A simplified and fast computing photovoltaic model for string simulation under partial shading condition

Abstract

The photovoltaic (PV) model allows the current–voltage characteristic curves of the PV module to be represented in the simulation, which is important in the development of the PV generation system. Nevertheless, the current single PV model is not able to receive multiple irradiance and temperature input to simulate the partial shading condition. The conventional PV model with the partial shading capability requires several PV models that are connected with a bypass diode in parallel to each PV model. As a result, the computation time becomes high and the adaptability of this model is low since it requires a circuit simulation software. This paper presents an adjuster that allows a standard PV model to have partial shading capability. The proposed PV model is only applicable for the series configuration only. The single diode model with a series resistance is used to design the PV model in MATLAB/Simulink and the results have been compared and analysed with the conventional PV model. From the results, it has shown that the proposed PV model is able to be executed up to 46 times faster in computation time compared to the conventional PV model while maintaining the maximum power point error below 4%.