grounding and arc fault

[mahendra]

hi i currently use a classic 150 and have my pv arrays grounds on a separate ground rod and the classic charge controller, panels and inverter grounded to another ground rod does this affect the ground fault protection? if yes what should i do?

[Watt]

Here is a bit of reading for you.

http://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2012/04/installation-practices-keep-your-pv-system-well-grounded/

Kinda hard to answer your question without knowing what your system is and what it's layout is.  Might draw a picture with measurements to give a better idea.

That link gives a description of ground faults.

[boB]

I don't think you will have a problem unless PV positive touches ground somehow.
That would be a ground fault.

If you aren't getting a ground fault, I wouldn't worry about it.

Now, someone else may come by here with a reason why it could happen but I
think you're going to be OK.

boB

[Watt]

Do you have batteries as part of your system?

[mahendra]

yes i have batteries to my system i am off grid
and i am not that good with drawings

[mahendra]

is it wise to put all grounding to a common grounding pole ?

[boB]

is it wise to put all grounding to a common grounding pole ?

That is normally what is done but if you can't, that's OK.

If the PV array is a ways away from the rest of your system, then it can have its own
grounding rod and also its own lightning protection (SPD) located near the array.

boB

[mahendra]

well thanks a lot people that helped a lot .as for the spd i plan on adding them soon although i would have like to add them now but i cant because i don't have them yet.

[cpm]

Having read the former thread about how gfci does all these terrible things, frightening me into a near-standstill,

I read all this stuff,and wonder why it is that no one, even that nice article in Solar Power World ever bothers
with schematics anymore.

I was never fond of word problems in math class, and I'm really not fond of word problems in things like this,

Anyone care to give us a schematic to illustrate what they are talking about?

Just curious.

[mahendra]

well i can opt for a schematic as well too.that would be really nice.

[Kent0]

It isn't clear from your description what the grounding and wiring schematic would look like. But I've seen this done wrong so many times that it is worth adding the following to this topic.

1) Every remote structure, holding PV modules or just an outbuilding that is a load, should have a grounding electrode. There is an exception for a single ac branch circuit to a remote building.
2) The circuit between the PV array and the charge controller must have three wires: positive, negative, and ground. The ground fault protection will not work properly otherwise.
3) The negative conductor (or perhaps the positive one in some cases) should only be connected to ground in one location.