Power enhancement of photovoltaic arrays under partial shading conditions by a new dynamic reconfiguration method

Abstract

Dynamic reconfiguration of photovoltaic arrays is one of the effective ways to decrease partial shading effects. In this paper, by using auxiliary modules and after a suitable fixed reconfiguration, an optimizer and economic method based on dynamic reconfiguration is presented. In this method, Auxiliary modules are arranged next to the photovoltaic array and replaced with shaded modules to maximize the energy delivery. The best connection between the auxiliary modules and the array is determined by an optimal decision process. The objective function for this decision process is energy delivery of the solar array in shadow conditions which is maximized by the genetic algorithm. Significant improvement in the output power of the photovoltaic array and smaller number of switches than the other dynamic reconfiguration methods are the main advantages of the proposed method. Benefits and effectiveness of this method are compared with other recently dynamic configuration approaches, and the results confirm power enhancement of the photovoltaic arrays in various shadow patterns.