Solar Photovoltaic DC Systems: Basics and Safety: Preprint

Conference · Mon Apr 02 04:00:00 EDT 2018

OSTI ID:1432187

McNutt, Peter F ^[1]; Sekulic, William R ^[1]; Dreifuerst, Gary ^[2]

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1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
2. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - retired

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems are common and growing with 42.4 GW installed capacity in U.S. (almost 15 GW added in 2016). This paper will help electrical workers, and emergency responders understand the basic operating principles and hazards of PV DC arrays. We briefly discuss the following aspects of solar photovoltaic (PV) DC systems: the effects of solar radiation and temperature on output power; PV module testing standards; common system configurations; a simple PV array sizing example; NEC guidelines and other safety features; DC array commissioning, periodic maintenance and testing; arc-flash hazard potential; how electrical workers and emergency responders can and do work safely around PV arrays; do moonlight and artificial lighting pose a real danger; typical safe operating procedures; and other potential DC-system hazards to be aware of. We also present some statistics on PV DC array electrical incidents and injuries. Safe PV array operation is possible with a good understanding of PV DC arrays basics and having good safe operating procedures in place.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1432187
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-5B00-68696
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
DC
photovoltaics
safety
solar