Components of a Solar Photovoltaic System

A solar photovoltaic system consists of the following components: solar cell modules, charge and discharge controllers, inverters, testing instruments, computer monitoring systems, and other power electronic equipment, as well as batteries or other energy storage and auxiliary power generation equipment.

Solar photovoltaic systems have the following characteristics:

1. No moving parts, no noise generation;

2. No air pollution or wastewater discharge;

3. No combustion process, no fuel required;

4. Simple maintenance and low upkeep costs;

5. High operational reliability and stability.

The key component, the solar cell, has a long service life. Crystalline silicon solar cells can last for over 25 years, and the power generation scale can easily be expanded as needed. Photovoltaic systems are widely applicable and can be broadly categorized into two types: independent power generation systems and grid-connected power generation systems. Their primary applications include space and aerospace vehicles, communication systems, microwave relay stations, television translator stations, photovoltaic water pumps, and household power supply in areas without or lacking electricity. With technological advancements and the global need for sustainable economic development, developed countries have begun systematically promoting urban grid-connected photovoltaic power generation. This mainly involves the construction of residential rooftop photovoltaic power generation systems and MW-scale centralized large grid-connected power generation systems, while also vigorously promoting the application of solar photovoltaic systems in transportation and urban lighting.

Photovoltaic systems vary greatly in scale and application forms. The system scale can range from small 0.3–2 W solar garden lights to large MW-scale solar photovoltaic power plants. Their application forms are also diverse, widely used in household, transportation, communication, space applications, and many other fields. Despite the varying scales of photovoltaic systems, their structural composition and working principles are fundamentally the same.