Abstract The fire risk in the photovoltaic systems has emerged over the years as not negligible, setting in motion a process, which involves various organizations (control Authorities, standardization bodies, modules manufacturers, etc.) for achieving the codification of construction, design and installation of these systems and their components to minimize fire risk. Currently, European standards focused specifically on fire behavior of PV modules don't exist yet, so test protocols focused on other equipment are used to test PV modules reaction to fire. About that, a research program was carried out to do a short analysis of PV systems fire events, to analyze the current test protocols and for identifying their criticalities and possible improvements. In particular, some variants of these protocols have been developed basing on some of the existing test protocols in standard harmonized at European level about reaction to fire of construction products. These variants have been designed for being specific test tools for determination of reaction to fire features of PV modules with main attention to important peculiarities such as: modules inclination, initial fire particularly aggressive

Baffoni, Gian Luigi

Gramazio, Pasqualino

Guastella, Salvatore

Liciotti, Claudio

Manzini, Giovanni

English

AbstractThe fire risk in the photovoltaic systems has emerged over the years as not negligible, setting in motion a process, which involves various organizations (control Authorities, standardization bodies, modules manufacturers, etc.) for achieving the codification of construction, design and installation of these systems and their components to minimize fire risk. Currently, European standards focused specifically on fire behavior of PV modules don’t exist yet, so test protocols focused on other equipment are used to test PV modules reaction to fire. About that, a research program was carried out to do a short analysis of PV systems fire events, to analyze the current test protocols and for identifying their criticalities and possible improvements. In particular, some variants of these protocols have been developed basing on some of the existing test protocols in standard harmonized at European level about reaction to fire of construction products. These variants have been designed for being specific test tools for determination of reaction to fire features of PV modules with main attention to important peculiarities such as: modules inclination, initial fire particularly aggressive

Elsevier - Publisher Connector 

1876-6102 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license 
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of ATI 2015
doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2015.11.805 
 Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758 
ScienceDirect
ATI 2015 - 70th Conference of the ATI Engineering Association 
The fire risk in photovoltaic installations - Test protocols for 
fire behavior of PV modules 
Giovanni Manzinia, Pasqualino Gramaziob, Salvatore Guastellaa, Claudio 
Liciottic, Gian Luigi Baffonid,* 
 aRSE S.p.A., via Rubattino 54, 20134 Milano, Italy 
bPolitecnico di Milano, Dept. of Energy, via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italy 
cKBDevelopmentS.r.l, via Alessandro Volta, 13, 25010 San Zeno Naviglio (BS), Italy 
dIstituto Giordano S.p.A., via Rossini 2, 47814 Bellaria (RN), Italy 
Abstract 
The fire risk in the photovoltaic systems has emerged over the years as not negligible, setting in motion a process, 
which involves various organizations (control Authorities, standardization bodies, modules manufacturers, etc.) for 
achieving the codification of construction, design and installation of these systems and their components to minimize 
fire risk. Currently, European standards focused specifically on fire behavior of PV modules don’t exist yet, so test 
protocols focused on other equipment are used to test PV modules reaction to fire. About that, a research program 
was carried out to do a short analysis of PV systems fire events, to analyze the current test protocols and for 
identifying their criticalities and possible improvements. In particular, some variants of these protocols have been 
developed basing on some of the existing test protocols in standard harmonized at European level about reaction to 
fire of construction products. These variants have been designed for being specific test tools for determination of 
reaction to fire features of PV modules with main attention to important peculiarities such as: modules inclination, 
initial fire particularly aggressive. 
 
© 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.  
Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of ATI 
 
Keywords: PV modules; Reaction to fire; Test protocols. 
1. Introduction 
Number of photovoltaic installations is increasingin many countries, including Italy, due to the 
increasing sensitivity of the population and the institutions to environmental issues and to economic 
 
* Corresponding author. Giovanni Manzini, Tel.: +39(0)2 39925643; fax: +39(0)2 39925626. 
E-mail address:giovanni.manzini@rse-web.it. 
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
© 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license 
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of ATI 2015
 Giovanni Manzini et al. /  Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758 753
incentivisation policy made in recent years (e.g. 2014, Italy: +0.65GWp, total installed power 18.45GWp, 
650,000 systems in operation). 
 
