editorial solar energy and pv systemsboost new investments in solar pv energy use in di erent...

EditorialSolar Energy and PV Systems

Ismail H. Altas1 and Adel M. Sharaf2

1Karadeniz Technical University, 61080 Trabzon, Turkey2Sharaf Energy Systems Inc., Fredericton, NB, Canada E3C 2P2

Correspondence should be addressed to Ismail H. Altas; [email protected]

Received 20 November 2014; Accepted 20 November 2014; Published 22 December 2014

Copyright © 2014 I. H. Altas and A. M. Sharaf. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properlycited.

The utilization of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems has gaineda tremendous momentum due to decreasing costs of PVarrays and interface systems by asmuch as 50%during the lastfive years. The advancements on electric utility grid interfacesystems andutilization of PVarrays in standalone local powergeneration and smart buildings with storage battery andback-up hybrid systems are increasing the PV system utiliza-tion as the emerging form of renewable/alternative energysource. In many countries, the government has institutedspecial incentives and tax credits as well as feed-in tariffand energy purchase back legislation programs in order topromote and encourage manufacturers and consumers andboost new investments in solar PV energy use in differentsectors.

As the solar PV systems emerge as viable and eco-nomic source of green energy with increasing installationsites every year, attempts are made to find economic andtechnological solutions to the problems arising from variousaspects of the PV utilization schemes. The state of the artresearch is continuing in all areas from material sciences tomanufacturing and interfacing in order to ensure efficientutilization and commercial viability in terms of cost, security,and durability of PV and hybrid PV-wind-storage systems.Specific areas focus on PV array topologies, dynamic suntracking, maximum power point control, storage devices,and efficient decoupled interface with smart grid and smartbuilding to ensure dynamic matching of energy to loadrequirements with minimal impact on the host utility grid.Besides, energy management studies in smart grids anddistributed generation have become other additional areas of

demand sidemanagement and energy efficient hybrid utility-renewable energy.

We invited investigators to contribute original researcharticles as well as review articles that will stimulate the contin-uing efforts and promote new research directions to addressthe undergoing challenges and technological requirements inPV systems utilization in order to ensure commercial viabilityand improve usability, security, reliability, and integration ofsustainability of converting sun power to electricity.

Hybrid PV-wind-fuel cell-microgas turbines with storageLi-ion batteries and super capacitors are promising tomodifythe way smart grid manages efficient electrical energy andensure demand-side management and peak shifting as wellas shaving of peak demand during summer months due tomassive air-conditioning loads.

The inherent problems of PV interfacing include theeffects of solar insulation and temperature changes affectingthe PV array power/energy as well as interface power qualityand required dc-ac isolation and grid supply security andreliability.

The effects of mismatching conditions and partial shad-ing/clouding problems require novel control and powertracking algorithms, new architecture usingmulti converters,and sitting/location dynamic exchanges of PV arrays usingseries-parallel (SP) topologies.

The special edition is a collection of accepted papersfocused on photovoltaic systems emerging technology andcurrent applications including interfacing, energy efficientutilization, emerging technologies, fabrication, and new con-trol strategies for maximum power point tracking under

Hindawi Publishing CorporationInternational Journal of PhotoenergyVolume 2014, Article ID 408285, 2 pageshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/408285

2 International Journal of Photoenergy

contingencies,mismatching, and cloudy/partial shading con-ditions with PV farm/park utilization and field studies. Tech-nologies using solar energy in heating and cooling systems,advancements in manufacturing processes, developmentsin power electronic devices for utility interfacing issues,shading effects, maximum power point tracking algorithms,and efficient energy management for higher efficiency in PVsystems are some other topics presented in this special issue.

Ismail H. AltasAdel M. Sharaf

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