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Fire
Special Issues
Photovoltaic and Electrical Fires: 2nd Edition
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Photovoltaic and Electrical Fires: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Fire (ISSN 2571-6255). This special issue belongs to the section "Fire Risk Assessment and Safety Management in Buildings and Urban Spaces".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 20789

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Ying Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Safety Science and Emergency Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Interests: cable and electrical fires; thermal safety of new energy; fire dynamics; modelling and investigation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Xiaoyu Ju

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
Interests: scale modeling of wildland/building fire; photovoltaic fire safety; battery fire safety; fire emissions and pollution control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yang Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Forensic Science Institute, China People’s Police University, Langfang 065000, China
Interests: fire investigation; electrical fires
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Wang Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Tianjin Fire Science and Technology Research Institute, Tianjin, China
Interests: photovoltaic fire; explosive characteristics of substance; energy of ignition source and ignition characteristics
Dr. Kaixuan Tang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Safety Science and Emergency Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Interests: prevention and control of photovoltaic and electrical fires; thermal safety in new energy utilization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the context of the global energy transition, photovoltaic (PV) power generation, as a representative of clean energy, is rapidly spreading and becoming an integral part of the future energy system. However, PV systems and their electrical components are exposed to extreme environments over long periods, being affected by high temperature, humidity, and lightning strike; thus, the issues of electrical faults and wiring aging are exacerbated, increasing the risk of PV and electrical fires. PV fires are typically caused by electrical component faults (such as short circuits, overloads, and arcs); thus, the occurrence of PV fires is also accompanied by electrical fires. Additionally, the complex structures of PV systems, the presence of high voltages and continuous currents in electrical wiring, and the insignificant smoke or flame in the early stages of a PV fire pose major challenges for photovoltaic fire detection and prevention.

This Special Issue will comprehensively explore PV and electrical fires, including the behaviors and mechanisms of their occurrence, as well as evolutionary detection and prevention technology and risk assessment methods, to provide new ideas for improving the safety of PV and electrical systems, thus promoting the widespread application of PV technology in a safer environment. Original submissions are welcome, with potential topics including but not limited to the following:

  • Ignition mechanism of PV module;
  • Flame spread behavior of PV panel or array;
  • Detection and prevention technology for PV fires;
  • Risk assessment for PV fires;
  • Mechanisms of electrical fault and electrical fire;
  • Evolution law of electrical fire;
  • Detection and control technology for electrical fire.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Ying Zhang
Prof. Dr. Xiaoyu Ju
Dr. Yang Li
Dr. Wang Zhang
Dr. Kaixuan Tang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fire is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • photovoltaic fire
  • electrical fire
  • fire modeling
  • flame spread
  • risk assessment
  • fire detection
  • fire prevention

