Balance-of-system improvements for photovoltaic applications resulting from the PVMaT Phase 4A1 program

Bower, W.; Thomas, H.; Kroposki, B.; Bonn, Russell H.; Hund, Tom

doi:10.1109/pvsc.1997.654278

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Substantial cost reductions are still possible in the small inverters used for residential systems through design changes (reduce high-cost ferromagnetic materials with silicon devices), technology improvements (e.g., integrated circuits for power supplies), and high-volume manufacturing [25]. Improvement in system design and standardization of components will reduce area-related BOS (i.e., installation and wiring) costs, and a substantial impact would be expected with the successful development of an ac PV module.…”

Section: Residential Photovoltaicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residential photovoltaics

None¹

2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Photovoltaic (PV) modules are large-area solid-state semiconductor devices that convert solar energy directly into electrical energy. Individual PV modules produce direct-current (dc) electricity, and are available in sizes from 10 W to 300 W. The actual power output depends upon the intensity (W/m ) of sunlight, the operating temperature of the 2 module, and other factors. PV modules are designed and sized to produce the desired electrical output. Addition of electrical power conditioning components (electrical switches, diode protection circuits, dc-to-ac inverters, etc.) are required to interface the PV output with the electrical load. The resulting assembly of components is known as the photovoltaic system. A residential PV system was selected for this Technology Characterization because it is a well-defined application of the technology, it can have a significant impact on energy use within the United States, and it is an application that effectively utilizes the attributes of PV systems for maximum economical benefit. Customer-sited, grid-tied PV systems are expected to be an early large-scale market for PV energy systems, because these systems take maximum economical advantage of PV technology's positive attributes. Customer siting means that the PV systems is located at, or very near, the point of use, and includes applications like residential roof-top PV systems, commercial-building roof PV systems, and building-integrated PV systems. This report examines residential PV systems, but many of the comments pertain to other types of customer-sited PV systems as well.The residential rooftop PV system (Figure 1) considered in this report has no energy storage. Some (or most) of the energy may be used on site, and a power purchase agreement allows the remaining electricity produced to be fed into the existing utility grid. These PV systems are generally between 1 and 5 kW, and the nominal system considered in this report is 3 kW. (In reality, for this characterization, the system size is held constant at 20 m and the dc rating 2 increases over time to 4 kW). The PV modules are mounted on the roof or, in the future, may be specifically designed as roofing elements (e.g., PV shingles, etc.). The modules characterized here use crystalline-silicon solar cells. In the future, by about 2020, advanced PV technologies -crystalline-silicon ribbon or sheet, and various thin-film (amorphous RESIDENTIAL PHOTOVOLTAICS4-6 silicon, cadmium telluride, or copper indium diselenide) materials may be used. While no energy storage is included in the system presented here, energy storage may become economical in the future. The PV modules described here are wired to a single dc-to-ac inverter or, in the future, may include their own individual dc-to-ac inverter. The ac power is tied to the grid through protective switches which disconnect the PV system should the utility power be disrupted. The system costs described here do not include the roof or the building, which are assumed to already exist.Two sets of systems are described ...

show abstract

Section: Residential Photovoltaicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residential photovoltaics

None¹

2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This has been accomplished through six procurements, including the latest and currently active procurement titled "In-line Diagnostics and Intelligent Processing (IDIP)." The details of these procurements have been described in a number of other papers [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] and will not be reviewed here. Generally, over the course of these procurements, subcontracts have focused on three main areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

PV Manufacturing R&D Accomplishments and Status

Mooney¹,

Mitchell²,

Witt³

et al. 2003

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) PV Manufacturing Research and Development Project has worked for 11 years in partnership with the U.S. photovoltaic industry to reduce manufacturing costs while significantly scaling up production capacity. Over this period, the PV Manufacturing R&D Project has issued seven solicitations for partnerships that have resulted in over 50 cost-shared R&D subcontracts that addressed the cost and capacity goals of the Project, including 10 that are currently active. The previous and current contracts have typically focused on addressing Project goals in one of two areas: module manufacturing and balance-of-systems (BOS)/systems work. The majority of the DOE investment has been targeted toward module manufacturing. The partnerships have resulted in a significant and measurable increase in PV module/systems production capacity, a decrease in PV manufacturing costs, and a subsequent return on the joint public and private investments facilitated by the Project.

show abstract

“…Subcontracted research under these partnerships are based on competitive government procurements. They are focused on: 1) process-specific research and development (R&D) on industry-selected manufacturing technology developments, 2) teamed R&D on industryidentified common problem areas, and 3) improvements in balance-of-system performance integration and manufacturing, as detailed in previous papers [1][2][3][4][5][6]. All work in the PVMaT project is managed by a Technical Monitoring Team consisting of engineers and scientists from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

PVMaT 1998 overview

Mittchell¹,

Symko-Davies²,

Thomas³

et al. 1999

AIP Conference Proceedings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology (PVMaT) Project is a government/industry research and development (R&D) partnership between the U.S. federal government (through the U.S. Department of Energy [DOE]) and members of the U.S. PV industry. The goals of PVMaT are to assist the U.S. PV industry improve module manufacturing processes and equipment; accelerate manufacturing cost reductions for PV modules, balance-of-systems components, and integrated systems; increase commercial product performance and reliability; and enhance investment opportunities for substantial scale-ups of U.S.-based PV manufacturing plant capacities. The approach for PVMaT has been to cost-share the R&D risk as industry explores new manufacturing options and ideas for improved PV modules and components, advances system and product integration, and develops new system designs. These activities will lead to overall reduced system life-cycle costs for reliable PV end-products. The 1994 PVMaT Product-Driven BOS and Systems activities, as well as Product-Driven Module Manufacturing R&D activities, are just being completed. Fourteen new subcontracts have just been awarded in the areas of PV System and Component Technology and Module Manufacturing Technology. Government funding, subcontractor cost-sharing, and a comparison of the relative efforts by PV technology throughout the PVMaT project are also discussed.

show abstract

Balance-of-system improvements for photovoltaic applications resulting from the PVMaT Phase 4A1 program

Cited by 4 publications

References 3 publications

Residential photovoltaics

Residential photovoltaics

PV Manufacturing R&D Accomplishments and Status

PVMaT 1998 overview

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Balance-of-system improvements for photovoltaic applications resulting from the PVMaT Phase 4A1 program

Cited by 4 publications

References 3 publications

Residential photovoltaics

Residential photovoltaics

PV Manufacturing R&amp;D Accomplishments and Status

PVMaT 1998 overview

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

PV Manufacturing R&D Accomplishments and Status