In this episode of the Fire Science Show we go in depth on the Building Integrated Photo-Voltaic systems (BIPV). It is a topic relevant to many fire engineers, and one on which it is very difficult to find a lot of information about. For this purpose I’ve invited Reidar Stølen from RISE and a PhD candidate at Norwegian University of Science and Technology – NTNU.

Reidar has hands-on experience with fire testing BIPV façade, as he has performed such experiments with the Swedish test method for a commercial project. The results of the first experiments can be found in this research paper: Large- and small-scale fire test of a building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) façade system. We go in depth into description of the test sample, the rig and the outcomes of the experiment. Make sure to check the paper for the before and after pictures of the façade!

Another paper worth highlighting is the investigation into the Factors Affecting the Fire Safety Design of Photovoltaic Installations Under Performance-Based Regulations in Norway. Related to this we have an in depth discussion on the factors that play role in PV fires, especially connectors as one of the main sources of the fire. 

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