Solar Panel Fire Setbacks

If the requirement to maintain a 3 ft clearance between the edge of the roof and a solar panel is in the code then i am struggling to find it.

Solar panel fire setbacks.

Building departments in california arizona and other states enthusiastically enforced requirements for 3 ft setbacks from the ridge and two pathways up each roof surface with pv for most. Sherfey california building officials calbo emilio camacho elli harland california energy. Greg andersen office of the state fire marshal george apple csd solar mark baldassari leo patnode enphase energy alan fields sungevity bill brooks brooks engineering larry brugger international code council steve burger city of folsom kelly m. Roof setbacks from ridge for ventilation relaxed from 36 inches to 18 inches for solar systems that take up less than 1 3 of the plan view total roof area.

According to cal fire s solar photovoltaic installation guidelines below are illustrations of currently enforced fire setbacks pathways for residential solar system installations. These are called fire setbacks and they re there to give firefighters better access to the roof in an emergency. That is 1 713 fewer kwh than promised or 205 less value of power per year 1 713 x 12 kwh 205. Setbacks for solar pv systems are required by the ibc international building code and adopted by some state and local permitting authorities.

If the layout is split due to fire setbacks and clearance needed around vents the actual annual production of the system as it can be installed with 17 panels on the south and 5 on the west is 11 494 kwh. The intention of the setbacks is to provide firefighters with access to the peak of the roof in order to provide positive ventilation in the event of a house fire. The international fire code 605 11 3 2 4 that states panels modules installed shall be located no higher than 3 ft below the ridge to allow for fire department ventilation operations significantly decreases the attractiveness of residential solar pv because it applies to both sides of a peaked roof. Fire setback codes many state and local jurisdictions have building codes that require solar panel installations to leave an unobstructed pathway around the edge of the rooftop.

For homes with sprinkler systems if the system takes up less than 2 3 of the plan view total roof area the setback for ridge ventilation is also relaxed to 18 inches.