Event Details
The next IREC Telephone Seminar will be held Wednesday, April 30, at 2pm EDT (1pm CDT, noon MDT, 11am PDT, 10am Alaska, 8am Hawaii) on Fire Safety Guidelines for PV Systems. The seminar will last for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Over the past several years various fire districts in California and throughout the U.S. have raised concerns about the safety of fire fighters working on buildings with PV systems. Many of these concerns centered on how to ventilate a roof covered with PV modules, or how to disconnect the live circuits so that fire fighters will not be shocked by exposed conductors.
The California Solar Energy Industries Association (Cal SEIA) worked with the California State Fire Marshall’s office to set up a series of meetings between representatives of the solar industry and interested parties in the fire protection community. The meetings produced set of guidelines for PV fire safety. The guidelines focus on the required area on rooftops for access of firefighters to the roof and to ventilation requirements for residential and commercial rooftops.
Bill Brooks of Brooks Engineering will discuss the guidelines and the issues that lead to their development. Mr. Brooks participated in the meetings which developed the guidelines.
Bill Brooks
Bill Brooks, PE of Brooks Engineering, LLC, has 20 years of experience designing, installing, and evaluating grid-connected PV systems. Over 4,000 installers and 3,000 inspectors have attended his courses throughout the U.S. and abroad. He has authored several widely used publications including the Inspector Guidelines for PV Systems. Actively involved in the developments of PV codes and standards including IEEE-929 (PV Utility Interconnection) and for NEC Article 690 (Solar Photovoltaic Systems), Mr. Brooks holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University and is a registered Professional Engineer in North Carolina and California.
