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    June 16-21, 2013
    Tampa, Florida    		 2013 IEEE 39th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC)

    June 25, 2013
    		 Solar ABCs Webinar: Ground-Fault Detection Blind Spot You are invited to a Solar ABCs webinar to discuss a new Solar ABCs Final Report: Inverter Ground-Fault Detection "Blind Spot" and Mitigation Methods. The ground-fault blind spot safety issue came to light during studies of two well-publicized PV system fires. The first occurred on April 5, 2009, in Bakersfield, California. The second occurred on April 16, 2011, in Mount Holly, North Carolina. Based on the evidence found at these two fires, it is believed that traditional, fuse-based ground fault protection schemes did not detect certain ground faults that can occur in grounded PV systems. These undetectable faults fall within a detection "blind spot" inherent in the majority of U.S. PV installations. Over the last twelve months, the Solar ABCs has led a broad industry- and stakeholder-based working group to research this problem and develop effective mitigation strategies. This research built on earlier work that provided a basic explanation of the cause of the detection blind spot. It includes results of field research conducted to characterize basic array wiring impedance properties and their effects on ground fault detection, circuit modeling and analyses of high and low impedance faults that may occur throughout the array, and a technical review of the effects of ground fault detection blind spot on different array topologies (grounded, ungrounded, and grounded through the ac connection). The Solar ABCs report will be released soon.

    July 8-11, 2013
    San Francisco, California    		 Intersolar North America 2013

    July 11, 2013
    San Francisco, California    		 Solar ABC's Stakeholder Meeting This meeting will provide the 2013 updates of all major Solar ABCs programs and related activities.

    July 21-24, 2013
    Denver, Colorado    		 2013 NARUC Summer Committee Meetings

    September 17-20, 2013
    Las Vegas, Nevada     		2013 SolarPACES

    September 22-25, 2013
    Boston, Massachusetts    		 ICMA 99th Annual Conference

    October 3-13, 2013
    Irvine, California    		 Solar Decathlon 2013 The award-winning event attracts more than 100,000 visitors as it challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive.

    October 9-11, 2013
    Washington, District of Columbia    		 RETECH 2013

    October 21-24, 2013
    Chicago, Illinois    		 Solar Power International 2013