Electrostatic Discharge and Secondary Arcing on Solar ArrayaFlashover Effect on Arc Occurrence

A good representativeness of the test setup used for the qualification of solar arrays is fundamental. We know now that the flashover current involved in the electrostatic discharge is related with the total dielectric surface neutralized during the electrostatic discharge. This paper presents exper...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on plasma science 2008-01, Vol.36 (5)
Main Authors: Inguimbert, V, Sarrail, D, Mateo-Velez, J-C, Reulet, R, Levy, L, Boulay, F, Payan, D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dielectrics
Electric potential
Electrostatic discharges
Flashover
Onera
Solar collectors
Vacuum chambers
Voltage
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A good representativeness of the test setup used for the qualification of solar arrays is fundamental. We know now that the flashover current involved in the electrostatic discharge is related with the total dielectric surface neutralized during the electrostatic discharge. This paper presents experiments on samples of different sizes, performed in a large vacuum chamber, JONAS, installed in ONERA/DESP, Toulouse, France. The samples are tested in the inverted voltage gradient configuration obtained with electrons. We observed that secondary arcs obtained on a large sample (i.e., with a long flashover) had much longer durations than those on a small sample, i.e., the flashover is a critical parameter for secondary arc initiation and sustainment.
ISSN:0093-3813
DOI:10.1109/TPS.2008.2001836