Title :
Control and interfacing of bi-directional inverters for off-grid and weak grid photovoltaic power systems
Author_Institution :
Centre for Renewable Energy & Sustainable Energy Technol. Australia, Curtin Univ. of Technol., Perth, WA, Australia
Abstract :
Photovoltaics (PV) is one of the most cost-effective, reliable and durable energy sources to provide electricity in remote areas not connected to a grid. In some parts of the world grid-connected PV systems also help utilities to alleviate the need to install or operate costly power plants by supplementing and meeting high peak hours of electricity demand. The key to the widespread application of PV power plants is the availability of efficient and low cost power electronic equipment. A photovoltaic generator is a current source depending on solar radiation intensity and temperature. Simple charge controllers and DC-DC converters with maximum power point tracking are used to interface solar panels with batteries. There are different types of inverters for converting the DC power from batteries and/or solar panels to AC power. This paper describes the application of bi-directional inverters for remote area power systems using PV, diesel generators and battery storage. Use of bidirectional inverters to improve power quality and reliability in weak grids is also presented
Keywords :
diesel-electric generators; invertors; photovoltaic power systems; power supply quality; power system reliability; secondary cells; DC power conversion; DC-DC converters; PV power plants; batteries; battery storage; bi-directional inverters; charge controllers; current source; diesel generators; energy sources; grid-connected PV systems; low cost power electronic equipment; maximum power point tracking; off-grid photovoltaic power systems; photovoltaic generator; power quality improvement; reliability improvement; solar panels; solar radiation intensity; weak grid photovoltaic power systems; Batteries; Bidirectional control; Costs; Inverters; Meeting planning; Photovoltaic cells; Power generation; Power supplies; Power system reliability; Solar power generation;
Conference_Titel :
Power Engineering Society Summer Meeting, 2000. IEEE
Conference_Location :
Seattle, WA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-6420-1
DOI :
10.1109/PESS.2000.867573