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An advanced power control strategy by limiting the maximum feed-in power of PV systems has been proposed, which can ensure a fast and smooth transition between maximum power point tracking and Constant Power Generation (CPG). Regardless of the solar irradiance levels, high-performance and stable operation are always achieved by the proposed control strategy. It can regulate the PV output power according to any set-point, and force the PV systems to operate at the left side of the maximum power point without stability problems. Experimental results have verified the effectiveness of the proposed CPG control in terms of high accuracy, fast dynamics, and stable transitions.

The storage of enormous energies is a significant challenge for electrical generation. Researchers have studied energy storage methods and increased efficiency for many years. In recent years, researchers have been exploring new materials and techniques to store more significant amounts of energy more efficiently. In particular, renewable energy sources and electric vehicle technologies are triggering these scientific studies. Scientists and manufacturers recently proposed the supercapacitor (SC) as an alternating or hybrid storage device. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of SC applications and their developments. Accordingly, a detailed literature review was first carried out. The historical results of SCs are revealed in this paper. The structure, working principle, and materials of SC are given in detail to be analysed more effectively. The advantages and disadvantages, market profile, and new technologies with manufacturer corporations are investigated to produce a techno-economic analysis of SCs. The electric vehicle, power systems, hybrid energy storage systems with integration of renewable energy sources, and other applications of SCs are investigated in this paper. Additionally, SC modelling design principles with charge and discharge tests are explored. Other components and their price to produce a compact module for high power density are also investigated.

With a still increase of grid-connected Photovoltaic (PV) systems, challenges have been imposed on the grid due to the continuous injection of a large amount of fluctuating PV power, like overloading the grid infrastructure (e.g., transformers) during peak power production periods. Hence, advanced active power control methods are required. As a cost-effective solution to avoid overloading, a Constant Power Generation (CPG) control scheme by limiting the feed-in power has been introduced into the currently active grid regulations. In order to achieve a CPG operation, this paper presents three CPG strategies based on: 1) a power control method (P-CPG), 2) a current limit method (I-CPG) and 3) the Perturb and Observe algorithm (P&O-CPG). However, the operational mode changes (e.g., from the maximum power point tracking to a CPG operation) will affect the entire system performance. Thus, a benchmarking of the presented CPG strategies is also conducted on a 3-kW single-phase gridconnected PV system. Comparisons reveal that either the P-CPG or I-CPG strategies can achieve fast dynamics and satisfactory steady-state performance. In contrast, the P&O-CPG algorithm is the most suitable solution in terms of high robustness, but it presents poor dynamic performance.

The industry of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy and its application is still booming to enhance the sustainability of the society. When PV systems are connected to the grid, challenging issues should be addressed. One of the challenges is related to interharmonics in PV systems, especially with a large-scale adoption of PV systems. However, the origins of interharmonics remain unclear, although the impact of interhamonics has been reported in the literature. Thus, this paper explores the generation mechanisms of interharmonics in PV systems and the characteristics. The exploration reveals that the perturbation from the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm is one of the origins of interharmonics appearing in the grid current. Accordingly, the MPPT controller parameters such as the perturbation step size and the sampling rate have an inevitable impact on the interharmonic characteristics. Furthermore, an approach to characterize the interharmonics in the grid current is proposed. With the proposed model, interharmonics can be predicted according to the designed controller parameters in terms of frequencies and amplitudes. Experimental tests are performed on a single-phase grid-connected PV system. The results are in a close agreement with the analysis and, thus, validate the effectiveness of the proposed model. Index Terms-Interharmonics, inverters, maximum power point tracking (MPPT), modeling, photovoltaic (PV) systems, power quality. I. INTRODUCTIONI N RECENT years, more and more photovoltaic (PV) systems have been installed and connected to the grid due to the increasing demand of greener and more sustainable energy systems. However, at the same time, massive connections of PV systems to the grid bring several challenges, e.g., power quality and grid stability issues [1]-[6]. It has been reported that the

One of the major concerns associated with the increasing penetration of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) power plants is the operational challenges (e.g., overloading and overvoltage), imposed due to the variability of PV power generation. A flexible power point tracking (FPPT), which can limit the PV output power to a specific value, has thus been defined in grid-connection regulations to tackle some of the integration challenging issues. However, the conventional FPPT algorithm based on the perturb and observe method suffers from slow dynamics. In this paper, an adaptive FPPT algorithm is thus proposed, which features fast dynamics under rapidly changing environmental conditions (e.g., due to passing clouds), while maintaining low power oscillations in steady-state. The proposed algorithm employs an extra measured sampling at each perturbation to observe the change in the operating condition (e.g., solar irradiance). Afterwards, the voltage-step is adaptively calculated following the observed condition (e.g., transient or steady-state) in a way to improve the tracking performance. Experimental results on a 3-kVA grid-connected single-phase PV system validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in terms of fast dynamics and high accuracy under various operational conditions. Index Terms-Adaptive voltage-step calculation, flexible power point tracking, photovoltaic systems, photovoltaic panel powervoltage curve, voltage reference calculation NOMENCLATURE p ref Power reference. v p-ref Corresponding voltage to the constant power reference. p pv (k) Instantaneous PV power at calculation time-step k. dp 1PV power change between t = (k − 1)T and t = (k − 1/2)T .

Abstract-Power electronics is the enabling technology for optimizing energy harvesting from renewable systems like Photovoltaic (PV) and wind power systems, and also for interfacing grid-friendly energy systems. Advancements in the power semiconductor technology (e.g., wide band-gap devices) have pushed the conversion efficiency of power electronics to above 98%, where however the reliability of power electronics is becoming of high concern. Therefore, it is important to design for reliable power electronic systems to lower the risks of many failures during operation; otherwise will increase the cost for maintenance and reputation, thus affecting the cost of PV energy. Today's PV power conversion applications require the power electronic systems with low failure rates during a service life of 20 years or even more. To achieve so, it is vital to know the main life-limiting factors of power electronic systems as well as to design for high reliability at an early stage. Knowhow of the loading in power electronics in harsh operating environments (e.g., fluctuating ambient temperature and solar irradiance) is important for life-time prediction, as the prerequisite of Design for Reliability (DfR). Hence, in this paper, the technological challenges in DfR of power electronics for grid-connected PV systems will be addressed, where how the power converters are stressed considering real-field mission profiles. Furthermore, the DfR technology will be systematically exemplified on practical power electronic systems (i.e., gridconnected PV systems).