NOVELTY - The assembly has a fire shield including upper and lower fire shield surfaces, and a connection unit coupling a photovoltaic (PV) body (20) and the shield to one another. The shield with vent exit openings is located below a lower PV surface of the PV body. A support structure, with central supports, supports the assembly above the surface. A resilient pad (176) is positioned between a lower leg of a rain guard and an upper surface of the body. A ventilation path extends from the lower PV edge of the PV body.    USE - Used in a roofing system, for mounting to a support surface e.g. wall, sloped roof, of a home, business and factory.    ADVANTAGE - The configuration of the assembly ensures that the assembly is economically mounted directly to the support surface such as a sloped roof, in a simple manner to create an aesthetically pleasing structure. The fire shield promotes fire safety by slowing the combustion rate of the PV body. The provision of the ventilation path beneath the PV body reduces the operating temperature of the PV body, thus potentially improving the energy conversion rates. The resilient pad is positioned between the lower leg of the rain guard and the upper surface of the PV body, and so the rain guard effectively contacts the upper surface, thus providing sufficient sealing to prevent rain from being blown between the rain guard and the surface while permitting a small amount of rain collected on a surface between the rain guard and the upper PV edge. The design of the assembly allows the electrical connections to be accessed through the vent exit openings so that the assembly is disconnected from the adjacent assemblies and the PV body is completely removed, thus permitting easy removal of the PV body from an array of assemblies for inspection, testing, cleaning, repair or replacement.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is also included for a fire resistant photovoltaic shingle assembly installation comprising an inclined support surface.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The drawing shows an enlarged cross-sectional view of a fire resistant photovoltaic shingle assembly.    Photovoltaic body (20)    Contacts surface (22)    Fire shield (90)    Rain guard (174)    Resilient pad (176)