Experimental study on the electrical and the thermal behaviors of shaded PV cells during operation

Abstract

Partial shading effect is one of the serious problems that affect BIPV systems; it leads to significant reduction in electricity production. Under these adverse conditions, shaded cells will dissipate energy in the form of heat rather than producing it. If it persists, this heat dissipation may cause an irreversible damage to the PV module. In this work, the electrical and the thermal behaviors of a partially shaded PV module connected to a battery banc are studied. The aim of this study is to determine at which point on the I–V characteristic curve, the module works safely with the lowest thermal stress within the shaded cells. The obtained results show that the internal temperature of the shaded cells decreases when the operating point moves towards the open circuit voltage (Voc).