Guest editorial joint special section on power conversion & control in photovoltaic power plantsGuest editorial joint special section on power conversion & control in photovoltaic power plants Εισαγωγή Επιμελητή Editorial 2020-08-282019enThe papers in this special section focus on power conversion and control in photovoltaic power plants. The power grid is undergoing significant changes with the rapid adoption of renewable energy. Solar power generation, and photovoltaics (PV) in particular, has been one of the fastest growing sectors in the power industry and has now reached price parity with conventional generation in many jurisdictions. Despite recent trends in reduced costs, several technical challenges remain. This includes but is not limited to the following research needs: i) novel converter designs for medium-voltage energy conversion and enhanced efficiency, ii) grid-support functions and fault-detection schemes that ensure reliable system operation, iii) comprehensive modeling strategies for analyzing system stability, iv) modeling techniques which capture complex system interactions, and v) strategies for system planning, siting, and operations.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion341159-160 Johnson Brian B. Chang Liucheng Afridi Khurram K. Ali Mohd Hassan Von Appen Jan Chen Yaow-Ming Davoudi Ali Dhople Sairaj V. Enslin Johan H.R. Flicker Jack David Islam Md R. Koutroulis Eftychios Κουτρουλης Ευτυχιος Kim Katherine A. Li Yun Wei Liserre Marco Long Teng Lu Xiaonan Mattavelli Paolo Rodríguez Pedro Ruan Xinbo Suntio Teuvo Wang Huai Xu Dehong Xu Wei Yazdani Amirnaser Zeineldin Hatem Hussein Zhu Jianguo Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Photovoltaic systems Energy conversion Power system planning