized as long as they are exposed to a source of light. “They should be treated as live electrical equipment,” the guidelines say. BF
Comments
The fire fighters will have to suck it up so to speak ... the min of labour municipality and others who should have a say are being told "it is a provincial green energy initiative (liberal one) and none of the usual compliance's including reasonable concerns that should be heard have been given even common sense consideration. When fighting solar panel fires don't cal 911 ...try the weather man, have him turn off the sun.
I think this is going to be another hidden cost for going green. I hope fire fighters will save trapped people but I don't blame them if they let buildings with solar panels burn rather than deal with the electricity. Now for the howls from people who have panels on a building and now can't get insurance anymore. Hope the 80 cents is still enough!
John Gillespie
Ripley
yet another hidden cost could come from an angry bank manager who calls your building loan or farm mortgage if he finds out your fire insurance has been terminated.
Solar panel fire, electrocution, flood damage, installation and roof access can be made safer with the installation of a Remote Solar Isolator. www.remotesolarisolator.com.au
Your title speaks volumeswhen you say "making solar safe" We agree it is not safe. Are you also saying the quoted research done by BF is not accurate or complete?
The ministry guideline says "panels cannot simply be switched off. They will always remain energized as long as they are exposed to a source of light. “They should be treated as live electrical equipment,” the guidelines say. BF
From your own quote source "Even when following the Australian Standards 2012 recommended shutdown procedure, lethal DC voltages are still generated throughout the panels and the associated wiring."
If the remote isolator switch is fail proof and CSA approved! which is not stated, why is this not mandatory in every installation in Ont? If the fire fighter have this concern and the proper approval channels were not shortcut do you not think this would have been addressed as code?
Maybe you would like to comment why this green energy program was foisted on rural Ont without the proper critique and safety required for most new technologies?
Maybe as a previous poster pointed out since this is predominately on rural ag land a "best management practices" protocol would save lives in advance, a novel idea that would go a long way to giving green energy and its promoters some credibility.
"Are you also saying the quoted research done by BF is not accurate or complete?" No I didn't say that at all.
What we are saying and the article is saying solar panels once installed can not be switched off and can generate a lethal 600 d.c volts.
A Remote Solar Isolator can restrict this to Extra Low Voltage max of 120 d.c volts. At this level it is not lethal. If required it can be reduced further to the max output of 1 panel about 40 d.c volts. So yes it does make solar safe for any one accessing the roof.
In a recent fire in the U.S. warehouse with 7000 solar panels the fire fighters could not access the roof and vent the roof because of fears of electrocution. If the Remote Solar Isolator was installed they could have put an axe through the panels if they wished.
We are working with the industry and would love to see mandatory
"Are you also saying the quoted research done by BF is not accurate or complete?" No I didn't say that at all.
What we are saying and the article is saying solar panels once installed can not be switched off and can generate a lethal 600 d.c volts.
A Remote Solar Isolator can restrict this to Extra Low Voltage max of 120 d.c volts. At this level it is not lethal. If required it can be reduced further to the max output of 1 panel about 40 d.c volts. So yes it does make solar safe for any one accessing the roof.
In a recent fire in the U.S. warehouse with 7000 solar panels the fire fighters could not access the roof and vent the roof because of fears of electrocution. If the Remote Solar Isolator was installed they could have put an axe through the panels if they wished.
We are working with the industry and would love to see it mandatory.
And they are installing them on School roofs.
David Lyons
Caledon
The Lib government has tried to make connections between agriculture and green energy as being compatible shared activities.
Green energy either enhances or encumbers this same agricultural land this activity shares.
For every other sector and activity related to agriculture there are accepted published best management practices. It seems odd there are no accepted or published best management practices for green energy that surely should describe property rights and injurious affection purported on valuable agricultural land ...at least for somebody.
I am not sure your claims can be related to solar all that much, I am thinking you must be referring to wind, and you have some valid points if wind energy is what you are talking about.
I am most definitely referring to solar as well as wind. The solar farm purposed to be built next to me wants to do a cut and fill (total leveling of the one hundred acre site) to maximize the number of panels that can be built. They feel that they have no obligation to surface drainage, facilitied by present natural drainage topography effectively damning runoff water on two upstream neighboring properties.
The municipality says they have no say in the green energy act process. All usual procedures involving alternate use of land, environmental assessments, drainage act etc. have been short circuited from the usual due process and most commenting agencies.
I thought your municipality is ducking their responsibilities here. I would be interested in talking to you more about this.
John Gillespie
Local fire chief told me that their plan of attack is to let the building burn and try to stop adjacent buildings from starting on fire depending on the risk factor .
It would actually be nice if BF would get the dirt on these things from insurance companies . They may find that some will not insure and other will but at what cost . It may take most or all of the income to cover the insurance cost from what i have heard .
Sunlight is not needed to produce deadly currents from Photovoltaic,(PV), panels. Many PV panels are sensitive to wavelengths that the human eye cannot percieve. Solar panels for electricity achieve their best when activated by the multitudes of wavelengths which make up sunlight, although bright sunlight or even daylight is not needed. If a PV panel is broken be extremely cautious as there will be many potential points along any exposed edge due to the many substrate lines which make up the large array. Most panels are constucted off shore due to the chemical mixtures. The MSDS is an interesting read.
All PV panels even broken should have some voltage at the connection points. Always separate, isolate and cap or cover both the panel connections you are working on and the feed-in connections. Some panels will generate heat if you short the outputs.
Take-care.
Stan Thayer, CET.
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