Firefighters would be better protected against the dangers posed by solar panels under a bipartisan bill approved Thursday by the Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee. It is sponsored by Assembly Republican Bob Schroeder. “New Jersey is one of the fastest-growing markets for solar energy and trails only California in terms of installations, but solar panels pose an unintended threat to firefighters,” Schroeder, R-Bergen and Passaic, said. “Safe firefighting requires knowledge and awareness of the situation. This bill will let emergency responders know at a glance when there’s a threat of electrocution because the building is actively harnessing power from the sun.”
The bill would require buildings to clearly label with an exterior emblem whether they have a solar panel. The safety measure was recommended by the National Fire Protection Association, which noted buildings with solar power systems “can present a variety of significant hazards” in its report Fire Fighter Safety and Emergency Response for Solar Power Systems.
“We can have clean reliable energy without making fires any more dangerous than they already are,” said Schroeder, a volunteer firefighter in the Township of Washington since 1980 who has twice served as Fire Chief. “As a firefighter, I understand the value of knowing immediately what potential dangers await in a burning building I might have to enter. Simply putting a warning sign on the outside of a building could very well save the life of one of our brave first responders.” TLS.
House on fire. Roof covered with expensive solar panels. How do the firemen vent the roof?
to #1, solar panels are breakable I would think. I know the firemen are not worried about the cost of the windows or doors when they are fighting a fire so why would it be any different with solar panels. The sticker is a novel idea, hopefully whereever this sticker is placed is highly visable and isnt burned already when the FD arrives.
A solar panel is an energized electrical device that cannot be easily shut off. If someone was to break a panel with an un-insulated tools there is a high probability of being electrocuted. From my understanding, fire depts. have awareness of the electrical hazards but are not trained in the methods of removing the power source. The direct handling of the power source is the job of an qualified electrician or the electric company.
The second hazard that panels pose to the firefighter is the additional weight load to the roof of a structure, which often can add thousands of pounds of additional stress to the roof. Although engineers can calculate the addition weight that is permissible to add to the roof under normal conditions , under fire conditions gravity takes over and the roof will collapse quickly because of the added weight. It is for the reason that a fire dept will alter its tactics to ensure that no one is hurt or killed while fighting a fire in or around a structure that has panels on the roof.