Solar Power World

Report Recommends Changing Solar Standards for Ground Mounts

The Solar America Board for Codes and Standards (Solar ABCs) has released a final report, “Grounding Photovoltaic Modules: Issues and Recommendations,” which draws on feedback from solar industry experts as well as ongoing research at Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL) and presents the issues with recommendations for changes to existing standards. The need for this study was... Read More

Detecting Arc Faults

SolarBOS says it’s offering the industry’s first working arc-fault and ground-fault detection and interruption combiner box, as well as a ground fault interruption for PV systems. The AFDI combiner allows system integrators to meet the letter of the 2011 National Electric Code in a cost-effective and reliable manner. The combiner box has a module that detects series arcs and... Read More

System Protects Against Arc Flash

ABB’s Low Voltage Products division has released TVOC-2, a new generation of its Arc Guard System, which has been used to protect electrical equipment from dangerous arc flashes for the past 35 years. TVOC-2 features upgrades and new functions to detect faults in low and medium-voltage switchgear and disconnect power to the arc within 30 to 50 milliseconds. This prevent serious... Read More

Talking to Texas Instruments at SPI

While at Solar Power International in Dallas last week I had the opportunity to stop by Texas Instruments and discuss some of their offerings for solar.  Some of their products include: · SolarMagic Arc Detection –  1” x 2” reference design featuring what they say is the industry’s first PV Arc detection solution, which is comprised of analog front end ICs and multi-band... Read More

Putting out the fire in PV systems

The threat of PV systems starting fires is an unfortunate reality. Since the Bakersfield, CA fire in early 2009, the solar industry has been searching for solutions that not only detect potential fire threats but more importantly stop the problem before it starts. Local jurisdictions have been calling for solutions to these problems and the new 2011 National Electric Code (NEC)... Read More

Avoiding arc-flash

An arc flash with 1000 A or more can cause substantial damage, fire or injuryArc flash is a dangerous risk among those in the power industry. Arc flash is an electrical breakdown of the resistance of air that results in an electric arc, which can occur where there is sufficient voltage in an electrical system and a path to ground or lower voltage. Feeder protection relays,... Read More