Correlation analysis of heat flux and fire behaviour and hazards of polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic panels

This work aims to gain a better understanding of fire behaviour and hazards of PV panels under different radiation heat fluxes. The cone calorimeter tests were applied to simulate the situations when the front and back surfaces are exposed to heat flux in a fire, respectively. Through comparison of ignition time, mass loss rate and heat release rate, it is found that the back-up condition is more hazardous than face-up condition. Meanwhile, three key parameters: flashover propensity, total heat release and FED, were introduced to quantitatively illustrate fire hazards of a PV panel.