Photovoltaic Systems

Historical trends in global energy policy and renewable power system issues in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of solar PV

“…Electricity is directly injected into the power network and sold to the national electric utility through feed-in tariffs [25]. The grid-connected market is segmented between centralized, also known as utilityscale, and decentralized power stations [70,82,83]. Typically, centralized grid-connected systems are large size PV power plants directly connected to the transmission grid, while decentralized systems are medium or small size applications, such as residential or commercial rooftop PV systems, connected to the distribution network [81,83].…”

“…The grid-connected market is segmented between centralized, also known as utilityscale, and decentralized power stations [70,82,83]. Typically, centralized grid-connected systems are large size PV power plants directly connected to the transmission grid, while decentralized systems are medium or small size applications, such as residential or commercial rooftop PV systems, connected to the distribution network [81,83]. Also, the coupling of these systems with storage, mainly for smoothing the production in order to prevent grid instability issues due to intermittency, mostly remains at the prototype stage [72].…”

Aspects of renewable energy supply to small consumers

“…In stand-alone installations, it must use storage or another type of generator to provide electricity when the sun is not shining. In gridconnected installations storage is not necessary: in the absence of sunlight, electricity is provided from other (conventional) sources [1], [2]. Photovoltaics are very suitable as the power supply for remote communication equipment.…”

“…An energy storage unit is needed to times when no light or not enough light is available to power the appliance directly. There are a number of technical solutions to the problem of energy storage [1], [2]. Storing energy in the electric field of a capacitor can be a solution for storage.…”

Design and implementation of stand-alone residential PV system

“…Many academic institutions have been involved in academic research on different aspects of solar cell technology. Few institutions have been involved in field applications of PV systems for community development [1].…”