There are many things to consider when it comes to the safety of your solar power installation. There has been some interest raised in recent years regarding the safety of solar power generation in the home and what it might mean for trades people, emergency workers and others working on your property. Until recently, there has been no way to isolate the power generated by the panels regardless of what was switched off in the fuse box or distribution panel. The video below highlights how much energy a solar panel can generate.

The patented technology used by the Remote Solar Isolator works by switching off the combined power generation from your solar panels. Instead of the solar panels producing a combined voltage of up to 600 volts DC, there is a residual harmless voltage of approximately 40 volts DC from each panel. This huge reduction in potential power generation means that emergency service workers, trades people and anybody requiring access to any part of your structure can have the confidence that there is no lethal power being generated anywhere. This means you will avoid the scenario where emergency services will choose not to enter your building on safety grounds, a great win for you.

The dangers of having Solar Panels on buildings, although not universally understood, are becoming a serious problem throughout the World. Until now there has been no safe way of eliminating the potential of hazards from DC electricity that is generated from a Solar Panel Array.

During an emergency, even after the inverter is switched off at the meter box; DC electricity is still being generated by the solar panels and will continue to run from the solar panels through the wiring to the isolating switch beside the inverter.  90% of all fires result from electrical faults and solar systems are no less dangerous than 240 volts fires. 

The NSW Fire Department has stated that they will not fight a fire if solar panels are on the roof and the fire has entered the roof area. Even if the fire was started within the building, the risk of injury or death from solar to the emergency personnel is too great. The only option is to allow a building to “control burn” to the ground.

With 90% of all fires resulting from electrical faults a solution was needed to overcome this significant problem.  The Remote Solar Isolator (RSI) is the solution. The RSI is an Australian designed and built product the first of its kind specifically designed to remove the danger posed to emergency and maintenance personnel by active solar panel arrays.