Considerations in the design of grounding system for solar farms

A solar farm can be divided in three distinct areas: the substation, the inverter houses and the solar arrays. The interconnection of the grounding grids of these three areas constitutes an extended grounding system. The characteristics of this grounding system are unique to solar farms. There are different factors affecting the performance of this grounding system such as the electric resistivity of the soil at different locations within the farm, the year round weather conditions, the layout of the solar racks and the design of the rack piles. It is critical to take into account all these factors when designing the grounding system to comply with the requirements specified by the codes and standards. These requirements are the touch potential, the step potential and the ground potential rise. The factors affecting the design of the grounding system in a solar farm are described in this study.