Accident investigation of the electrical shock incident at the PG and E PVUSA site Davis, California

Jacobson, Lisa; Moskowitz, P.D.; Garrett, J.O.; Tyler, R.

doi:10.2172/188526

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…There has been only one well documented electrical shock case relating to PV systems in the USA [5], and there have been several fires resulting in substantial damage [6]. General grounding practices were followed in all cases, but the uniqueness of the PV energy source contributed to conditions that allowed fire dangers to exist.…”

Section: Grounding Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of grounded and ungrounded photovoltaic systems

Bower

Wiles²

Proceedings of 1994 IEEE 1st World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion - WCPEC (A Joint Conference of PVSC, PVSEC and

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Grounding has always been a subject of controversy during discussions of electrical systems. Grounding techniques and requirements, like language, vary from region to region and country to country. Optimized grounding for personnel protection does not optimize the fire safety of a system and grounding for fire safety does not optimize personnel safety. Grounding to provide protection for equipment requires a third set of requirements. Photovoltaic (PV) systems are current sources and require different grounding techniques than conventional voltage sources. Distributed leakage paths, multiple fault paths, and new roles for fuses and circuit breakers are among a few of the new issues that need careful consideration. This paper presents and analyzes the grounding issues associated with PV energy sources. Grounding configurations, faults, personnel safety, fire safety, and surge protection are addressed.

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Section: Grounding Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%