Generation of Grounding System

5.7 Generation of Grounding System

5.7.1 Function Overview

This function is mainly used to generate the grounding network of the site, which mainly includes:

Serial Number	project	Software implemented functions
1	Horizontal grounding main line	1) Generate grounding wire 2) Statistical material quantity
2	Vertical grounding electrode	1) Generate vertical grounding electrode 2) Manually insert vertical grounding electrode 3) Statistical materials
3	Bracket indirectly connected (not grounded)	1) Generate grounding wire 2) Statistical material quantity
4	The bracket is indirectly connected (to the ground)	1) Generate grounding wire 2) Statistical material quantity
5	Centralized inverter/box transformer grounding network	1) Generate grounding wire 2) Statistical material quantity
6	Grounding of string inverter/combiner box	Only count the quantity of materials
7	Grounding wire for photovoltaic modules	Only count the quantity of materials

5.7.2 Generating Grounding Grid

Click on 'Generate Grounding System', and the following parameter setting box will pop up.

5.7.2.1 Map Connection Mode

When generating horizontal grounding wires, the grounding map can be divided into two modes according to different design habits:

1) Mode 1: Generate a grounding grid around the periphery of the photovoltaic array.

2. Mode 2: First, create columns and connect the peripheral photovoltaic arrays to form a grounding grid (if it is a double column, ensure reliable electrical connection between the front and rear columns).

5.7.2.2 Array grouping distance threshold, azimuth line/group tolerance

Array grouping distance threshold: When the closest distance between two arrays is less than the input value, the two arrays will be grouped together.

Azimuth grouping tolerance: When the arrays has multiple azimuth angles, the software will first group them according to azimuth angles, and then group them according to distance thresholds.

Azimuth line tolerance: When there are multiple azimuths in a array group, it will be grouped according to the azimuth first, and the lines between the arrays will be calculated separately within each subgroup.

5.7.2.3 Outer edge distance of grounding grid

The distance between the horizontal grounding main line and the edge of the arrays.

5.7.2.4 Outer edge arc radius of grounding grid

Draw the radius of the arc at the turning point of the horizontal grounding main line using an arc.

5.7.2.5 Smooth Grounding Grid

This function can modify the shape of the generated horizontal grounding main line of the grounding grid.

1. Smooth and Non Smooth

As shown in the figure below, "non smooth" refers to the connection between the main grounding grid and the arrays, while "smooth" refers to smoothing out steps and notches on the basis of the "non smooth" grounding grid.

Smoothed out	Non smooth

2. Parameter setting method

Click the "Settings" button for "Smooth Grounding Grid", and the following parameter setting interface will pop up.

Continuous steps	Three or more consecutive steps in the same direction
Non continuous steps
notch

You can also refer to the following figure:

Unilateral (a or b) and bilateral sum (a+b)
Gap width c

5.7.2.6 Only allowed within available areas

When this h is check, the software will only consider generate the main grounding grid in the available area. At the same time, the user can control the outward offset distance of the main grounding grid relative to the range line of the available area by setting "Offset distance of available areas".

5.7.2.7 Connection position of photovoltaic array

The connection positions of the grounding wires between two adjacent photovoltaic arrays on the left and right are divided into three positions: "upper edge of the array", "middle edge of the array", and "lower edge of the array".

5.7.2.8 Bracket grounding threshold

That is, the connecting line between two adjacent arrays on the left and right, and the connecting line between the array and the horizontal grounding main line. When the length of the above two types of connecting wires exceeds the set value, the connecting wires adopt the logic of first entering the ground and then connecting, which is reflected as "bracket (entering the ground)" in the subsequent statistics of bracket materials. If its length is less than the set value, the logic of direct connection will be adopted, which will be reflected as "bracket (not grounded)" in the subsequent statistics of bracket materials.

5.7.2.9 Height of bracket grounding point from ground

That is, the height between the connection point of the rack and the main grounding grid and the ground. Relevant material will be count to category of "Bracket (into the ground)". Users can not only set the height of all type of rack as "Uniform value", but also select "By array", and enter value values one by one for different type of rack.

5.7.2.10 Burial depth of main grounding network

The burial depth of the horizontal grounding main line.

After setting the relevant parameters, click "Generate Grounding Grid", and the software will generate a grounding grid according to the set parameters. If the grounding grid has already been generated last time, clicking "Generate Grounding Grid" will display the previous result. If recalculation is required, right-click on the menu and select 'Recalculate'.

If the "Create Road" function has already been used in the model and a road has been created, clicking "Generate Grounding Grid" will pop up the following prompt:

If "Yes" is selected, when drawing the horizontal grounding line, the influence of the road on the horizontal grounding line will be considered, that is, the intersection of the two will use the road edge as the horizontal grounding line; If 'No' is selected, the impact of the road will not be considered, and the results generated by the two methods can refer to the table below.

Not considering the impact of roads	Consider the impact of roads

5.7.3 Editing Grounding Grid

Right click menu - Edit mode, allowing for layered editing of the grounding network.

5.7.3.1 Peripheral Grounding Grid

You can delete points, add points, move nodes, delete edges, and freely draw.

Place the mouse on the dot and hold down the left button to drag and drop the dot.

You can also delete edges and freely edit and draw the peripheral main network (operated in the top view). After drawing, right-click to exit the editing mode, and a pop-up box will appear to select to recalculate the connection between the arrays and the main network.

5.7.3.2 Connection between Array and Grounding Grid

Can delete edges, add points, and delete points.

5.7.3.3 Connections between Arrays

The operation method is similar to the connection between the array and the grounding grid.

5.7.4 Box Selection Independent Grouping

If the generated grounding grid partition does not meet the requirements and requires a large amount of editing, you can try modifying the partition through "box selection independent grouping". After clicking on "Generate Grounding Grid", right-click and select "Box Select Independent Grouping". After selecting the array that needs to be used to generate the grounding grid together with the left mouse button, right-click and select "Create Group". After creation, right-click to recalculate, and the arrays in different partitions will be displayed in different colors.

5.7.5 Setting Vertical Grounding Electrode

1) Left click to place vertical grounding electrode

2) Right click - Clear the selected grounding electrode to clear all manually placed grounding electrodes

3) Hold down the shift key and left click on the grounding electrode to clear it individually

5.7.6 Materials required for grounding installation

5.7.7 Statistical Settings

5.7.8 Export to CAD

After generating the grounding, export the C2C file; The drawings generated using the gdwg command in CAD will include grounding related information.