Selection and configuration of inverters and modules for a photovoltaic system to minimize costs

The photovoltaic (PV) systems have become an option to reduce utilities costs for many social sectors. For a PV system design, the correct selection of the inverters and PV module could reduce the initial investment. The designer of these systems runs up against the difficult dilemma of selecting an adequate components combination. With many challenging restrictions, the purchasing costs of the system could be last priority. The suggested selection of these components with the objective of minimizing costs is established as a linear programing problem. The model that is formulated minimizes the purchasing costs of inverters and PV modules for a required capacity by selecting the appropriate combination of them given a list of models with its specifications. Also, it provides an array configuration of the proposed solution in order to meet all the design requirements. Results obtained show that using this model the purchasing costs can be reduced by 16.45% of a 10 kW PV systems kit available in the market on April 2013.