The contribution of renewable energy to the field of energy markets has been substantial over the last few years. A large number of PV array installations show the increasing contribution of solar energy to the renewable energy. Partial shading of the PV arrays is one of the most discussed and worked upon concept for the simple reasons that it decreases the power output of the PV array installations and exhibits multiple peaks in the I-V characteristics. As a result, the modules have to be reconfigured to get the maximum power output. This papers presents an optimization based approach for Total cross tied (TCT) connected modules in a PV array. The physical locations of the modules remain unchanged while the electrical connections are altered. The genetic algorithm (GA) as an optimization tool, gives the connection matrix for the new electrical interconnection which fetches the maximum power output from the PV array. This is done to obtain uniform dispersion of shadow throughout the panel. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rajasekar N

Department of Energy and Power Electronics

School of Electrical Engineering

Vellore Campus

Deshkar S.N

Dhale S.B

Mukherjee J.S

Babu T.S

Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is a private university located in&nbsp;Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 1984, as Vellore Engineering College, the institution offers 20 undergraduate, 34 postgraduate, four integrated and four research programs. It has campuses in Vellore, Amravati, Bhopal and Chennai.

VIT is one of the top ranked private universities in India according to NIRF, THE and QS Rankings.&nbsp;Govt. of India has recognized&nbsp;VIT, Vellore as an&nbsp;Institution of Eminence. This has allowed VIT to take independent quality initiatives and move up in world ranking.

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VIT University

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Solar PV arrays are often subjected to partial shading that imposes substantial reduction in maximum power extraction from PV based power plants. For which, the principal reason is the exhibition of uneven row current levels that eventually creates multiple power peaks in the output characteristics of a PV array. In general, to mitigate the abovementioned issue, array reconfiguration schemes adopting either physical relocation or electrical rewiring are effectively utilized in the technical literature. Typically, most of the existing physical relocation methods have been conceptualized based on mathematical puzzles owing to its high shade dispersion capability. However, most of these methods are not compatible to both symmetrical and non-symmetrical PV arrays. In this work, a new physical relocation alternative deploying Skyscraper puzzle suitable for all PV arrays is designed, implemented and tested. For validation and performance evaluation of the proposed method, both simulation and experimental studies are carried out. The results demonstrate that, in comparison with the existing methods in literature, Skyscraper method provides better shade dispersion over the entire PV array and subsequently, reduces the mismatch loss to improve power reduction. As performance indices, the power values obtained from the I-V and P-V characteristics of the proposed Skyscraper method is compared with TCT (Total Cross Tie) connection, DS (Dominance Square) and Sudoku methods. 9 × 9 and 5 × 5 PV arrays are utilized for simulations and real-time experiments respectively. In summary, the Skyscraper method shows uniform characteristics and enhanced power output compared to the existing techniques in literature. © 2019 International Solar Energy Society

Solar Energy

Enhanced power production in PV arrays using a new skyscraper puzzle based one-time reconfiguration procedure under partial shade conditions (PSCs)

Array reconfiguration methods for PV arrays generally follow puzzle based mathematical methods for relocating PV modules. Being size constrained, no array reconfiguration techniques in literature is a reliable solution for effective shade dispersion in large sized PV arrays. Moreover, most of the physical relocation methods do not possess a well-defined and proven methodology to disperse the shade effect of a PV array irrespective of the system architecture. Hence, in this paper, a new two phase method compatible for PV arrays of any size is outlined and tested for effective shade dispersion. Having two different phases in shade dispersion process, the two-phase technology is found highly commendable in relocating PV panels such that illustrious shade dispersion is attained. To confirm its contribution in physical relocation scheme, four shade cases are considered and tested with other methods in literature. Furthermore, based on row current calculation and bypass effect, a quantitative comparison is also performed with popular physical relocation (SuDoKu), electrical reconfiguration (PSO) and conventional (TCT) interconnection schemes. As the results suggest, the fill factor attainment for the proposed two phase method for short wide case, long wide, short narrow and long narrow cases are 72%, 62%, 81% and 75% respectively. Furthermore, except for a single pattern, the power attainment with proposed method has benchmarked minimal of 700 W power improvement compared to TCT in all shade cases. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

