Title :
Photovoltaic safety equipment and the National Electrical Code
Author_Institution :
Southwest Technol. Dev. Inst., New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM, USA
Abstract :
Article 690-5 of the National Electrical Code (NEC) 1990 Edition requires that photovoltaic (PV) power systems mounted on the roofs of dwellings be equipped with a device that will detect ground faults in the array, interrupt the fault current, and disable the array. The design of a ground fault indicator and array disabler device that meets the requirements of the NEC for stand-alone and grid-tied systems is described. Preliminary testing revealed a low-voltage oscillation and excessive power consumption at voltages below the operating window. These problems have been resolved by a voltage monitoring relay
Keywords :
fault location; safety; solar cell arrays; standards; National Electrical Code; ground fault detection; ground fault indicator; low-voltage oscillation; power consumption; roof mounted photovoltaic power systems; safety equipment; Electrical fault detection; Electrical safety; Fault currents; National electric code; Photovoltaic systems; Power system faults; Safety devices; Solar power generation; Testing; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1991., Conference Record of the Twenty Second IEEE
Conference_Location :
Las Vegas, NV
Print_ISBN :
0-87942-636-5
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1991.169291
