Patent ID: 8502416

Claim:
A circuit arrangement in combination with a first string of series-connected solar modules separated into a first substring and a second substring, wherein each substring comprises a first terminal and a second terminal, and further in combination with a solar inverter configured to supply electrical energy from the solar modules to an AC power grid, comprising: a first switch configured to selectively couple the first terminal of the first substring to a first power cable of the inverter; a second switching circuit configured to selectively couple the second terminal of the first substring to a first terminal of the second substring at a center point, thereby coupling the first and second substrings to form the at least one string; a third switch configured to selectively couple the second terminal of the second substring to a second power cable of the inverter; a shared actuator configured to open the first switch, the second switching circuit, and the third switch if a current between the center point and a circuit ground exceeds a threshold value; and a second string of series-connected solar modules with first and second substrings selectively coupled to a further center point, wherein the center point of the second string is connected to the center point of the first string by a shared potential bus bar.