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 3816 KB  
Article
DC Series Arc Fault Detection in Photovoltaic Systems Using a Hybrid WDCNN-BiLSTM-CA Model
by Liang Zhou, Manman Hou, Zheng Zeng, Jingyi Zhao, Chi-Min Shu and Huiling Jiang
Fire 2026, 9(2), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire9020084 - 12 Feb 2026
Viewed by 808
Abstract
Arc fault is the dominant cause of fire in photovoltaic (PV) systems, making its accurate identification crucial for PV fire prevention. This study investigates the influence of voltage (200, 300, and 400 V) and current (3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 A) on [...] Read more.
Arc fault is the dominant cause of fire in photovoltaic (PV) systems, making its accurate identification crucial for PV fire prevention. This study investigates the influence of voltage (200, 300, and 400 V) and current (3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 A) on the DC series arc fault characteristics in PV systems obtained through experimental analysis. The results show that voltage variation has a negligible impact on arc fault behavior, while higher current levels substantially increase noise in the arc fault signals. To effectively mitigate noise, this paper proposes a denoising method that combines an improved moss growth optimization algorithm (IMGO) with improved complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition featuring adaptive noise (ICEEMDAN). It is found that the IMGO-ICEEMDAN denoising algorithm can effectively diminish noise in current signals, broaden characteristic frequency bands, and ameliorate arc feature discernibility. Subsequently, an integrated multi-scale spatiotemporal model is developed to extract arc fault features from the denoised signals. The model employs wide deep convolutional neural networks (WDCNNs) and bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) networks for parallel feature extraction, supplemented by a cross-attention (CA) module to optimize feature integration. The proposed WDCNN-BiLSTM-CA model ultimately achieves a detection accuracy of 99.89%, demonstrating superior detection performance over conventional methods, such as CNN-GRU and 1DCNN-LSTM models. This work provides a reliable framework for arc fault detection and fire risk reduction in PV systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photovoltaic and Electrical Fires: 2nd Edition)
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18 pages, 6615 KB  
Article
Experimental Investigation of Thermal Response of Single-Glass Photovoltaic Modules with Different Inclination Angles
by Jinlong Zhao, Shuai Zhang, Xinjiang Li, Xin Kong, Lihong Zhao and Jun Shen
Fire 2026, 9(2), 62; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire9020062 - 29 Jan 2026
Viewed by 810
Abstract
In order to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, the installed capacity of photovoltaic (PV) modules has been increasing rapidly. In particular, single-glass PV modules are widely deployed in both utility-scale and distributed PV power generation systems. However, single-glass modules are highly susceptible [...] Read more.
In order to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, the installed capacity of photovoltaic (PV) modules has been increasing rapidly. In particular, single-glass PV modules are widely deployed in both utility-scale and distributed PV power generation systems. However, single-glass modules are highly susceptible to internal faults (e.g., direct current arc faults and hotspot faults) and external fire sources (e.g., wildland fires and rooftop fires), which may lead to simultaneous burning of the modules and adjacent combustibles, thereby promoting large-scale fire spread and causing severe economic losses. In this study, a dedicated experimental platform was developed to systematically investigate the fire behavior of single-glass PV modules under exposure to a pool fire. Systematic fire experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of module inclination angle and tempered glass integrity on the burning process, molten dripping flame behavior, and temperature-rise characteristics of single-glass PV modules. The results show that the integrity of the front glass has a pronounced effect on the burning behavior. At the same inclination angle, cracked modules exhibit significantly faster fire growth and higher temperature-rise rates than intact modules, while also being more susceptible to rapid burn-through by the external fire, accompanied by the generation of numerous molten dripping flames. In addition, the module inclination angle has a significant influence on the fire behavior of PV modules. As the inclination angle increases, the fire development rate, temperature-rise rate, and average burning duration of dripping flames all display a non-monotonic trend of first increasing and then decreasing, reaching their maxima at an inclination angle of 15°. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the fire protection design and fire risk assessment of PV power generation systems and are of practical significance for enhancing their operational safety. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photovoltaic and Electrical Fires: 2nd Edition)
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10 pages, 7894 KB  
Article
A Study on Prevention of Fire Proliferation in Building-Type Solar Modules
by Yong Chan Jung, Min Ji Song, Hee Kyung Park, Min Chul Lee and Soo Yeol Lee
Fire 2025, 8(5), 194; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire8050194 - 12 May 2025
Viewed by 4104
Abstract
To prevent the vertical spread of fire from flammable components in Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) modules during building fires, we applied a fire-resistant (FR) coating technology to the surface of BIPV modules, which are commonly used in Zero Energy Buildings (ZEBs). By applying an [...] Read more.
To prevent the vertical spread of fire from flammable components in Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) modules during building fires, we applied a fire-resistant (FR) coating technology to the surface of BIPV modules, which are commonly used in Zero Energy Buildings (ZEBs). By applying an acrylic FR coating to the BIPV module, we quantitatively evaluated the influence of heat damage before and after the FR coating, the average propagation rate of flames, and the module failure time in a combustion environment. The results demonstrate that the flame-blocking function and fire diffusion prevention effect of the FR coating are excellent in all combustion environments. Particularly, flame damage is minimized under the condition of an FR coating with a thickness of at least 50 μm. The current work suggests fire resistance mechanisms in various combustion environments and provides the applicability of FR coating technology on BIPV modules for fire non-proliferation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photovoltaic and Electrical Fires: 2nd Edition)
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14 pages, 15501 KB  
Article
Experimental Study on the Burning Characteristics of Photovoltaic Modules with Different Inclination Angles Under the Pool Fire
by Jingwen Xiao, Dong Lin, Jia Zeng, Shuai Zhang and Jinlong Zhao
Fire 2025, 8(4), 143; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire8040143 - 2 Apr 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2151
Abstract
Mountain photovoltaic (PV) power stations cover vast areas and contain dense equipment. Once direct current arc faults occur in PV modules, they can pose a serious thermal threat to surrounding facilities and combustible materials, potentially resulting in a PV array fire accident. In [...] Read more.
Mountain photovoltaic (PV) power stations cover vast areas and contain dense equipment. Once direct current arc faults occur in PV modules, they can pose a serious thermal threat to surrounding facilities and combustible materials, potentially resulting in a PV array fire accident. In this work, a series of PV module fire experiments were conducted to investigate the burning characteristics of PV modules exposed to the pool fire. The burning process, burning damage extent, and temperature distribution were measured and analyzed. The results showed that the surfaces of PV modules exhibited different burning characteristics due to the pool fire. Based on different characteristics, the front side was classified into four zones: intact zone, delamination zone, carbonization zone and burn-through zone. The back side was similarly divided into four zones: undamaged backsheet zone, burnt TPT zone, cell detachment zone and burn-through zone. Meanwhile, the burning process and surface temperature rise rate of intact PV modules were significantly lower than those of cracked modules at the same inclination angle. Cracked modules exhibited a heightened susceptibility to being rapidly burnt through by the pool fire. As the inclination angle increased from 0° to 60°, the burning damage extent and the expansion rate of high-temperature regions initially ascended and subsequently decreased, reaching their maximum at the inclination angle of 15°. These findings can offer valuable insights that can serve as a reference for the fire protection design and risk assessment of mountain PV power stations, ensuring their safe operation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photovoltaic and Electrical Fires: 2nd Edition)
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12 pages, 373 KB  
Article
Fire Safety Assessment of Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPVs)
by Ping Fang, Lihong Zhao, Guangheng Song, Jiaqi Dong, Jinlong Zhao and Zhenhua Wang
Fire 2025, 8(2), 52; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire8020052 - 27 Jan 2025
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4127
Abstract
Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) systems, which seamlessly integrate solar photovoltaic components into building structures, have garnered widespread attention for their aesthetic appeal and energy efficiency. However, the promotion of BIPV systems has also raised new fire safety concerns. This paper reviews recent fire incident [...] Read more.
Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) systems, which seamlessly integrate solar photovoltaic components into building structures, have garnered widespread attention for their aesthetic appeal and energy efficiency. However, the promotion of BIPV systems has also raised new fire safety concerns. This paper reviews recent fire incident cases and conducts risk identification for factors such as building and environmental risks, photovoltaic systems, electrical equipment, and safety protection. A fire risk assessment is performed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate the overall fire safety of BIPV systems. Based on the assessment, corresponding safety design strategies are proposed to ensure the safety of buildings and occupants. The research results indicate that BIPV systems pose certain fire hazards, and that proper design and regulation are crucial to mitigate these risks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photovoltaic and Electrical Fires: 2nd Edition)
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Review

