Abstract
Current codes of practice for PV systems lack detailed guidance regarding circuit mismatch, over or reverse current protection and unbalanced operational conditions in large PV systems. Experimental work in this field is expensive and limited by hardware and environmental resources. The available commercial simulation tools do not rigorously model the complex behaviour of PV systems operating under non-uniform conditions. In this paper a detailed cell-by-cell model of large scale PV systems is developed. The parameter set used for simulations is based on real PV modules power tolerance data and the variance in its principal parameters, thus representing a realistic power frequency distribution. The model is used to estimate and analyse losses due to circuit mismatch, analyse the causes of reverse current in the system’s strings and its consequences in the system performance and to estimate energy losses due to string’s fuses failures.
Highlights
Pressures on PV system developers to deliver improved the economic returns is motivating research in systems optimization to minimize losses, and deliver improvements in systems reliability to minimize components failures.One of the inherent losses of PV systems is the mismatch due to electrical interconnection
The manufacturing tolerances for PV modules result in a variation in their physical parameters
When a PV system is formed from modules with variation in their parameters, losses appear due to circuit mismatch in the electrical connections
Summary
One of the inherent losses of PV systems is the mismatch due to electrical interconnection. When a PV system is formed from modules with variation in their parameters, losses appear due to circuit mismatch in the electrical connections. This is because each PV module has a different maximum power point, so each module has to operate at non-ideal current and voltage to conform to Kirchhoff’s Law. When connected together in series, all modules will operate at the same current. All strings (of modules) will operate at the same voltage. Each module operates away from its maximum power point and the system power is not the sum of the power of the modules
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