Power Conditioning Subsystems for Photovoltaic Central-Station Power Plants: State-of-the-Art and Advanced Technology

Through the combined efforts of governmental agencies and laboratories, private organizations, universities and electric utilities, substantial progress has been made in bringing photovoltaic (PV) systems closer to commercial feasibility. The future availability of central station power conditioner subsystems (CS-PCS) that are efficient, safe, reliable, and economical will play a key role in the acceptance of large-scale PV energy by electric utilities. To accelerate the development of such CS-PCS hardware, the Department of Energy's Photovoltaic Division, as part of its Five Year Plan, has established a goal of a reliable, 98 percent-efficient CS-PCS that in volume production will cost $0.07/Wp. This will help make PV power economically competitive with electric power derived from conventional energy sources. Various governmental agencies and private organizations are cooperating to try to achieve this proposed goal. The combination of a dwindling federal budget for PV research and development (R&D), and the reluctance of American industry to accept the high economic risks involved in its own PV R&D efforts, could shift the leading edge of PV-PCS technology development to foreign competition, in general, and to Japanese industry, in particular.