PV-Wirefree: Redesigning and Innovating Grid-Connected PV-Systems

摘要

In this paper a new concept for designing grid-connected PV-systems is presented: PV-wirefree, aiming at minimizing PV BOS costs Balance of System costs - and inherently safe PV-systems. The guiding design principles used are: minimize dc-voltage, minimize components and material, integrate functions, simplify the PV-system and design for easy installation. Only one solution appeared to meet the goals: the PV-modules have to be connected in parallel to keep the dc-voltage as low as possible. The low dc-voltage also allows omitting many of the safety components used in series connected PV-system. To minimize the number of components even more two new PV-wirefree components are designed in which different functions are integrated. The most innovative new component is the PV-wirefree mounting bus, a current carrying mounting frame. So, a PV-wirefree system does not include expensive dc-wiring anymore, whereas the number of connectors is reduced considerably. In this paper the new PV-wirefree components are presented and safety issues related to paralleling PV-modules are discussed, as well as the additional advantages of PV-wirefree regarding reliability and efficiency.