Cables for Photovoltaic Applications

Jrg Br
Product Manager Friedrich Ltze GmbH & Co KG Weinstadt, Germany +49-7151-6053-274 joerg.boer@luetze.de

Stefan Grunwald
Product Manager Lutze Inc. Charlotte, NC +1-704-248-5310 sgrunwald@lutze.com

Ilona Hirtz
Product Manager Kabelwerke Villingen GmbH Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany +49-7721-20617-18 ilona.hirtz@kwv-vs.de

Abstract
The recent growth of the renewable energy market applies to both wind energy as well as to solar energy. In many countries this growth is supported by governmental subsidies. Outdoor applications in renewable energy plants demand high thermal and mechanical requirements from cables and other components. Therefore, some national standardization bodies defined general requirements for cables used in solar plants. In 2005 UL 4703 was published in the USA. In Germany a joint working group Cables for Photovoltaic Application was established in the same year, which resulted in a specification published in February 2008. The performance requirements in high temperatures have been set very high for cables. Various German institutes accepted this specification and now offer certifications for it. There has been a huge demand in the European as well as Asian markets for such certified cable. Due to the differences the UL 4703 requirements cannot be combined together with the German specification. The different solar-cable requirements have advantages as well as disadvantages in respect to the specific regional conditions.

The improvements of the solar panel technology define the electrical performance of components. Usually solar systems are working with low voltage direct current, and the panels are switched in parallel. Thus, the current is the determining electrical parameter. In terms of cables, this results in different conductor cross sections.

3. Common Specification of German Technical Institutes

In 2005 the German national electro-technical standardization body DKE established a working group called Cables for Photovoltaic Application which resulted in a public specification. This document was published in February 2008 [2]. Due to the close cooperation between different institutes, this specification is identical with the TV-Specification 2 PfG 1169/08.2007 and the VDE-Specification E PV 01:2008-02. DKE-Subcommittee UK 411.2 released the document for publication and application, but due to CENELEC rules it was not adopted as a national standard in Germany.

4. Technical Details of the German Specification

In this German specification [2] the requirements have been raised to a very high level regarding the high temperature performance of cables. Additionally, high mechanical stability is required; the cable has to be flame retardant and free of halogens. To meet this specification the manufacturers generally use halogen free flame retardant cross linked polyolefin copolymers as material for insulation and jacketing. The solar cable according DKE is a two layer insulated single core cable with a minimum wall thickness of 0.5mm in each layer. The most important tests required in this specification [2] are discussed in the following clauses:

Keywords: Renewable energy; Photovoltaic; Solar Cable; Standardization; TV; DKE; UL 4703, Fire Performance; CrossLinking.

1. Introduction
The renewable energy market is growing rapidly. A tenfold increase for the next five years is anticipated by Merill Lynch [1]. This growth applies to wind energy as well as to solar energy. Due to public interest, a number of governments have decided to support the renewable energy economics with large amounts of subsidies. Thus, even a further increase in this market can be expected.

4.1 Temperature Range

Solar cables according to the German specification [2] are defined for an environmental temperature range from -40C up to +90C. The maximum conductor temperature is specified at +120C.

2. External Conditions
The photovoltaic market is a very specific market. Various national regulations are to be taken into account. The system size can vary from a small home power supply with a nominal power of few kilowatts up to large centralized solar plants in the Gigawatt range. The components used in these systems must be suitable for these specific applications. One common determining factor for all photovoltaic power systems is the outdoor use, which brings along high temperatures and, of course, high UV radiation. Weathering and humidity need to be taken into account, as well. Furthermore, safety and reliability aspects are very important.

4.2 Hot Pressure Test

Purpose of this test is to check the mechanical stability of the cable insulation and jacket under high thermal and mechanical load. The test is performed on the completed cable according to the test method described in IEC 60811-3-1. Test temperature is +140C; the load is applied for four hours.

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4.5 Weathering / UV Resistance / Humidity

To reveal the performance under different environmental conditions, a weathering and UV resistance test according to HD 605/A1, part 2.4.20 is required as well as a damp heat test according to EN 60068-2-78.

4.6 Dynamic Penetration Test

A special penetration test was developed to prove the stability of the cable jacket and insulation against mechanical loads. It is described in Annex E of the discussed specification [2]. As shown in Fig. 3, a steel needle is pressed onto the cable sample. The load is continuously increased till the needle contacts the cable conductor, indicated by a low voltage electrical circuit. The load in the moment of contact is derived by a load cell.

Figure 1. Pressure test at high temperature on the solar cable

4.3 Cold Bend Test and Cold Impact Test

Solar plants must be able to work under extreme weather conditions. Thus, the components are tested not only for high temperature but also for low temperature performance. In the German specification [2] this is taken into account with high requirements for the cold bend and cold impact test. These tests are performed according to IEC 60811-1-4 at -40C. But additionally the cold impact test is performed with increased height as well as increased weight of hammer and intermediate piece.

