Design standards for solar photovoltaic power stations

What is a photovoltaic system standard?

Many organizations have established standards that address photovoltaic (PV) system component safety, design, installation, and monitoring. Standards are norms or requirements that establish a basis for the common understanding and judgment of materials, products, and processes.

What standards are available for the energy rating of PV modules?

Standards available for the energy rating of PV modules in different climatic conditions, but degradation rate and operational lifetime need additional scientific and standardisation work (no specific standard at present). Standard available to define an overall efficiency according to a weighted combination of efficiencies.

How many photovoltaic power plants should be installed?

To provide sufficient supply for the global energy consumption, a cumulative amount of 18 TW of photovoltaic power plants should be installed. This means the solar energy industry has a long way to reach to a point where at least 10% of the world energy consumption is generated by solar plants.

What should be considered when designing a floating PV system?

Relevant research, engineering judgement and/or project experience should be applied to consider the temperature difference between the edge and centre of the floating PV system as PV modules on the edge of the system tend to be more exposed to wind cooling.

Are PV systems compatible with the utility grid?

Interest in PV systems is increasing and the installation of large PV systems or large groups of PV systems that are interactive with the utility grid is accelerating, so the compatibility of higher levels of distributed generation needs to be ensured and the grid infrastructure protected.

What is the minimum size requirement for a solar energy system?

Different ISOs have different minimum size requirements. Some allow systems rated at 10 MW and higher, some at 1 MW. Energy storage or PV would provide significantly faster response times than conventional generation. Systems could respond in milliseconds (once the signal is received) relative to minutes for thermal plants.