How Do Firefighters Deal With Solar Panels

Not only can nearby trees shade your system and reduce your power harvest but deciduous trees can drop leaves on your system every fall.

How do firefighters deal with solar panels. 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. When fire departments arrive to a house fire where solar panels are interconnected to the power grid they have two options to kill the power on your solar panels and both ways are very quick. As firefighters see an uptick in homes with solar panels officials said they have to learn how to do their jobs around them. Currently there is not a nationwide standard operating procedure for approaching residential and commercial fires when rooftop solar panels are present.

Much inaccurate information about pv and firefighter safety has been published on the internet recently even to the point of recommendations to let it burn if solar panels are spotted on a roof. If you don t feel comfortable on a ladder pay a professional for the service. 1 2 courtesy of u s. Solar panel cost data california 2020 updated.

As mentioned fire and electrical codes are also being updated to deal with these issues. The national electric code which is adopted in all 50 states mandates the automatic shutdown of solar inverter. Solar panels present firefighters with new challenges. The first way is by turning off your inverter by a simple flip of the switch located on the front panel see picture below.

Firefighters attempting to extinguish a fire in a house outfitted with solar panels can also cover the arrays with heavy tarps limiting their exposure to light so that these light sensitive cells do not become energized. 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. As of sep 2020 the average cost of solar panels in california is 2 68 per watt making a typical 6000 watt 6 kw solar system 11 877 after claiming the 26 federal solar tax credit now available. You want to make sure that the building is de energized or the panels.

If you can keep your trees trimmed to prevent this annoyance.