Nomenclature 
lxh width and height of sample(s) [m] 
Small flame tests (EN ISO 11925-2:2010) 
lf ignition (external) flame length [cm] 
'tf time during which the ignition (external) flame is in contact with sample [s] 
D angle between sample and horizontal floor 
SBI tests (EN 13823:2010) 
D angle between sample and horizontal floor 
'tf time during which the ignition (external) flame is in contact with sample [s] 
HRRf Heat Release Rate of ignition (external) flame [kW] 
HRR Heat Release Rate of sample fire (without ignition flame)[kW] 
 
The diffusion of photovoltaic systems has been accompanied by several cases of accidental 
combustion whose number has been growing (2011, Italy: 298 interventions of Fire Departments [1]; 
2012, Germany: 390 fires of this type [2]). 
Because of that a research program was carried out by RSE S.p.A. as part of the research for the Italian 
Electrical System† performing, initially, a brief analysis of the PV systems fire cases (PV on buildings, no 
BIPV systems) and a study of existing legislation and technical standards. Finally, a program of 
experimental tests, based on some of the existing standard test protocols, was performed for evaluating 
the fire behavior of some PV modules and new test protocols were developed and perfected. In particular, 
because of the existing standards are not focused on PV modules, the later ones could allow a better 
assessment of certain typical aspects of the reaction to fire performance of those modules, mainly due to 
outdoor installation [3, 4] (inclination of the modules, presence of initial degradation in some areas of 
module, presence of ventilation, aggressive ignition events: initial flame with enhanced power and size 
and / or with longer duration).Mainly, the new tests revealed the significant influence on the behavior of 
the modules of sample inclination and of initial / ignition flame (power, size, duration). 
Because of the ongoing development of standard projects on that topic, some of the results obtained 
were also discussed in CEI TC 82 “Systems of photovoltaic conversion of solar energy” (WG11 “The fire 
risk in photovoltaic plants”) and in CENELEC TC 82 “Solar photovoltaic energy systems” (WG01 
“Wafers, cells and modules”). 
The fields of legislation and standards (national and international levels) are currently under 
development with regard to issues of PV modules fire safety. In particular, the following documents of 
Ministry of Internal Affairs (Department of fire fighters, public rescue and civil protection) are currently 
in force in Italy: 
 
