The adoption of photovoltaic power systems, commonly known as solar panels, has seen a notable increase in commercial settings over the past decade.
This growth coincides with many corporations striving to achieve zero-carbon emissions targets to tackle climate change effectively. While solar energy serves as a dependable power source for facilities without disrupting operations, it is essential to understand the associated fire risks.
Rising Concerns Over Fire Risks in Solar Installations
The heightened deployment of photovoltaic systems has led to increased scrutiny of potential fire hazards. Data from The Hartford indicate a 36% rise in solar-related fires from 2017 to 2018, predominantly affecting commercial establishments.
A variety of factors contribute to these risks, including improper maintenance, accumulation of debris, and the inability to shield panels from damage. Natural elements such as lightning, overcharging, overheating of electrical components, and short circuits further exacerbate the situation.
The Challenge of Fire Prevention in Commercial Facilities
An effective early detection system is crucial to safeguard the facility, assets, and personnel
In vast commercial setups like warehouse distribution centers, solar panels often rest atop buildings, complicating early fire detection and risking significant fires before they reach hazardous levels.
Conventional fire suppression systems, such as sprinklers, are not feasible for rooftop use due to potential roof damage, environmental concerns, and space limitations. Therefore, an effective early detection system is crucial to safeguard the facility, assets, and personnel.
The Role of Linear Heat Detectors
Linear heat detectors (LHDs) offer a cost-effective and reliable means for early fire detection. These systems use a copper wire with a protective outer sheath that melts when exposed to fire, activating an alarm.
Given the rooftop placement of solar panels, the LHD’s durable outer sheath withstands environmental elements that might impair other detection methods. Positioned directly beneath the solar panel wiring, LHDs, enhanced with Confirmed Temperature Initiation technology, accurately distinguish between genuine fire events and false alarms, minimizing unnecessary responses.
Enhanced Response to Roof Fires
The strategic placement of LHDs underneath solar panels allows for immediate fire detection
The strategic placement of LHDs underneath solar panels allows for immediate fire detection. The quick triggering of alarms upon exposure to high temperatures ensures prompt response and accurate identification of the fire's origin.
This precision facilitates more efficient action by first responders, enhancing safety and reducing the likelihood of extensive structural damage or the need for costly repairs. Linear heat detectors prove more practical and cost-effective compared to spot detection sensors that require regular maintenance.
Preventative Measures and Routine Maintenance
Proactive measures such as routine maintenance, debris cleaning, and ensuring solar panels are neither overcharged nor overheated significantly diminish the risk of fires. The rooftop positioning of these systems highlights the importance of effective fire detection solutions to protect both the facility's occupants and its assets. Linear heat detectors, offering swift identification of fire incidents and alerting emergency services swiftly, remain a dependable choice for enhancing safety in commercial environments, even under challenging conditions.
Everon offers solutions to implement linear heat detectors, delivering comprehensive fire protection for critical equipment and areas while optimizing the overall cost of ownership.
The use of Photovoltaic power systems (PV), also known as solar panels, has grown over the last decade in commercial settings as many corporations have made commitments to reach zero-carbon emissions in the next few decades to help combat climate change. Solar energy has proven to be a reliable way for corporations to power their facilities without interruption to their day-to-day operations but may come with possible risk.
Increased usage of PV power systems has raised awareness of the fire risks these technologies may present. According to The Hartford, “From 2017 to 2018, solar-related fires rose 36%, with the majority of fires affecting commercial buildings.”
Overcharging and overheating of electrical equipment
There are many possible causes of fire outbreaks due to the use of solar panels, including abuse factors like poor maintenance of the PV panels themselves, delayed cleanings and debris removal, and failure or inability to protect panels against damage. Other factors like lightning and surge suppression, overcharging and overheating of electrical equipment, and short circuiting also pose an increased risk.
In large-scale commercial facilities like warehouse distribution centers, solar panels are often installed on the roof of the building, making a fire event difficult to spot until the fire has already spread and increased in temperature, posing a life safety risk to all those working inside.
Traditional fire suppression solutions
Additionally, traditional fire suppression solutions like sprinklers are unable to be installed on the roofs of these facilities due to possible risk of damage done to the roof, environmental conditions, and an overall lack of space, meaning there is no suppression technology available to slow or prevent the rate of growth of a fire.
This makes a solution that can detect a fire as soon as possible very necessary to help protect the building itself, your assets, and most importantly, your people.
Identifying a cost-effective, reliable solution
Linear heat detectors (LHDs) have proven to be the most effective and inexpensive solution to detect a fire event. LHDs are comprised of a copper wire with an outer sheath that melts away in the event of a fire, thus setting off an alarm. Solar panels installed on the roof of the facility makes them susceptible to environmental factors like weather, and the jacket or sheath outside the LHD wire itself can withstand environmental conditions that could deteriorate other forms of detection.
The LHDs are installed directly underneath the PV panel wires, and when paired with Confirmed Temperature Initiation technology, they can discern whether an increase in temperature has been caused by a mechanical short in the linear heat detector and a thermal alarm activation – helping reduce the rate of false alarms.
Roof fire caused by PV panels
Due to their proximity to the solar panels, fire events are detected quickly, triggering alarms as soon as high-heat temperatures reach the copper wire – allowing for a timely response. Having the LHD installed directly underneath the solar panels also helps pinpoint exactly where the fire outbreak started, leading to a more effective response when first responders arrive on the scene, making this solution more practical and cost-effective than spot detection sensors that require costly maintenance and inspection.
A timely and accurate response to a roof fire caused by PV panels can determine the difference between stopping significant damage to the roof and major reconstruction of the entire facility.
Importance of enhanced protection and routine maintenance
There are a multitude of actions that can be taken to prevent a PV or solar panel fire event from occurring, including routine maintenance and cleaning, clearing debris, and ensuring solar panels are not overcharged or overheating. The placement of solar panels on roofs makes a potential fire risk especially dangerous to occupants inside of the facility due to the overhead location.
Fire events can occur due to outstanding factors like weather, making fire detection solutions necessary to, first and foremost, help protect occupants inside large-scale commercial warehouses, while ensuring assets and the building itself are safe. Linear Heat Detectors are an inexpensive solution that can quickly identify a fire event, alert first responders for a timely response, and withstand environmental conditions – remaining reliable and able to detect a fire event even in harsh conditions and suitable for the protection of facilities, assets, and most importantly, life.
Everon can help implement linear heat detectors that provide comprehensive fire protection within critical equipment and across large areas while lowering the total cost of ownership.
