In the wake of the Boyle Heights fire, I have had quite a few conversations related to insurance and solar panels. Some customers have shared letters from insurance companies with specific requirements but have been met with confusion when looking to the manufacturer’s guidelines or the industry standards for answers. I’ve also had very productive chats with others about how, why, and at what frequency they must introduce new elements into their maintenance plans, such as monitoring and maintaining solar arrays.
Now for the record, I used to think that the generator breaker was the most neglected piece of equipment at most facilities. But it is clear now that solar panels are also falling victim to the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality when it comes to structuring a maintenance plan. And while there’s no shortage of companies who can service your solar system, if the system is not included in your regular maintenance, you may be looking at some major expenses and safety issues in the future if it fails to be inspected.
Best Actions in Worst Cases
Not to draw too much attention to the event in Boyle Heights, because I think Lineage has done a fine job with their response, but this is a great reminder of why maintenance is so important, and that even with a plan in place there are always risks involved. According to their press release, the solar array on the roof is owned, operated, and maintained by a third-party solar company, and while the cause of the fire has not been determined, it is believed to have begun when the solar array was being serviced.
The actions Lineage have taken in the aftermath are unique to their industry but can be compared to most other industries as it relates to the cost and scale of remediation should a similar incident occur at your facility. Because they were dealing with food storage, there needed to be air quality monitoring, deodorizing agents, and pest control measures taken into consideration on top of the more standard demolition, cleanup, removal, permitting, insurance inspections, response teams, and traffic coordination efforts.
All of this is a cost/loss and unexpected downtime scenario that you have likely already considered for your own facility. And as an electrical maintenance company, my goal is always to do my best to service customers not only literally on site, but also in a proactive and preventative way. This is why I will always direct you back to the Standards, such as NFPA 70, 70B, 70E, and 110. And while I do my best to read and comprehend these Standards, I also have other employees doing research and will often reference other industry professionals to check my knowledge. I recognize that compliance isn’t always easy, but that is why I believe so strongly in educating others.
Now because we’ve been discussing solar, I’ll give a brief example of what you should look for when creating or evaluating your current maintenance plan:
Creating Your Plan
First, you’ll want a snapshot of the system itself. A complete visual and thermographic survey of the system, panels, connections, inverter, and the gear it feeds will provide an immediate understanding of not only the system’s condition, but any immediate repairs that may be needed. And of course, this should be done annually. Beyond that, you’ll need administrative operations to support your maintenance plan, and monitoring set up to provide data for your record-keeping. Then the preventative and corrective maintenance that follows should be budgeted for and scheduled according to the NFPA Standard, per type of equipment.
Next, you will want to determine what needs to be done, and who is qualified to perform the work. This not only applies to the contractors you hire, but to the on-site staff who may encounter live gear during normal operations. Safety training, documentation, and record keeping are also outlined within the NFPA Standards and should be strong components of your facility’s maintenance plan.
And lastly, you will of course want to make sure that this maintenance plan wasn’t just a one-time effort that was celebrated and then neglected. Give support to projects that protect your investments, personnel, and facilities. Maintenance is often seen as a background operation, but I think we can all agree, that when it goes wrong it makes front page news.
