Submit to Energies Review for Energies Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2017) | Viewed by 32644

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jayanta Deb Mondol

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Belfast School of Architecture and the Built Environment, Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Ulster University, Belfast BT15 1ED, UK
Interests: solar photovoltaics; solar thermal; energy efficiency; solar concentrator; renewable energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Energies Journal is running a Special Issue on the topic “Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems”. In recent years, the installed capacity of grid-connected photovoltaic (GCPV) systems has been growing rapidly around the world. This is mainly due to a drop in PV module prices, technological advancements, favourable incentives and the capacity to generate green electricity. PV systems are connected to the grid through the inverter, therefore the optimal sizing of PV and inverter is very important for GCPV systems. There are certain challenges in the integration of PV systems directly with a grid. Integration of PV with other renewable energy technologies in the grid can therefore enhance the performance of the PV system as a whole and increase reliability.

The focus of this Special Issue is to publish high quality original research contributions in the area of GCPV systems. Topics of interest for this issue include, but are not limited to the following areas:

Building integrated GCPV systems
Fabrication, designing and sizing analyses
Concentric solar PV systems
Theoretical and experimental evaluation of GCPV systems
Reviews
Life cycle analyses
Performance monitoring and case studies
Trends and development in GCPV technologies
Small and large scale GCPV systems
Optical, thermal and electrical modelling and simulation
Hybrid GCPV systems
PV inverter and inverter sizing analyses
Economic analyses
Energy policies related to GCPV systems
Grid interaction

Dr. Jayanta Deb Mondol
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

photovoltaics
PV module
building integration
grid-connection
economics
emissions
energy storage
grid interaction
energy policy
inverter technology
life cycle analysis

Published Papers (5 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

9208 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synchronous Power Control of Grid-Connected Power Converters under Asymmetrical Grid Fault

by Weiyi Zhang, Joan Rocabert, J. Ignacio Candela and Pedro Rodriguez

Energies 2017, 10(7), 950; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10070950 - 08 Jul 2017

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 5760

Abstract

Control of grid-connected power converters is continuously developing to meet the grid codes, according to which the generation units should keep connected to the grid and further provide ancillary services, such as voltage and frequency support, negative sequence current injection, inertia emulation, etc. A virtual admittance controller is proposed in this paper for the objective of voltage support under asymmetrical grid faults. By using independent and selective admittances for positive and negative sequence current injection, the unbalanced voltage can be significantly compensated during asymmetrical faults. The controller is based on the generic control framework of the synchronous power controller (SPC), which is able to control a power converter with emulated and improved synchronous generator characteristics. Simulation and experimental results based on two paralleled 100 kW grid-connected power converters demonstrate the controller to be effective in supporting unbalanced voltage sags. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

6270 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Performance Improvement for Two-Stage Single-Phase Grid-Connected Converters Using a Fast DC Bus Control Scheme and a Novel Synchronous Frame Current Controller

by Bingzhang Li, Shenghua Huang and Xi Chen

Energies 2017, 10(3), 389; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10030389 - 18 Mar 2017

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5280

Abstract

Two-stage single-phase grid-connected converters are widely used in renewable energy applications. Due to the presence of a second harmonic ripple across the DC bus voltage, it is very challenging to design the DC bus voltage control scheme in single-phase grid-connected inverters. The DC bus voltage controller must filter the ripple and balance a tradeoff between low harmonic distortion and high bandwidth. This paper presents a fast DC bus voltage controller, which uses a second order digital finite impulse response (FIR) notch filter in conjunction with input power feedforward scheme to ensure the steady-state and dynamic performance. To gain the input power without extra hardware, a Kalman filter is incorporated to estimate the DC bus input current. At the same time, a modulation compensation strategy is implemented to eliminate the nonlinearity of the grid current control loop, which is caused by the DC bus voltage ripple. Moreover, a novel synchronous frame current controller for single-phase systems is also introduced, and its equivalent model in stationary frame has been derived. Simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the effective of the proposed control scheme. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

