Performance enhancement by shade dispersion of Solar Photo-Voltaic array under continuous dynamic partial shading conditions

Partial shading adversely affects the output parameters of the Solar Photo-Voltaic (SPV) array because it causes shading of some panels and at the same time, other panels in the array remain unshaded. This also hinders the performance of SPV Array by causing multiple peaks in the voltage-power characteristics and abrupt changes in the row current. In this work, conventional Total Cross-Tied (TCT) panels are reconfigured based on the Arrow Sudoku (AS) puzzle pattern. This reconfiguration minimises the mismatch of current between the rows. The physical locations of shaded and unshaded panels are changed in this reconfiguration technique, without altering their electrical connections. This reconfiguration can dodge the requirement of complex maximum power point tracking algorithms. The performance of the proposed approach is investigated in terms of maximum output power, mismatch power loss and utility factor. A comprehensive analysis of the proposed reconfiguration for different continuous dynamic shading conditions like top to bottom, diagonal and left to right shading, proves its efficacy. The outperforming nature of the proposed approach with respect to the existing state-of-art approaches for all cases of the partial shading conditions provides apparent evidences in support of its utility. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.