Malaysia’s First Solar-Powered Volunteer Fire Station Opens in Gombak
Published by Quinn Lai | By InverPower
Published 21 November 2025 · Last updated 21 November 2025
DIRECT ANSWER
Balai Bomba Sukarela Gombak became Malaysia’s first volunteer fire station to run on a rooftop solar photovoltaic system with battery storage, launched in November 2025 alongside the formation of the Pasukan Bomba Sukarela Gombak. The station carries a 10kWp array and 15kWh of storage, and the ceremony was officiated by YAS Dato’ Sri Ts. Nor Hisham bin Mohammad, Director-General of the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia. We sponsored the AndSolar rapid shutdown devices on the array.
What the system does for the station
A volunteer fire station is a building that has to work when the grid does not. Storms, floods and the outages that follow them are precisely when a station is busiest and least likely to have reliable mains power, and a volunteer brigade has no utility budget sitting behind it.
10kWp with 15kWh of storage is modest by commercial standards. On a volunteer station it is the difference between lights, radios and a charged phone bank running through an outage and not running at all — while cutting a bill the unit has to fund itself.
What rapid shutdown does
A solar array is live whenever there is daylight. Switching the inverter off does nothing to the DC side — the strings stay at working voltage regardless. That is what changes for a building once there is PV on the roof: anyone going up there during an incident is working around live DC unless something brings it down.
Rapid shutdown devices sit at module level and drop that conductor voltage on command, so the roof a crew steps onto is not carrying hundreds of volts. The devices on this array are AndSolar, and they came from us.
- Where it sits — at module level, on the DC side of the array.
- What it does — drops conductor voltage on command so the array is not live during an incident.
- Why the inverter switch is not enough — PV strings generate whenever there is daylight, independent of the inverter.
- Who it protects — firefighters and anyone working on or near the roof.
On the day
The launch ran on the station forecourt: the brigade in full uniform, an appliance parked alongside, and the Director-General on a temporary stage under the shed roof. The Pasukan Bomba Sukarela Gombak was formed the same day.
Why it is worth recording
Critical community infrastructure is not usually where solar lands first in Malaysia — it lands on factories, where the payback maths is easiest. A volunteer fire station is the opposite case: small load, no budget, and the highest possible cost of losing power at the wrong moment. That it is the first of its kind here is the point worth noting.
Frequently asked questions
What makes Balai Bomba Sukarela Gombak the first of its kind?
It is the first volunteer fire station in Malaysia fitted with a rooftop solar photovoltaic system and battery storage, giving the station power during grid outages and cutting its running costs.
How large is the system?
10kWp of solar with 15kWh of battery storage.
Who officiated the launch?
YAS Dato’ Sri Ts. Nor Hisham bin Mohammad, Director-General of the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia.
What was InverPower’s contribution?
We sponsored the AndSolar rapid shutdown devices on the array — the module-level electronics that drop DC conductor voltage so the roof is not live while a crew is working on it.
Why does a solar array need rapid shutdown at all?
A PV array produces voltage whenever there is daylight, and turning off the inverter does not change that. Rapid shutdown de-energises the DC conductors on the roof, which is what makes the array safe to approach during an incident.
Sources
- System specification (10kWp PV, 15kWh storage) and officiating officer as reported by SAJ Electric, “Supporting Malaysia’s First Solar & Battery Powered Fire Station” — saj-electric.com
- Event backdrop and photography, Balai Bomba Sukarela Gombak, November 2025.
About InverPower
InverPower is Malaysia’s A–Z solar component distributor — Sungrow Preferred Distributor and Sunkean Sole Distributor — supplying EPCCs, installers, and government projects nationwide.
Explore the InverPower resource hub at inverpower.com.my
Related InverPower posts:
- Which Solar Inverters Are SEDA-Registered in Malaysia (2026)?
- String Inverters vs MLPE: How to Decide for Malaysian C&I?
- Who Is the Sungrow Distributor in Malaysia?
Tags: Events | AndSolar | Rapid Shutdown | Safety | Klang Valley