† This work has been financed by the Research Fund for the Italian Electrical System under the Contract Agreement between RSE 
S.p.A. and the Ministry of  Economic Development - General Directorate for Nuclear Energy, Renewable Energy and  Energy 
Efficiency in compliance with the Decree of  March 8, 2006. 
754   Giovanni Manzini et al. /  Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758 
x Note prot. n. 1324 on 07 February 2012 - Subject: "Guide for the installation of photovoltaic systems – 
2012 Edition" (it refers to the harmonized European standards for construction products);  
x Note prot. n. 6334 of 4 May 2012 - Subject: "Clarification on the Guide for the installation of 
photovoltaic systems - 2012 Edition" (it refers to national technical standards used before the 
implementation of the Construction Products Directive 89/106/EEC, later replaced by Regulation no. 
305/2011). 
About the technical regulation, it refers mainly to the following standards: 
x IEC 61730-2:2004 "Photovoltaic (PV) module safety qualification - Part 2: Requirements for testing" ; 
x UL 1703:2015 "Standard for Flat-Plate Photovoltaic Modules and Panels"; 
x UL 790:2014 "Standard for Standard Test Methods for Fire Tests of Roof Coverings"; 
x EN 13501-1:2007+A1:2009 "Fire classification of construction products and building elements - Part 
1: Classification using data from reaction to fire tests" (which refers to CEN/TS 15117, EN 13823, EN 
15725, EN ISO 1182, EN ISO 11925-2, EN ISO 1716, EN ISO 9239-1); 
x EN 13501-2:2007+A1:2009 "Fire classification of construction products and building elements - Part 
2: Classification using data from fire resistance tests, excluding ventilation services"; 
x EN 13501-5:2005+A1:2009 "Fire classification of construction products and building elements - Part 
5: Classification using data from external fire exposure to roofs tests" (which refers to ENV 
1187:2002); 
x EN 13823:2010+A1:2014 "Reaction to fire tests for building products - Building products excluding 
floorings exposed to the thermal attack by a single burning item"; 
x EN ISO 11925-2:2010+AC:2011 "Reaction to fire tests - Ignitability of products subjected to direct 
impingement of flame - Part 2: Single-flame source test"; 
x CEN/TS 1187:2012 "Test methods for external fire exposure to roofs"; 
x CEI 82-25:2010 “Guida alla realizzazione di sistemi di generazione fotovoltaica collegati alle reti 
elettriche di Media e Bassa Tensione” (Guide to the realization of photovoltaic generation systems 
connected to electrical grids of medium and low voltage); 
x CEI EN 61730-2:2009 (CEI 82-28) “Qualificazione per la sicurezza dei moduli fotovoltaici (FV). 
Parte 2: Prescrizioni per le prove” (Photovoltaic (PV) module safety qualification - Part 2: 
Requirements for testing); 
x FprEN 50583:2015 "Photovoltaics in buildings - Part 1: BIPV modules / Part 2: BIPV systems" 
(CENELEC project); 
x prEN 50XXX:2014 “External fire exposure to roofs in combination with photovoltaic (PV) arrays – 
Test method(s)” (CENELEC project); 
x UNI 9176:1998 “Preparazione dei materiali per l'accertamento delle caratteristiche di reazione al 
fuoco” (Preparation of materials for the assessment of reaction to fire); 
x UNI 8457:1987 “Prodotti combustibili suscettibili di essere investiti dalla fiamma su una sola faccia - 
Reazione al fuoco mediante applicazione di una piccola fiamma” (Combustionproductslikely to be hit 
by flame on one side only – Reaction to fire by applying of a small flame); 
x UNI 9174:1987 “Reazione al fuoco dei prodotti sottoposti all'azione di una fiamma d'innesco in 
presenza di calore radiante” (Reaction to fire performance of products subjected to a flame ignition in 
the presence of radiant heat); 
x UNI 9177:1987 “Classificazione di reazione al fuoco dei prodotti combustibili” (Reaction to fire: 
combustible products classification). 
It is, therefore, clear that, particularly for European countries standards, there are not still technical 
rules suitable for allowing a complete assessment of PV modules fire behavior. 
 Giovanni Manzini et al. /  Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758 755
2. Research activity 
The research activity carried out was mainly based on an experimental program performing tests 
according to harmonized European standards for building products (EN 13823:2010 "Reaction to fire 
tests for building products - Building products excluding floorings exposed to the thermal attack by a 
single burning item", i.e. “SBI”; EN ISO 11925-2:2010 + AC: 2011 "Reaction to fire tests - Ignitability of 
products Subjected to direct impingement of flame - Part 2: Single-flame source test", i.e. “Small flame”), 
which were initially listed as references by national legislation (ref. Note 1324/ 2012, Ministry of Internal 
Affairs), and, later, according to some “variants” of previous test protocols designed for assessing the 
influence of: sample inclination, HRR and size of ignition flame, sample exposure time to ignition flame 
and presence of sample initial degradation(21 tests according to EN ISO 11925-2 and 5 tests according to 
EN 13823– original and variants tests – were performed) [3], [4].Such variants were carried out in order 
to better assess typical aspects of fire reaction performance of PV modules mainly due to their outdoor 
installation. The performing of tests with the modified protocols (variants) needs the same equipment 
already utilized in the current version and it requires only minimal additional resources to be carried out. 
These protocols were developed by introducing variations mainly about different values of: sample 
inclination (D), ignition flame HRR and size (lf), sample exposure time to the ignition flame ('tf). The 
samples used in new protocols are totally identical (same type of materials [5], same production recipe 
and same dimensions) to those used in the original protocols regard to the test derived from the EN ISO 
11925-2 (Fig. 1), while about EN 13823 the variant needs only one of the two samples of the original 
test(Fig. 2). 
 
 a      b      c 
Fig. 1. (a) Sample (0.09x0.25 m) carrying out test according to EN 11925-2 (original version); (b) Sample (0.09x0.25 m) carrying 
out test according to EN 11925-2 (variant version); (c) Sample with fire deteriorations by original (dx) and variant tests (sx, edge). 
 a   b     c    d 
Fig. 2. (a) Samples (0.5x1.5 m and 1x1.5 m) carrying out test according to EN 13823 (original version); (b) Sample (0.5x1.5 m) 
carrying out test according to EN 13823 (variant version); (c) Original test sample; (d) Variant test sample. 
 
