From The Press of Atlantic City: Stiff winds were causing a windmill to spin out of control. The brake failed and the turbine was sending large amounts of electricity into connections in the homeowner’s garage. If there was an off switch somewhere, Harron didn’t know where it was. Even after an electrical panel was pulled on the 10-kilowatt windmill, the system was still creating electricity. The windmill company had to be called to come and cut the connections, but the emergency disconnect failed, causing an electrical surge and fire in the electrical components in the garage.

Since then Villas Fire Chief Richard Harron Jr.has made sure his firefighters have training in dealing with alternative-energy systems, including wind turbines and solar panel arrays.

Shutting off the system may not be enough. A solar panel system is still charged with energy between the panels and the electrical connections. It can cause a potentially dangerous shock.

A typical residential solar panel system has a maximum of 600 volts. This is considered a low-voltage threat, but nationwide nearly 300 workers a year die from such low voltage electrical incidents, according to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ Division of Fire Safety.

The division has created a PowerPoint training program that is available to fire companies. Read entire article here.