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Energy Procedia 54 (2014) 116 126

4th International Conference on Advances in Energy Research 2013, ICAER 2013

Output Power Maximization of Partially Shaded 4*4 PV field by

Altering its Topology
Smita Pareeka*, Ratna Dahiyab
a
Research Scholar, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra,136119. India
b
Professor, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra,136119, India

Abstract

The mismatch losses in PV modules are mainly because of the partial shading and can be reduced by altering the topology of the
modules within the array. The modules can be interconnected in many ways like Series Parallel (SP), Bridge Linked (BL) and
Total Cross Tied (TCT) connection in an array to increase the output power. In this paper the best topology is suggested for a
particular pattern of easy-to-predict shade on PV fields.

2014
2014Smita Pareek. Published
The Authors. Publishedbyby
Elsevier Ltd.Ltd.
Elsevier This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Organizing Committee of ICAER 2013.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Organizing Committee of ICAER 2013
Keywords: Array; Mismatch Losses; Partial Shading; Topology

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. Introduction

PV systems are designed either to feed the grid (several MW power) or in residential applications (few kW
power). PV elements are generally grouped or connected to match the voltage and current requirements by the grid or
loads. This grouping can be done in many ways. The usual interconnections style to construct PV array using
modules is as shown in Fig. 1.In seriesparallel (SP) connection modules are connected in series to form strings and
then theses strings are connected in parallel. On other in total cross tied connection (TCT) the modules are first
connected in parallel and then these parallel connections are connected in series.

____________

* Corresponding author Tel.: +91-941-479-0438 ; fax: +91-0159-624-6092

E-mail address:pareeksmita@rediffmail.com

1876-6102 2014 Smita Pareek. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Organizing Committee of ICAER 2013
doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2014.07.254
 Smita Pareek and Ratna Dahiya / Energy Procedia 54 (2014) 116 126 117

In bridge Linked connection (BL), some of the connections of TCT connection are removed [1, 2, 4].The
efficiency of PV systems is dependent on insolation, temperature, aging, dust, using modules from different
technologies/manufacturers and or partial shading. Partial shading can be defined as non uniform shading on modules
of a PV field. The effect is such that when even a small section of a cell, module, or an array is shaded by a nearby
building, trees, poles, chimney or passing cloud etc., the output power decreased noticeably [1, 2, 4, 5]. Therefore,
study of PV module/Array characteristics/behavior is important in case of partial shading. The effect of partial
shading can be reduced by several ways. One solution to this is by altering or changing the connection styles of PV
modules in the PV array [1, 2].A series- parallel connection has more number of series connections as compared to
TCT connection therefore any mismatch in SP connection as compared to TCT connection causes considerable
reduction in generated power.

Fig. 1. PV Module interconnection Styles (s) SP; (b) TCT; (c) BL interconnections

In this paper 4*4 PV field is simulated for topologies like BL, SP and TCT for two different patterns of easy-to-
predict shades. All simulation is carried out using MATLAB /Simulink. This pattern of moving shade is easy to
predict because their behavior remains the same. Examples of easy-to-predict shades can be shade of nearby
building, tree, chimney etc. The shadow is assumed to be progress either on last row or on leftmost column of the
array. This paper is arranged as follows: In section 2, the modelling and simulation of PV module is given
considering one diode model. These modules are then connected to form 4*4 PV field using SP, BL and TCT
interconnection styles. Two patterns of moving shadow are considered to illustrate the effect of partial shading. In
section 3, results are given in terms of output power, voltage and current considering total seven cases for these
abovementioned patterns of shadow and then the best topology is suggested for these cases.

