Inverter fire under solar panels near Farmington
2023Published 30 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
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What happened
On a Friday afternoon, firefighters were called at about 2:45 p.m. to a grass fire underneath solar panels on Route 116, about a quarter of a mile west of Farmington. The Farmington Community Fire Protection District reported that an inverter panel was burning. Fire department photographs showed the inverter, described as a key component of the solar array, was severely damaged. The solar panels had to be de-energised, and crews used a dry chemical extinguisher rather than water. A dollar estimate of the damage was not available.
Contributing factors
The fire service identified a burning inverter panel as the source of the grass fire. Why the inverter panel caught fire was not reported.
Lessons learned
- A fire under solar panels may require the array to be de-energised before crews can work.
- Where an electrical component is involved, a dry chemical extinguisher may be used instead of water.
- A burning inverter can start or sustain a grass fire beneath panels, so vegetation under an array is a fire-spread risk.
More lessons on design, standards and commissioning, fire suppression and firefighting, spacing, layout and fire spread, from every incident on the register.
Source
Other entries that name Farmington
Published 2026-09-30. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
