The City has defended its position that the fire at the Vodacom Building in Century City earlier this year was started by solar panels, despite an outcry that safety and security JP Smith’s remarks were made “prematurely” and caused harm over concerns among potential investors in solar energy.
The City’s view was based on initial observations of the July 9 incident.
“Upon arrival of the first crews, it was discovered that the solar panels on the roof had caused the rooftop to catch fire. This incident is the latest of such fires being caused by alternative energy installations, as those in the corporate and residential sectors battle to mitigate the effects of large-scale rolling blackouts. Ironically, it was just a week back that we issued advice cautioning on such risks attached,” Smith said at the time.
However, Vodacom subsequently confirmed that a preliminary report by the forensic team probing the incident had ruled out solar technology as the cause of the fire, and cited an electrical fault instead.
And now in a recent statement subtitled “addressing misinformation and concerns about the Vodacom building fire” Solarworld Africa managing director, Gregor Kuepper said jumping to conclusions without concrete evidence was harmful to the reputation of the entire industry. The company noted that the solar industry had made significant strides towards sustainability and had become a reliable source of clean energy but “unfounded assumptions can deter potential investors from embracing solar energy solutions”.
“Disappointingly, we have also seen industry players opportunistically using this unfortunate incident to market themselves in bad taste. While competition is healthy, baseless claims against manufacturers, distributors and installers and attempts to position themselves as superior by capitalising on this incident are counter-productive and unprofessional. Now is the time for our industry to support one another to ensure this important renewable energy source is not tainted.”
Solar Africa noted that solar panels undergo rigorous testing and adhere to safety standards to ensure their safe operation.
While Smith would not directly respond to the concerns, the City’s Fire & Rescue Service spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse said: “Fire Service gives a cause based on the initial findings and observations by the first arriving officer and crew. The fire involved the solar panels and the City has not received the detailed findings of the subsequent expert investigations. The roof of the Vodacom Building is fairly high with a large number of solar panels fitted.
Initial observations by the fire service indicated that the solar panels on top of the roof were involved in the fire. Please note that the fire was on top of the roof and only the solar panels and related connections were located here. The City has not received the subsequent detailed expert investigation report.”
Weighing in on fire risks associated with solar panels, Stellenbosch University professor in Structural and Fire Engineering, Richard Walls said with any fire there was risk of ignition and risk of spread.
“Even if something else caused the fire, PV panels could potentially cause it to spread. It is not common, it is not a regular thing and it is not something we can’t design for, to limit the extent they can spread.
“We encourage green energy, it is good, we (just) need to start incorporating it in our codes of practice that govern what should be installed. It is currently not reflected in our codes and a fire can spread underneath the PV panels from one compartment to another but it is not difficult to design away, you just have to have a (fire) break (for example),” said Walls.
Meanwhile, from this month, all small-scale embedded generation systems (SSEG) will need a City-approved inverter and professional sign-off. This applies to solar PV and battery systems connected into wiring of the building.
It doesn’t apply to the trolley inverters for example that plug into wall sockets.
These are regarded as electrical appliances. By September 15, the City said it had authorised almost 6 000 systems.
Cape Times