Impact of Photovoltaic-Oriented DC Stray Current Corrosion on Large-Scale Solar Farms' Grounding and Third-Party Infrastructure: Modeling and Assessment

This paper discusses the impact of photovoltaic (PV)-oriented dc stray current corrosion on large-scale solar farms' grounding and third-party infrastructure. The dc stray current may result from a fault or may be facilitated by buried cables' condition that allows dc leakage to flow into the earth. In particular, such abnormal conditions can impact the grounding electrodes of the PV plants as well as third-party metallic infrastructures (e.g., natural gas pipelines) that are laid in the nearby vicinity of a solar plant. This paper unfolds by thoroughly addressing three specific objectives: 1) defining the origin of the problem; 2) modeling the problem in commercially available software; and 3) discussing the arising implications.