Technical Information

Criteria for selecting an RCD

Use of residual current devices (RCD) with
SUNNY BOY, SUNNY MINI CENTRAL and SUNNY TRIPOWER

Contents
When installing the inverters, there are often uncertainties when using a residual current device (RCD). For PV
plants, above all DIN VDE 0100-410 (IEC 60364-4-41:2005) and DIN VDE 0100-712
(IEC60364-7-712:2002) may be used. The RCD is used here as protection against indirect touch
(personnel protection).

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Technical Information Definition

1  Definition
Protective measures according to DIN VDE 0100-410 (IEC 60364-4-41:2005):
Protective measures - Protection against electric shock
According to this standard, a protective measure consists of two safety precautions:
• Basic protection: Protection against direct touching.
• Fault protection: Protection when an error occurs (= protection in case of indirect touch), i.e. protection after
the first error so that no physical damage occurs. These safety precautions come into force when the basic
protection is not effective anymore.
The installation of a PV system on the AC side is mostly protected through automatic disconnection of the power
supply.
Apart from the insulation of active parts as basic protection, fault protection is also established through
protective electric bonding and through a disconnection device. It has to disconnect within the specified time
after occurrence of the fault (at 230 VAC: 0.2 s in TT grids or 0.4 s in TN grids).

1.1 Grid forms
TT grid

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Technical Information Definition

TN grids
TN-C grid

TN-S grid

TN-C-S grid

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Technical Information Definition

1.2 Term definitions
• LS Line circuit breaker
• Circuit symbol for line circuit breaker
• RCD Residual current device / residual current protective equipment
• RCMU (All-pole sensitive) residual current monitoring unit
• Ia Current causing the automatic disconnection within the required time (short circuit protection).
In case of B-characteristics of the line circuit breaker, this will be 5 times the nominal current
(Inom) of the LS. In case of C-characteristics, it will be 10 times as high,
e.g. LS C16 A => Ia = 160 A.
• IΔf RCD's rated residual current.
• RA Total of resistors of the earth electrode and the protective earth of the body
(to be protected).
• U0 Nominal AC voltage phase versus PE
• Zs Loop impedance of the error loop (consisting of power source, phase to the fault location
and protective earth between fault location and power source).
• TT grid

• TN grid

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Technical Information Disconnection options

2  Disconnection options
Automatic disconnection can be established through protective electric bonding and one of the following
measures [in accordance with DIN VDE 0100-410 (IEC 60364-4-41:2005)]:

a) Line circuit breaker (LS)

A line circuit breaker can guarantee the automatic disconnection in case the following conditions are kept:
• TN grid:
If , then the LS can meet the conditions of protection through automatic disconnection.
• TT grids:
An RCD is intended as primary fault protection.
If , then the LS can also fulfill the conditions for protection through automatic disconnection here.

Example: Disconnection through line circuit breaker in case of a fault in the TN-C-S grid

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Technical Information Disconnection options

b) Residual current device (RCD)

A residual current device can guarantee the automatic disconnection in case the following conditions are kept:
• TN grid:
In the TN grid, the residual currents are much higher than the rated residual current (IΔf) of the RCD. The
disconnection times of the RCD are always kept this way.

The use of an RCD is not permitted in TN-C grids!

• TT grids:
An RCD is intended as primary fault protection.
If , then the RCD can meet the conditions of protection through automatic disconnection.

Example: Disconnection by RCD in case of a fault in the TT grid

Summary
The following procedure can be inferred:
It has to be examined if the line circuit breaker provided for the cable protection is sufficient for the automatic
disconnection in accordance with the above mentioned criterion.
• If this is the case, a current flows over the error loop (depending on the extent of the loop impedance)
which is greater than the triggering current Ia (short circuit protection). The LS can therefore switch off within
the required times.
• In case the loop impedance is too high, an RCD has to be additionally installed (except in the TN-C grid).

