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Arc Flash Calculations For A 1.3-MW Photovoltaic System: Daniel R. Doan, Fellow, IEEE, and Richard M. Derer, Member, IEEE
Arc Flash Calculations For A 1.3-MW Photovoltaic System: Daniel R. Doan, Fellow, IEEE, and Richard M. Derer, Member, IEEE
1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
Abstract—When planning for the installation of a 1.3-MW cause a fault. Since this equipment is usually installed outdoors,
photovoltaic (PV) system and its integration into an existing fa- varmint or insect entrance can also be an issue.
cility’s electrical system, an arc flash study was performed to Workers who operate and maintain these systems must un-
determine the best protective device settings to minimize the arc
flash energy in the PV system and to determine the effect of the derstand the arc flash hazards of the equipment and should be
additional short-circuit current on arc flash calculations for the given guidance on the proper personal protective equipment
existing system. The existing system has distribution at 13.8 kV (PPE) to wear that will protect them during an arc flash incident.
and two 10-MVA transformers to a 2.4-kV feeder system. The PV A few of the tasks that the workers might perform are the
system adds the hazard of 500-Vdc subarray collection wiring and following:
terminations. The dc arc flash exposure of PV systems, including
those in the inverter enclosures, can be complicated, and this paper • switching to put the system in a safe condition;
outlines the basic data collected for the study, the steps taken to • lockouts;
complete the calculations, the methodology used, the results, and • troubleshooting (including voltage and current checks).
the team’s learnings.
Index Terms—Arc flash hazard, dc systems, inverters, photo- II. P ROJECT BASIC DATA
voltaics (PVs).
The existing plant system has distribution voltages of
I. I NTRODUCTION
13.8 kV and 2.4 kV. See Fig. 1, for a simplified one-line
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DOAN AND DERER: ARC FLASH CALCULATIONS FOR A 1.3-MW PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM 63
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64 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 51, NO. 1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
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DOAN AND DERER: ARC FLASH CALCULATIONS FOR A 1.3-MW PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM 65
Fig. 5. Combiner and recombiner boxes. Fig. 6. Inverter with dc disconnect switches on the right.
[2], as shown in
from the direct-connect modules will flow for the maximum
duration of the arc. The other modules, which are connected to
IEmax power = 0.239 ∗ (Vsys /2)2 /Rsys ∗ Tarc /(4 ∗ 3.14 ∗ R2 )
the inverter input bus through other combiner and recombiner
(1)
boxes, will also provide current to the fault. This current will
where
flow to the faulted combiner box through its protective device
at the recombiner box. See Fig. 7, where the indicated fuse IEmax power estimated incident energy at the maximum
protects the combiner box from the majority of the dc system power point (in calories per square centimeter);
short-circuit current. The fuses in those positions are special Vsys system voltage (in volts);
types for PV service, which are sized at 75, 100, 125, or 400 A, Rsys system resistance (in ohms);
depending on the location in the system. Tarc arcing time (in seconds);
The equation given for dc arc flash incident energy at the R worker’s distance from the arc (in
maximum power point in other dc systems was previously given centimeters).
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66 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 51, NO. 1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
TABLE III
AC S YSTEM A RC F LASH E STIMATE
TABLE IV
DC S YSTEM VALUES FOR C OMBINER B OXES
where
IEpv estimated incident energy at the PV maximum power
Fig. 7. DC current flow to the combiner box during a fault.
point (in calories per square centimeter);
Vmpp voltage of the cell maximum power point (in volts);
However, the values for the maximum power point for cur- Impp current of the cell maximum power point (in
rent and voltage in PV systems is not the same as other dc amperes);
systems. From the manufacturer’s data, the maximum power Tarc arcing time (in seconds);
available from the PV cells is determined through testing and is R worker’s distance from the arc (in centimeters).
published in a set of curves, at select levels of irradiance. See Simplifying this equation yields
Fig. 8, which shows a typical set of current and power curves
for a PV module. IEpv = 0.02 ∗ (Vmpp ∗ Impp ∗ Tarc )/(R2 ). (3)
Impp (current at maximum power point) for the modules
in arrays A–D is 1.20 A, and the Vmpp (voltage at maximum Using this equation for the combiner boxes, the results
power point) is 121 V. For array E, the module Impp and Vmpp are shown in Table V. IE values are in calories per square
are 7.97 A and 29.5 V, respectively. The string voltage for centimeter. Working distance R was set to an arm’s length of
arrays A–D can be determined from the module voltage of 45.7 cm (18 in). For the portion of the current coming directly
121 V, with three modules in series, for a total voltage of from the modules, the fuses will not open at the maximum
363 V. The string voltage for array E is the module voltage power point, which is very close to the operating point. Hence,
of 29.5 V, with 13 modules in series, for a total voltage of the duration for that portion of the calculation was set to 2 s,
384 V. To determine the current into each box, Impp can be which is typically used as a maximum for arc flash calculations.
multiplied by the number of strings in parallel that are wired The portion of current coming from the rest of the system
to each combiner or recombiner. These values set up the input (from the recombiner box) is protected by the fuse listed under
values to a dc arc flash calculation, as shown in Table IV, for “Fuse Size” in Table V, and the fuse curve was checked for the
the combiner boxes in the system. maximum clearing time.
