Large-scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants connected to the grid leads to the complex calculations in modeling and simulation of the power system, especially in the electromagnetic transient progress. Common averaging methods are studied for modeling a grid-connected converter to simplify the calculation and balance accuracy and efficiency in the simulation. The piecewise technique is applied to the generalized state space averaging model of converters, which combine time segment with similar operating characteristic. In addition, a new piecewise generalized state space averaging (P-GSSA) model is derived and a multi time scale modeling is achieved for the grid-connected converters in PV systems. The model error and accuracy of the P-GSSA model are analyzed, the physical significance and the influence factors in the model error of P-GSSA model are discussed. The proposed P-GSSA model is flexible to be used in a PVs system simulation, and it can accurately reflect the steady-state and transient characteristics of a converter. The research shows that P-GSSA model improved the simulation efficiency over 20% by the index of consumed time, meanwhile, the model error analysis is under 5%. The analysis of the P-GSSA model is verified by simulating a DC/AC converter and a photovoltaic system.