Ancient Chinese magic square-based PV array reconfiguration methodology to reduce power loss under partial shading conditions

Abstract

Non-uniform irradiation levels also have a negative impact on solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, forcing them to increase their power losses. Each PV array row has different current generation levels due to the effect of partial shading conditions (PSCs) and eventually has multiple power maxima, e.g. global maximum power point (GMPP) and local maximum power point (LMPP) on the power-voltage (P-V) characteristics.The presence of multiple power maxima as a result of non-uniform irradiances always causes the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) device to be mislead. To address the aforementioned issue, the reconfiguration scheme depicts the physical relocation as well as the unaltered electrical connections in the PV array. In this context, a new physical relocation alternative solution based on the Ancient Chinese MagicSquare (ACMS) puzzle demonstrates efficient behavior under PSCs.The results show that the ACMS based reconfiguration offers higher shade dispersion over the entire PV array system relative to the existing total-cross tied (TCT), Su-do-Ku, and consequently decreases the power mismatch loss and GMPP locations through P-V characteristics observation.In the MATLAB/Simulink study, power values at GMPP are observed for the ACMS based configuration as 324.9 W, 340.9 W, 327.6 W, and 382.5 W under all four shading scenarios. Real-time experimental study of 9 × 9 size PV array configurations demonstrates and validates the higher side performance of the proposed reconfiguration approach under the considered shading scenario.