This paper is an attempt to classify the diverse nature of application of photovoltaic (PV) systems around the world. The five classes presented in this paper are -(i) stand alone, (ii) grid-connected, (iii) PV-thermal, (iv) PV-wind and (v) dedicated applications.73 papers are cited and classified into these five categories including a brief summary of each paper. Out of these, 42 papers relate to grid-connected applications in many industrialized countries of the world. These papers reflect the importance given to such applications. Due to the fast changing nature of PV and the related industries only the papers published during the last 10 years have been considered.
INTRODUCTIONPhotovoltaic (PV) power has found applications in all corners of the earth -f r o m the Polynesian Islands to Ethiopian villages, and to the large utility scale projects in California. PV is used in water pumping, lighting, consumer electronics, refrigeration in third world village pharmacies, utility scale projects and space applications. Even though PV found its first applications in space, the magnitude o f its terrestrial applications at this time overshadows the extra-terrestrial uses. Because of this reason, the discussion in this paper is limited to terrestrial applications, consumer electronics excluded.Recently Sugimura and Wood [I] presented a survey of recent literature on the utility application of photovoltaic power generation. In the 79 papers they reviewed several issues related to central station and residentiaVintermediate systems were addressed. This paper has filled a long standing need for such a comprehensive reference. We, however, feel that the world-wide readership of the IEEE Transaction of Energy Conversion would benefit from a discussion on the diverse applications of PV systems (beyond the two listed above) that are found all over the world. Such a review would also trace how PV based systems have progressed in size and diversity over the years. For this reason our paper may be considered as a supplement of the Sugimura and Wood paper.The objective of this paper is to present the categories into which PV power applications can be grouped, to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using PV for such applications, and to suggest ways to improve the performance o f PV systems. The categories are: 1. Stand-alone application 2. Grid-connected application 3. PV-thermal application 4. PV-wind application 5. Dedicated application 88 WM 241-2 A p a p e r recommended a n d a p p r o v e d by t h e IEEE Power G e n e r a t i o n Committee of t h e IEEE Power E n g i n e e r i n g S o c i e t y f o r p r e s e n t a t i o n a t t h e IEEE/PES 1988 W i n t e r M e e t i n g , New Y o r k , New Y o r k , January 3 1 -F e b r u a r y 5, 1988. M a n u s c r i p t subm i t t e d A u g u s t 21,It must be noted, however that the bibliography in this paper is representative, not exhaustive. We have therefore, not reviewed any of the PV related reports that have been published over the last several years, We take the positio...