Nomenclature

Ipv light generated current of PV module (in A)

Io saturation current (in A)
Rs ,Rp equivalent series & parallel resistances respectively (in Ohm)
Vt thermal voltage (=NskT/q)
Ns number of cells connected in series in a module
a diode ideality constant
V voltage across the load
I current through the load
Ipv,n light generated current at the nominal condition (in A)
KI current coefficient or the short circuit current/temperature coefficient (A/K)
T T Tn;T & Tn is the actual and nominal temperature respectively [in Kelvin]
G irradiation on the device surface [watts per square meters]
Gn nominal irradiation [watts per square meters]
Isc,n short circuit current at the nominal condition (in A)
Voc,n open circuit voltage at the nominal condition (in V)
KV voltage coefficient or the open circuit voltage/temperature coefficient (V/K)
118 Smita Pareek and Ratna Dahiya / Energy Procedia 54 (2014) 116 126

2. System Description

2.1 Model of a PV Module

Various models have been developed to represent the solar cell, the single- diode models [3] and double-diode
models [9] are the most widely used models. The one-diode model is less complex and has good accuracy [3,8].
Therefore in this paper one diode model as shown in Fig. 2 is considered. The IV characteristic equation of an ideal
PV cell is given by:
V  Rs I V  Rs I
I I pv I 0 exp 1 (1)
Vt a RP

The light-generated and saturation current (Ipv & Io) depends on temperature and can be given by:

G
I pv ( I pv,n  K1'T ) (2)
Gn
I sc,n  K1'T
I0 (3)
exp((Voc,n  KV 'T ) / aVt ) 1

Practical PV device
Ideal PV cell

IPv Id RP Rs
V

Fig. 2. Equivalent circuit of practical PV device

The model is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink by using above three general equation of PV module. The
parameters which are used to simulate the module are taken from datasheet of a commercial PV KC200GT, a typical
200W PV module [3] and are given in table 1.

Table 1. Parameters of the KC 200GT PV Module.

Parameters Values
I pv,n 8.214 A
Voc,n 32.9 V

a 1.3
Gn 1000W/m2
Rp 415.405Ohm

Rs 0.221 Ohm
Kv 0.1230V/K
KI 0.0032 A/K

Ns 36

In Fig. 3, the simulation results of module are shown. The IV (black curve) & PV characteristics (blue curve) of
PV module shows that the short circuit current is 8.21 A , open circuit voltage is 33.1 V and peak power is 200.1 W
 Smita Pareek and Ratna Dahiya / Energy Procedia 54 (2014) 116 126 119

which are equal to expected value as per the data sheet.

Fig. 3. I-V & P-V Characteristic curve of the simulated single module

The simulated model IV curve (red curve) is validated with the IV curve of PV KC200GT, 200W PV module (black
curve) as shown in Fig .4. The power produced by a single PV module is not enough for general use, therefore to
achieve the desired power; the modules are either connected in series configuration to produce high voltage or
connected in parallel configuration to produce high current.

2.2 Model of PV Array

A 4*4 PV array connected in SP, BL and TCT configuration is simulated by connecting 16 modules in all. These
PV arrays consist of four modules in each row and four modules in each column, which results in a total 3200 W of
peak power. All the above interconnection styles are discussed for the moving shadow pattern.
120 Smita Pareek and Ratna Dahiya / Energy Procedia 54 (2014) 116 126

Fig. 4. I-V Characteristic Curves of Simulated Single Module & KYOCERA KC 200 GT Single Module

Two patterns of moving partial shades are considered on these PV arrays. These two patterns of partial shade can
be because of nearby building, tree or chimney. These two patterns of shadows which comprise of seven different
cases considered for the analysis is shown in Fig. 5.

Pattern I: The moving shadow is assumed to be progress on the leftmost modules (from bottom to top) as
shown by cases I, II, III &IV of Fig. 5.
Pattern II: The moving shadow is assumed to be progress on the bottom most modules (from left to right) as
shown by cases V, VI, VII & VIII of Fig. 5.

