Inverter power sizing considerations in grid-connected PV systems

This work is devoted to establish preliminary criteria helping in the choice of a central inverter power sizing in grid-connected PV systems in order to maximize the yearly energy injected to the grid. These criteria come from an estimation of the injected energy by means of a set of Matlab^reg-based simulations involving a simulation-oriented model of the PV conversion chain, the environmental data of several PV Spanish sites as well as the PV installation mounting type characteristics. The simulation results show that the current practice of under-sizing the inverter maximum power with respect to the PV generator nominal power may not be the best choice in terms of yearly produced energy and also evidence the strong impact of the PV generator operating temperature in the choice of the optimal inverter power sizing.