A review for solar panel fire accident prevention in large-scale PV applications

Abstract

Due to the wide applications of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology, safe operation and maintenance of the installed solar panels become more critical as there are potential menaces such as hot spot effects and DC arcs, which may cause re accidents to the solar panels. In order to minimize the risks of re accidents in large scale applications of solar panels, this review focuses on the latest techniques for reducing hot spot effects and DC arcs. The risk mitigation solutions mainly focus on two aspects: structure recon guration and faulty diagnosis algorithm. The rst is to reduce the hot spot effect by adjusting the space between two PV modules in a PV array or relocate some PV modules. The second is to detect the DC arc fault before it causes re. There are three types of arc detection techniques, including physical analysis, neural network analysis, and wavelet detection analysis. Through these detection methods, the faulty PV cells can be found in a timely manner thereby reducing the risk of PV re. Based on the review, some precautions to prevent solar panel related re accidents in large-scale solar PV plants that are located adjacent to residential and commercial areas.