Case Studies on Possible Failures in PV Power Plants

Nowadays grid connected PV plants are playing an important role in power systems. Although, the general application guide has been defined by standards, some important possible failures and their consequences are not considered in any standard. These failures can cause production stops and considerable damages to the system. This paper analyzes some real failures by studying three different PV power plants. In each cases, the unscheduled event has damaged a part of the PV power plant. Each failure case is described in detail with some practical solutions to solve it. Moreover, the last problem is investigated systematically and field records are demonstrated. Finally, it is suggested to include islanding overvoltage tests and maximum thresholds into grid code and standard guide.