A Comprehensive Study on Re-arrangement of Modules Based TCT Configurations of Partial Shaded PV Array with Shade Dispersion Method

Abstract

The conventional Total-Cross-Tied (TCT) Solar photovoltaic (SPV) array configuration has the highest power output as compared to other configurations or topologies in most cases of partial shading. But the performance of TCT configuration is affected under shading conditions, resulting in multiple peaks occurring in the output PV characteristics. To improve the performance of TCT array configuration under different shading scenarios, it is only necessary to reposition or rearrange the PV modules in the TCT Solar PV array based on the arrangement of puzzle numbers, without altering the electrical contacts of the TCT array configuration. The main objective of this study is to investigate the performance of rearrangement of modules in SPV array based new TCT array configurations with shade dispersion technique and compare the global maximum peak power (GMPP) of SPV array, mismatch losses, Fill-Factor, efficiency and number of required electrical connections or ties between array modules with proposed optimal arrangement of modules under shading (non-uniform irradiance) conditions. For this study, one uniform irradiance case and total 14 partial shading patterns were considered. MATLAB/Simulink software was used for modeling and simulation of 6×6 size different rearrangement based TCT array and proposed optimal SPV array configurations.