Solar Panel Fire

[Andy]

Report this morning says this was a solar pannel fire.

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2015-04-20/huge-fire-breaks-out-at-hove-town-hall/

 

[SolarPanelCleaning]

Inverters can get very hot?

 

[Smurf]

Oh well I hope they are covered on their insurance as solar panels are an added risk of fire for sure. Not only that are a high risk to firefighters too.

This is not a new thing as roof fires caused by faulty solar panel arrays have been going on world wide for a long time now.

Here is an other article back in 2014 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2738673/Schools-warned-solar-panel-fire-risk-Free-green-scheme-halted-three-mystery-blazes.html

 

[Keir999]

I'm a Firefighter and your not wrong Smurf ...

 

[Smurf]

That's interesting. May I ask how are you trained to deal with solar panel arrays on fire @Keir999 ?

 

[Keir999]

They pose a few problems Smurf. The actual panels are very unlikely to start a fire, but if a building is already on fire which has solar panels it can cause the following :

Cells in panels are charged with direct current and any loose or cut wires can cause injury.

Toxic gasses can be released from fire damaged panels

Brackets can melt causing the panels to slip and fall from roofs