4.4 Short and long term Ageing at high Temperature

A short term ageing test is required at +150C with a duration of 168 hours for the insulation as well as for the jacket material. Additionally, an Arrhenius test has to be performed where the materials have to withstand 20,000 hours at +120C (see Fig. 4). This enables manufacturers to guarantee a life time of 25 years in the specified operating conditions.

Figure 3. Arrangement for penetration test on completed (?) cable This test simulates mechanical loads on the cable that could be caused by any object or device falling on the cable or by animals outside.

4.7 Fire Performance

Although the danger of fire propagation in outdoor applications such as solar plants is not a great risk for the safety of people, a good fire performance is required to protect the technical equipment. The document [2] specifies a flame propagation test on the completed cable according to IEC 60332.1.

4.8 Absence of Halogens

In the case of fire, acids caused by the smoke of halogenated materials are a serious danger for peoples health as well as for the function of electric and electronic devices. In former times halogen free cables were required in public areas such as hospitals, airports and other similar structures. But due to the increasing importance of electronics in all areas of everyday life, this quality is increasingly required in industrial premises, too. As far as for solar cables, this characteristic is especially important for solar power devices on residential buildings. Figure 2. Hot elongation test To check the completed cross-linking of materials, a hot elongation test is also performed on insulation and jacketing materials. Several tests have to be performed to prove the absence of halogens in solar cables. Electrical conductivity and pH value of the smoke are to be quantified according European standard EN 50267-2-2. The content of chlorine and bromine is determined according to EN 50267-2-1 and a special test is developed for the content of fluorine in Annex C of the discussed specification [2].

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5. UL 4703 Standard
In 2005 the American Underwriters Laboratories (UL) published the UL subject 4703 Photovoltaic Wire [3]. It covers singleconductor, insulated and integrally or non-integrally jacketed, sunlight resistant, photovoltaic wire in several temperature and voltage ratings for interconnection wiring of grounded and ungrounded photovoltaic power systems. The standard UL 4703 is based on the service entry cords USE-2 and specifies some additional requirements for photovoltaic cables. It applies for solar cables in North America. These UL-requirements are quite different from the German specification. The UL standard leaves more freedom for the manufacturer as far as the cable construction and the selection of materials is concerned. One or two insulation layers can be chosen optionally as well as a skinned single layer construction. For two layer construction, as specified in the DKE-document [2], several combinations of wall thicknesses are allowed in UL 4703. But in each case the total sum of wall thickness will be higher than specified in the German specification (see table 1). Thus the diameter for the same conductor cross section will be higher which reduces the suitability for several connectors. And the increased need of insulation compound will add to the production cost. Table 1. Wall thicknesses acc. to UL 4703
Dimension Single layer Skinned Double layer AWG 10 AWG 18 1.52mm / 60mils 1.91mm / 75mils (1.14mm + 0.76mm) 2.28mm / 90 mils (1.14mm + 1.14mm) AWG 2 AWG 9 1.91mm / 75mils 2.28mm / 90mils (1.52mm + 0.76mm) 2.66mm / 105mils (1.52mm + 1.14mm)

6. Product Properties
The new developed solar cable is a single core cable built with a tinned stranded conductor. All materials are halogen free, flame resistant and fire retardant. No corrosive gases will be released in case of fire and the smoke density is low. The insulation and jacket materials are extremely resistant to weathering, UV-radiation and abrasion. The wide temperature range from -50C to +150C (fixed installation) enables the use of this cable in extreme weather conditions. Additionally, it is salt water resistant and resistant to acids and alkaline solutions. The cable is flexible and designed for high mechanical loads. So it is suitable for fixed installation as well as for moving applications without tensile load. It is especially designed for outdoor use, which means direct sun radiation and air humidity, but due to the halogen free flame retardant cross-linked jacket material the cable can also be installed in dry and humid conditions indoors.

The main focus of UL 4703 is the fire performance. Tests to be performed are the Vertical Flame Test acc. to UL 1581, Section 1060 or optional the flame test VW-1 acc. to UL 1581, Section 1080. Based on RHW-2 the flame test FT-2 acc. to UL 1581, Section 1100 is also required. Table 2 compares some important parameters and tests of both standards against each other. Table 2. German Specification versus UL 4703
Parameter Cable Type Cold Bend / Cold Impact Hot pressure Test Ageing Test Humidity Test Dynamic Penetration Fire Performance Halogen free Weathering / UV-Test DKE [2] Solar Cable -40C +140C +150C 1000h / 90C / 85% rel. Ambient temp., 150N * IEC 60332.1.2 EN 50267-2 EN 60684-2 HD 605 S1/A1 UL 4703 [3] Based on RHHW / USE-2 -40C +121C +121C Not required Not required UL 1581 sec. 1060 UL 1581 sec. 1080 UL 1581 sec. 1061 UL 1581 sec. 1100 Not required UL 1581 sec. 1200

Figure 4. Long term thermal test results A product life cycle of 25 years can be expected for this solar cable. Insulation and jacket are easily removable. All materials used in the cable are in conformance to European RoHS-directive.

