Daventry District Council- DC Isolation of Solar Arrays

The solar array at Daventry District Council's offices was installed in 2012 and has been operating successfully since then. The installation was installed in accordance with the appropriate standards at the time.

A recent fire risk assessment of the office building identified a potential health and safety risk associated with the solar array's direct current (DC) network. The risk assessment noted that there was no means of isolating the DC link from the rooftop arrays to the inverters and, in the event of an incident in the building, the network will remain live even after the building's electricity supply had been isolated. This presents a risk to any persons who would be required to enter the building, for example firefighters. The Council has resolved to address this risk.

The Council engaged a specialist company to review the existing system and propose an appropriate method to provide DC electrical disconnection at panel level. The recommended solution is to install the Solar Edge inverter system with DC optimisers installed under the solar panels. The new inverters will replace the existing inverters, which will be disposed of.

The work also provides an opportunity to address a problem with pigeons nesting underneath the panel arrays and to undertake cleaning of both the panels and the roof guttering.