Performance analysis of various configurations of solar photovoltaic arrays to mitigate the effects of partial shading conditions

Abstract

The important aspect in solar photovoltaic (SPV) design is to extract maximum power generated from SPV system. Considering all factors associated with power loss for this system, Partial Shading Conditions (PSC) play a major role. PSC is phenomenon, which causes non-uniform irradiance on solar photovoltaic arrays due to various reasons such as nearby buildings, moving object etc. Further it impacts on reduction in power generation from SPV system. The power loss due to PSC of SPV system has been accepted as a major challenging concern, as user and consumer are losing their interest in these systems. In order to mitigate this concern, various methods have been reported in literature, which includes reconfiguration of SPV array. The existing various common solar module configurations mentioned in literature are Bridge Linked, Series Parallel, Total Cross Tied, and Honeycomb. These configurations techniques are implemented to improve the output energy and power efficiency of SPV. The current study is aimed to present a comparison of these fours configuration in terms of their power and voltage output. Simulated models are used to analyze the effect of commonly occurred seven various partial shading conditions. The results of current study are shown as a power verses voltage (PV) curves of 4×4 array of SPV. The performance study is carried out by comparing the maximum power generated (MPP). The results obtained by simulation of modules and its theoretical results ensure the effective implementation of these techniques in hardware setup.