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35 pages, 3223 KB  
Review
A Review of Safety Measures in Battery Electric Buses
by Edoardo Di Liberto, Romano Borchiellini, Daniel Fruhwirt and Davide Papurello
Fire 2025, 8(4), 159; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire8040159 - 21 Apr 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 7533
Abstract
Battery electric buses (BEBs) are widely regarded as a safe and sustainable alternative to internal combustion vehicles. However, the lithium-ion batteries that power them present safety risks. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the safety of battery electric buses, highlighting current challenges, [...] Read more.
Battery electric buses (BEBs) are widely regarded as a safe and sustainable alternative to internal combustion vehicles. However, the lithium-ion batteries that power them present safety risks. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the safety of battery electric buses, highlighting current challenges, relevant regulations and proposed solutions to enhance safety. There are significant shortcomings in the fire safety regulations for buses, especially concerning qualification methods for bus interiors. Enclosed spaces and structures represent the most critical risks for these transport systems. The presence of large vehicles, such as BEBs, in tunnels could increase the risk of transitioning from deflagration to detonation. Fires involving such vehicles produce more soot than fires from internal combustion engine buses (ICEBs) and have slightly higher toxicity levels. High-pressure water spraying systems are not yet an effective solution, as not all the heat is removed if the thermal runaway has already been triggered for several minutes, and their action remains largely limited to the outside of the battery pack. Another critical issue is cybersecurity. Managing and protecting BEBs from cyber threats is complex and requires robust strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photovoltaic and Electrical Fires: 2nd Edition)
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