Improvement in the power generation of a PV array under partial shading conditions

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) arrays are susceptible to large amounts of power losses due to partial shading on the array. The power-voltage characteristics of partially shaded array contain multiple local maxima and global maximum power point (GMPP) is one of them. The losses in the PV array depend both, the shadow shape and physical location of the shaded modules. This paper presents an innovative approach to arrange the modules in the array in such a way that there is an increase of power generation of array under partial shading condition. In this approach, without changing the electrical connection of the modules, the physical locations of the modules in Total Crossed Tired (TCT) structure are rearranged. The modules are rearranged in such a way that the shading effect is distributed over the array, and it reduces the shading modules in the same row. The power generation of array with TCT and proposed configuration is compared in this paper. It is demonstrated that the power generation of array with proposed configuration is enhanced under different shading pattern.