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42 Renewable Energy Devices and Systems with Simulations in MATLAB and ANSYS ®
®

250
227.8
Cumulative capacity
200 Annual installations
178

Giga-Watts 150 101 138

100
69.7

50 40
23.2
15.8
1.4 1.8 2.2 2.8 3.9 5.3 6.9 9.4
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

FIGURE 3.1 Evolution of global cumulative PV capacity from 2000 to 2015 based on the data available
online from SolarPower Europe and PV-Insider. (Data from SolarPower Europe, Global market outlook
2015–2019, 2015, Available: http://www.solarpowereurope.tv/insights/global-market-outlook/, Retrieved
on March 1, 2016; PV-Insider, US solar jobs to hike 15% in 2016, Global new capacity forecast at 65 GW,
January 19, 2016, Available: http://analysis.pv-insider.com/us-solar-jobs-hike-15-2016-global-new-capacity-
forecast-65-gw, Retrieved on March 1, 2016.)

by the end of 2014, where most of the PV systems are residential applications [3–5]. Figure 3.1 illus-
trates the worldwide solar PV capacity evolution in the past 15 years [5], which shows increasing
worldwide expectations from energy production by means of solar PV power systems. Therefore,
as the typical configuration for residential PV applications, the single-phase grid-connected PV sys-
tems have been in focus in this chapter in order to describe the technology catering for a desirable
PV integration into the future mixed power grid.
The power electronics technology has been acknowledged to be an enabling technology for more
renewable energies into the grid, including solar PV systems [7]. Associated by the advancements
of power semiconductor devices [8], the power electronics part of entire PV systems (i.e., power
converters) holds the responsibility for a reliable and efficient energy conversion out of the clean,
pollution-free, and inexhaustible solar PV energy. As a consequence, a vast array of grid-connected
PV power converters have been developed and commercialized widely [9–15].
However, the grid-connected PV systems vary significantly in size and power—from small-scale
DC modules (a few hundred watts) to large-scale PV power plants (up to hundreds of megawatts).
In general, the PV power converters can simply be categorized into module-level (AC-module
inverter and DC-module converter), string, multistring, and central converters [9, 10]. The multi-
string and central converters are intensively used for solar PV power plants/farms as three-phase
systems [16–18]. In contrast, the module and string converters are widely adopted in residential
applications as single-phase systems [19, 20]. Although the PV power converters are different in
configuration, the major functions of the power converters are the same, including PV power maxi-
mization, DC to AC power conversion and power transfer, synchronization, grid code compliance,
reactive power control, and islanding detection and protection [7, 21]. It also requires advanced and
intelligent controls to perform these PV features and also to meet customized demands, where the
monitoring, forecasting, and communication technology can enhance the PV integration [18, 21].
As mentioned previously, PV systems are still dominant in the residential applications and will
even be diversely spread out in the future mixed grid. Therefore, state-of-the-art developments of
single-phase grid-connected PV systems are selectively reviewed in this chapter. The focus has been