Fully Integrated and System‐Optimized Electronic Solutions on Solar Modules

ABSTRACT Alternating current (AC) PV modules offer several advantages such as easier installation, safer operation and increased efficiency for residential and building‐integrated PV systems including small balcony power plants. We therefore expect a growing market for AC modules. We present a combination of different innovations to demonstrate the potential for synergies and simplifications when fully integrating power electronics into PV modules. Our module features a novel, highly efficient and compact power electronics with galvanic isolation. The fully reactive power‐capable inverter topology utilizes 650 V gallium nitride power semiconductors. The communication is enabled by wireless communication based on Wirepas mesh connectivity, allowing a safe and robust operation and flexible expansion of the PV system. The module electronics are connected directly to the cross‐connectors of the PV modules, enabling novel circuit configurations that eliminate the need for conventional bypass diodes. Our approach is cost‐effective and limits the operating range of each substring to prevent hot spot events on the module. Furthermore, a slot antenna is introduced into a cross‐connector of the PV module. The antenna is capacitively fed through the backsheet by an aperture coupling printed circuit board (PCB) on the rear side of the module. The fully integrated electronics are attached to the PV module, encapsulated and electrically isolated from the environment by low‐pressure molding, which has shown high reliability in accelerated aging tests. All these key components are combined in full‐sized PV demonstrator modules that we install and operate on an outdoor test stand to prove the functionality of all the combined components.