meet the increasing demand for lightning protection design of PV installations, it is necessary to calculate the transient magnetic field and induced voltage in PV bracket systems under
ABSTRACT Lightning transient calculation is carried out in this paper for photovoltaic (PV) bracket systems. The electrical parameters of the conducting branches and earthing electrodes are
2.1. Lightning Current Responses in Photovoltaic (PV) Bracket System A PV bracket system is typically constructed by a series of tilted, vertical and horizontal conductor branches as shown
Lightning is a common cause of failures in photovoltaic (PV) and wind-electric systems. A damaging surge can occur from lightning that strikes a long distance from the system or between clouds. But most lightning damage is preventable.
This means that when lightning protection is a problem, the site selection of a PV plant will not be constrained by the soil resistivity. Furthermore, the voltage between the dc wire and the PV
Type 2 SPDs protect against indirect lightning strikes, which are characterized by 8/20 µs waveforms. An 8/20 µs waveform means that the strike has an 8 µs rise time and a duration to one-half peak of 20 µs. Type 2 SPDs
To protect your PV system from direct lightning strikes, steps should be taken to ensure that the system is incorporated into the protective zone of the existing air termination system*. Additionally,* the correct surge and lightning equipotential bonding SPD’s should be installed where required on incoming services. In order to avoid this, the PV system should be protected.
With all the barriers discussed in Section 3.3, the need for lightning protection on PV systems must be evaluated on the basis of the risk analysis and protection costs. Table 10 presents the recommended standards related to PV systems including PV installations, lightning protection systems and electrical installations. Table 10.
The metal components of the PV mounting system must be connected to the external lightning protection system in such a way that they can carry lightning currents (cop-per conductor with a cross-section of at least 16 mm2 or equivalent).
This guideline also requires that LPL III and thus a lightning protection system accord-ing to class of LPS III be installed for rooftop PV systems (> 10 kWp) and that surge protection measures be taken. As a general rule, rooftop photovoltaic systems must not interfere with the existing lightning pro-tection measures.
A PV system installed above the protective zone offered by the existing Lightning Protection System may be at risk of receiving a direct lightning strike. This could make the existing Lightning Protection System non-compliant and provide a path for lightning currents to enter the building and endanger life.
If the mounting system is directly connected to the external lightning protection system due to the fact that the separa-tion distance s cannot be maintained, these conductors be-come part of the lightning equipotential bonding system. Consequently, these elements must be capable of carrying lightning currents.
