Renewable Energy Systems With Photovoltaic Power Generators: Operation and Modeling

A substantial increase of photovoltaic (PV) power generators installations has taken place in recent years, due to the increasing efficiency of solar cells as well as the improvements of manufacturing technology of solar panels. These generators are both grid-connected and stand-alone applications. We present an overview of the essential research results. The paper concentrates on the operation and modeling of stand-alone power systems with PV power generators. Systems with PV array-inverter assemblies, operating in the slave-and-master modes, are discussed, and the simulation results obtained using a renewable energy power system modular simulator are presented. These results demonstrate that simulation is an essential step in the system development process and that PV power generators constitute a valuable energy source. They have the ability to balance the energy and supply good power quality. It is demonstrated that when PV array- inverters are operating in the master mode in stand-alone applications, they well perform the task of controlling the voltage and frequency of the power system. The mechanism of switching the master function between the diesel generator and the PV array-inverter assembly in a stand-alone power system is also proposed and analyzed. Finally, some experimental results on a practical system are compared to the simulation results and confirm the usefulness of the proposed approach to the development of renewable energy systems with PV power generators.

I. Introduction

In recent years, the substantial increase of research and development work in the area of photovoltaic (PV) systems have made the PV power generators a feasible alternative energy resource that complements other energy sources in hybrid energy systems. The trend of fast increase of the PV energy use is related to the increasing efficiency of solar cells as well as the improvements of manufacturing technology of solar panels. The PV generators can either be grid connected (operate in distributed generation systems) or can operate in stand-alone (autonomous) systems.