 
756   Giovanni Manzini et al. /  Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758 
3. Main results 
The two new test protocols are similar to original ones, but the differences between them are quite 
promising as regards the possibility of characterizing equipment with very special features likePV 
modules. 
Table 1. Main features of tests according to EN 11925-2 and EN 13823 (original and variant versions). 
Standard test EN ISO 11925-2 
(original test) 
EN ISO 11925-2 
(variant test) 
EN 13823 
(original test) 
EN 13823 
(variant test) 
Sample(s) size [m] 0.09x0.25 0.09x0.25 0.5x1.5 
1x1.5 
0.5x1.5 
D 90° 30° ÷ 60° 90° 30° ÷ 60° 
lf[cm] 2 3.5   
HRRf [kW]   30 30 
'tf [s] 15 ÷ 30 300 ÷ 330 1200 300 ÷ 330 
 
A possible link between the new protocols reaction to fire gradesand the current grades of the Italian 
legislation is summarized here below (Tab. 2, [4]‡). 
Table 2. Possible link between reaction to fire grades according to Italian law and grades of EN 11925-2 and EN 13823 variants. 
 Italian grade Variant tests grades§ 
PV modules 1 NN 
2 (B-s1,d0,1,2,p0,1_d0’,1’,c0’)** 
3 (B-s1,d0,1,2,p0,1_d2’,c0’,1’),  
(B-s2,3,d0,1,2,p0,1_d0’,1’,c0’),  
(B-s2,3,d0,1,2,p0,1_d2’,c0’,1’),  
(B-s1,d0,1,2,p0,1_d1’,c1’),  
(B-s2,3,d0,1,2,p0,1_d1’,c1’), 
(C…),  (D…),(E) 
In fact the differences mentioned above involve: 
 
‡ Fire reaction grades classification take into account many variables like: sample fire growth, lateral flame spread on sample 
surface, total heat release, visible smoke production, drops or particles falling from sample, sample combustion after ignition flame 
stop (post - combustion), combustion of paper under the sample – at the bottom.It is expected to test also samples deteriorated (e.g. 
humidity - temperature - mechanical stresses). 
§ New fire reaction grades nomenclature: e.g. B-s1,d0,1,2,p0,1_d2’,c0’,1’ means B class; SBI grades: smoke production s1, drops or 
particles d0 or d1 or d2, post – combustion p0 or p1; Small flame grades: drops or particles d2’, bottom paper combustion c0’ or c1’. 
** Because of the “attempt” origin of proposed classification, it is possible that the grade B-s1,d0,p0_d0’,c0’may be equivalent to 
Italian grade 1 (better than grade 2). 
 Giovanni Manzini et al. /  Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758 757
x EN 13823 - sample inclination (D): a better likelihood of the test with the recurrent situation having 
flame attack below the installed tilted module (tilted sample has a more intense and localized fire 
deterioration)††;ignition flame time ('tf): a value lower than that in the original test allows to avoid the 
extremely large sample destruction, letting to assess possible differences of samples behavior. 
x EN 11925-2 - sample inclination (D):a better likelihood of the test with the recurrent situation having 
flame attack below the installed tilted module (same as above,EN 13823Dconsiderations);ignition 
flame length (lf): a greater value allows to have significant thermal degradation (which, in the original 
test, appears to be negligible in many cases);ignition flame time ('tf): same as above (lf 
considerations). 
The new (variant) and original test protocols main features are summarized in the following table. 
4. Conclusions 
The research carried out by RSE allowed to briefly analyze the main causes of fire in PV systems and 
the current state of legal measures and technical standards in the field of PV fires. Later experimental 
activity based on existing test protocols and on new tests (variants specifically developed for FV 
purposes) permitted to verify the behavior to the fire of some FV modules. This activity also helped to 
identify some weaknesses of European testing protocols about fire behavior classification, mainly due to 
special design and outside installation features of PV modules (i.e. module inclination, ignition flame 
power and time duration, initial deterioration of sample). 
It is likely that new test protocols can improve identification of reaction to fire features of modules as 
more close to real situations and, because of that, also provide some help to new standards development. 
Acknowledgements 
The experimental program was carried out in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano (Dept. of 
Energy, FireLab, Milan, Italy) where the tests were performed; Brandoni SolareS.p.A. (Castelfidardo, 
Italy), which provided samples of PV modules; Istituto Giordano S.p.A. (Reaction to Fire and Electronics 
labs, Gatteo, Italy), which provided support for maintenance and testing activities. 
References 
[1] Cancelliere P. – Ministero dell’Interno, Dipartimento dei vigili del fuoco, del Soccorso pubblico e della Difesa civile – 
Direzione centrale per la prevenzione e la sicurezza tecnica, Contenuti della “Guida per installazione impianti FV – Ed. 2012” e 
circolare 04/05/2012; soluzioni tecniche per conciliare la presenza dei moduli FV e relativi accessori con coperture realizzate in 
materiali combustibili, Ordine degli Ingegneri della Provincia di Vicenza, 2012. 
[2] Kreutzmann A., Uno su diecimila. Passi avanti dei produttori nella prevenzione degli incendi – primi tra tutti gli Stati Uniti, 
Photon, June 2013. 
[3] Manzini G., Analisi delle situazioni di rischio incendio dei moduli FV negli edifici e metodi di prova per la verifica della 
sicurezza dei moduli in caso d’incendio, RSE RdS Report 14000430, 2014. 
[4] Manzini G., Il rischio incendio dei moduli fotovoltaici negli edifici – Protocolli di prova relativi alla sicurezza in caso 
d’incendio, RSE RdS Report 14009656, 2015. 
 
†† Testing PV samples with different angles is possible depending of what will be actually realized during the real case installation. 
758   Giovanni Manzini et al. /  Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758 
[5] Cancelliere P., Liciotti C., Fire Behaviour and Performance of Photovoltaic Module Backsheets, Fire Technology 06/2015; 
DOI:10.1007/s10694-014-0449-7 
 
Biography  
Engineering M.S degree and Ph.D. of Politecnico di Milano. He worked on both modelling 
and experimental activities focused on thermal–fluid–dynamics problems mainly in Fire 
Safety Engineering area (buildings, tunnels, nuclear power plants). He is researcher at RSE 
S.p.A. and adjunct professor at Politecnico di Milano (Dept. of Energy). 
 


The Fire Risk in Photovoltaic Installations - Test Protocols For Fire Behavior of PV Modules 

Open Access Repository

1876-6102 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of ATI 2015doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2015.11.805  Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758 ScienceDirectATI 2015 - 70th Conference of the ATI Engineering Association The fire risk in photovoltaic installations - Test protocols for fire behavior of PV modules Giovanni Manzinia, Pasqualino Gramaziob, Salvatore Guastellaa, Claudio Liciottic, Gian Luigi Baffonid,*  aRSE S.p.A., via Rubattino 54, 20134 Milano, Italy bPolitecnico di Milano, Dept. of Energy, via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italy cKBDevelopmentS.r.l, via Alessandro Volta, 13, 25010 San Zeno Naviglio (BS), Italy dIstituto Giordano S.p.A., via Rossini 2, 47814 Bellaria (RN), Italy Abstract The fire risk in the photovoltaic systems has emerged over the years as not negligible, setting in motion a process, which involves various organizations (control Authorities, standardization bodies, modules manufacturers, etc.) for achieving the codification of construction, design and installation of these systems and their components to minimize fire risk. Currently, European standards focused specifically on fire behavior of PV modules don’t exist yet, so test protocols focused on other equipment are used to test PV modules reaction to fire. About that, a research program was carried out to do a short analysis of PV systems fire events, to analyze the current test protocols and for identifying their criticalities and possible improvements. In particular, some variants of these protocols have been developed basing on some of the existing test protocols in standard harmonized at European level about reaction to fire of construction products. These variants have been designed for being specific test tools for determination of reaction to fire features of PV modules with main attention to important peculiarities such as: modules inclination, initial fire particularly aggressive.  © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.  Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of ATI  Keywords: PV modules; Reaction to fire; Test protocols. 1. Introduction Number of photovoltaic installations is increasingin many countries, including Italy, due to the increasing sensitivity of the population and the institutions to environmental issues and to economic  * Corresponding author. Giovanni Manzini, Tel.: +39(0)2 39925643; fax: +39(0)2 39925626. E-mail address:giovanni.manzini@rse-web.it. Available online at www.sciencedirect.com© 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of ATI 2015 Giovanni Manzini et al. /  Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758 753incentivisation policy made in recent years (e.g. 2014, Italy: +0.65GWp, total installed power 18.45GWp, 650,000 systems in operation).  Nomenclature lxh width and height of sample(s) [m] Small flame tests (EN ISO 11925-2:2010) lf ignition (external) flame length [cm] tf time during which the ignition (external) flame is in contact with sample [s] angle between sample and horizontal floor SBI tests (EN 13823:2010) angle between sample and horizontal floor tf time during which the ignition (external) flame is in contact with sample [s] HRRf Heat Release Rate of ignition (external) flame [kW] HRR Heat Release Rate of sample fire (without ignition flame)[kW]  The diffusion of photovoltaic systems has been accompanied by several cases of accidental combustion whose number has been growing (2011, Italy: 298 interventions of Fire Departments [1]; 2012, Germany: 390 fires of this type [2]). Because of that a research program was carried out by RSE S.p.A. as part of the research for the Italian Electrical System† performing, initially, a brief analysis of the PV systems fire cases (PV on buildings, no BIPV systems) and a study of existing legislation and technical standards. Finally, a program of experimental tests, based on some of the existing standard test protocols, was performed for