Grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are increasingly attracting the attention of industry and academia mainly motivated by potential to provide an alternative to the conventional fossil fuel generation. This helps to meet out the increasing energy demands and to limit the pollution of environment caused by fossil emissions. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the grid-connected solar PV systems. The intention of this review is to provide a wide spectrum on architecture of grid-connected solar PV system and its constituent components such as solar cell, PV array, maximum power point tracking, filters, DC-DC converters, single-phase inverters, and three-phase inverters to the researchers, designers, and engineers working on solar energy and its integration into the utility grid. Brief overview of control techniques for the single and three-phase inverters has also been presented. More than 100 research publications on the topologies, configurations, and control techniques of grid-connected solar PV systems and their major constituent components have been thoroughly reviewed and classified for quick reference. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd