Firefighters want better safeguards when facing the dangers posed by the country’s fastest-growing source of renewable energy.
Fire and Rescue NSW wants solar panels equipped with a power shut-off capability at the meter box to lessen the risk of live power running through the roof.
The Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authority Council is researching the potential dangers of the increasingly popular technology.
ACT Fire and Rescue chief officer Paul Swain said the main concern was electrocution.
”The potential danger with solar panels installed on house roofs is that the power is live between the solar panel and the meter box at the structure,” he said.
”Risk management strategies at the moment vary from covering panels with foam or a tarpaulin to types of isolation switch. As this is comparatively new technology that is constantly changing, the risks are still being identified.”
Mr Swain said firefighters needed additional training to be familiar with the solar panel technology spreading across Canberra with more than 10,000 households connected since the ACT Government launched its feed-in tariff scheme.
The rapid uptake has led to the technology becoming synonymous with shonky operators.
But Professor Martin Green from the University of NSW said solar panels were a proven, reliable, and ever-cheaper source of electricity that could play a major role in powering the world.
A spokesman for Fire and Rescue NSW said that changing technology was forcing the authority to adapt their traditional responses.
”Solar energy is but one of many such hazards,” he said.
If a building with solar panels is on fire, firefighters are instructed to switch off the power at the mains and at the inverter, if possible.
However authorities are pushing for increased measures to secure the safety of firefighters.
”Fire and Rescue NSW is currently working with other fire agencies and stakeholders … to advocate for a power shut-off at the meter box,” the spokesman said.
”This would enable firefighters and other emergency services to completely disconnect the power from the panels at ground level.”
The potential dangers of large solar farms are being investigated.
A spokesman for NSW Rural Fire Service said a grass fire at a large solar farm would potentially require a different approach due to ”increased electricity risk” but wouldn’t stop firefighters tackling the blaze.
Meanwhile, the NSW Rural Fire Service has relocated one of its helicopters to the state’s southern regions as bushfire threats increase south of the ACT border. The spokesman said increased grass levels had prompted an awareness campaign about grass fires, which can reach speeds up to 30km/h.
”We haven’t seen a lot of fire action for a number of seasons and in some areas that may have led to a sense of complacency,” he said.
”They get very big very quickly.”
