An effective Arc Fault Detection Approach for Smart Grid Solar Farms Using Rogowski Coil Sensor

An effective arc fault diagnosis method for solar farms in smart grids is proposed. The Printed Circuit Board Rogowski Coil (PCBRC) sensor is utilized to detect the arc flashes resulting from the faults occurring at any level of the Photovoltaic (PV) system. Two PCBRCs are connected in electrically opposite directions to cancel the undesirable influence of any noise source. The sensors are located at the positive and negative feed conductors at the inverter-end side. Upon the arc fault occurrence, a transient AC current passes through the Current-Carrying Conductor (CCC) which is sensed by the PCBRC sensor. The measured signal is amplified and latched by a dual ultra-fast voltage comparator in the first step. Then, a microprocessor is activated, which performs multiresolution analysis on the measured signal in order to confirm or reject the initial decision. The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed by different experimentations.