Operation and installation manual
Page 12 of 96
(PVI-STRINGCOMB (-S, -MC, -S-MC) - Rev:1.0)
2 GENERAL
INFORMATION
AND
FEATURES
OF
A
PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM
This chapter gives the PVI-STRINGCOMB(-S) user general information on
photovoltaic plants which transform solar energy into electricity, which can be
used in the mains network.
2.1 Photovoltaic energy
In the energy transformation process, industrialised companies (the greatest
energy consumers) have been experimenting methods for energy saving and for
decreasing the release of polluting substances into the environment for many
years, by careful and rational consumption of known resources and by research
into new forms of clean and inexhaustible energy.
Regenerating sources of energy are fundamental to solve this problem. Under
these circumstances, solar energy exploitation to generate electrical
(photovoltaic) energy is becoming more and more important world-wide.
Photovoltaic
energy
represents
an
enormous
advantage
as
regards
environmental protection, since the solar radiation which we receive from the sun
is directly transformed into electricity without any combustion process and without
the production of polluting waste.
The photovoltaic panels transform the energy irradiated by the sun into direct
current, or DC type electricity (by means of a photovoltaic field, also known as a
PV generator). In order to supply the mains network and thus allow for this energy
to be used, it must be transformed into alternate current, or AC type electricity.
AURORA inverters do this conversion, also known as DC to AC inversion, in a
very efficient way, without using rotating parts but just static power electronic
devices.
Used parallel to the mains supply, the alternate current produced by the inverter
flows directly (through the insulation transformer) into the industrial distribution
network, in turn connected to the public distribution network.
When the photovoltaic field is not generating sufficient energy, the power required
to ensure proper operation of connected loads is taken from the public power grid.
While if the produced energy is too much, it is directly fed to the grid, thus
becoming available to other users.
