Photovoltaic installation

A photovoltaic installation comprising:

• a photovoltaic generator configured to generate a DC voltage when an enable signal is applied to the generator;
• electrical connector lines connecting the generator to a voltage converter for the voltage converter to receive the DC voltage from the generator;
• an enabling signal source configured to apply the enable signal to the generator;
• and
• an arc discharge detector connected across the connector lines and configured to detect for an arc discharge while the connector lines receive the DC voltage by detecting for the presence on the connector lines of an AC voltage having broad-band, high-frequency AC voltage components within a sub-region of the frequency band between 100 kHz and 1 MHz indicative of a series or parallel arc discharge, wherein the arc discharge detector is further configured to cause the enabling signal source to stop applying the enable signal to the generator when an arc discharge is detected.

A photovoltaic installation comprising:

• a photovoltaic generator including a photovoltaic module having a plurality of DC electric-power generators connected in series for generating a DC voltage signal, a main switch arranged in parallel with all of the DC electric-power generators, and a plurality of secondary switches each arranged in parallel with a respective one of the DC electric-power generators;
• a pair of electrical connector lines connected respectively to opposite ends of the series of DC electric-power generators for receiving the DC voltage signal;
• an enabling signal generator configured to apply an enable signal to the photovoltaic module;
• wherein the main and secondary switches switch open when the enable signal is applied to the photovoltaic module and the main and secondary switches switch close when the enable signal is absent from the photovoltaic module, wherein when closed the main switch short circuits all of the electric-power generators and when closed the secondary switches short circuit the respective ones of the DC electric-power generators;
• an arc discharge detector connected across the connector lines and configured to detect for an arc discharge while the connector lines receive the DC voltage signal by detecting for the presence on the connector lines of an AC voltage signal having broad-band, high-frequency AC voltage signal components within a sub-region of the frequency band between 100 kHz and 1 MHz indicative of a series or parallel arc discharge, wherein the arc discharge detector is further configured to cause the enabling signal generator to stop applying the enable signal when an arc discharge is detected.