ATRAA Professional Development Day May 2011

Standards & PV Earthing

Ted Spooner : Chair EL42 Co-convenor of TC82 WG3 on Systems Member of WG6 on Balance of Systems Comp
1

STANDARDS - National
AS/NZS5033 revised and will be out for public comment mid May. Committee meeting end of July to discuss comments AS/NZS4777.1 revised will be out for public comment probably June. AS/NZS4777.2 still being revised.

STANDARDS- International
MOST IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS
International version of 5033 is now out for public comment internationally. Inverter safety standard IEC62109-2 will be published 2nd half of 2011

Most important short term SAFETY developments

INVERTER SAFETY Standard Paired with PV Installation Standard

Inverter safety 62109-2

Protection against electric shock
Floating & Functionally grounded arrays Additional requirements for stand-alone inverters

Protection against fire hazards Inverter backfeed current onto the array Audible noise Fault Indication and ALARM + many more fine details

Why do we earth?
To provide bonding of the metal frame of a system to ground so that a dangerous voltage is not achieved. To allow fault currents to flow if an earth fault occurs somewhere in the system. To provide shielding ie to allow a path for leakage currents to flow. To prevent a system floating to a dangerous voltage that may be undefined. Where particularly required for equipment or operational reasons. i.e. Functional Earthing.

Functional Earthing
Isolated

+ +

Isolated

Protection against electric shock

IEC Standard - IEC 61140 Protection against electric shock Common aspects for installation and equipment & AS/NZS 3000

Fundamental rule of protection against electric shock

Hazardous-live-parts shall not be accessible and accessible conductive parts shall not be hazardous live
either under normal conditions with no faults OR under single-fault conditions

Protection
under normal conditions is provided by basic Provides SAFETY protection. Facilitates Detection
E.g. Basic insulation, barriers, limitation of Voltage and or current etc.

under single-fault conditions by fault protection.

E.g. Earthing exposed metal & Overcurrent protection or other means of detection

Enhanced protective provisions provide protection Action taken to remove under both conditions. threat Eg double insulation...Class II.

Exposed Metal earthed for Safety

PROTECTIVE EARTHING
A

Conducting frame

N AC

Earth return

Note that the fuse blows to disconnect the active

Exposed Metal NOT Earthed with single fault

Fuse may not operate under fault
A N AC

Conducting frame

Modules
Extract from New Aust Draft Standard AS/NZS 5033: Modules of class A according to IEC 61730 are not considered to be safety class II and should be treated as safety class I.

Insulation Class I
Class I equipment
Equipment in which protection against electric shock does not rely on basic insulation only, but which includes an additional safety precaution in that accessible conductive parts are connected to the protective earthing conductor in the fixed wiring of the electrical installation in such a way that accessible parts cannot become live in the event of a failure of the basic insulation.

Inverters Isolation/separation
Inverters used for grid connected systems with LV d.c. Inputs are only required to have simple separation between the a.c and the d.c sides. So A single fault condition can connect the a.c to the d.c.

Earthing in PV Systems
To reduce the chance of shock hazard To aid in detection of faults Because module manufacturers require it (Functional earthing)

Faults
Once a fault occurs in a system the second one is generally only one to two weeks away. Chuck Whitaker PV expert USA & IEC and many other consultants Food for thought!

 Before looking at earthing cases it is important to look at the new inverter safety standard to see what detection and safety features it adds. IEC 62109-2 New Inverter Safety Functions

Isolated/Separated Inverter
Array grounding Ungrounded or Functionally Grounded with Resistor Test before Startup If Fault alarm and if inverter is a high leakage type then also disconnect If High leakage type requires leakage step change detection shutdown and alarm

Array ground insulation resistance measurement

Array residual current detection

Separated(Isolated) Inverter Unearthed or High R Earthed Array

At least Simple Separation
Leakage Current due to Inverter
Less than 30mA worst case If > 30mA then extra requirements for detection of leakage

Check of insulation resistance to Earth

Check before startup
Indicate a fault ALARM If inverter leakage > 30mA do not connect to mains.

Some inverters required to monitor leakage during operation

Isolated/Separated Inverter
Array grounding Array ground insulation resistance measurement Direct Grounded (No resistor) N/A THIS IS A PROBLEM!

Array residual current If inverter is High detection leakage type -requires leakage step change detection shutdown and alarm

Separated(Isolated) Inverter Direct-Earthed Array

At least Simple Separation
Leakage Current due to Inverter
Less than 30mA worst case If > 30mA then extra requirements for detection of leakage

Check of insulation resistance to Earth

NOT REQUIRED AS YET! Some inverters required to monitor leakage during operation

TRANSFORMERLESS ie non separated

Array grounding -> Ungrounded

Array ground insulation resistance measurement

Test before Startup If Fault disconnect and alarm Either RCD on a.c Prescribed by inverter manuf Or Leakage detection on array inside inverter If Fault- shutdown & alarm

Array residual current detection

Non-Separated Inverter Unearthed Array

No-Separation
a.c. Disconnect must be double pole

Check of insulation resistance to Earth

Check before startup
Indicate a fault ALARM Do not connect to the mains

Residual Current Monitoring Either an RCD between inverter & grid OR Inverter has both absolute value and step change leakage detection.

Typical Functional Earthing Arrangements for PV Generators

i.e. arrangements where earthing of the array main conductors is required for operational reasons or manufacturers instructions.

Unearthed (Floating) PV Generator (ie no functional earth)

Isolated

+ +
2nd Fault

A N

1st Fault

Earthing of the module frames enables the inverter to detect module faults. ie detect a first fault.

Functionally Earthed PV Generator - Resistance Earth connection.

Isolated

Isolated

+
Isolated

A
1st Fault

N Re E

2nd Fault

Re > Voc/0.030A

Earthing of the module frames enables the inverter to detect module faults. ie detect a first fault.

Functionally Earthed PV Generator - Direct Earth connection.

Isolated

+ +

Isolated

Isolated

+ +

A
1st Fault

N Earth Fault Interrupter E

EFIs are not foolproof

What if?
Isolated

+ +
2nd Fault

A N Earth Fault Interrupter E

1st Fault

Bakersfield Target Store Fire

Pre-existing Earth Fault on earthed side of array. Then earth fault on main array conductor

Bakersfield had an EFI

Non Separated Inverters - Effectively connect the array to the grid N.

E.g. Transformerless
PV array

Non - Isolated A

1st Fault
N

1st Fault

Either fault location could cause dangerous fault currents. Detection requirements in inverter or external on a.c. Side are required to have double pole separation from the mains

Earthing
Installation and inverter safety standard need to be brought into play together as they have complementary functions to improve safety.

Protective Earthing

Old Standard does not require earthed frames if Modules Class II. CEC Guidelines require PV module frames to be earthed for non-separated inverter systems New Draft 5033 Standard does not recognise Class II Modules. ALL Module Frames Earthed .

Protective Earthing and Bonding for Frames

PV Array Earthing Decision Tree (New Draft)

QUESTIONS Let them have it! I am home in bed.