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Solar fires-DC arc faults on solar systems

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4 hours ago, paulsabatier said:

Yes indeed. The occurrence of series arcs is the most frequent (approximately 80%) due to the specific characteristics of electrical installations and PV power generation. Parallel arcs and ground arcs are less likely to happen, but they pose greater risks when they do occur.

 

  • 11 months later...
On 2025/03/13 at 9:29 PM, Cef said:

Hi @TaliaB !

Any external AFCI devices you can recommend?

Thanks

To my knowledge AFCI and AFDD( arc fault detection devices) are not available in South Africa you will have to import the Eaton device. But here lies the problem with interrupting a solar array. How do you do it? Most hybrid inverters(Sunsynk,Deye) do have arc fault detection built in but it only shuts the inverter down. In most cases arc flash occurs within the solar string(mc4 connectors or damaged pv cables) itself so as long as the solar panels receives sunlight the voltage within the string would be present, no means of shutting down a solar array if arc fault is detected . That is why meticulous installation of solar arrays are so important. Checks and maintenance are therefore crucial from time to time to try and prevent any arc flash occurring within the solar array. The higher the string voltage the more violent the flash.

Edited by TaliaB

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