This paper presents effective design schemes for a photovoltaic (PV) and battery hybrid system that includes state-of-the-art technologies such as maximum power point tracking scheme for PV arrays, an effective charging/discharging circuit for batteries, and grid-interfacing power inverters. Compared to commonly-used PV systems, the proposed configuration has more flexibility and autonomy in controlling individual components of the PV-battery hybrid system. This paper also proposes an intelligent coordination scheme for the components of the PV-battery hybrid system to improve the efficiency of renewable energy resources and peak-load management. The proposed algorithm is based on a rule-based expert system that has excellent capability to optimize multi-objective functions. The proposed configuration and algorithms are investigated via switching-level simulation studies of the PV-battery hybrid system.