DC cable cross-section selection for PV plants
This paper analyzes the problem of DC cable selection in photovoltaic (PV) plants. PV plants can have tens of kilometres of one-way cables that are important parts of the system. The currents flowing through these cables can reach values of several hundred amps. Losses incurred on DC cables are up to 1%, which can be significant when measuring power loss during the operating period. Reduction of these losses can be achieved by increasing the cross-section of the cable. The paper describes the requirements set by the standards for selecting cable cross-sections. An analytical criterion function that connects electricity losses and cable crosssection were deduced. This function depends on several parameters such as electricity price, cable price, the average number of sunny hours per year, average amount of electricity through cable, interest rate, loan repayment period, and plant operation period. Several cases with the analysis of the obtained results are presented.