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

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Shahid Rajaee University

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.

Keywords

Main Subjects


1. H. Patel and A. Vivek, “Maximum power point tracking scheme for PV systems operating under partially shaded conditions,” IEEE transactions on industrial electronics, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 1689–1698, 2008.
 2. N. Kaushika and A. K. Rai, “An investigation of mismatch losses in solar photovoltaic cell networks,” Energy, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 755–759, 2007.
3. E. Karatepe, M. Boztepe, and M. Colak, “Development of a suitable model for characterizing photovoltaic arrays with shaded solar cells,” Solar Energy, vol. 81, no. 8, pp. 977–992, 2007.
4. M. A. Ghasemi, H. Mohammadian, and M. Parniani, “Partial shading detection and smooth maximum power point tracking of PV arrays under PSC,” IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 31, no. 9, pp. 6281–6292, 2016.
5. A. Woyte, J. Nijs, and R. Belmans, “Partial shadowing of photovoltaic arrays with different system configurations: literature review and field test results,” Solar energy, vol. 74, no. 3, pp. 217–233, 2003.
6. G. Velasco-Quesada, F. Guinjoan-Gispert, R. Piqué-López, M. RománLumbreras, and A. Conesa-Roca, “Electrical PV array reconfiguration strategy for energy extraction improvement in grid-connected PV systems,” Solar energy, vol. 56, no. 11, pp. 4319–4331, 2009.
7. L. Gao, R. Dougal, Sh. Liu, and A. P. Iotova, “Parallel-connected solar PV system to address partial and rapidly fluctuating shadow conditions,” IEEE Transactions on industrial Electronics, vol. 56, no. 5, pp. 1548–1556, 2009.
8. P. S. Rao, G. S. Ilango, and Ch. Nagamani, “Maximum power from PV arrays using a fixed configuration under different shading conditions,” IEEE journal of Photovoltaics, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 679–686, 2014.
9. M. Horoufiany, and R. Ghandehari, “Optimal fixed reconfiguration scheme for PV arrays power enhancement under mutual shading conditions,” IET Renewable Power Generation, vol. 11, no. 11, pp. 1456–1463, 2017.
10. M. Horoufiany, and R. Ghandehari, “Optimization of the Sudoku based reconfiguration technique for PV arrays power enhancement under mutual shading conditions,” Solar Energy, vol. 156, pp. 1037–1046, 2018.
11. M. Horoufiany, and R. Ghandehari, “A new photovoltaic arrays fixed reconfiguration method for reducing effects of one- and two-sided mutual shading,” Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Transactions of the ASME, vol. 141, pp. 031013-1–031013-7, 2019.
12. G. Acciari, D. Graci, and A. La Scala, “Higher PV module efficiency by a novel CBS bypass,” IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 1333–1336, 2011.
13. F. Rong, X. Gong, and Sh. Huang, “A novel grid-connected PV system based on MMC to get the maximum power under partial shading conditions,” IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 4320–4333, 2017.
14. A. Ramyar, H. Iman-Eini, and Sh. Farhangi, “Global maximum power point tracking method for photovoltaic arrays under partial shading conditions,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 2855–2864, 2017.
15. L. F. L. Villa, T. Ph. Ho, J. Ch. Crebier, and B. Raison, “A power electronics equalizer application for partially shaded photovoltaic modules,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 1179–1190, 2013.
16. D. Nguyen, and B. Lehman, “An adaptive solar photovoltaic array using model-based reconfiguration algorithm,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 55, no. 7, pp. 2644–2654, 2008.
17. J. P. Storey, P. R. Wilson, and D. Bagnall, “Improved optimization strategy for irradiance equalization in dynamic photovoltaic arrays,” IEEE Transactions on power Electronics, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 2946–2956, 2013.
18. MZ Sh. El-Dein, M. Kazerani, and MMA Salama, “Optimal photovoltaic array reconfiguration to reduce partial shading losses,” IEEE Trans. Sustain. Energy, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 145–153, 2013.