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fire accidents

Fire suppression system for flat rooftops with PV systems

Minimax’s PVProtect system, which is recognized by German insurers, detects solar panel fires and fights them in their early stages.

Fire at Australian solar farm

A fire broke out on Monday at the 110 MW Beryl Solar Farm in New South Wales, Australia, causing damages that are still being assessed. Emergency services were able to quickly bring the blaze under control and the unaffected areas of the solar farm are now back online.

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PV system fires potentially exacerbated by gap between solar panels, rooftops

Norwegian researchers have published a new study showing that the space between solar panels and rooftop surfaces might play a critical role in contributing to PV system fires.

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Senec remotely switches off its residential batteries after explosion in Germany

The German battery manufacturer said this week its residential storage systems were automatically switched to a regulated stand-by mode in Germany. The background to the remote shutdown is three reports of explosions in houses in which Senec products were installed.

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Amazon warehouse fire linked to solar installation

A recent fire at an Amazon warehouse, with an estimated $500,000 in damages, has been linked to an issue with a rooftop solar system, according to Susquehanna Hose Co.

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How to protect rooftop PV systems from fire risk

Dutch research institute TNO has released a series of guidelines to reduce fire hazards in rooftop PV installations. The study follows a series of fire accidents that occurred between 2018 and 2020 in the Netherlands, for which the main causes were identified.

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Significant decline in potentially unsafe PV systems in Australia

A very small number of PV systems installed on Australian rooftops are considered to be potentially unsafe, the nation’s Clean Energy Regulator says in a new report. It identifies water entering DC isolators as the greatest risk and the most common cause of PV system failures.

Solar system fires are on the rise in the U.S.

Historically underreported by the U.S. Fire Administration, fires at solar installations rose 36% from 2017 to 2018. With residential installations representing the majority of fires, infrared imaging could be the key to bringing the number down.

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Mind the gap

Fire safety engineering researchers have demonstrated increasing the gap between the modules of commercial PV arrays and flat roof surfaces is a decisive factor in reducing fire risks. Experiments have identified a critical gap height below which flame spread rate increases significantly.

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Scientists analyze toxic gases released from burning thin-film, PET-laminated modules

Scientists from China’s State Key Laboratory of Fire Science have analyzed the combustion behavior of flexible PET-laminated PV panels. They found toxic gases including sulfur dioxide, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen cyanide and a small amount of volatile organic compounds are released when such a PV system burns.

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