Measurement of DC Arc-Flash Incident Energy in Large-Scale Photovoltaic Plants: A Basis for Standardization
- Electric Power Research Institute, Charlotte, NC (United States); Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
- Electric Power Research Institute, Charlotte, NC (United States)
- National Grid, Worcester, MA (United States)
The deployment of high-power dc equipment is increasing in solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, but very few studies have quantified dc arc-flash risks. Currently, PV plant owners and operators rely on theoretical, simplified models, such as those in NFPA-70E and other publications, for the assessment of risk associated with dc arc-flash. Here, this article presents an overview of arc-flash risks in a PV system based on a series of field experiments based on IEEE-1584 in two large-scale ground-mounted PV plants. The experiments include various high-power dc equipment of a PV plant, such as central inverters, combiner boxes, recombiner boxes, string inverters, and multiple configurations of electrodes in a 20-in calibration cube. The study reveals that none of the available dc arc-flash models are applicable for a PV plant. This work is an important first step toward developing an improved model that more accurately assesses dc arc-flash risk in a PV plant.
- Research Organization:
- Electric Power Research Inst. (EPRI), Palo Alto, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
- Grant/Contract Number:
- EE0008156
- OSTI ID:
- 2228498
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 2228952
- Journal Information:
- IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 56; ISSN 0093-9994
- Publisher:
- IEEECopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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