Therefore, another cable construction will be necessary to meet the UL-requirements.

Figure 5. The developed cable in different cross-sections

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There are two versions available signed by ink-jet printing for positive and negative polarity. The dimension range is from 2,5mm (overall diameter 4,5mm) up to 35mm (overall diameter 11,0mm), other cross sections are available upon request. The described solar cable is named Ltze THERMOFLEX Solar XPE. It has passed all the described tests and was certified by the VDE testing and certification institute according to the discussed specification [2]. It is registered at VDE by Reg.-No. 8293 Another solar cable type using AWG conductor sizes has been developed according to UL 4703 [3] and is currently/actually in the certification process.

Following his graduation as Diplom-Ingenieur of electrical engineering at RWTH Aachen Jrg Br started his professional career as a design engineer at a German cable manufacturer. His activities there focus on the further development of symmetric copper data cables with transmission characteristics specified up to the gigahertz range. Furthermore he developed optical data cables. Afterwards he worked in a cable factory as head of development and technology, later as cable development manager. Currently, Jrg Br is Product Manager Cables at Friedrich Ltze GmbH & Co. KG. Besides this he teaches in the institute of further education of the German engineers society (VDI). Furthermore, he worked in two subcommittees of the German electro technical standardization body, for fibre optic cables and for flexible power cables.

7. Conclusions
There are different standards for solar cables in different countries. The requirements are very high, but they differ due to the various national philosophies in respect to safety and reliability issues as well as market and subvention aspects. The determining factors in this application are external conditions, which do not depend on national laws and can depend only few on local aspects. Therefore, a standard in the future will be established by international market acceptance. Due to the different requirements and philosophies in each individual standard, one cable cannot satisfy both standards at the same time. In order to meet these standards and not to compromise the performance of the cable, one type of cable is needed to satisfy the requirements of the German specification and another cable type is needed to satisfy the UL requirements.

Stefan Grunwald
Stefan Grunwald Product Manager Lutze Inc. 13330 South Ridge Drive Charlotte, NC 28273 Tel.: +1-704-248-5310 Fax: +1-704-504-0223 sgrunwald@lutze.com www.lutze.com Stefan Grunwald started his career as a technician in machine building and automation for a large Norwegian manufacturer of woodworking equipment. After Graduation from Fachhochschule Hannover he started a new professional career in technical documentation for a German Manufacturer of railroad safety systems. He resides in the United States of America since 8 years and is now the Product Manager for cable and cable accessories for Lutze Inc. with almost 7 years of experience with Lutze in the field of industrial automation cables.

8. Acknowledgments
We thank all our colleagues working in this project and supporting us in the preparation of this paper, namely Mrs. Sari Gregson and Mr. Helmuth Schubnell. Especially we thank the IWCS committee for giving us the opportunity to present this paper, and the IWCS staff for the outstanding support and coordination.

9. References
[1] Renewable Energy, Industry Overview; Merrill Lynch, Aug, 2007 [2] Requirements for Cables for PV Systems, DKE WG 411.2.3, Feb, 2008 [3] Photovoltaic Wire, UL subject 4703, Underwriters Laboratories, Jun, 2005

Ilona Hirtz
Ilona Hirtz Product Manager Kabelwerke Villingen GmbH Am Krebsgraben 3/1 D-78048 Villingen-Schwenningen Tel.: +49 7721 20617-18 Fax: +49 7721 20617-90 ilona.hirtz@kwv-vs.de www.kwv-vs.de

10. The Authors

Jrg Br
Jrg Br Product Manager Cable Friedrich Ltze GmbH & Co. KG Bruckwiesenstrae 17-19 D - 71384 Weinstadt Tel.: +49 7151 6053-274 Fax: +49 7151 6053-6274 joerg.boer@luetze.de www.luetze.de

Ilona Hirtz did an education in metal industry and worked afterwards few years in this job. When she finished her graduation as a process engineer she started working in quality assurance, later she worked as a quality manager. In 2008 she closed her second study as an industrial engineer and changed within the company to the product management. Since 2001 she works in the cable industry at Kabelwerke Villingen GmbH.

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Proceedings of the 58th IWCS/IICIT