A photovoltaic (PV) power system is disclosed that includes hybrid DC contactors corresponding to each of a plurality of PV strings, with each hybrid DC contactor having main contacts, a solid state switching unit positioned in parallel with the main contacts, and sensors configured to measure a voltage and current on respective PV strings. A controller is provided in the PV power system that is configured to receive voltage and current data on the PV strings, detect a fault condition on a respective PV string based on the voltage and current data, cause the main contacts of a respective hybrid DC contactor to remain closed on each PV string for which a fault condition is detected, and cause the main contacts of a respective hybrid DC contactor to open on each PV string for which no fault condition is detected, so as to clear the fault condition.