Numerical Simulation of Return Strokes/Dart Leaders: Application to the Lightning Protection of Photovoltaic Farms

This paper is the continuation of work on a novel simulation of the most common type of Cloud to Ground lightning discharge, with the view to validating and improving lightning protection measures applied to large-scale photovoltaic farms. Those measures are generally based on the electro-geometric model as prescribed in the relevant local and international standards. As the return stroke/dart leader phases constitute the defining aspect of the lightning discharge phenomenon, the study of their influence on the protection of photovoltaic systems is of prime importance with the novelty in our approach residing in the distinction between the final jump and the rest of the downward stepped leader when simulating the propagation of the return stroke's charge neutralizing wave from ground to cloud.