evaluating the fire behavior of some PV modules and new test protocols were developed and perfected. In particular, because of the existing standards are not focused on PV modules, the later ones could allow a better assessment of certain typical aspects of the reaction to fire performance of those modules, mainly due to outdoor installation [3, 4] (inclination of the modules, presence of initial degradation in some areas of module, presence of ventilation, aggressive ignition events: initial flame with enhanced power and size and / or with longer duration).Mainly, the new tests revealed the significant influence on the behavior of the modules of sample inclination and of initial / ignition flame (power, size, duration). Because of the ongoing development of standard projects on that topic, some of the results obtained were also discussed in CEI TC 82 “Systems of photovoltaic conversion of solar energy” (WG11 “The fire risk in photovoltaic plants”) and in CENELEC TC 82 “Solar photovoltaic energy systems” (WG01 “Wafers, cells and modules”). The fields of legislation and standards (national and international levels) are currently under development with regard to issues of PV modules fire safety. In particular, the following documents of Ministry of Internal Affairs (Department of fire fighters, public rescue and civil protection) are currently in force in Italy:  † This work has been financed by the Research Fund for the Italian Electrical System under the Contract Agreement between RSE S.p.A. and the Ministry of  Economic Development - General Directorate for Nuclear Energy, Renewable Energy and  Energy Efficiency in compliance with the Decree of  March 8, 2006. 754   Giovanni Manzini et al. /  Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758  Note prot. n. 1324 on 07 February 2012 - Subject: "Guide for the installation of photovoltaic systems – 2012 Edition" (it refers to the harmonized European standards for construction products);   Note prot. n. 6334 of 4 May 2012 - Subject: "Clarification on the Guide for the installation of photovoltaic systems - 2012 Edition" (it refers to national technical standards used before the implementation of the Construction Products Directive 89/106/EEC, later replaced by Regulation no. 305/2011). About the technical regulation, it refers mainly to the following standards:  IEC 61730-2:2004 "Photovoltaic (PV) module safety qualification - Part 2: Requirements for testing" ;  UL 1703:2015 "Standard for Flat-Plate Photovoltaic Modules and Panels";  UL 790:2014 "Standard for Standard Test Methods for Fire Tests of Roof Coverings";  EN 13501-1:2007+A1:2009 "Fire classification of construction products and building elements - Part 1: Classification using data from reaction to fire tests" (which refers to CEN/TS 15117, EN 13823, EN 15725, EN ISO 1182, EN ISO 11925-2, EN ISO 1716, EN ISO 9239-1);  EN 13501-2:2007+A1:2009 "Fire classification of construction products and building elements - Part 2: Classification using data from fire resistance tests, excluding ventilation services";  EN 13501-5:2005+A1:2009 "Fire classification of construction products and building elements - Part 5: Classification using data from external fire exposure to roofs tests" (which refers to ENV 1187:2002);  EN 13823:2010+A1:2014 "Reaction to fire tests for building products - Building products excluding floorings exposed to the thermal attack by a single burning item";  EN ISO 11925-2:2010+AC:2011 "Reaction to fire tests - Ignitability of products subjected to direct impingement of flame - Part 2: Single-flame source test";  CEN/TS 1187:2012 "Test methods for external fire exposure to roofs";  CEI 82-25:2010 “Guida alla realizzazione di sistemi di generazione fotovoltaica collegati alle reti elettriche di Media e Bassa Tensione” (Guide to the realization of photovoltaic generation systems connected to electrical grids of medium and low voltage);  CEI EN 61730-2:2009 (CEI 82-28) “Qualificazione per la sicurezza dei moduli fotovoltaici (FV). Parte 2: Prescrizioni per le prove” (Photovoltaic (PV) module safety qualification - Part 2: Requirements for testing);  FprEN 50583:2015 "Photovoltaics in buildings - Part 1: BIPV modules / Part 2: BIPV systems" (CENELEC project);  prEN 50XXX:2014 “External fire exposure to roofs in combination with photovoltaic (PV) arrays – Test method(s)” (CENELEC project);  UNI 9176:1998 “Preparazione dei materiali per l'accertamento delle caratteristiche di reazione al fuoco” (Preparation of materials for the assessment of reaction to fire);  UNI 8457:1987 “Prodotti combustibili suscettibili di essere investiti dalla fiamma su una sola faccia - Reazione al fuoco mediante applicazione di una piccola fiamma” (Combustionproductslikely to be hit by flame on one side only – Reaction to fire by applying of a small flame);  UNI 9174:1987 “Reazione al fuoco dei prodotti sottoposti all'azione di una fiamma d'innesco in presenza di calore radiante” (Reaction to fire performance of products subjected to a flame ignition in the presence of radiant heat);  UNI 9177:1987 “Classificazione di reazione al fuoco dei prodotti combustibili” (Reaction to fire: combustible products classification). It is, therefore, clear that, particularly for European countries standards, there are not still technical rules suitable for allowing a complete assessment of PV modules fire behavior.  