IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v14y2010i1p112-129.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Grid-connected photovoltaic power systems: Technical and potential problems--A review

Author

Listed:
  • Eltawil, Mohamed A.
  • Zhao, Zhengming

Abstract

Traditional electric power systems are designed in large part to utilize large baseload power plants, with limited ability to rapidly ramp output or reduce output below a certain level. The increase in demand variability created by intermittent sources such as photovoltaic (PV) presents new challenges to increase system flexibility. This paper aims to investigate and emphasize the importance of the grid-connected PV system regarding the intermittent nature of renewable generation, and the characterization of PV generation with regard to grid code compliance. The investigation was conducted to critically review the literature on expected potential problems associated with high penetration levels and islanding prevention methods of grid tied PV. According to the survey, PV grid connection inverters have fairly good performance. They have high conversion efficiency and power factor exceeding 90% for wide operating range, while maintaining current harmonics THD less than 5%. Numerous large-scale projects are currently being commissioned, with more planned for the near future. Prices of both PV and balance of system components (BOS) are decreasing which will lead to further increase in use. The technical requirements from the utility power system side need to be satisfied to ensure the safety of the PV installer and the reliability of the utility grid. Identifying the technical requirements for grid interconnection and solving the interconnect problems such as islanding detection, harmonic distortion requirements and electromagnetic interference are therefore very important issues for widespread application of PV systems. The control circuit also provides sufficient control and protection functions like maximum power tracking, inverter current control and power factor control. Reliability, life span and maintenance needs should be certified through the long-term operation of PV system. Further reduction of cost, size and weight is required for more utilization of PV systems. Using PV inverters with a variable power factor at high penetration levels may increase the number of balanced conditions and subsequently increase the probability of islanding. It is strongly recommended that PV inverters should be operated at unity power factor.

Suggested Citation

  • Eltawil, Mohamed A. & Zhao, Zhengming, 2010. "Grid-connected photovoltaic power systems: Technical and potential problems--A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 112-129, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:14:y:2010:i:1:p:112-129
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364-0321(09)00174-9
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Woolf, J, 2003. "Renew: a renewable energy design tool for architects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(10), pages 1555-1561.
    2. Celik, A.N., 2003. "Long-term energy output estimation for photovoltaic energy systems using synthetic solar irradiation data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 479-493.
    3. Spooner, E.D & Harbidge, G, 2001. "Review of international standards for grid connected photovoltaic systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 235-239.
    4. Meyer, E.L & van Dyk, E.E, 2000. "Development of energy model based on total daily irradiation and maximum ambient temperature," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 37-47.
    5. Sukamongkol, Y. & Chungpaibulpatana, S. & Ongsakul, W., 2002. "A simulation model for predicting the performance of a solar photovoltaic system with alternating current loads," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 237-258.
    6. Calais, Martina & Agelidis, Vassilios G & Dymond, Michael S, 2001. "A cascaded inverter for transformerless single-phase grid-connected photovoltaic systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 255-262.
    7. Hove, Tawanda, 2000. "A method for predicting long-term average performance of photovoltaic systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 207-229.
    8. Nofuentes, G. & Almonacid, G., 1998. "An approach to the selection of the inverter for architecturally integrated photovoltaic grid-connected systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 487-490.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aste, Niccolò & Del Pero, Claudio & Leonforte, Fabrizio & Manfren, Massimiliano, 2013. "A simplified model for the estimation of energy production of PV systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 503-512.
    2. Nasiri, Reza & Radan, Ahmad, 2011. "Pole-placement control of 4-leg voltage-source inverters for standalone photovoltaic systems: Considering digital delays," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 858-865.
    3. Nasiri, Reza & Radan, Ahmad, 2011. "Adaptive pole-placement control of 4-leg voltage-source inverters for standalone photovoltaic systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 2032-2042.
    4. Ayompe, L.M. & Duffy, A. & McCormack, S.J. & Conlon, M., 2010. "Validated real-time energy models for small-scale grid-connected PV-systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 4086-4091.
    5. Nasiri, Reza & Radan, Ahmad, 2011. "Adaptive decoupled control of 4-leg voltage-source inverters for standalone photovoltaic systems: Adjusting transient state response," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 2733-2741.
    6. Rehman, Shafiqur & El-Amin, Ibrahim, 2012. "Performance evaluation of an off-grid photovoltaic system in Saudi Arabia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 451-458.
    7. Cheick Tidjane Kone & Jean-Denis Mathias & Gil De Sousa, 2017. "Adaptive management of energy consumption, reliability and delay of wireless sensor node: Application to IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor node," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-28, February.
    8. Rawat, Rahul & Kaushik, S.C. & Lamba, Ravita, 2016. "A review on modeling, design methodology and size optimization of photovoltaic based water pumping, standalone and grid connected system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1506-1519.
    9. Senturk, Ali, 2020. "Investigation of datasheet provided temperature coefficients of photovoltaic modules under various sky profiles at the field by applying a new validation procedure," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 644-652.
    10. Notton, G. & Lazarov, V. & Stoyanov, L., 2010. "Optimal sizing of a grid-connected PV system for various PV module technologies and inclinations, inverter efficiency characteristics and locations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 541-554.
    11. García-Gracia, M. & El Halabi, N. & Khodr, H.M. & Sanz, Jose Fco, 2010. "Improvement of large scale solar installation model for ground current analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(11), pages 3467-3474, November.
    12. DeBenedictis, A. & Hoff, T.E. & Price, S. & Woo, C.K., 2010. "Statistically adjusted engineering (SAE) modeling of metered roof-top photovoltaic (PV) output: California evidence," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 4178-4183.
    13. Bougiatioti, Flora & Michael, Aimilios, 2015. "The architectural integration of active solar systems. Building applications in the Eastern Mediterranean region," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 966-982.
    14. Uzunoglu, M. & Onar, O.C. & Alam, M.S., 2009. "Modeling, control and simulation of a PV/FC/UC based hybrid power generation system for stand-alone applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 509-520.
    15. Park, Nochang & Kim, Ju-Hee & Kim, Hyun-A. & Moon, Jin-Chel, 2017. "Development of an algebraic model that predicts the maximum power output of solar modules including their degradation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 141-147.
    16. Adefarati, T. & Bansal, R.C. & Naidoo, R. & Onaolapo, K.A. & Bettayeb, M. & Olulope, P.K. & Sobowale, A.A., 2024. "Design and techno-economic assessment of a standalone photovoltaic-diesel-battery hybrid energy system for electrification of rural areas: A step towards sustainable development," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    17. Park, K.E. & Kang, G.H. & Kim, H.I. & Yu, G.J. & Kim, J.T., 2010. "Analysis of thermal and electrical performance of semi-transparent photovoltaic (PV) module," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 2681-2687.
    18. Ma, Tao & Yang, Hongxing & Lu, Lin, 2014. "Solar photovoltaic system modeling and performance prediction," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 304-315.
    19. Mellit, A. & Benghanem, M. & Kalogirou, S.A., 2007. "Modeling and simulation of a stand-alone photovoltaic system using an adaptive artificial neural network: Proposition for a new sizing procedure," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 285-313.
    20. Peillón, Manuel & Sánchez, Raúl & Tarquis, Ana M. & García-Fernández, José L., 2013. "The use of wind pumps for greenhouse microirrigation: A case study for tomato in Cuba," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 107-114.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:14:y:2010:i:1:p:112-129. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.