Bentek Solar, a leading designer and manufacturer of PV products connecting PV panels to inverters for the commercial and utility-scale marketplaces, announced that its MDSS is a cost-effective means for providing safety and code compliance for PV installations. The MDSS contains a bank of load-break disconnects in a compact, free-standing cabinet. Typically, the MDSS is installed next to the inverter and provides the safety and arc flash reduction that is needed in all photovoltaic (PV) systems, solving a critical safety issue that is commonly overlooked. The MDSS provides code-compliant fuse isolation that inverters do not. This allows fuses in the inverter to be removed safely. Multiple sources of power are much less common in AC applications. As a result, PV installations contain hazards that many electricians and maintenance personnel are not accustomed to. Contact with a live fuse that has 600 or 1000V of electricity present may result in death. To help prevent this, National Electrical Code (NEC) 2011 690.16 states that, ‘an external disconnect must be installed within the line of sight of the inverter fuses or at a distance not greater than 50 feet from the inverter fuses’. However, not all states follow this NEC rule. This should be of great concern not only for the installers but also for the operations and maintenance organization that will need to maintain the PV system.
