Firefighters guide for Solar Panels & Battery Energy Storage Systems
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Solar panels and battery storage systems is a special area of challenge for firefighters, and a topic which not all departments have updated training on. This is a universal guide to operating in both these environments.
CTIF has permission to access the information shared by the website of www.nipv.nl/zonnepanelen. There is a guide for incident response and an attention card that is a derivative of this.
The solar panel project group with the CTIF Commission for Extrication and New Technology has three topics that are being worked out:
1. An operational guide for the fire brigade
2. How to deal with home batteries for solar energy storage
3. Laws and regulations
The first topic is now available. Please download the full PDF above. The text here in this article is only a small part.
It is advisable to compare the guide with national laws and regulations (what about grounding of systems and the distance that must be maintained between the nozzle and the solar panels / voltage parts.
For questions, please contact Mark Bokdam (project leader solar panels CTIF-E&NT), m.bokdam@brandweertwente.nl
Photo Credit: Installing photovoltaic panels on the roof at the Research Support Facility (RSF). NREL works on panels that DOE is using leverage a Power Purchase Agreement with SunEdison and Xcel Energy to absorb the upfront installation costs. Original public domain image from Flickr
Action perspective at fires:
1. Explore incident location and choose a deployment tactic (indoor, outdoor, offensive, defensive)
2. In case of an indoor deployment: switch off the meter cupboard if possible. Pay attention to loose
wiring around inverter and roof, do not touch them. With a dry extinguishing suit and dry
extinguishing gloves, you are already sufficiently protected against the danger of electrocution.
3. In case of an outdoor deployment: extinguishing of the solar panels. Watch for falling parts as a
result of the fire.
4. Always use the following distances: extinguishing live parts (solar panel, wiring, inverter): when
spraying min. 0.5 meters distance and with bound radius min. 1 meter away
Note: assume that there is always voltage on the solar panels.
General: Various shapes and sizes possible:
• Processed in the roof or on the roof.
• Alternatives: - noise barrier.
• Incorporated into façade cladding.
• Solar parks (with transformer house).
• Number of solar panels:
- Small-scale application > private > small businesses > not being industrially expected voltage
max. 1000V.
- Large-scale application > e.g. solar parks > companies with large numbers of panels on the
roof > industrial application Voltage possible up to 1500V.
• With large numbers of linked panels, do not come to the installation without expertise. You can
always switch off i.o.m. operator/network operator
• Solar panel is always part of a larger system (cabling, inverter, meter cupboard and possibly Electric
Storage System (ESS).
• ESS is storage by accu packages
Please download the full PDF above. The text here in this article is only a small part.