SolarBOS, a company that develops balance of system solutions needed for the solar power industry, declared that the new Arc Fault Detection & Interruption (AFDI) combiner box has successfully completed the internal tests performed by the company.
The company has created a mock set up meeting the standards specified by the new UL 1699B draft to perform such tests. During the tests the combiner box used along with a 600 VDC PV panel effectively identified and cut off a number of arcs of various current levels within the time limits specified in the standard. The company performed the tests at its manufacturing facility located in Livermore, CA.
The Arc Fault Detector Module (AFDM) is designed to be equipped on the top of the positive bus inside the gap between the fuse holders. When AFDM is utilized in combination with a contactor, circuit breaker or a shunt-trip capable switch it opens the circuit on recognizing an arc and gets rid of it well before its gets time to generate the required heat to initiate fire within the wiring of PV array. It is also designed to send warning alerts by utilizing a gateway device to the operators and system owners about finding and interrupting of an arc. The company has plans to quickly complete the listing process of the device with one of the Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) and to make the listed version of AFDI combiner obtainable this year.
SolarBOS will be showcasing its AFDI solution besides its other developed products at the InterSolar North America Exhibition to be held in San Francisco from July 12th to 14th.