Wildfire Concerns
With the recent Priceboro fire, in 2023, the proposal of the Muddy Creek Energy Park has us all on edge with worry about increased risk of wildfires.
When crews arrived at the fire, they found a solar farm battery storage area ignited. Frankly, they didn't know what they were up against, what chemicals were in the air, or really even how to put it out. Emergency crews say it took roughly eight hours of research before they had an idea of what they were dealing with at Thursday's solar farm battery fire in the town of Lyme.
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A recent report by Firetrace International found that the solar industry is potentially underestimating the risk of fire at solar farms, partly due to a shortage of data on solar farm fires. The report also said that research into the issue has given rise to suspicions that fires at solar farms have been under-reported.
“Raising serious concerns about the safety of battery storage, investigators into the alarming spate of lithium-ion battery fires in South Korea said one of the primary causes was the practice of using nearly the full charging and discharging battery capacity on a daily basis—a pattern that can roughly correspond with plans by U.S. operators to use storage to shift wind and solar generation to the evening periods of peak demand.” South Korea has had 23 of these battery fires over a year-and-a-half time period.
Of course, with any electrical system, the potential for fire does exist. In this article, we’re exploring the numbers and statistics around solar farm fire risks and discussing why investing in solar farm fire protection is so crucial.