advances | solar safety
4 Feet minimum
LOS ANGELES FiRE DEPAR TmEN T
California fire code requires roof access for
safe fire suppression and rescue operations.
Solar panels must be set back several feet
from the edges and peaks of roofs. This
reduces the area for solar panel installation
but provides room for emergency personnel
to work around the array. it also allows for
roof-peak venting in case of fire.
you’re on the roof and need to cut through it, you don’t cut
through panels or conduit. It doesn’t make sense to put an
axe through a solar panel, just like it doesn’t make sense to
cut through a propane tank. Vent the roof through a space
around the panels instead. If we can educate firefighters on
the systems and how to work around them, it ought to solve
their safety concerns.”
UNiRAC
Paiss wants homeowners and solar installers to look at
the PV array from the firefighter’s perspective. And he takes
a long view: “Solar arrays on rooftops may have made some
of our job more difficult, but it’s important that firefighters
look at the much longer-term effects of climate change on
longer fire seasons,” he said. “I never would have believed
even a few years ago how long the fire season has become in
California. If we don’t do what we can to reduce the impact
of climate change, we’re going to have far more problems
in the future. We can work with the solar systems to help
get this done.”
up on the roof
integrated Module/inverter Systems Produce Rooftop AC
Seth masia is managing
editor of Solar Today.
One of the characteristics of a mature industry
is that it consolidates products, simplifying the
purchase for both the consumer and the retailer. The classic case is the auto industry, which started
as three or four separate industrial technologies —
carriage-making, motors, coachwork and electric bits. A
customer would buy a chassis from a carriage-maker, a
motor from an engine company, and a custom body and
interior from a coachwork firm. It was all integrated in one
shop, usually the carriage-maker. People like Ransom Olds
and Henry Ford integrated the production of all three
elements under one factory roof and sold a single
product, thus putting auto
By SETH MASiA
dealers, as opposed to con-
structors, in business.
Today, the distributed solar business is where the early
auto business was: An installer estimates and specifies
products from a variety of sources and spends a day or
two assembling them on a roof. The profitability of the
installer's operation depends on cutting time and costs
from this process. Vendors are under pressure to help reduce the time devoted to estimating and assembly.
Now Akeena Solar ( akeena.net) and Enphase Energy
( enphaseenergy.com) have taken an important step in
system integration. The partnership will pre-mount an
Enphase microinverter on the back of every Akeena An-dalay solar module, so the rooftop system will produce
household AC current instead of high-voltage DC. This
eliminates the need for separate charge controllers and inverters. The rooftop array, which will be available this year,
can plug directly into the household circuit. California-
based Solar Red ( solar-red.net) reports it’s developing an
integrated module/inverter/racking product, slated for
introduction in 2010, that may do something similar.
It's a significant marker in a vital trend. Someday soon,
an installer may sell a single rooftop solar system packaged as a single unit, like a refrigerator. It will be delivered in a big box containing a folding rack with panels,
with inverters and wiring already installed. Lifted onto
the roof, it will simply be unfolded and bolted down. The
output cable will be run down the back wall of the house
and plugged into the circuit-breaker box. Elapsed time:
two hours.
This system will not only save a ton in labor costs —
it will also take a lot of the mystery and confusion out
of the process for the consumer. Packages will be pre-engineered so there'll be less time spent estimating and
horse trading. The whole package will be easier to market,
sell and service.
The integrated system can also change the competitive
landscape for installers. It lowers the barriers to entry and
means larger entities like Sears and Home Depot could
sell and install the systems. Better sharpen your marketing skills.
Finally, the availability of integrated packages would
dramatically cut the costs of “solar ready” home construction. To sell a new house as solar ready, a builder would
simply provide a few waterproof hard-points on the roof,
ready to take lag screws, plus an extra circuit in the electric
junction box, incorporating a big red emergency cut-off
switch for use by firefighters and utility company emergency crews. Total cost might be less than $1,000.
