Overvoltages on a Photovoltaic Park Grounding System Exposed to Lightning Strike

The subject of this study is the overvoltages developed during lightning events on the grounding system of a photovoltaic (PV) park located in Western Greece. Through modeling in the A TP - EMTP software, the transient response of the earthing system of the solar park under consideration is assessed for two scenarios of lightning strikes. The efficiency of the grounding system is simulated with respect to different lightning entries; from the side and the middle of the PV park while the influence of the soil ionization is also understudied. Furthermore, the grounding system with the soil ionization modelling under consideration, for Case A, is used to estimate the step voltages as a function of the distance from the lightning strike entrance point. Lastly, a comparison is conducted regarding the highest values of induced voltages recorded for Case A, taking into account the IEC 62305–1 and positive CIGRE 200 kA 10/350 μs. From the obtained results, it is clear that personnel is not safe until a distance of 3 m away from the strike.