The Fire Risk in Photovoltaic Installations – Checking the PV Modules Safety in Case of Fire

The installation of photovoltaic systems on buildings involves several problems, including the risk of fire (2011, Italy: 298 Fire fighters interventions; 2012, Germany: 390 established PV plant fires), which many countries are trying to solve.Standards focused specifically on fire behavior of PV modules don’t exist yet. Currently, test protocols focused on other equipment are used to test PV modules fire reaction. About that, a research program was carried out to do a short analysis of PV systems fire events and to analyze the current test protocols to identify criticalities and possible improvements / protocols variants.