A fire at a solar installation on a kindergarten roof in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, forced more than 200 children and staff to evacuate. Thirteen fires have been recorded at school solar facilities over the past three years, while installations now cover about 3,500 schools, or 34% of the total, as the government plans expansion to all public schools by 2030.
More than 80% of the 630-plus solar facility fires reported over the past five years had electrical causes, yet existing school installations are exempt from mandatory arc-fault circuit interrupters that detect and cut off electrical arcing. Inspection intervals have been shortened from four years to one, but the measure is not binding and excludes kindergartens and other early-childhood facilities.