A novel triple-tied-cross-linked PV array configuration with reduced number of cross-ties to extract maximum power under partial shading conditions

Abstract

Partial shadings cause output power reduction from Photovoltaic (PV) arrays due to mismatch losses. The selection of PV array configurations play a vital role in maximum power generation. This paper proposes a novel Triple-Tied-Cross-Linked (T-T-C-L) configuration to extract maximum power with a lesser number of cross ties than a Total-Cross-Tied (T-C-T) configuration. The performance of the proposed T-T-C-L configuration has been compared with various conventional PV array configurations, such as Series (S), Parallel (P), Series-Parallel (S-P), Bridge-Link (B-L), Honey-Comb (H-C), and T-C-T under Partial Shading Conditions (PSCs) by considering the 9x9 PV array. The PSCs considered are uneven row, column, diagonal, random, short & narrow, short & wide, long & narrow, long & wide shadings and uniform half module shading. The measures, such as open circuit voltage, short circuit current, maximum power, voltages and currents at maximum power, mismatch losses, fill factor and efficiency have been used for performance analysis of various configurations. From the results, it can be concluded that the performance of the proposed T-T-C-L configuration is optimal compared to other configurations.