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25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 5062-5063, The purpose of this work was to develop a web-based tool dedicated to the monitoring, in the long term, of many PV systems with the use of a Geographical Information System (GIS). This tool was developed in order to control the overall performance of groups of PV systems installed at the same location and to make sure that they all perform well in the long term without spending to much effort and time. Il is based on an existing automatic failure detection algorithm developed a few years ago. It has been successfully tested on several groups of PV systems in France and is under test on a group of 11 PV systems installed within a demonstration project funded by the European Commission.

25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 4554-4559, Considering the structure of PV systems, a stray capacitance can appear between the PV arrays and the ground. When transformerless inverters are used, this capacitance can cause leakage currents to the ground. According to the French standards, a Residual-Current Device (RCD) has to be installed at the AC side of the PV installation, for the protection of individuals. Yet, when the value of the leakage currents reaches a threshold (30 mA in homes in France), the RCD may switch off and unintended disconnections of the PV installation occur with accompanying production losses. Based on simulations and experimental tests, this project aims at giving information to PV system designers and inverter manufacturers about the best suitable type of RCD to use for several PV system configurations. This issue is relevant for countries with TT grounded networks like France where many operations of PV systems with unexplained disconnections of RCD have been reported.

24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, 21-25 September 2009, Hamburg, Germany; 4489-4491, The concept of cities as potential photovoltaic power plants is rapidly gaining prominence, but until now there has been no large scale study of the impacts of such development on urban fabric and infrastructure, or on inhabitants. This book, based on wide-ranging studies supported by the European Commission and International Energy Agency, is the first to properly address these issues. It sets out by looking at the implications on planning policy of PV in the urban environment, and giving an overview of the implementation and occupation processes. It then moves on to present detailed case studies from a range of European cites, examining the role of large scale PV installations in urban renewal and new urban area development stretching back over 15 years. It ends with a review of technical guidelines for PV, and regulation/legalities surrounding planning, building and grid connection. The book will form an essential resource for planners and developers who are considering including large scale PV in their plans and who want to understand what has (or hasn’t) worked, and why.

23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 3743-3748, This paper outlines the results of a wide ranging review of urban areas where PV has been successfully implemented or where plans to implement PV are being prepared. The areas reviewed ranged from those where the planning priorities for an area are still being shaped to those where large numbers of PV buildings were installed over 10 years ago and issues of maintenance and the impact of occupants’ behaviour can be assessed. All the projects are of a significant size, involving large groups of buildings, and have impacted substantially on the urban area where they are located. The range of countries, project stages and stakeholders involved has been extremely wide and this has led to the collection of a comprehensive set of lessons learnt and successful methods of promoting the implementation of PV within the urban planning process which are summarized here.