Electrical fault protection for a large photovoltaic power plant inverter

The authors analyze the original protection design and describe changes made to improve fault protection after electrical faults caused fires in the DC wiring of a photovoltaic (PV) power plant. The zone-of-protection was extended, and fault detection and response were improved. The results suggest...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inConference Record of the Twentieth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference pp. 1035 - 1042 vol.2
Main Authors Collier, D.E., Key, T.S.
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 1988
Subjects
Character generation
Electric variables
Electrical fault detection
Fires
Inverters
Photovoltaic systems
Power generation
Power system protection
Solar power generation
Wiring
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Summary:The authors analyze the original protection design and describe changes made to improve fault protection after electrical faults caused fires in the DC wiring of a photovoltaic (PV) power plant. The zone-of-protection was extended, and fault detection and response were improved. The results suggest a need for better coordination between DC and AC fault protection philosophies that are commonly applied independently by designers. Design lessons for PV array fault protection are described to assist electrical designers in eliminating fault vulnerabilities from future PV systems. These take into account the unique electrical characteristics of PV generators, including the dispersed-rather than point-source and the current- rather than voltage-source nature of the PV array.< >
DOI:10.1109/PVSC.1988.105863