ARC FAULT MITIGATION FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS
First Claim
1. A photovoltaic system for generating electrical power, the photovoltaic system comprising:
- one or more solar panels each including at least one photovoltaic cell;
one or more shuttering assemblies each configured to selectively limit a quantity of light received by at least one of the one or more solar panels;
one or more sensing devices each operable to detect characteristics of an arc fault event in the photovoltaic system and output a signal indicative thereof; and
a control module operatively connected to the one or more shuttering assemblies and to the one or more sensing devices, the control module being configured to direct the one or more shuttering assemblies to reduce the quantity of light received by at least one of the one or more solar panels in response to the output signals indicating there is an arc fault event.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems, methods, and devices are presented for mitigating arc fault events in a photovoltaic system. An aspect of this disclosure is directed to a photovoltaic system for generating electrical power. The photovoltaic system includes one or more solar panels, and one or more shuttering assemblies, each of which is configured to selectively limit the quantity of light received by one or more of the solar panels. One or more sensing devices detect characteristics of an arc fault event in the photovoltaic system, and output signals indicative thereof. A control module is operatively connected to the shuttering assemblies and the sensing devices. The control module is configured to direct the one or more shuttering assemblies to reduce the quantity of light received by at least one of the one or more solar panels in response to the output signals indicating there is an arc fault event in the photovoltaic system.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A photovoltaic system for generating electrical power, the photovoltaic system comprising:
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one or more solar panels each including at least one photovoltaic cell; one or more shuttering assemblies each configured to selectively limit a quantity of light received by at least one of the one or more solar panels; one or more sensing devices each operable to detect characteristics of an arc fault event in the photovoltaic system and output a signal indicative thereof; and a control module operatively connected to the one or more shuttering assemblies and to the one or more sensing devices, the control module being configured to direct the one or more shuttering assemblies to reduce the quantity of light received by at least one of the one or more solar panels in response to the output signals indicating there is an arc fault event. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of mitigating an arc fault event in a photovoltaic system with one or more solar panels each including at least one photovoltaic cell, the method comprising:
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monitoring system characteristics, including a voltage or a current, or both, at one or more locations within the photovoltaic system; determining if an arc fault event occurred within the photovoltaic system by applying arc detection algorithm rules to the monitored system characteristics; and in response to determining there is an arc fault event within the photovoltaic system, reducing the quantity of light received by at least one of the one or more solar panels. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of mitigating arc fault events in a photovoltaic (PV) system, the PV system including a plurality of solar panels each including at least one photovoltaic cell, and a combiner box selectively electrically connecting the plurality of solar panels to an inverter, the method comprising:
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continuously monitoring system characteristics, including a voltage and a current associated with the PV system, at multiple locations within the PV system; detecting PV panel electrical characteristics; detecting inverter characteristics; detecting network impedance characteristics; determining if an arc fault event occurred within the photovoltaic system by applying arc detection algorithm rules to the monitored system characteristics, the detected PV panel electrical characteristics, the detected inverter characteristics, and the detected network impedance characteristics; and in response to determining there is an arc fault event within the photovoltaic system, substantially eliminating the light received by the plurality of solar panels, turning off the inverter, or electrically disconnecting the plurality of solar panels from the inverter via the combiner box, or any combination thereof.
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Specification