TIDUEZ9B July 2022 – April 2023
This reference design implements a 4-channel analog front-end for DC arc detection in photovoltaic systems, supporting DC voltages up to 1000 V and currents up to 10 A. Arcing is detected by analyzing the AC noise present on the DC current between the solar panels and inverter. The signal is acquired by a current transformer, conditioned by an analog filter stage and sampled by an internal 12-bit ADC of the MCU or the 16-bit ADC ADC8363, before the frequency analysis is done with a C2000™ real-time microcontroller. This design is compatible with different C2000 controlCARDs, which allows adjustment to the MCU to the system. The internal ADC of the C2000 MCU can be evaluated by using a bypass option of the ADS8363.