Rockwool unveils a White Paper to combine fire safety and the advantages of photovoltaic panels on a flat roof

Indeed, since July 2023, this new legislation has required covering 30% of the roofs of commercial buildings of more than 500 m² and offices of more than 1.000 m² with renewable energy production or greening devices. Installations that cannot be done without suitable insulation. Indeed, the insulation of roof terraces is crucial not only to guarantee energy efficiency, but also to prevent the risk of fire.

Aware of these risks and the need to support professionals, ROCKWOOL, world leader in rock wool insulation, reveals in its White Paper advice for combining safety and benefits of photovoltaic panels on roof terraces.

Reduce the risk of fire

Fire safety is one of the main concerns when installing photovoltaic panels, particularly on flat roofs. There are two types of fire risks: the photovoltaic panel can be the cause of a fire due to overheating of the equipment or can encourage the development of a fire in the underlying structure and thus increase the heat load, therefore the propagation, penetration and power of fire.

However, fires from photovoltaic panels on flat roofs are difficult to put out. The teams responsible for fighting the fire may have difficulty reaching the fire, partly covered by the panels and engage their own safety devices in the event of roof failure, with an additional risk of electrocution.

Made from rock wool, ROCKWOOL insulation products are non-combustible and inherently fire resistant. Combined with careful installation, they can contain and prevent the spread of a fire. The use of rock wool is also recommended in the APSAD D20 standard by the National Center for Prevention and Protection (CNPP).

Meet mechanical load and facilitate maintenance

The structure that supports the photovoltaic panels is placed on the waterproofing covering, in the form of a point or linear load, and can thus deform or even damage the membrane or insulation. This deformation can be accelerated in the event of snowfall or when special equipment is installed to resist wind. Therefore, when designing a new roof or retrofitting an existing roof, consideration should be given to mechanical loads that impact the integrity of the roof structure and steel sheet ribbed.

Thus, during the installation process of photovoltaic panels, and associated equipment, specific precautions must be taken to prevent any damage to the underlying structure, the waterproofing membrane and the insulation from potential damage. Sized and adapted to different photovoltaic systems, ROCKWOOL products, like Rockacier C nu Energy, are specially designed to adapt to the constraints of photovoltaic flat roofs and reduce the mechanical load on the building structure.

You can view the white paper here.