Performance of Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters in Photovoltaic Inverters Connected to Long DC Cables

Photovoltaic arc fault circuit interrupters (PV AFCI) have been used in the USA for a long time. Today, inverters for the European market are also increasingly incorporating AFCI due to the fact the IEC 63027 standard was launched in 2023, too. This paper examines how well integrated AFCI work with long DC cables, such as large PV systems or PV systems on high-rise buildings whose inverters are installed far away from the PV modules. The AFCIs were tested at different cable lengths, different current-voltage configurations, and various arc positions in the string. It is shown that the different settings influence the performance of the AFCIs, and differences between the individual inverters are also observed. However, all AFCI work well for typical expected cable lengths across all tested manufacturers. Further tests showed that weaknesses only appear with very long cables.