Electric arc locator in photovoltaic power systems using advanced signal processing techniques

In this paper, we present two techniques for the localization of electric arcs produced in photovoltaic power systems. High order statistic analysis (HOSA) and recurrence plot analysis (RPA) have already proven successful in detecting the partial discharges associated with the production of an electric arc in a high voltage power system. However, this solves only the first half of the problem, since a localization of the arc also needed. Using a four sensors array detector along with a combination of HOSA and RPA techniques, we estimate the direction of arrival (DOA) of the electric arc, as well as the distance to the detector. An experiment was put in place in order to validate the results.