A novel argyle puzzle for partial shading effect mitigation with experimental validation

Abstract

Reconfiguring partially shaded photovoltaic (PV) arrays emerges as a potent solution for mitigating power loss and prolonging the array’s lifespan. Among the proposed strategies, static reconfiguration involves a one-time rearrangement, necessitating a reliable and effective approach for universal application. However, existing literature often exhibits a significant deficiency in uniformly scattering shade across sub-arrays, leading to disparate row currents and multiple peaks in array characteristics. To address this challenge, this paper introduces an innovative approach known as the Argyle puzzle, designed to provide a one-time layout for a total-cross-tied (TCT) PV array. The Argyle puzzle comprises diamond-shaped patterns and eight intersecting diagonal areas, each uniquely numbered. This design aims to maximize the dispersion of shading patterns. The superiority of the Argyle puzzle is demonstrated across fifteen shading patterns, underscoring its advantages over recent literature. Furthermore, experimental validation through real-time hardware implementation confirms the practicality of this approach. Ultimately, employing the Argyle approach proves instrumental in mitigating power loss during partial shading, consolidating array characteristics into a singular peak, and significantly enhancing the overall harvested power of the PV array.