[The Hwankyung Ilbo] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will implement the ‘comprehensive plan for safety management of public solar-light power generation facilities’ in order to ensure systematic and safe management of public sunlight generation facilities

Seoul has continued to increase the number of photovoltaic power generation facilities utilizing public facilities since 2012, when the city started the ‘reduce one nuclear power plant’ policy and since the declaration of ‘City of the Sun’ in 2017. Currently, Seoul operates 1,063 solar power facilities.

The comprehensive plan for the safety management consists of 4 major strategies and 13 major projects. The 4 major strategies are establishment of safety management system for solar power facilities, improvement of photovoltaic power generation facilities, Improvement of system for safety management and strengthening of management for rental power businesses in public land.

Seoul plans to strengthen the insulation and ground resistance measurement frequency from once to twice a year, make it mandatory to conduct dust cleaning and thermal screen measurements quarterly, hold trainings for facility managers and electrical safety managers regularly and establish a database of inspection dates and items of solar light power facilities.

It also plans to make it mandatory to use KS certified products in the connection box and introduce an electric cutoff device that can quickly prevent accidents in the event of a fire.

For the connection box, which is the main cause of the fire, 10 years is set as the life expectancy and it is planned to replace the obsolete connection boxes gradually.

"The supply of solar energy facilities to proactively respond to climate change is a trend in the times,” said an official of Seoul. “We will put priority on citizens' safety through strong safety management system and administrative measures such as excluding the participation of bidding in public projects in Seoul for the cause of accidents.”

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