In this study, optimal decision-making process in photovoltaic (PV) system location selection in Saudi Arabia is described. First, to identify the criteria that influence the decision of selecting a suitable location for the PV system, the geographical information system (GIS)-based multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approach is used. Next, to assess the weights of the criteria that present different aspects of the investigated locations, four major criteria and 11 sub-criteria are proposed, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is applied to develop comparison decision matrix. Finally, the order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) technique evaluates and classifies 17 cities (such as Riyadh, Jeddah) in Saudi Arabia. The result shows that Tabuk city in the northern of Saudi Arabia is the best location. Among the 17 cities, the performance score of seven cities is above or equal 80%, and Tabuk city has the highest score with 87%. This analytical approach could contribute as an early planning to locate suitable sites for the selection of PV system region in Saudi Arabia.

This study explores the feasibility of an AC/DC/AC drive with near unity power factor front-end rectifier and five-level rear-end multilevel inverter topology with a focus on achieving lower voltage total harmonic distortion and higher energy efficiency. The unity PF front-end rectifier in this AC/DC/AC drive may cause unbalanced voltage in the DC bus capacitors leading to high voltage distortion on the output AC voltage of a rear-end multilevel inverter. Based on the analysis, modelling and experimental results, rear-end multilevel flying-capacitor inverter with unity PF front-end rectifier in an AC/DC/AC power drive is proposed which is able to provide better DC voltage balancing when compared to diode-clamped topology. Having no diode components being used in this multilevel inverter, the flying-capacitor topology produces lesser commutation losses. Furthermore, rear-end multilevel flying-capacitor topology offers better efficiency and good quality output voltage without any bulky and expensive LC filter and even without any additional DC voltage balancing circuitry. The analytical performance of the drive is verified on a 1.3 kW laboratory prototype.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are not only a viable energy efficient mode of transport, but they have considerable capacity of providing flexible and quick responding storage alternative based on vehicle-to-grid (V2G) scheme. V2G technology facilitates bidirectional flow of energy to and from the vehicle by a power converter. However, there is skepticism regarding the economic profitability of the V2G scheme. Despite the aforementioned challenges, the V2G technology is explored in matured markets. A number of V2G pilot projects across the world have investigated different aspects of V2G integration such as technological readiness, economic feasibility, social benefits, and challenges of V2G. This work aims to review the existing pilot projects on V2G functionality.

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