7865 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Isolated DC-DC Converter for Bidirectional Power Flow Controlling with Soft-Switching Feature and High Step-Up/Down Voltage Conversion

by Chih-Lung Shen, You-Sheng Shen and Cheng-Tao Tsai

Energies 2017, 10(3), 296; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10030296 - 02 Mar 2017

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 7760

Abstract

In this paper, a novel isolated bidirectional DC-DC converter is proposed, which is able to accomplish high step-up/down voltage conversion. Therefore, it is suitable for hybrid electric vehicle, fuel cell vehicle, energy backup system, and grid-system applications. The proposed converter incorporates a coupled inductor to behave forward-and-flyback energy conversion for high voltage ratio and provide galvanic isolation. The energy stored in the leakage inductor of the coupled inductor can be recycled without the use of additional snubber mechanism or clamped circuit. No matter in step-up or step-down mode, all power switches can operate with soft switching. Moreover, there is a inherit feature that metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) with smaller on-state resistance can be adopted because of lower voltage endurance at primary side. Operation principle, voltage ratio derivation, and inductor design are thoroughly described in this paper. In addition, a 1-kW prototype is implemented to validate the feasibility and correctness of the converter. Experimental results indicate that the peak efficiencies in step-up and step-down modes can be up to 95.4% and 93.6%, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

6638 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Coordinated Control of Superconducting Fault Current Limiter and Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage for Transient Performance Enhancement of Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Generation System

by Lei Chen, Hongkun Chen, Jun Yang, Yanjuan Yu, Kaiwei Zhen, Yang Liu and Li Ren

Energies 2017, 10(1), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10010056 - 05 Jan 2017

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6607

Abstract

In regard to the rapid development of renewable energy sources, more and more photovoltaic (PV) generation systems have been connected to main power networks, and it is critical to enhance their transient performance under short-circuit faults conditions. This paper proposes and studies the coordinated control of a flux-coupling-type superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) and a superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES), to improve the fault ride through (FRT) capability and smooth the power fluctuation of a grid-connected PV generation system. Theoretical analyses of the device structure, operating principle and control strategy are conducted, and a detailed simulation model of 100 kW class PV generation system is built in MATLAB/SIMULINK. During the simulations of the symmetrical and asymmetrical faults, the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control is disabled, and four different cases including without auxiliary, with SFCL, with SMES, and with SFCL-SMES, are compared. From the demonstrated results, the combination of without MPPT and with SFCL-SMES can more efficiently improve the point of common coupling (PCC) voltage sag, inhibit the DC-link overvoltage and alleviate the power fluctuation. Finally, a preliminary parameter optimization method is suggested for the SFCL and the SMES, and it is helpful to promote their future application in the real PV projects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

22502 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Recent Change in the Italian Policies for Photovoltaics: Effects on the Energy Demand Coverage of Grid-Connected PV Systems Installed in Urban Contexts

by Aldo Orioli, Vincenzo Franzitta, Alessandra Di Gangi and Ferdinando Foresta

Energies 2016, 9(11), 944; https://doi.org/10.3390/en9110944 - 12 Nov 2016

Cited by 45 | Viewed by 6423

Abstract

In July 2013, the Italian photovoltaic (PV) support policies changed the feed-in tariff (FIT) mechanism and turned to a tax credits program, which is currently in force. The aim of this paper is to investigate how such a radical change has influenced the electricity demand coverage of the PV systems installed in urban contexts. A methodology, which connects the economic assessment to a detailed architectural and energy suitability analysis, was applied to some case studies to analyse the relationships between the physical parameters related to multi-storey buildings (roof shapes, number of floors and area of flats) and the most relevant economic and financial features affecting the viability of rooftop PV systems. The study, which considers only the electricity produced by the PV systems that are economically profitable, highlighted that the tax credits scheme is even more effective in covering the electrical consumption of densely urbanised Italian city districts. The results, which are significantly influenced by the latitude of the analysed districts, underline the opportunity for governments to adopt PV promoting policies that are more sensitive to the amount of solar energy available in the different regions of their national territory. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (5 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI