by David Wren
With Cadline’s focus on sustainable design, we have made significant improvements to PV Design and Solar Array arrangements. Wiring can now model anything from a single PV Panel to a full Solar Farm with complex arrangements of Series and Parallel Arrays.
This includes the ability to utilise updated circuit protection (CPDs) for the PV String and Array cables.
The example PV Array above has been set up with 4 paralleled Strings, with each String containing 10 solar panels. As confirmed in the top RH portion of the PV dialog ‘Series/Parallel String - 10S 4P’.
When configuring your PV Array, you can select the type and quantity of PV Panels to create the first PV String. When that String is set up, you can then ‘Add Parallel Strings’ to create a Series Parallel arrangement for your PV Array. If there are too many Panels in the Strings or too many Strings in the Array, there is also the option to Delete Series Panel or to Delete Parallel String.
When your Array is configured, the program can calculate the appropriate sized CPDs from the selected CPD Type. This is for both the individual Strings and the Array, which is the totalled String currents. In the example above, the individual String current has been calculated at 5.9A and the Array total as 23.5A.
All these details are confirmed in the printed report, which can be produced for each PV Array from the ‘Print’ button.
You will also notice near the bottom of the report, an entry showing details of the ‘Enclosure Temp Derating Factor’. Basically, as the ambient temperature rises, the protective characteristics and performance of the CPD decays. This detail will be expanded upon in another Blog to follow soon.