From 30 June to 2 July 2025, the MASS-IPV project was presented at INTERFLAM 2025, the 16th International Conference on Fire Science and Engineering, held at Royal Holloway, University of London. As one of the world’s leading platforms for fire safety research, the event brought together engineers, scientists, regulators, and practitioners from around the globe.
Nerea Otaño Aramendi of TECNALIA presented a scientific poster highlighting ongoing work under Task 6.4, which focuses on developing new methodologies for the fire risk assessment of Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV). This work, carried out in close collaboration with SUPSI, contributes directly to MASS-IPV’s objectives in safety standardization and regulatory alignment.
We congratulate our partners for this important contribution, especially Nerea, who represented the project and shared the team’s results at this key international forum.
Poster Focus
The poster, titled “Fire Safety Testing: Internal Fire Exposure for BIPV/BAPV Products,” addresses a critical safety gap: the risk of internal fire sources, such as electric arcs from DC connectors, in PV systems. Current European fire testing standards primarily consider external fire exposure, but BIPV systems may behave differently due to their full integration into the building envelope.
The presented work:
- Analyzes PV-related fire incidents based on EU case data
- Proposes a medium-scale test method based on CEN/TS 1187
- Investigates fire source parameters (voltage, current, arc behaviour)
- Supports future updates to European fire safety standards for integrated PV
You can download the poster here:
This contribution reinforces MASS-IPV’s commitment to addressing technical and regulatory barriers and supporting the safe, widespread deployment of BIPV systems across Europe.
Stay tuned for more updates and upcoming results from Task 6.4 on standardization and fire safety testing!
