Real estate association warns against haphazard solar panel installations after storm

BEIRUT — The Lebanese real estate association stated on Wednesday that it has “long warned and cautioned against the risks of random and poorly planned installation of solar energy systems," after videos showed solar panels on roofs blown off in the past two days as a result of the storm that hit Lebanon.

The association said in a statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency (NNA) that it had warned of this risk, "especially regarding roofs of old buildings."

It also stressed the need for "strict adherence to public safety standards adopted locally and internationally when installing solar panels, in a manner consistent with Lebanon’s climate conditions and wind speeds, and to ensure the safety of roofs and their suitability to bear the weights and loads resulting from panels and metal structures."

Moreover, it called for “making it mandatory that installation works be carried out by specialized entities, qualified engineers, and technicians", and urged “municipalities and regulatory bodies to intensify monitoring and on-site inspections, and not to grant any permits or turn a blind eye to installations that are in violation or unsafe.”

Commenting on the same issue, the head of the "Building Safety Network", engineer Youssef Fawzi Azzam, said in a statement relayed by NNA that “the scenes of solar panels falling in recent days point to a technical flaw and a lack of knowledge and expertise among a number of contractors, which makes regulating the sector necessary.”

He addressed “Parliament and the government with a proposal for a law requiring the obtaining of a permit for the structural framework of solar panels ... through the relevant municipality and the Order of Engineers, without imposing any additional fees or taxes on citizens.”

There has been heavy rainfall and snowfall and wind in Lebanon since Monday, due to an atmospheric depression that started to weaken as of Tuesday night. The bad weather was also accompanied by strong winds that sometimes exceeded 90 kilometers per hour.