High-performance phase-locked loops (PLLs) are critical for power control in grid-connected systems. This paper presents a new method of designing a PLL for single-phase systems based on derivative elements (DEs). The quadrature signal generator (QSG) is constructed by two DEs with the same parameters. The PLL itself is realized by using the DE-based QSG. It avoids errors due to the overlap and accumulation that are present in PLLs based on integral elements, such as a PLL based on a second-order generalized integrator. Additionally, frequency feedback is not needed which allows the proposed PLL to achieve high performance when the grid frequency changes rapidly. This paper presents the model of the PLL and a theoretical performance analysis with respect to both the frequency-domain and time-domain behavior. The error arising from the discretization process is also compensated, ensuring this PLL method is suitable for implementation in a digital control system. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed PLL achieves good performance in both harmonic rejection and dynamic response.