The fire incident that recently took place at an Amazon warehouse in Perryville, Maryland, may have been caused by the rooftop solar panels, and Susquehanna Hose Company estimates a loss of US$500K from the incident. 

This is not the first fire incident related to rooftop solar for Amazon. A fire broke out at the warehouse in Redlands, California, during June 2018, and another fire occurred from 20 units of rooftop solar panels at the warehouse in Fresno, California, in April 2020. 

The incident has led to no casualties, though a loss of roughly US$500K is estimated according to the evaluation of Susquehanna Hose Company. No information is available regarding the supplier of the solar panels, and the cause of fire is still being investigated. 

Susquehanna Hose Company also pointed out that solar-related fire incidents have been rising each year since 2015. The US Fire Administration (USFA) does not summarize and track solar-related fire incidents, though the annual records show that the figure has increased from 25 in 2015 to 56 in 2018, especially in southwestern US where sunlight is abundant, including California, Arizona, and Nevada. 

Solar panels convert sunlight into direct current, which is then converted into alternating current, before it is connected to the feeder or implemented for personal use. There are numerous transmission and distribution equipment, as well as cables, required for the procedure, including bypass diode and solar inverters, and the issues of hot spots, cracks, and yellowing derived during the PV conversion process would lead to a reduction in the power generation volume, which also results in damages in solar cells and modules. 

Lawrence Shaw, owner of Arizona-based residential solar preventive maintenance company Higher Powered, believes that the standard infrared imaging of residential solar systems can reduce the risk of fire, as well as detect the defects on solar panels, including hot spots and small malfunctions, that would lead to heat incidents. 

Amazon, being one of the members of RE100, strives to achieve 100% renewable energy prior to 2025, and has now invested in 206 units of renewable energy facilities, including 71 extensive wind and solar farms, as well as rooftop solar at 135 distribution centers and dispatching centers, with the installed capacity surpassing 8.5GW. 

(Cover photo is a schematic; source: Amazon)