ABSTRACT
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Photovoltaic (PV) systems involve the direct conversion of sunlight into electricity with no intervening heat engine. PV devices are solid state; therefore, they are rugged and simple in design and require very little maintenance. A key advantage of PV systems is that they can be constructed as either gridconnected or stand-alone to produce outputs from microwatts to megawatts. They have been used as the power sources for calculators, watches, water pumping, remote buildings, communications, satellites and space vehicles, as well as megawatt-scale power plants. Because they are lightweight, modular, and do not require a gaseous or liquid fuel supply, PVs fit a niche that is unavailable to other DG technologies. For an overview of solar energy resources, technologies, and design approaches, the reader is referred to Goswami et al. (2000). Figure 4.1 shows a residential PV system.