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DOAN AND DERER: ARC FLASH CALCULATIONS FOR A 1.3-MW PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM 67
TABLE V
DC A RC F LASH E STIMATE FOR C OMBINER B OXES
D. Discussion Items
It was initially thought that a voltage drop in wiring from the
modules to combiner and recombiner boxes, and wiring to the
inverter, would reduce the arc flash energy. However, this did
not happen because the wiring to install each string was large
compared to the short-circuit current. Calculations showed that
the voltage drop has a negligible effect since each module string
(1.43-A short-circuit current) is wired with a #12 American
wire gauge conductor. This makes sense, as PV systems are
installed for high efficiency, and resistance in the wiring, and
hence voltage drop, would be wasting energy.
The biggest discussion item was where on the curve would
the PV system operate during a fault. We could find no research
into this and hence could not make any definitive statements.
We believe that the PV systems would have a reduced voltage
Fig. 9. DC current flow to the recombiner box during a fault.
during a short-circuit fault, but the current would stay near the
maximum power and short-circuit values. We decided to use
The total dc arc flash energy would be the sum of the two the maximum power point as the worst case arcing energy. In
values, as shown in the rightmost column. The combiner boxes most cases, we would expect some lower value of energy to
for array “E” were estimated to have an arc flash energy that be released during a PV system fault. Those performing an arc
requires arc flash PPE. flash hazard analysis of other PV systems may be able to defend
A similar arcing current situation occurs at the recombiner the use of a different point on the PV module curve.
boxes, as shown in Fig. 9. These are only used in arrays A–D.
Using (3) for the recombiner boxes, the results are shown in
IV. L EARNINGS
Table VI. Again, the fusing in individual circuits from combiner
boxes is not intended to open quickly to protect equipment or We had several learnings while doing this paper. First, we
personnel from arc flash hazards. found that the short-circuit current of these PV cells is not
The dc arc flash calculation for the inverter input bus can much higher than their typical load point. From this, we found
be calculated directly from the total Impp of each array, using that many of the typical design fuses installed in these systems
(3). Again, the fuse protection is not sized to protect against do not open quickly under short-circuit conditions. Some fuses
any short-circuit current, as the expected full load current, did open, such as the recombiner box fuses opening during a
maximum power current, and short-circuit current are all very combiner box fault.
similar values; hence, the 2-s duration is used. Table VII We learned that inverter layout design could be improved by
provides the results of this calculation. separating the dc and ac buses in the inverter. In the case of this
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68 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 51, NO. 1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
TABLE VI
DC A RC F LASH E STIMATE FOR R ECOMBINER B OXES
R EFERENCES
[1] R. F. Ammerman, T. Gammon, P. K. Sen, and J. P. Nelson, “DC-arc models
and incident-energy calculations,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 46, no. 5,
pp. 1810–1819, Sep./Oct. 2010.
[2] D. R. Doan, “Arc flash calculations for exposures to DC systems,” IEEE
Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 46, no. 6, pp. 2299–2302, Nov./Dec. 2010.
[3] IEEE/NFPA Arc Flash Research Project. [Online]. Available: https://
standards.ieee.org/about/arcflash/
[4] IEEE Xplore Website. [Online]. Available: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/
Xplore/dynhome.jsp
[5] Guide for Performing Arc Flash Hazard Calculations, IEEE 1584-2002,
2002.
system, the ac arc flash energy was low; hence, there was not
much additional energy.
Finally, we found a higher value for arc flash energy than Daniel R. Doan (S’80–M’81–SM’00–F’11) re-
we initially expected. With the modules’ short-circuit current ceived the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical
only slightly higher than the full-load current, it is difficult engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
to reduce the arc flash energy with normal protective devices. He is a Principal Consultant with DuPont Engi-
Protection technologies are beginning to be available that are neering, Wilmington, DE, USA. He has coauthored
specifically designed for PV systems, and those technologies IEEE papers at the Industry Applications Society
(IAS) Petroleum and Chemical Industry Committee
should be carefully reviewed to determine if they can be applied (PCIC) and Pulp and Paper Conferences on subjects
in a specific system design. If maintenance has to be done ranging from electrical safety to electrical system
on a PV system, it would be best to open disconnects at the reliability and operations. He has coauthored PCIC
Tutorials on Electrical System Reliability and Arc Flash Hazard Analysis, and
module and/or combiner box level, before working around the he has participated in many IAS Electrical Safety Workshops as an author and
recombiners or inverter enclosures. presenter.
This grid-connected system did not include any energy stor- Mr. Doan is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Pennsylvania.
age system such as batteries. Battery systems are a known
source of dc arc flash and give a higher short-circuit current
during fault situations. PV systems that include batteries would
be a special case that should be carefully studied to determine a
worst case arc flash incident energy estimate.
Richard M. Derer (M’13) studied electrical engi-
neering at Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
V. C ONCLUSION He is a Facilities and Electrical Engineer with
DuPont Electronics and Communications, Parlin,
Arc flash energy in a PV system is a hazard, and there are NJ, USA.
Mr. Derer has been a recipient of two Corporate
no published guidelines for estimating the arc flash energy for Engineering Excellence Awards, and he has been a
these systems. The user must understand the hazard and put in Finalist for two others.
place PPE and procedures to keep workers safe from shock and
arc flash hazards.
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