SPD Miscoordination in PV Systems Due to Lightning Strikes

This study deals with the coordination of surge protection devices (SPD) in photovoltaic systems (PV). A PV farm model was developed in MATLAB Simulink with all the main components, solar panels, converter, grounding system, power transformer, cables in the DC and AC branches with their capacitances, and surge protection device throughout the installation. It was found that when lightning strikes the grounding system or in the vicinity of the PV installation, the coordination among SPD types 1, 2, and 3 is lost. Miscoordination can cause damage to several elements of the PV system, mainly the inverters. Finally, solutions were proposed to avoid SPD miscoordination during lightning strikes.