System design of compact low-power inverters for the application in photovoltaic AC-modules

Photovoltaic ac-modules may become a future trend in PV system technology. For a reliable integration of the power electronic converter into the PV panel (also called PV module) the thermal mission profile of the photovoltaic system has to be analysed. In this paper, a mechatronic integration strategy is introduced and a thermal test setup is presented showing the need for sophisticated thermal design. Finally, advanced power packaging solutions are presented to find a trade-off between cost, miniaturization and reliability requirements.