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Technical Information More reasons for the use of an RCD

3  More reasons for the use of an RCD

Apart from automatic disconnection as fault protection, an RCD can also be used as additional protection.

a) Outdoor installations
There is widespread opinion that an RCD always has to be used for outdoor installations. In accordance with
DIN VDE 0100-410 (IEC 60364-4-41:2005), this only applies to final circuits for outdoor portable equipment
with a rated current of up to 32 A.

b) Demands of the grid operator

Some grid operators adjust the general technical connection requirements (TCR) for their grid and therefore
deviate from the standards. These specific technical connection requirements may therefore require the use of
an RCD. If an RCD should be demanded by the grid operator, type and application conditions are specified
by their technical connection requirements (TCR).
However, frequently no RCD is demanded by the grid operator, but only an installation in compliance with the
appropriate standards.

c) Necessity due to other standards

Depending on the installation location or local conditions, an RCD may be necessary due to other standards
or regulations.
If the installation is carried out, e.g. in a barn or in wooden cabins, DIN VDE 0100-482
(IEC 60364-4-42:2001-08) also is in effect. In that case, an RCD with a rated residual current of max. 300
mA is required for fire protection reasons.
The various influences can only be assessed by the installer on site. The standard installations and
idiosyncrasies of PV systems are explained in more detail in the next section.

d) Additional protection
SMA Solar Technology recommends always installing an RCD as additional protection in order to achieve the
highest possible degree of safety. It can also offer the function of an all-pole disconnecting switch, which is
frequently required due to other reasons or regulations.

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Technical Information PV-specific influencing factors for the selection of an RCD

4  PV-specific influencing factors for the selection of

an RCD
Besides the criteria mentioned before, there are further criteria for the selection of an RCD in PV systems:

a) Requirement from DIN VDE 0100-712 (IEC60364-7-712:2002)

If intended as fault protection (cf. 2 b, Page 6), this standard demands an RCD type B for transformerless
inverters. This demand also applies to inverters with high-frequency transformers, since there is no electric
separation between the AC current side and the DC voltage side (intermediate circuit in the inverter).

This demand does not apply to inverters with transformers (low frequency transformers).

One exception exists if the manufacturer of the inverter can exclude the possibility of DC residual currents in
the system. If necessary, the RCD can then be type A.
All SMA inverters with transformer and all transformerless SMA inverters mentioned in the following are not
capable of feeding DC residual currents to the grid due to the circuit design. They fulfill this requirement in
accordance with DIN VDE 0100-712 (IEC60364-7-712:2002).
SUNNY BOY:
SB 2100TL, SB 3300TL HC, SB 4200TL HC, SB 5000TL HC, SB 3000TL-20, SB 4000TL-20, SB 5000TL-20
SUNNY MINI CENTRAL:
SMC 6000TL, SMC 7000TL, SMC 8000TL, SMC 9000TL-10, SMC 10000TL-10, SMC 11000TL-10
SUNNY TRIPOWER:
STP 10000TL-10, STP 12000TL-10, STP 15000TL-10, STP 17000TL-10
The possibilities of failures were examined without taking the integrated Residual Current Monitoring Unit
(RCMU) into account. When examining these failures in terms of the momentarily valid installation standards
and codes, a danger in combination with an additional Residual Current Device (RCD) type A cannot occur.
According to this, failures can be excluded that would otherwise require the usage of an RCD type B due to
the inverter. The integrated all-pole sensitive Residual Current Monitoring Unit (RCMU) results in additional
safety.
For the transformerless inverters mentioned above and all inverters with transformers by SMA Solar
Technology, RCDs type A can be used.