Shaded Modules (shown black) and non shaded modules (shown white) are considered to be receiving Insolation
equal to 200 W/m2 and 1000 W/m2 respectively.
 Smita Pareek and Ratna Dahiya / Energy Procedia 54 (2014) 116 126 121

Pattern I

case I case II case III case IV

Pattern II
case V case VI case VII case VIII

Fig. 5. Shadow Pattern on PV Array (4*4)

MATLAB/Simulink model of SP and TCT Interconnection Schemes for 4*4 PV field is shown in Fig. 6.All
modules are equipped with bypass diodes to bypass the module in shaded condition.

Series Parallel
122 Smita Pareek and Ratna Dahiya / Energy Procedia 54 (2014) 116 126

Total CrossTied

Fig. 6. PV Field (4*4) with different Interconnection Scheme

3. Results

Three simulations were performed to determine the impact of shadow on SP ,TCT and BL topologies .Fig. 7
shows the results in terms of power versus voltage curves of different pattern of shading condition for SP and TCT
topologies .BL topology results are in between SP and TCT topologies results ,therefore not shown.
For the cases I, II, III and V, TCT topology is best and SP topology is best for the cases VI and VII. For the cases
IV and VIII results of both topologies are same.
Table 2 shows peak power, peak voltage and peak current in each of the case considered for SP, TCT and BL
topologies. Also the best topology is suggested according to shading pattern of these cases.
 Smita Pareek and Ratna Dahiya / Energy Procedia 54 (2014) 116 126 123

Case I & V Case II

Case III Case IV

124 Smita Pareek and Ratna Dahiya / Energy Procedia 54 (2014) 116 126

Case VI Case VII

Case VIII

Fig. 7. PV Characteristics curve comparison of TCT and SP Interconnection Schemes

(a) Case I & V (b) Case II (c) Case III (d) Case IV (e) Case VI (f) Case VII (g) Case VIII

4. Observations

(a) TCT topology is best and produces maximum peak power and current when shadow is on bottom leftmost
module (case I & V).
(b) TCT topology is best and produces maximum peak power and current when shadow progress from bottom
to top on leftmost column of modules (case II&III).
 Smita Pareek and Ratna Dahiya / Energy Procedia 54 (2014) 116 126 125

(c) SP topology is best and produces maximum peak power and current when shadow progress from left to
right on bottom row of modules (case V&VI).
(d) All topologies produce same power when leftmost column is fully shaded (case IV).
(e) All topology produces same power when bottom row is fully shaded (case VII).

Table 2. Simulation Results

Cases Topology Pm(kW) Vm(V) Im (A) Best Topology
SP 2.763 110 25.13
I&V BL 2.837 110 25.79 TCT
TCT 2.862 110 26.02

SP 2.761 110 25.10

II
BL 2.777 110 25.25 TCT
TCT 2.844 110 25.86

SP 2.758 110 25.07

III
BL 2.774 110 25.22 TCT
TCT 2.803 110 25.48

SP 2.750 110 25.00

IV
BL 2.750 110 25.00 SP/BL/TCT
TCT 2.750 110 25.00

SP 2.577 80 32.21
VI
BL 2.564 80 32.05 SP
TCT 2.544 80 31.79

SP 2.560 80 32.00
VII BL 2.557 81.6 31.34 SP
TCT 2.544 80 31.79

SP 2.543 80 31.79
VIII
BL 2.543 81.6 31.34 SP/BL/TCT
TCT 2.543 80 31.79

5. Conclusion

In this paper SP, TCT and BL Interconnection Schemes has been discussed and simulated using
MATLAB/Simulink for moving shade on 4*4 PV field. As verified by a number of case studies, Series-Parallel (SP)
interconnection produces more power and current as compared to Total-Cross-Tied (TCT) interconnection when
shadow is predicted to progress on bottom row of modules from left to right and TCT interconnection produces
more power and current as compared to SP interconnections when shadow is predicted to progress on leftmost
column of modules from bottom to top. Therefore more power can be availed by choosing interconnection scheme
according to the shading pattern. Future work includes study of best interconnection scheme which could be more
suitable for large PV fields and with rapid change in shading pattern.

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