Recognition of electric arcing in the DC-wiring of photovoltaic systems

The paper presents an approach for protection of PV-systems against electric arcing in the DC-wiring. An intelligent protection device for integration into the PV-modules is developed. The main focus is on the methods that can be used for detection of a burning arc inside the system. The impacts of an arc on the voltages and currents in the system are shown and an algorithm for detection of arcing by a low-power low-cost DSP/microcontroller is proposed.