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The Solar ABCs is a collaborative effort among experts to formally gather and prioritize input from the broad spectrum of photovoltaic stakeholders resulting in coordinated recommendations to codes and standards making bodies for existing and new solar technologies.

The Solar ABCs is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Award Number DE-FC36-07GO17034

Solar ABCs Newsletter
June 2013
In This Issue
Ground-Fault Blind Spot Reports
Corrosion Testing of PV Module Grounding Components
Solar ABCs Stakeholder Meeting in San Francisco
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Greetings!

Greetings!

 

Welcome to the June newsletter for the Solar America Board for Codes and Standards (Solar ABCs).   The Solar ABCs newsletter provides the latest news and information about solar codes and standard achievements, announcements, and events. Please contact me if you have any questions or comments.

 

Sincerely,

 

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Larry Sherwood
Project Administrator
Solar America Board for Codes and Standards  
Solar ABCs Reports: Inverter Ground-Fault Detection "Blind Spot" and Mitigation Methods  

 

The Solar ABCs recently published a final report entitled, Inverter Ground-Fault Detection "Blind Spot" and Mitigation Methods, and a supplemental report on this topic, entitled Analysis of Fuses for "Blind Spot" Ground Fault Detection in Photovoltaic Power Systems. These reports conclude a research program into an important safety issue associated with the design of many U.S. PV systems. Over the last twelve months, Solar ABCs has led a broad industry- and stakeholder-based working group to research this problem and develop effective mitigation strategies. This report includes recommendations for operational strategies and equipment retrofits that can increase ground fault detection sensitivity and reduce the risk of fire in new and retrofit applications. Early results from large PV systems that have been retrofitted with the recommended protective devices indicate that these devices can substantially reduce the detection blind spot without requiring redesign of the system.

Solar ABCs Report: Addendum Report on Corrosion Testing of PV Module Grounding Components

The Solar ABCs has also released a report, Photovoltaic Module Grounding: Addendum Report on Corrosion Testing, which completes a two-part study addressing the electrical grounding of photovoltaic (PV) modules. This addendum provides updated information related to corrosion testing of electrical grounding components and connections used in PV arrays. It focuses on the parts and components that have not been adequately tested for resistance to corrosion, the lack of adequate or appropriate test requirements in the module or component certification standards, and concludes with recommendations to improve the test requirements for assessing corrosion resistance.   

Solar ABCs Stakeholder Meeting
July 11, 2pm - 6pm, San Francisco, California

 

Be sure to join us for the Solar ABCs annual 2013 Stakeholder Meeting in San Francisco, California on July 11, 2013. The Solar ABCs holds an annual meeting to provide PV stakeholders an update and overview of Solar ABCs projects and other PV codes and standards activities.   This meeting is free to attend and is conveniently scheduled during the Intersolar North America Conference post-conference workshops.  Register Now.