Solar Panels Could Become Burning Issue for Firefighters

By George Berkheimer, STAFF WRITER

As state and local incentives to promote alternative energy sources increase, so do the chances that firefighters will someday find themselves dealing with a photovoltaic (PV) system at the scene of a fire.
PV systems, which are high voltage, direct current electricity generators, pose potential new hazards for firefighters who frequently need to ventilate burning residential and commercial buildings by cutting holes in roofs - where solar panels are typically located.
At present, there are no state guidelines in Maryland for fighting fires involving PV systems. Solar panels also are not specifically covered by curricula at the University of Maryland's Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute (MFRI), the state's comprehensive training and education system for emergency services.
Granted, the number of PV systems in existence is still relatively low; but solar power system installers in the region are busier than ever with new installations and say they expect the market and demand to expand rapidly as energy costs inflate and incentives to transition to alternative energy sources multiply.
"We've gone from six employees to more than 20 over the past few months," said Richard Deutschmann, vice president of the mid-Atlantic region for Jessup-based Chesapeake Solar. "We're getting calls for new installations nearly every day. We've never been this busy, which is both good and bad, because the industry is nowhere near market saturation."

New Hazards
Division Chief Michael Cox, a spokesman for the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, said his agency does not have any formalized training program addressing solar panels, but instructors do talk about them during their course of instruction with firefighter candidates.
"We get a lot of our information from web sites dealing with firefighter safety," he said, such as www.firefighterclosecalls.com.
"This is something that's very new to us," said Battalion Chief Eric Proctor of the Howard County Fire & Rescue Department's Training Division. "The county is green and the state wants to become green, so it's a political issue here. As time passes, we're going to see more of these systems and we'll have to do something to account for safety."
Lacking any clear guidance on how to prepare, he said the department's best current option is to observe what other jurisdictions with PV system experience do and try to change its operations accordingly.
"If we encountered a fire involving a PV system this afternoon, operations would slow down until we got on the phone to the Office of Emergency Management," which has the ability to reach out to other jurisdictions quickly and get needed information, Proctor said.
Even then, the department would only act with haste if there were an immediate threat to life. "With no life hazard," he said, "we would be willing to just let it burn and take all the time we need to ensure firefighter safety."

Limited Training Resources
The state does offer some training that deals with electrical systems, noted City of Laurel Fire Marshal Dave Cope, but firefighters have major concerns about their ability to successfully disconnect and discharge PV systems.
The biggest challenge is that the systems deliver a constant flow of electricity - up to 500 volts - between the panels and the electrical inverter when the sun is shining and continue operating, even when the main switch is thrown.
Both Cope and the city's electrical inspector are trying to educate themselves about potential problems that firefighters might encounter, hoping to get ahead of an issue which is fast approaching. At the moment, the Laurel City Council is considering legislation that would make Laurel a green city and provide more incentives for residents to switch to solar power.
"We haven't had any issues with this yet, but I know it's coming," Cope said.
Ron Hassan, institute development section manager for MFRI, said course curricula dealing with utilities controls only generally reference PV systems. He also acknowledged that current MFRI resources are narrowly focused only on the training skills that lead to certification.
"As a state training agency, we leave it to local jurisdictions to handle [specialized ancillary training] themselves," he said.
"I don't know of anything that's underway [at the state level] to address this particular issue," said Joe Zurolo, Maryland's Deputy State Fire Marshal. "We've never had any fires related to solar panels, so that issue has never come up."

Talking Safety
Several years ago, the burgeoning solar market in California prompted an ordinance prohibiting the issuance of new PV system permits without the state fire marshal's approval.
"The fire marshal determined that he didn't know enough to instruct firefighters how to deal with fires involving these systems," said Peter Lowenthal, executive director of the Maryland-D.C.-Virginia Solar Energy Industries Association (MDV-SEIA).
The situation prompted a series of meetings between the California Fire Marshal's office and the California SEIA beginning in 2007, looking at such topics as clear walkways on rooftops, areas to ventilate roofs, methods to protect firefighters from energized conductors and warning signs to alert firefighters to the systems.
In Maryland, the need for such a dialog has yet to arise. After all, noted Lowenthal, there are a multitude of web sites, including one hosted by the National Fire Protection Association, which firefighters are using to educate themselves.
Still, he said, his organization would eventually like to offer its own class for firefighters with the goal of having one person on each fire crew knowledgeable about PV systems.
A better idea, Lowenthal said, might be to actually install solar panels on the roof of every fire department. This solution would not only give firefighters the ability to study a PV system up close and become familiar with it, but also would provide cheap, reliable power for the firehouse and prevent service disruptions from unanticipated power outages on the regular grid.
In any case, as more PV units come online and begin producing electricity, it's clear that some firefighters are beginning to feel uncomfortable about being left in the dark when it comes to learning how to operate around the systems.
"Departments will soon have to make it a priority," said Cox, "to get more information about solar panel safety to their firefighters."