Photovoltaic panel lightning protection method diagram

Do PV panels need a lightning protection system?

Consequently, they are frequently subjected to lightning strikes, which may cause damage to PV arrays, service interruption, and additional cost for PV replacement. Therefore, an adequate lightning protection system (LPS) must be installed to protect the PV panels.

Why is accurate modeling of PV systems during lightning important?

The accurate modeling of PV systems during lightning is important for the proper selection of LPS. Some previous researches presented an overview of the PV system behavior during lightning, taking into account the LPS design and the effect of lightning on PV systems.

How to protect a PV system from lightning discharges?

In case that a PV installation is protected against lightning discharges by an external LPS, the above distance s between the PV equipment and the parts of the LPS should be respected, in order to avoid sharing of discharge currents through the metallic components of the PV system.

How will a lightning protection system affect PV power generation?

All this kind of destruction will undoubtedly affect the economic aspects or the return on investment that could be earned from PV power generation as well as the cost of repair or replacement to recover from the damage, all of which can be mitigated by implementing a lightning protection system (LPS) .

Why is lightning a major threat to photovoltaic (PV) systems?

Lightning is one of the major threats to photovoltaic (PV) systems, due to their typically unsheltered installations. This problem is getting more and more relevant as installed systems with larger areas are getting common in response to the increased PV energy demand .

How to protect PV system in case of indirect lightning?

A proposed design of SPD to protect the PV system in case of indirect lightning was explained [ 40 ], where the designed hardware was type 2 SPD. This type consists of varistor, Zener diode, common mode choke, transient voltage suppresser (TVS), and gate discharge tube (GDT).