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Technical Information PV-specific influencing factors for the selection of an RCD

b) Operational differential currents

If operating a transformerless inverter, operational DC differential currents are created (caused by the
insulation resistance and through capacities of the PV generator). In order to prevent unwanted triggering
during operation, the rated residual current of the RCD has to be min. 100 mA.
For every connected inverter, a rated residual current of 100 mA has to be planned. The RCD's rated residual
current must at least correspond to the sum of the rated residual currents of the connected inverters. That means
that, if, for example, 3 transformerless inverters are connected, the rated residual current of the RCD has to be
a minimum of 300 mA.
If this requirement is met, the following residual current devices are approved:
• RCD type A ABB type F202A-xx/0,x oder F204A-xx/0,x
• RCD type A Siemens type 5SM1.... or 5SM3….
Additional RCDs from other manufacturers are being tested at the moment.
In this case it must be taken into account that the tripping currents resulting from the differential DC currents
from the operation can be slightly over the rated residual current of the used RCD (0 - 30 %). Therefore, the
condition of 2 b changes (cf. Page 6):
If , then the RCD can meet the conditions of protection through automatic disconnection.

When taking into account the criteria mentioned before, PV systems can be installed both in compliance with
the appropriate standard and in a cost-optimized way. Especially the suitability of the mentioned
transformerless inverters for RCD type A enable an affordable installation.

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Technical Information Appendix

5  Appendix
In the following, the selection of suitable equipment as fault protection through automatic disconnection is
represented on the basis of 2 examples. It will always be assumed that the necessary protective electric
bonding is being carried out simultaneously.

5.1 Worked sample 1:
1 Sunny Boy SB 2100TL; rating with a LS B16A; TN grid;
loop impedance Zs = 1.5 Ohm; rural estate (barn):
• The LS B16A has a short circuit triggering current of 80 A
(B-characteristic: factor 5; Inom of the LS = 16 A => 5 x 16 A = 80 A).
• At 230 V, 153 A can flow through the fault loop ( ).
• The 153 A are higher than the necessary 80 A triggering current of the LS. Therefore, the LS will switch off
safely within the specified time.
• The LS B16A suffices as fault protection against indirect touch.
• However, since it is a barn in this case, an additional RCD type A with a rated residual current of max.
300 mA would have to be installed. That would be required in accordance with DIN VDE 0100-482
(IEC 60364-4-42:2001-08) for fire protection reasons.

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Technical Information Appendix

5.2 Worked sample 2:
3 Sunny Mini Centrals SMC 8000TL; rating with LS C50A each; TT grid;
loop impedance Zs = 0.5 Ohm; RA = 5 Ohm:
• The LS C50A has a short circuit triggering current of 500 A
(C-characteristic: factor 10; Inom of the LS = 50 A => 10 x 50 A = 500 A).
• At 230 V, 460 A can flow through the fault loop ( )
• The 460 A are lower than the required 500 A triggering current of the LS. Therefore, the LS will not switch
off safely within the specified time.
• The LS C50A does not suffice as fault protection against indirect touch!
1st option: Use of another LS (if possible)
‒ If using a LS B50A, the short circuit triggering current would be at 250 A
(B-characteristic: factor 5; Inom of the LS = 50 A => 5 x 50 A = 250 A).
‒ If selecting a LS C40A, the short circuit triggering current would be at 400 A
(C-characteristic: factor 10; Inom of the LS = 40 A => 10 x 40 A = 400 A).
‒ The triggering current of both LS variants (B50A, C40A) would lie below the 460 A which would flow
in case of a fault. Therefore, these line circuit breakers would switch off within the specified time.
‒ The LS B50A or the LS C40A suffice as fault protection against indirect touch.
2nd option: Use of an RCD
‒ In case no other line circuit breaker can be employed, an RCD has to be used for the fault protection.
‒ Since 3 transformerless inverters are being used, the rated residual current according to 4 B
(cf. Page 9) has to be a minimum of 300 mA. An RCD with IΔf of 500 mA is selected.
‒ In addition, it should be tested according to conditions from 4 b (cf. Page 9) whether the protective
effects are sufficient:
‒ , thus
‒ An RCD type A with a rated residual current of 500 mA fulfills the conditions of fault protection against
indirect touch.

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