On April 16-18, 2024, Fronius USA was honored to have opened the doors of its US Headquarters’ solar panel roof and solar inverter lab to local fire department officials of the City of Portage’s Fire Department for fire safety training on solar power equipment. The Solar Solutions Management team at Fronius USA provided technical training on PV systems, which consisted of rapid shutdown procedures and safety features for solar systems, as well as energy storage and electronic vehicle chargers. 

"We are very committed to the community and are pleased to have hosted the honorable Portage firefighters at our 400,000-square-foot facility to provide fire safety instruction with the Fronius string inverters and our commercial rooftop and solar tracker systems.” said Klaus Strassmair, Managing Director at Fronius USA. “We also welcome them to return for future trainings with our dedicated in-house Solar staff,” added Strassmair. 

“Fronius is dedicated to incorporating fire and safety features in Fronius inverters by leading in arc fault detection and rapid shutdown solutions that keep the number of potential failure points low,” says Richard Baldinger, Director of Sales & Marketing Business Unit Solar Energy at Fronius USA. 

“Fronius was the first place that we considered to contact for solar training needs especially since Fronius has been manufacturing inverters for over 20 years, with Fronius being a pioneer in the solar industry,” said Tim Fercik, Lieutenant of the Portage Fire Department. “Their in-house solutions group provided PV knowledge and insight that we were looking to gain on how to handle fire department situations where firefighters would interact with a solar powered system,” added Fercik. 

"We were extremely happy to welcome and train the Portage Fire Department on a nationally recognized standard UL 3741, Photovoltaic Hazard Control, which provides a reduced level of shock hazard from energized PV Systems," said Chris Connell, Head of Solutions Management at Fronius USA. 

“With the ever-growing interest in solar panel installation, not only applying to the residents and the businesses in Portage, IN, but also within the United States of America, training on how to put out fires when solar systems are installed can be cumbersome to find,” said Austin Bonta, Mayor of the City of Portage. “We are truly thankful for the presentation and the hands-on training that was provided by the knowledgeable solutions team at Fronius USA,” added Bonta. 

With solar inverters as the heart of the photovoltaic system, that convert direct current (DC) electricity from solar panels to alternating current (AC) electricity to power homes and businesses, there’s a high importance to educate firefighters on how rapid shutdown can be properly used to cut off the energy produced at the solar module so that they can safely perform their duties on or around solar energy equipment. Fronius Arc Guard technology is also a safety element that is triggered to automatically detect arcs in the DC circuit with algorithm technology, as the system will accurately interrupt the fault and stop the arc to provide photovoltaic system protection. 

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