Giovanni Manzini et al. /  Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758 7552. Research activity The research activity carried out was mainly based on an experimental program performing tests according to harmonized European standards for building products (EN 13823:2010 "Reaction to fire tests for building products - Building products excluding floorings exposed to the thermal attack by a single burning item", i.e. “SBI”; EN ISO 11925-2:2010 + AC: 2011 "Reaction to fire tests - Ignitability of products Subjected to direct impingement of flame - Part 2: Single-flame source test", i.e. “Small flame”), which were initially listed as references by national legislation (ref. Note 1324/ 2012, Ministry of Internal Affairs), and, later, according to some “variants” of previous test protocols designed for assessing the influence of: sample inclination, HRR and size of ignition flame, sample exposure time to ignition flame and presence of sample initial degradation(21 tests according to EN ISO 11925-2 and 5 tests according to EN 13823– original and variants tests – were performed) [3], [4].Such variants were carried out in order to better assess typical aspects of fire reaction performance of PV modules mainly due to their outdoor installation. The performing of tests with the modified protocols (variants) needs the same equipment already utilized in the current version and it requires only minimal additional resources to be carried out. These protocols were developed by introducing variations mainly about different values of: sample inclination ( ), ignition flame HRR and size (lf), sample exposure time to the ignition flame ( tf). The samples used in new protocols are totally identical (same type of materials [5], same production recipe and same dimensions) to those used in the original protocols regard to the test derived from the EN ISO 11925-2 (Fig. 1), while about EN 13823 the variant needs only one of the two samples of the original test(Fig. 2).   a      b      c Fig. 1. (a) Sample (0.09x0.25 m) carrying out test according to EN 11925-2 (original version); (b) Sample (0.09x0.25 m) carrying out test according to EN 11925-2 (variant version); (c) Sample with fire deteriorations by original (dx) and variant tests (sx, edge).  a   b     c    d Fig. 2. (a) Samples (0.5x1.5 m and 1x1.5 m) carrying out test according to EN 13823 (original version); (b) Sample (0.5x1.5 m) carrying out test according to EN 13823 (variant version); (c) Original test sample; (d) Variant test sample.   756   Giovanni Manzini et al. /  Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758 3. Main results The two new test protocols are similar to original ones, but the differences between them are quite promising as regards the possibility of characterizing equipment with very special features likePV modules. Table 1. Main features of tests according to EN 11925-2 and EN 13823 (original and variant versions). Standard test EN ISO 11925-2 (original test) EN ISO 11925-2 (variant test) EN 13823 (original test) EN 13823 (variant test) Sample(s) size [m] 0.09x0.25 0.09x0.25 0.5x1.5 1x1.5 0.5x1.5  90° 30° ÷ 60° 90° 30° ÷ 60° lf[cm] 2 3.5   HRRf [kW]   30 30 tf [s] 15 ÷ 30 300 ÷ 330 1200 300 ÷ 330  A possible link between the new protocols reaction to fire gradesand the current grades of the Italian legislation is summarized here below (Tab. 2, [4]‡). Table 2. Possible link between reaction to fire grades according to Italian law and grades of EN 11925-2 and EN 13823 variants.  Italian grade Variant tests grades§ PV modules 1 NN 2 (B-s1,d0,1,2,p0,1_d0’,1’,c0’)** 3 (B-s1,d0,1,2,p0,1_d2’,c0’,1’),  (B-s2,3,d0,1,2,p0,1_d0’,1’,c0’),  (B-s2,3,d0,1,2,p0,1_d2’,c0’,1’),  (B-s1,d0,1,2,p0,1_d1’,c1’),  (B-s2,3,d0,1,2,p0,1_d1’,c1’), (C…),  (D…),(E) In fact the differences mentioned above involve:  ‡ Fire reaction grades classification take into account many variables like: sample fire growth, lateral flame spread on sample surface, total heat release, visible smoke production, drops or particles falling from sample, sample combustion after ignition flame stop (post - combustion), combustion of paper under the sample – at the bottom.It is expected to test also samples deteriorated (e.g. humidity - temperature - mechanical stresses). § New fire reaction grades nomenclature: e.g. B-s1,d0,1,2,p0,1_d2’,c0’,1’ means B class; SBI grades: smoke production s1, drops or particles d0 or d1 or d2, post – combustion p0 or p1; Small flame grades: drops or particles d2’, bottom paper combustion c0’ or c1’. ** Because of the “attempt” origin of proposed classification, it is possible that the grade B-s1,d0,p0_d0’,c0’may be equivalent to Italian grade 1 (better than grade 2).  