Arc Fault Test and Analysis Performed with IEC 63027 Compliant Equipment and Commercial Inverters

Safety concerns regarding the arc fault risk in photovoltaic powerplants have risen significantly in the past years, with the establishment of UL 1699B and more recently, IEC 63027, following up the growing installed capacity of solar generation around the world. The previously mentioned standards assess a series of tests that should be performed to ensure AFCI (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter), within the inverter or not, operate according to safety standards. While there are recorded tests and measurements in the literature, this paper brings those tests with a novel perspective considering IEC 63027 requirements along with an up-to-date commercial inverter to illustrate the results. The results showed interesting insights and results that illustrate the arc’s danger in novel perspectives.