http://blogs.najah.edu/author/hjalatrash An-Najah Blogs :: Technical Blog en-us Sat, 27 Jul 2024 16:58:55 IDT Sat, 27 Jul 2024 16:58:55 IDT [email protected] [email protected] http://blogs.najah.edu/staff/hjalatrash/article/Democratizing-Solar--AC-PV-modules-lead-the-wayPublished ArticlesAs the world faces the economic environmental and political consequences of its heavy dependence on fossil fuels for energy the search for a suitable alternative only grows more intense The collection of solar energy through photovoltaic PV cells is a particularly promising technology Sunshine is an abundant resource while PV technology is clean quiet and suitable for distributed installations Gridtied PV technology allows the integration of PV resources into the utility grid near points of load Today cost is the primary challenge facing PV power systems Presently the solar electricity price index ranges from 2141kWhr for industrial applications to 3778kWhr for residential applications This price index is primarily driven by PV module cost ~40-50 of system cost inverter cost 10 of system cost balance of the system costs ~10-20 of system cost and labor and installation costs ~30-40 of system cost Since the inverter cost constitutes a small percentage of the overall system cost 10 a major reduction in inverter cost will not have a major impact on overall system cost On the other hand soft costs labor and installation constitute more than 13rd of the system cost Reducing these costs can result in major reduction in overall system cost The AC PV module is poised to truly democratize solar as it offers a budget friendly incremental installation Unlike string inverter based system where a base residential system cost could approach upwards of 25000 low budget end users can get started with few AC PV modules to supplement their power usage and add more modules as they go This is the true spirit of democracyhttp://blogs.najah.edu/staff/hjalatrash/article/The-AC-PV-Module-A-New-Trend-in-Distributed-Photovoltaic-Generation-SystemsPublished Articles The vast growth of distributed photovoltaic PV generation systems has led to new trends in integrated PV systems The AC PV module is one of these trends where a PV panel and a micro-inverter are integrated into a single AC PV source This reduces installation complexity and provides for a true plug-n-play PV system This paper discusses the basics and design considerations of AC PV modules