Power enhancement from partially shaded modules of solar PV arrays through various interconnections among modules

Highlights: • Partial Shading effect in Solar PV system is studied. • Series-Parallel, Bridge Linked and Total Cross Tied topologies are tested. • The topologies are compared for power losses, power generation and redundancy. • Different array and sub-arrays configurations have been proposed. Partial shading is considered as a curse for Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) array that targets to reduce system performance by minimizing power generation and creating hotspot that can damage the SPV modules connected in that array. During partial shading condition, irradiance received by the modules are different that leads to decrease in power generation from the SPV system. In this paper, the effect of partial shading is investigated for SPV arrays having different interconnection topologies to realize a configuration that can be a solution for all types of shading patterns. The three widely interconnection topologies namely Series-Parallel (SP), Bridge-Linked (BL) and Total Cross Tied (TCT) have been chosen for comparison. A comparison in power generation and mismatch power losses among these connections is done using MATLAB/SIMULINK environment and a prototype field experiment under different irradiance and shading patterns. The connections are studied in presence and absence of bypass diodes. It have been authenticated that despite of redundancy, TCT can be implemented in larger SPV arrays to enhance power generation under different shading patterns that results in minimization of mismatch loss in SPV system.