Energy Conversion and Management

Design and testing of two phase array reconfiguration procedure for maximizing power in solar PV systems under partial shade conditions (PSC)

The ever growing interest on solar energy has augmented large solar power parks in the contemporary time. Even though the most commonly used Total Cross Tie (TCT) interconnection scheme minimizes mismatch losses, shade occurrence in large PV arrays drastically reduces the power output and invokes multiple power peaks in the P-V characteristics. To counteract the multiple peak issue, PV arrays are reconfigured either via electrical or physical reconfiguration techniques. In this regard, physical relocation methods are proven to be efficient and economical in achieving better shade dispersion since, it neither demands complex switching arrangements or high end controllers for reconfiguration. Therefore, this paper introduces an innovative Competence Square (CS) technique for physical rearrangement of PV panels in a TCT interconnection scheme. The method devised is a onetime relocation technique that follows a unique number pattern for relocating the PV panels. Moreover, various test results elucidate the effectiveness of the CS technique in effectively dispersing the shade over the entire PV array. For validation, four typical shade cases are considered and the results are comprehensively compared with the recently proved TCT and Dominance Square (DS) techniques. In addition, the proposed method is computationally easy and is adaptable for PV arrays of any size. Overall, CS technique has showed its eminence in obtaining smoother output characteristics, better fill factor, power enhancement and increased energy savings. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

A novel Competence Square based PV array reconfiguration technique for solar PV maximum power extraction

Large solar power plants in recent years has gained a momentary attraction since, the demand estimated for next few years has benchmarked has a monumental requirement for electrical energy. However, the solar power parks are often concerned with the shade occurrence resulting in power reduction. Hence, array reconfiguration schemes have became extremely popular to minimize the power loss under shade occurrences. In this paper, a new column index method based on one time physical relocation scheme is proposed. The proposed method possesses the advantage of having simple rewiring requirements since; the panels are rearranged in the respective column itself. Various parameters like mismatch loss and power loss are effectively measured and fill factor for four various shade occurrences are calculated. Simulation verification along with theoretical validation is performed for four existing schemes in literature. To strengthen the analysis, very recent Dominance Square (DS) method is also critically analyzed and compared. Finally, a qualitative comparison with various methods in literature is performed to contribute for quality check. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

A simple, sensorless and fixed reconfiguration scheme for maximum power enhancement in PV systems

For large photovoltaic power generation plants, number of panels are interconnected in series and parallel to form a photovoltaic (PV) array. In this configuration, partial shade will result in decrease in power output and introduce multiple peaks in the P-V curve. As a consequence, the modules in the array will deliver different row currents. Therefore, to maximize the power extraction from PV array, the panels need to be reconfigured for row current difference minimization. Row current minimization via Su Do Ku game theory do physical relocation of panels may cause laborious work and lengthy interconnecting ties. Hence, in this paper, an alternative to physical relocation based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) connected modules is proposed. In this method, the physical location of the modules remains unchanged, while its electrical connections are altered. Extensive simulations with different shade patterns are carried out and thorough analysis with the help of I-V, P-V curves is carried out to support the usefulness of the proposed method. The effectiveness of proposed PSO technique is evaluated via performance analysis based on energy saving and income generation. Further, a comprehensive comparison of various electrical array reconfiguration based is performed at the last to examine the suitability of proposed array reconfiguration method. © 2017 IEEE.

IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy

Particle Swarm Optimization Based Solar PV Array Reconfiguration of the Maximum Power Extraction Under Partial Shading Conditions

2015 Annual IEEE India Conference (INDICON)

Power optimization of TCT configured PS-PV fields by forecasting the connection of modules

IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

Maximum Power from PV Arrays Using a Fixed Configuration Under Different Shading Conditions

Enhanced Power Generation From PV Array Under Partial Shading Conditions by Shade Dispersion Using Su Do Ku Configuration

E-Bilanz

Stichwortverzeichnis

IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics

Review of Nonisolated High-Step-Up DC/DC Converters in Photovoltaic Grid-Connected Applications

Solar PV array reconfiguration under partial shading conditions for maximum power extraction using genetic algorithm

Journal	Data powered by TypesetRenewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
Publisher	Data powered by TypesetElsevier BV
ISSN	1364-0321
Open Access	0