Sizing Factor Considerations for Grid-Connected PV Systems Based on a Central Inverter Configuration

This work is devoted to establish preliminary criteria on the sizing factor choice of a photovoltaic (PV) grid-connected installation based on a central inverter configuration which would help to the choice of the central inverter maximum power. These criteria are derived by estimating, through numerical simulations of the power processing models of the PV conversion chain, the yearly energy injected to the grid. The simulation results carried out on three different PV sites show, among others, that the current practice of under-sizing the inverter maximum power with respect to the nominal power of the PV generator may not be the best choice in terms of yearly injected energy