Power system designed to supply usable electric power from solar energy
Photovoltaic power systems and components:
Solar string inverter and other BOS components
BIPV on balcony in Helsinki, Finland
Rooftop system in Boston, United States
Westmill solar park in the United Kingdom
Dual axis tracker with CPV modules
Topaz, one of the world's largest solar power station, as seen from space
Commercial rooftop PV system of about 400 kWp
Power plant on Mt. Komekura, Japan
Solar PV system on Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain-top
A photovoltaic system, also called a PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity, a solar inverter to convert the output from direct to alternating current, as well as mounting, cabling, and other electrical accessories to set up a working system. It may also use a solar tracking system to improve the system's overall performance and include an integrated battery.
PV systems convert light directly into electricity and are not to be confused with other solar technologies, such as concentrated solar power or solar thermal, used for heating and cooling. A solar array only encompasses the solar panels, the visible part of the PV system, and does not include all the other hardware, often summarized as the balance of system (BOS). PV systems range from small, rooftop-mounted or building-integrated systems with capacities ranging from a few to several tens of kilowatts to large, utility-scale power stations of hundreds of megawatts. Nowadays, off-grid or stand-alone systems account for a small portion of the market.
Operating silently and without any moving parts or air pollution, PV systems have evolved from niche market applications into a mature technology used for mainstream electricity generation. Due to the growth of photovoltaics, prices for PV systems have rapidly declined since their introduction; however, they vary by market and the size of the system. Nowadays, solar PV modules account for less than half of the system's overall cost,[1] leaving the rest to the remaining BOS components and to soft costs, which include customer acquisition, permitting, inspection and interconnection, installation labor, and financing costs.[2]: 14
^Fraunhofer ISE Levelized Cost of Electricity Study, November 2013, p. 19
^Cite error: The named reference IEA-roadmap-PV-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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