Inverters?critical photovoltaic balance-of-system components: status, issues, and new-millennium opportunities

Abstract

The balance‐of‐system (BOS) components in a photovoltaic (PV) installation include the array structure, trackers, ac and dc wiring, overcurrent protection, disconnects, interconnects, inverters, charge controllers, energy storage and system controllers. The inverter (sometimes called power‐conditioning subsystem (PCS), power conditioner, or static power converter) is the key electrical power handling component of a photovoltaic power system that is attached to ac loads. This paper focuses on the inverter and its related functions as the critical electrical BOS element in a photovoltaic system. The paths that have been taken to arrive at today's inverter technology are summarized and developments in integrated hardware, advancements in packaging, advancements in manufacturing, and opportunities for the new millennium are presented. Published in 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Analytical study and evaluation results of power optimizers for distributed power conditioning in photovoltaic arrays

“…These advantages have led to AC modules becoming a relatively good solution in a complex system such as facade-integrated systems. However, this was not so clear in the past, mainly because of technical problems, namely in terms of reliability, cost, and efficiency [9,10]. Moreover, the use of multiple AC modules implied the duplication of protections and AC filters, leading to a more expensive solution [10,11].…”

“…; V′′ INV in (13) 9 These are not the absolute limits of the system, but those that occur in a certain situation. 10 Maximum decoupling means maximum differences between currents in a specific case.…”

Photovoltaic multi-level inverters technology

“…It is particularly important to point out that efficiency in this regard was much more critical in the early days of PV, because the cost per Watt of PV power was roughly $15. A 1-2% variation in inverter efficiency could easily translate to upwards of a 10% in overall system cost [5,6].…”

High temperature capacitors with high energy density

“…CAPACITORS are critical components of many pulsed power systems, power electronics, and signal processing devices, such as medical defibrillators, pulse forming networks, filters, switched-mode power supplies, and inverters in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) [1][2][3][4]. They can contribute more than 25% volume and weight to these systems.…”