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Why are Solar PV safety checks recommended?
Solar PV systems can easily be overlooked as they are generally on roofs, out of sight, and out of mind. They are quite often thought to be low-maintenance benign assets posing little risk due to their location. However as a DC electricity generator, like all electrical equipment, if installed poorly or damaged it can present significant risks.
Some risks are little understood and again overlooked even by some installers.
For instance, where a Solar PV array is located on a roof with lightning protection installed, there may be a requirement to tie the system to the lightning protection and install Surge Protection Devices (SPDs). If these installations are carried out incorrectly then dangerous voltages can enter the building leading to flashovers within the building and a heightened risk of fire and electric shock.
Common Issues
Poor overcurrent protection/fusing of multi-string arrays can lead to dangerous overload conditions.
Broken panels can expose workers to dangerous voltages where the operative is already in a heightened place of risk on a roof.
Slipped panels can give rise to a significant risk of damage and danger if left unattended.
Damaged DC cables can add significant fire and electrocution risks.
Drone surveys can quite often identify some of the above faults.
Finding Faults
With the solar panels all linked with connectors, installed in harsh environmental conditions it is easy to understand that sometimes one of the connecting plugs could get miss-terminated leaving a poor high resistance connection. These high-resistance, poorly terminated connectors can let in water or work themselves loose over time as the connectors expand and contract through the seasons, when the joint starts to separate or become loose the resistance between the two parts increases causing heat. The heat then melts the plastic connectors, and once the two metal joining pieces separate they arc until eventually destroying themselves and creating a large enough gap that the electricity cannot bridge anymore.
These issues can quite often be picked up by regular testing and will generally show up as faults on the inverter logs or an out-of-service inverter. As you can probably imagine, it is important that these faults are dealt with quickly to reduce an electric shock risk to personnel and potential building damage.
As with any electrical circuit, there are many ways that they can become unsafe making regular safety checks a must.
