In what way can Solar panels-on-the-map help prevent calamities in the living environment?

On 18 June, a number of houses burned out in Arnhem. The fire started in the kitchen of one of the houses, spread to the neighbours and led to the destruction of eight houses. The fire was difficult to control because extinguishing water did not reach the seat of the fire properly. The reason was that almost every inch of the roof was covered with solar panels, there were no extinguishing strips between the installations and the panels were installed directly on the insulation, with the aim of draining water as quickly as possible.

Much has been said about this fire recently. The way the solar panels had been installed are the subject of debate. What we wonder is: how many of these situations occur in the Netherlands? And what can we at NEO do about it with Solar panels on the map of say?

NEO BV brings the living environment into focus. To do so, we use, among other things, earth observation data such as satellite and aerial photos. We are not experts in fire sensitivity, nor do we pretend to be. It is our business to visualise the living environment as well and up-to-date as possible and to provide data and services on that. The information is also frequently used to gain insight and used for calamity prevention.

Following the house fire in Arnhem, we did a short scan based on our data service Solar Panels on the Map. In that data service, we manage a countrywide database in which we map and monitor solar panels in the Netherlands.

In the scan, we looked at situations where a sloping roof is overwhelmingly covered by solar panels. Often, the installation appears to have been done programmatically, involving several residential blocks. This often involves dozens of households per situation. We cannot yet make a certain statement about the total number of situations, but initially we find thousands of situations that are suspicious according to the criteria below.

Criteria: 

• • The roof is largely covered by solar panels and there is:
    • no firebreak is present and solar panels are mounted on the tiles
    • no extinguishing strip is present and solar panels are mounted directly on the roof insulation
  • In some cases, one side of the roof is covered with panels, but often both sides (in the case of east-west orientations, but remarkably also sometimes north-facing roof surfaces).
  • We also see that such situations are not only of long standing. In the past year, installations have been made in this way. We hereby undertake to keep you informed of developments.

For more information on Solar panels-on-the-map, please contact Loek van Oijen.