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IEC TR 63226
Edition 1.0 2021-02
TECHNICAL
REPORT
colour
inside
Managing fire risk related to photovoltaic (PV) systems on buildings
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IEC TR 63226
Edition 1.0 2021-02
TECHNICAL
REPORT
colour
inside
Managing fire risk related to photovoltaic (PV) systems on buildings
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 27.160 ISBN 978-2-8322-9395-9
– 2 – IEC TR 63226:2021 © IEC 2021
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
INTRODUCTION . 6
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references . 7
3 Terms and definitions . 7
4 Risk evaluation . 7
4.1 General . 7
4.2 Site selection . 7
4.3 Aspects for building risk evaluation . 7
4.3.1 Roofing materials. 7
4.3.2 Building construction . 8
4.3.3 Building contents . 8
4.3.4 Use of building. 9
4.3.5 Building type considerations regarding financial risks . 9
4.4 Measures for supporting firefighter and rescue service operations . 9
4.4.1 General . 9
4.4.2 Response times of emergency responders and available apparatus. 10
4.4.3 Geometry, height, accessibility of building . 10
4.4.4 Coordination with fire alarm systems . 11
4.5 Other organizational aspects. 11
4.5.1 Briefing fire services in on-site specific aspects . 11
4.5.2 Harmonize measures with fire protection measures of building . 12
4.5.3 Harmonize measures with owner, user and building and inventory
insurance . 12
5 Technical PV system design measures for fire prevention . 12
5.1 General . 12
5.2 Initial PV system design considerations to minimize risk . 12
5.2.1 General . 12
5.2.2 Ventilation . 12
5.2.3 Accumulation of flammable material. 13
5.2.4 Cabling . 13
5.3 Arc-fault detection . 13
5.4 Earth-fault detection. 14
5.5 Automatic shutdown after first fault . 14
5.6 Coverboard . 14
6 Technical PV system design measures for supporting firefighter and rescue
service operations . 15
6.1 General . 15
6.2 Initial PV system design considerations to minimize risk . 15
6.2.1 General . 15
6.2.2 DC cable lengths and routing . 15
6.2.3 DC cabling marking . 15
6.2.4 Access pathways and escape routes . 15
6.2.5 Caution board . 15
6.3 Generator/string-level shutdown . 15
6.4 Module-level control, ELV-systems, distributed array protection . 16
6.5 Cable routing measures . 17
6.6 Fire-resistant cable raceways. 17
7 Installation and commissioning . 17
7.1 General . 17
7.2 Important installation requirements impacting risk . 17
7.3 Commissioning procedures . 18
7.4 Documentation – clear installation, owners, fire services and maintenance
manuals for PV equipment . 18
8 Operation and maintenance . 18
8.1 General . 18
8.2 Inspection of electric system . 18
8.3 Inspection of mounting structure and building influence . 19
8.4 Inspection of pathways . 19
8.5 Cleaning . 19
8.6 Thermography. 19
8.7 Recommendations for empty buildings or systems not under supervision . 19
9 Corrective measures after fire . 19
9.1 General . 19
9.2 Measures to avoid safety risks or further damage . 19
9.3 Safety inspection . 20
9.4 Measures to bring PV system into a safe state . 20
Annex A (informative) Analysis from fire incidents in PV systems . 21
A.1 General . 21
A.2 Component where fire started . 22
A.3 Cause of incident . 23
A.4 When did incidents occur? . 25
Bibliography . 26
Figure 1 – Cable routing related to pathways . 11
Figure A.1 – Number of identified incidents and severity of effect on surroundings for a
total of about 400 fire reports . 21
Figure A.2 – Distribution of fire reports depending on mounting type . 21
Figure A.3 – For cases of damaged buildings only: distribution of fire reports
depending on mounting type . 22
Figure A.4 – Counts of system section where fire started . 22
Figure A.5 – Counts of component where fire started . 23
Figure A.6 – Distribution of identified causes of fire incidents . 23
Figure A.7 – Number of incidents over operation system age . 25
Table A.1 – Number of incidents with a certain damage . 21
– 4 – IEC TR 63226:2021 © IEC 2021
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
MANAGING FIRE RISK RELATED TO PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV)
SYSTEMS ON BUILDINGS
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote international
co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To this end and
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Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way
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