Giovanni Manzini et al. /  Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758 757 EN 13823 - sample inclination ( ): a better likelihood of the test with the recurrent situation having flame attack below the installed tilted module (tilted sample has a more intense and localized fire deterioration)††;ignition flame time ( tf): a value lower than that in the original test allows to avoid the extremely large sample destruction, letting to assess possible differences of samples behavior.  EN 11925-2 - sample inclination ( ):a better likelihood of the test with the recurrent situation having flame attack below the installed tilted module (same as above,EN 13823 considerations);ignition flame length (lf): a greater value allows to have significant thermal degradation (which, in the original test, appears to be negligible in many cases);ignition flame time ( tf): same as above (lf considerations). The new (variant) and original test protocols main features are summarized in the following table. 4. Conclusions The research carried out by RSE allowed to briefly analyze the main causes of fire in PV systems and the current state of legal measures and technical standards in the field of PV fires. Later experimental activity based on existing test protocols and on new tests (variants specifically developed for FV purposes) permitted to verify the behavior to the fire of some FV modules. This activity also helped to identify some weaknesses of European testing protocols about fire behavior classification, mainly due to special design and outside installation features of PV modules (i.e. module inclination, ignition flame power and time duration, initial deterioration of sample). It is likely that new test protocols can improve identification of reaction to fire features of modules as more close to real situations and, because of that, also provide some help to new standards development. Acknowledgements The experimental program was carried out in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano (Dept. of Energy, FireLab, Milan, Italy) where the tests were performed; Brandoni SolareS.p.A. (Castelfidardo, Italy), which provided samples of PV modules; Istituto Giordano S.p.A. (Reaction to Fire and Electronics labs, Gatteo, Italy), which provided support for maintenance and testing activities. References [1] Cancelliere P. – Ministero dell’Interno, Dipartimento dei vigili del fuoco, del Soccorso pubblico e della Difesa civile – Direzione centrale per la prevenzione e la sicurezza tecnica, Contenuti della “Guida per installazione impianti FV – Ed. 2012” e circolare 04/05/2012; soluzioni tecniche per conciliare la presenza dei moduli FV e relativi accessori con coperture realizzate in materiali combustibili, Ordine degli Ingegneri della Provincia di Vicenza, 2012. [2] Kreutzmann A., Uno su diecimila. Passi avanti dei produttori nella prevenzione degli incendi – primi tra tutti gli Stati Uniti, Photon, June 2013. [3] Manzini G., Analisi delle situazioni di rischio incendio dei moduli FV negli edifici e metodi di prova per la verifica della sicurezza dei moduli in caso d’incendio, RSE RdS Report 14000430, 2014. [4] Manzini G., Il rischio incendio dei moduli fotovoltaici negli edifici – Protocolli di prova relativi alla sicurezza in caso d’incendio, RSE RdS Report 14009656, 2015.  †† Testing PV samples with different angles is possible depending of what will be actually realized during the real case installation. 758   Giovanni Manzini et al. /  Energy Procedia  82 ( 2015 )  752 – 758 [5] Cancelliere P., Liciotti C., Fire Behaviour and Performance of Photovoltaic Module Backsheets, Fire Technology 06/2015; DOI:10.1007/s10694-014-0449-7  Biography  Engineering M.S degree and Ph.D. of Politecnico di Milano. He worked on both modelling and experimental activities focused on thermal–fluid–dynamics problems mainly in Fire Safety Engineering area (buildings, tunnels, nuclear power plants). He is researcher at RSE S.p.A. and adjunct professor at Politecnico di Milano (Dept. of Energy).  

The Fire Risk in Photovoltaic Installations - Test Protocols For Fire Behavior of PV Modules

Giovanni Manzini

Pasqualino Gramazio

Salvatore Guastella

Claudio Liciotti

Gian Luigi Baffoni

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Energy Procedia

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The Fire Risk in Photovoltaic Installations - Test Protocols For Fire Behavior of PV Modules

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