Guideline to create planning security for solar façades
In consultation with the Association of Cantonal Fire Insurers, Swissolar wants to create planning security for solar façades. To this end, the Swiss Solar Energy Association will develop a guideline together with experts in photovoltaics and fire protection.
Swissolar wants to create planning security for photovoltaic (PV) installations on façades for planning offices and building owners. Media reports in May had created a distorted picture regarding the corresponding approval practice, writes the association of the Swiss solar energy industry in a statement. In joint discussions, Swissolar, fire protection authorities, planning offices and building owners have straightened out this picture and worked out a joint procedure, it continues.
In consultation with the Association of Cantonal Fire Insurers, Swissolar will then publish a guideline for the planning of solar installations on façades. It is intended to serve as an interim solution until a state of the art paper (STP) is available, according to the statement. Swissolar intends to develop such a STP by autumn 2024 together with experts in photovoltaics and fire protection.
“According to fire protection legislation, a verification procedure will still be necessary for the approval of PV façades,” Swissolar explains. The guideline here indicates the cases in which fire tests on the façades can be dispensed with. For the development of the final STP, fire tests are to be made in accredited laboratories abroad. “This procedure, which has been coordinated throughout Switzerland, ensures planning security for affected planners and building owners, while at the same time ensuring safety in buildings and personal protection,” writes Swissolar.