Innovations in Security Technologies for PV and Energy Storage Systems at Intersolar Europe 2026
The 2026 PV Energy Storage Safety Summit was a pivotal event held on June 24, 2026, during Intersolar Europe in Munich. Organized by Huawei Digital Power and attended by global partners, this summit focused on addressing critical safety challenges and insurance inadequacies associated with the large-scale deployment of photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage systems (ESS). Bringing together renowned experts, industry leaders, and insurance representatives, the discussions revolved around essential energy storage safety standards, emergency fire handling, evolving testing procedures, and innovations in insurance to ensure a reliable path for future development.
Xia Hesheng, Vice President of Huawei Digital Power, emphasized that safety within PV and ESS systems is indispensable for modern energy systems. It involves a multidisciplinary approach that integrates electrochemistry, thermal management, power electronics, digital technologies, and artificial intelligence. Huawei is committed to investing in advanced safety technologies for PV+ESS systems, upholding a principle of "quality first" to guarantee a safe energy supply chain. Collaboration with industry players is vital for achieving a robust integration between quantitative safety assessments and insurance mechanisms aimed at fostering high-quality renewable energy development.
The event featured insights from Gerrit Lührung of the Bundesverband Energiespeicher Systeme e.V. (BVES), who indicated that energy storage has evolved from merely being a commercial tool to a critical component of energy grids. Currently, Germany's total battery energy storage (BESS) capacity stands at 19 GW, driven primarily by the public utility, commercial, and industrial sectors. Over the next three years, the industry must navigate regulatory constraints and adapt to new safety guidelines while fully leveraging its storage systems’ potential.
Tom Hessels, a security consultant from the Netherlands Institute for Public Safety (NIPV), pointed out the increasing trend of battery fires. He highlighted the need for enhanced transparency around testing data, notably the UL 9540A standard concerning thermal runaway durations, and called for 24/7 manufacturer support services to better inform firefighting services.
Mikel Arrese-Igor, a senior energy storage engineer at DNV, noted that about 70% of BESS failures occur at the system level. He emphasized the importance of large-scale testing, such as Huawei’s LUNA2000 systems, to validate safety philosophies. Looking forward, the sector needs to enhance test standards to encompass installation-level assessments, ensuring that responses to fire scenarios adequately consider nearby non-battery-enclosed environments.
Bill Reaugh from the Association of German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers (VDE) remarked on the new risks accompanying the energy system transformation, advocating for an evolution of safety practices from component levels to ecosystem-wide approaches, leveraging digital trust models.
Zhu Jun from Huawei Digital Power identified four major challenges: thermal runaway failures, high-voltage insulation issues, grid disturbances, and insufficient digitization. He proposed establishing a safety assessment framework covering the entire lifecycle to shift risk levels from "Zone B" (risk mitigation) to "Zone C" (acceptable risk). Huawei advocates for a defense network utilizing passive protection and proactive alerts based on advanced isolation, smoke evacuation systems, intelligent architectures, and AI-driven early warning technologies to prevent thermal runaway during critical incidents.
Alastair Nicklin, a senior business development director at Willis Towers Watson, pushed for a risk-centric design paradigm in the insurance sector, involving the quantification of risk likelihood multiplied by disaster severity. This initiative aims to forge a three-dimensional closed-loop defense mechanism, encompassing physical, financial, and environmental dimensions. It suggests expanding fire separation distances, transitioning from mere equipment repairs to loss of revenue protection, and elevating compliance to superior resilience standards.
During the summit, a white paper on energy storage safety aimed at grid stabilization was unveiled. This document focused on quantitative assessment frameworks, attack and defense testing systems, and digitization pathways. It stressed the importance of an iterative closed-loop approach based on defensive offensives and data-driven methodologies while guiding the industry towards a unified security paradigm.
Need for Safety in PV+ESS Development
Xia Hesheng, Vice President of Huawei Digital Power, emphasized that safety within PV and ESS systems is indispensable for modern energy systems. It involves a multidisciplinary approach that integrates electrochemistry, thermal management, power electronics, digital technologies, and artificial intelligence. Huawei is committed to investing in advanced safety technologies for PV+ESS systems, upholding a principle of "quality first" to guarantee a safe energy supply chain. Collaboration with industry players is vital for achieving a robust integration between quantitative safety assessments and insurance mechanisms aimed at fostering high-quality renewable energy development.
Global Perspectives on Safety Advances
The event featured insights from Gerrit Lührung of the Bundesverband Energiespeicher Systeme e.V. (BVES), who indicated that energy storage has evolved from merely being a commercial tool to a critical component of energy grids. Currently, Germany's total battery energy storage (BESS) capacity stands at 19 GW, driven primarily by the public utility, commercial, and industrial sectors. Over the next three years, the industry must navigate regulatory constraints and adapt to new safety guidelines while fully leveraging its storage systems’ potential.
Tom Hessels, a security consultant from the Netherlands Institute for Public Safety (NIPV), pointed out the increasing trend of battery fires. He highlighted the need for enhanced transparency around testing data, notably the UL 9540A standard concerning thermal runaway durations, and called for 24/7 manufacturer support services to better inform firefighting services.
Addressing Safety Challenges
Mikel Arrese-Igor, a senior energy storage engineer at DNV, noted that about 70% of BESS failures occur at the system level. He emphasized the importance of large-scale testing, such as Huawei’s LUNA2000 systems, to validate safety philosophies. Looking forward, the sector needs to enhance test standards to encompass installation-level assessments, ensuring that responses to fire scenarios adequately consider nearby non-battery-enclosed environments.
Bill Reaugh from the Association of German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers (VDE) remarked on the new risks accompanying the energy system transformation, advocating for an evolution of safety practices from component levels to ecosystem-wide approaches, leveraging digital trust models.
Technical Excellence and Financial Autonomy
Zhu Jun from Huawei Digital Power identified four major challenges: thermal runaway failures, high-voltage insulation issues, grid disturbances, and insufficient digitization. He proposed establishing a safety assessment framework covering the entire lifecycle to shift risk levels from "Zone B" (risk mitigation) to "Zone C" (acceptable risk). Huawei advocates for a defense network utilizing passive protection and proactive alerts based on advanced isolation, smoke evacuation systems, intelligent architectures, and AI-driven early warning technologies to prevent thermal runaway during critical incidents.
Alastair Nicklin, a senior business development director at Willis Towers Watson, pushed for a risk-centric design paradigm in the insurance sector, involving the quantification of risk likelihood multiplied by disaster severity. This initiative aims to forge a three-dimensional closed-loop defense mechanism, encompassing physical, financial, and environmental dimensions. It suggests expanding fire separation distances, transitioning from mere equipment repairs to loss of revenue protection, and elevating compliance to superior resilience standards.
During the summit, a white paper on energy storage safety aimed at grid stabilization was unveiled. This document focused on quantitative assessment frameworks, attack and defense testing systems, and digitization pathways. It stressed the importance of an iterative closed-loop approach based on defensive offensives and data-driven methodologies while guiding the industry towards a unified security paradigm.
Topics Energy）
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