DC array cabling sized for 1500 V and desert sun
Voltcore supplies EN 50618 PV cable, DC string cable and MV collector feeders for utility-scale and commercial solar projects in 60+ countries.
Solar projects punish cable in two very different ways at once. On the array side, the DC conductors sit in full sun at 60 °C above ambient inside the conduit or behind the module, cycled every day for 25 years, never de-energised during daylight and never fully relieved at night. Maximum system voltage has moved to 1500 V, so insulation has to resist higher continuous electrical stress while also surviving damp heat testing, UV exposure and direct burial along tracker rows. Rated temperature is usually quoted at 120 °C with a 20 000 hour thermal endurance expectation, which is why electron-beam cross-linked compounds have replaced ordinary PVC and rubber on almost all string wiring.
Voltcore Cable began production in 2008 and runs 32 lines from 86,000 m² in Yixing, Jiangsu, supplying EPC contractors and developers across more than 60 countries. PV cable is manufactured in-house and carries TÜV Rheinland certification, alongside CE marking to the CPR (EN 50575) and ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 systems. Project orders normally combine PV string cable, MV collector cable and the control pairs needed for tracker motor control and combiner box telemetry, which Voltcore packs as one shipment from Shanghai or Ningbo with per-block drum labelling.
Conduit and jacket surfaces behind module backsheets routinely reach 80–90 °C in desert climates. UV degrades standard PVC sheaths within a few seasons and embrittles whatever it touches, so UV-stabilised cross-linked compounds with certified thermal endurance are the baseline rather than an upgrade on string runs.
DC does not cross zero, so space charge accumulates and insulation ageing behaves differently from an AC circuit. At 1500 V maximum system voltage the conductor-to-earth stress is materially higher than on legacy 1000 V designs, and any water film at a termination becomes a leakage path that can start tracking.
Trenched runs across a planted site combine standing water after heavy rain, nutrient-rich soil and active rodent populations. A sheath that is only UV resistant is still vulnerable; armoured constructions or hard-wearing cross-linked jackets are specified wherever the route leaves the tracker structure.
Single-axis trackers move the harness several times a day through 120° of rotation. Repeated torsion at the rotating joint flexes one point of the string harness continuously for decades, which is where unsupported bundled wiring fails long before the straight runs do.
Selected from 67 types because they match the conditions above, not because they are our best sellers.
Certified string cable from module junction boxes to combiner boxes on rooftop and ground-mounted arrays.
Full specification →1500 V DC string and sub-array runs for utility-scale blocks where higher input voltage reduces balance-of-system losses.
Full specification →Buried MV collector circuit from each inverter station back to the project substation and grid connection point.
Full specification →Aluminium AC output runs between pad-mounted inverters and the collection kiosk where distances make copper costly.
Full specification →RS485 bus wiring linking combiner box monitoring, string current sensors and inverter communications to the SCADA cabinet.
Full specification →Low smoke halogen-free AC sub-mains and inverter room supplies inside commercial rooftop PV plant rooms.
Full specification →A 40 MW single-axis tracker project on an inland site with summer ambient temperatures above 45 °C required 1500 V string wiring and buried MV collector circuits.
String runs were specified in certified 1500 V DC cross-linked PV cable with UV and damp-heat tested jacket, cut to length per tracker block and labelled by block number. Collector circuits were specified as three-core armoured MV cable with aluminium conductor option reviewed against the copper equivalent. The full package shipped from Shanghai on one booking against a 15–25 working day production window.
A commercial rooftop installation across three warehouse buildings needed inverter output cabling routed through occupied plant rooms with strict smoke requirements.
Voltcore supplied low smoke halogen-free power cable for the AC routes through the buildings, with certified PV string cable for the roof array itself and screened RS485 bus cable for the string monitoring network. Cable was delivered in drum lengths matched to each building's route, and each drum carried the private label of the installing contractor.
Examples are illustrative; project references and documentation available on request.
Include cross-section, core count, voltage grade, route length and installation method — those five determine price more than anything else on the page.
Yes. Voltcore's PV cable constructions hold TÜV Rheinland certification, which is held specifically for solar cable rather than for general product lines. Additional certifications held across the factory include CE marking to CPR EN 50575, RoHS, REACH and the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 management system certificates requested in most export submissions.
Start from the string short-circuit current and apply correction factors for conduit fill, ambient temperature and grouping, then check voltage drop to the combiner box. Designers usually work to a target of one to two percent total DC loss. Voltcore will tabulate candidate cross-sections against your string length and current so the choice can be made on lifetime generation rather than purchase price.
Voltcore can schedule PV string cable, MV collector cable, LV AC power cable, control and instrumentation pairs together on one order. Consolidating reduces freight cost and removes the coordination risk of several suppliers arriving at different times. Individual drum and cut lengths can be planned per inverter block, with private label drum marking available.
Production lead time is 15–25 working days from technical approval, with MOQ of 500 m per size. Ports are Shanghai and Ningbo. For projects phased over several blocks, Voltcore can hold a rolling production plan so each block is delivered against the installer's sequence rather than arriving as one bulk shipment.
RFQs are answered by an application engineer first. Typical reply within 12 hours, CST working days.