A novel hybrid maximum power point tracking method based on improving the effectiveness of different configuration partial shadow

Abstract

The generation power of solar cells depends on the ambient temperature and the intensity of the sun's radiation. Also, a set of unconventional phenomena such as buildings, trees, clouds, etc. causes a slight shadow on solar arrays. Partial shadows will create a disparate effect between the modules such as reduced production capacity and hotspots phenomenon. While in this condition several maximum power points in the power-voltage characteristic are created. In the case of uniform radiation, the conventional MPPT method can be used. However, in partial shade conditions, these methods are not effective due to the presence of several maximum power points in the power-voltage characteristic. One of the ways to improve the condition of the solar array is rearranging the array to distribute the uniform shadow in the array. In this paper, an algorithm based on the different shadow patterns is proposed for a fixed reconfiguration in such a way that maximum efficiency is achieved in different shadow conditions. On the other hand, a new method for the MPPT is provided under partial shadow conditions, so that in the case of uniform radiation, tracking operations are observed and followed by the proposed algorithm, and in the case of partial shadow, it works by constant voltage. The simulation results show that the configuration and distribution of the shadow at the level of the solar array with the proposed algorithm with a novel MPPT has a good improvement in the higher productivity of photovoltaic arrays compared to other methods introduced for reconfiguration.