Along with the strong growth of PV installations, also the number of fires involving PV systems has grown. The fire risk analysis due to PV systems has been taken into strong consideration. About that, 3 were the most considered issues: 1) PV modules and components fire behavior; 2) causes of fire ignition related to PV components; 3) risk of electrocution in firefighting activities in proximity to photovoltaic generators. To protect the firefighter and to respect the environment, the type of fumes and gases that are released into the environment during a fire of a PV system should also be considered. This paper shows the analysis of the fumes and gases released during the burning and pyrolysis of some c-Si PV modules.

1. ANALYSIS OF THE COMBUSTION FUMES AND
GASES RELEASED DURING THE BURNING OF
SOME C-SI PV MODULES
Claudio Liciotti1, Piergiacomo Cancelliere 2, Michele Cardinali1, Vincenzo Puccia3,
1 Brandoni Solare S.p.A.,
2 Italian National Fire Services, Active Fire Protection Department
3 Italian National Fire Services, Padova Fire Services
29th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference
RAI Congress & Exhibition Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
September 23rd , 2014

2. Outline
• About Us
• Introduction and motivation
• Aim of the work
• Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone Calorimeter coupled
to FTIR
- Samples
- Setup
- Results
• Analysis of pyrolysis fumes – TGA coupled to FTIR
- Samples
- Setup
- Results
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgement

3. About Us
• Brandoni Solare S.p.A. is an Italian PV module
producer.
• Founded in 2007.
• Current capacity 55MW/yr.
• Focuses on PV modules design and production
(customized solutions).
• R&D focus is on BIPV and PV module reliability.

4. Introduction and motivation
Residential
Segment BIPV
• Mechanical resistance and stability
• Safety in case of fire
• Hygiene, health and the environment
• Safety in use
• Protection against noise
• Energy economy and heat retention
Special
requirements
DRAFT prEN 50583

5. Introduction and motivation
• Factors required for fire hazard assessment [1]
Fire Safety
Hazard
Structural
integrity
Fire grow
rate
Fire
toxicity Smoke
Risk
Material
ignitability
Ignition
Sources
• PV modules are installed on the roof (outside the
building)
• During a PV system burning, the fire exposes
firefighters and other rescue personnel not only to
thermal and to electrocution hazards, but also to the
fumes.
[1] Anna A. Stec and T. Richard Hull, “Assessment of the fire toxicity of building insulation materials”, Energy and Buildings, 43 (2-3), pp. 498-506 (2011).

6. Aim of the work
• The c-Si PV modules contain large amount of plastic
materials that could also produce dangerous combustion
products.
• Modules with different kind of raw materials were
analyzed in:
- Cone Calorimeter coupled to FTIR; the aim
of this test is analyze the fumes and gases
released during the combustion of c-Si PV
modules.
- TGA coupled to FTIR to analyze the fumes
and gases released during the pyrolysis of c-Si
PV modules.

7. Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone
Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Samples
• Samples for Cone Calorimeter coupled to FTIR
- Sample1: EVA
- Sample2: TPO
- Sample 3: EVA + PET/PET/Primer backsheet
- Sample 4: EVA + PVF/PET/PVF backsheet
- Sample 5: EVA +PA/PET/PA backsheet
• Samples dimensions 100 mm x 100 mm
• The plastic materials are laminated on a 4 mm glass

8. Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone
Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Setup
• Cone Calorimeter Noselab
ASTM E 1354/ ISO 5660.
• System well ventilated
• Specimen combustion
• Radiator pre-set 50 kW/m2

9. Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone
Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Setup
• The fumes are extracted from exhaust duct extraction by
a probe
• The combustion fumes were analysed with FTIR (Perkin
Elmer Spectrum One).

10. Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone
Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Results
• Sample 1 (EVA) – FTIR analysis

11. Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone
Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Results
• Sample 2 (TPO) – FTIR analysis

12. Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone
Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Results
• Sample 3 (EVA + PET/PET/Primer) – FTIR analysis

13. Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone
Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Results
• Sample 4 (EVA + PVF/PET/PVF ) – FTIR analysis

14. Analysis of combustion fumes - Cone
Calorimeter coupled to FTIR - Results
• Sample 5 (EVA +PA/PET/PA) – FTIR analysis

15. Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA
coupled to FTIR - Samples
• Samples for TGA coupled to FTIR
- Sample1: EVA
- Sample2: TPO
- Sample 3: EVA + PET/PET/Primer backsheet
- Sample 6: TPO+ PET/PET/Primer backsheet
• The sample was cut into small pieces, transferred into an
alumina crucible (Al2O3 - 85 μL) and placed into the TGA.
• Sample holder: standard sample carrier.
• Sample mass: 4-6 mg.

16. Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA
coupled to FTIR - Setup
• TGA NETZSCH TG 209 F1 Libra® simultaneously coupled
to the Agilent 7890A Gas chromatograph and the
Agilent 5975 MSD („mass selective detector“) and
coupled to the BRUKER Optics FTIR TENSOR.
• Measure: Temperature-dependent mass change (TG),
rate of mass change (DTG) and the Gram Schmidt, 3D
plot of all detected IR spectra.

17. Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA
coupled to FTIR - Results
• Temperature-dependent mass change (TG), rate of mass
change (DTG) and the Gram Schmidt curve of Sample 3
(EVA + PET/PET/Primer)

18. Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA
coupled to FTIR - Results
• Temperature-dependent mass change (TG), rate of mass
change (DTG) and the Gram Schmidt curve of Sample 6
(TPO+ PET/PET/Primer)

19. Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA
coupled to FTIR - Results
• 3D plot of all detected IR spectra of Sample 1 (EVA)
and Sample 3 (EVA + PET/PET/Primer) heated to
1000 °C
Sample 1 Sample 3

20. Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA
coupled to FTIR - Results
• 3D plot of all detected IR spectra of Sample 2 (TPO)
and Sample 6 (TPO+ PET/PET/Primer) heated to
1000 °C
Sample 2 Sample 6

21. Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA
coupled to FTIR - Results
• Spectra comparison: Sample 1 - EVA (orange) and
Sample 3 - EVA + PET/PET/Primer (light blue) at
370°C compared with the database spectrum of acetic
acid (blue).
Sample 1
Sample 3
acetic
acid

22. Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA
coupled to FTIR - Results
• Spectra comparison: Sample 1 - EVA (green) at 170 °C
compared with the database spectrum of dimethyl butane
(blue).
Sample 1
dimethyl butane

23. Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA
coupled to FTIR - Results
• Spectra comparison: Sample 1 - EVA (light green)
Sample 2 - TPO (blue) and Sample 3 - EVA +
PET/PET/Primer (black) at 480 °C compared with the
database spectrum of C25H52 (pink).
Sample 2
Sample 1
Sample 3
C25H52

24. Analysis of Pyrolysis fumes – TGA
coupled to FTIR - Results
• Spectra comparison: Sample 3 - EVA +
PET/PET/Primer (red) and Sample 6 – TPO +
PET/PET/Primer (orange) at 820 °C compared with the
database spectrum of carbon dioxide (blue).
Sample 6
Sample 3
CO2

25. Conclusion
• The use of FTIR applied to the cone calorimeter allow to
identify only the outlet gasses produced by the
combustion as carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide
(C02).
• FTIR applied to the cone calorimeter is not usefully to
make an analytical analysis of the materials
decomposition
• The coupling of FTIR with TGA give a wide and useful
information about the degradation of the material during
the pyrolysis. With this method is possible to identify the
gasses produced at different temperature during the
pyrolysis process.

26. Conclusion
• The polymers included in the PV modules have direct
effect on combustion products toxicity.
• In case of an outbreak of a fire in a PV system, the
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and carbon oxides
(CO) released require, obviously, the breathing
apparatus to be used by the rescue team members
while they are doing firefighting and rescue operations.

27. Acknowledgement
• The authors wish to thank Dr. Eng. Giovanni Longobardo
for his help in setting up the PV module specimens and
the reaction to fire test rig.
• The authors wish also to thank the Thermoanalytical
Section of the NETZSCH Applications Laboratory for their
support in the test analysis.

28. Thank you for your attention
Brandoni Solare S.p.a.
Via O.Pigini, 8
60022 Castelfidardo (AN)
ITALY
@mail:
c.liciotti@brandonisolare.com
Web Site:
www.brandonisolare.com