Optimal reconfiguration design and HIL validation of hybrid PV-TEG systems via improved firefly algorithm

Abstract

Partial shading conditions (PSCs) caused by clouds, trees, buildings, and other factors can lead to uneven irradiance on the photovoltaic (PV) panel, resulting in reduced power output and decreased service life of PV systems. To deal with this problem, a reconfiguration method for hybrid photovoltaic-thermoelectric generation (PV-TEG) systems based on an improved firefly algorithm (IFA) is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the method uses PV-TEG hybrid system to make full use of the waste heat of traditional PV systems to improve the utilization rate of solar energy. Secondly, IFA is employed to adjust the electrical connection between the modules to reduce the adverse effects of PSC and increase the total output power of the system. To validate the effectiveness of this method, three different scale PV-TEG hybrid systems of 4 × 4, 9 × 9, and 15 × 9 are reconfigured under practical and standard shading conditions, and the results are compared with those obtained using PSO, GA, BWOA, AO, and ACO. The results demonstrate that the IFA-based reconfiguration enhances the output power by 31.19 %, 21.49 %, and 21.84 % for 4 × 4, 9 × 9, and 15 × 9 arrays compared with that without reconfiguration, respectively. Finally, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experiments further verify the hardware feasibility of the proposed method.