Bypass Diode for Solar Panel Protection

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Bypass Diodes in PV Panels

Bypass Diodes are used in solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to protect partially
shaded PV cells from fully operating cells in full sun within the same solar panel when used in high
voltage series arrays.
Solar photovoltaic panel are a great way to generate free electrical energy using the power of the
sun. You just place them wherever you want and away you go either as part of an off-grid stand
alone system or as roof installed PV panels for a grid connected system. The power range of a
solar photovoltaic system is extremely wide, from a few milliwatts to hundreds of megawatts due
in part to the modularity of the solar panels.

Photovoltaic Shading
Photovoltaic cells are a type of semiconductor photodiode that directly converts the light hitting
their surface into electrical power. Photovoltaic systems generate electricity by connecting solar
PV panels together in the form of an array, and exposing them to the direct sunlight. We would
think then that during normal operation all the solar panels of a PV system would experience the
same solar conditions as they all form part of the same solar array.
However, the electrical generating performance and reliability of a PV system can be affected by
external factors, such as environment, temperature, humidity, positioning, and degree of solar
radiation which can all lead to power degradation.
But as well as these obvious environmental factors, one factor in particular that will lead to
mismatches between solar cells or whole panels, and power degradation within a solar array
is shading, that is the blocking of the sunlight onto the cell, or panel by leaves, trees, buildings or
antennas. This can be either full or partial shading, and depending on the degree of shading, will
cause a decrease of output power.

Series Connected Solar Cells

Photovoltaic (PV) panels are made from interconnected crystalline silicon cells and are therefore
sensitive to shading. In a standard PV panel, these solar cells are connected together in series,
result in high voltage but the same value of current flows through all the connected cells. So as
long as the sunlight hitting the surface of the PV panel is uniform, each photovoltaic cell within the
same panel will produce the same amount of electrical voltage, approximately 0.5 volts. So for
instance, at full sun a 2 watt PV cell will produce a constant current of about 4 amperes, (0.5 x 4 =
2 watts).
If however, a cell becomes shaded by some external means, it will stop producing electrical energy
and behave more like a semiconductive resistance, strongly decreasing the total amount of energy
produced by the solar panel. For example, lets assume we have three series connected 0.5 volt
photovoltaic cells with a solar irradiance of 1kW/m2 across all three photovoltaic cells as shown.

Series Connected PV Cells

As the three PV cells are connected in series, the generated current (I) will be the same (assuming
the cells are evenly matched), and the total voltage, VT is just the sum of the individual cell voltages,
(V1 + V2 + V3 = 0.5V + 0.5V + 0.5V = 1.5V) so the I–V characteristic curves of the three cells
are simply added along the voltage (horizontal) axis as the current is common and constant. Using
our 2 watt cell example from above, the maximum power point for this series string would therefore
be: 6 watts, (1.5V x 4A = 6W).

Photovoltaic Cell Shading

Now lets assume that Solar Cell No2 in the string has become either partially or fully shaded while
the remaining two cells in the series connected string have not, that is they remain in full sun. When
this occurs, the output of the series connected string will reduce dramatically as shown.

Shaded PV Cell
What happens here is that the shaded cell stops producing electrical energy and behaves more
like a semiconductive resistance. The shaded cell generates less current than the other two cells
strongly decreasing the energy production of the series string. The result is that the power being
generated by the “sunny” cells is now being dissipated by the “shaded” cell which can, over time,
cause overheating (hot spots) and eventually destruction of the bad cell.
As the shaded cell causes a drop in its generated current. The unshaded good cells adjust to this
current drop by increasing the open-circuit voltage along their I-V characteristics curves resulting
in the shaded cell becoming reversed biased, that is a negative voltage now appears across its
terminals in the opposite direction.
This reverse voltage causes current to now flow in the opposite direction through the shaded cell
resulting in it consuming power at a rate depending on ISC and operating current, I. Thus a fully
shaded cell will experience a reverse voltage drop under any current conditions and therefore
dissipate or consume electrical power rather than generate it.

Bypass Diodes
So how can we protect a photovoltaic cell, panel or even a full array from the destructive effects of
partial or full shading. One simple and effective way to protect photovoltaic cells from against the
destructive effects of cell shading is to connect what is called a Bypass Diode across each PV
cell of a series-connected string.
Bypass diodes are connected externally and in reverse parallel with a PV cell to provide an
alternative electrical path for the generated current to flow as it cannot flow through the cell when
shaded. This helps preserve the performance of the series string by restricting the reverse bias
voltage generated across any partially shaded cell and hence reduce the electrical power which
can be dissipated by the cell.
Consider our three series connected PV cells below with bypass diodes added.

Bypass Diode Protection

Bypass diodes have been connected in parallel across each of the three PV cells. These externally
connected bypass diodes are connected in reverse bias mode across their respective cell, that is
the diodes Anode terminal is connected to the positive side of the cell while the diodes Cathode
terminal is connected to the negative side of the cell.
When the three solar cells receive full sun, they each generate a voltage as normal, and as each
of the three bypass diodes are reverse biased across their respective cells any reverse current
(red arrows) trying to flow through them is blocked. Thus being reverse biased, the diodes act as
if they are not there with the series string producing full output power (6 watts in the previous
example) as the three solar cells are working as expected.
However, if as before one of the PV cells becomes partially shaded due to leaves, trees or snow,
etc. the shaded cell does not produce and electrical energy as we have seen above and thus their
bypass diode takes over becoming activated as shown.

Shaded PV Cell with Bypass Diode Protection

Here under the condition of shading, cell two stops producing electrical energy and behaves like a
semiconductive resistance as we discussed before. Due to the shaded cell generating reverse
power, it forward biases the parallel connected bypass diode (i.e. it turns it “ON”) diverting current
flow of the two good cells through itself as shown by the green arrows above. Thus the bypass
diode connected across the shaded cell maintains the operation of the other two PV cells by
creating an electrical path for the generated current to flow along.
Then although one cell is shaded (cell 2 in this example) the other two cells, 1 and 3 continue to
generate energy but at reduced power. Thus as in our previous example above, the output would
be using our 2 watt cell example from above and assuming no losses through the bypass diode, 4
watts (1.0V x 4A).
One other advantage of parallel connected bypass diodes is that when forward biased, that is
when they are conducting, the forward voltage drop is about 0.6 volts thus limiting any high reverse
negative voltage generated by the shaded cell which in turn reduces hot spot temperature
conditions and therefore cell failure, allowing the cell to return to normal once the shading has
been removed.

Bypass Diode Integration

The integration of a bypass diode across each individual single cell as we have done above in our
simple example would be too expensive and not that easy to install. In practice, manufacturers
place bypass diodes across groups or sub-strings of PV cells (typically 16 to 24 cells) in the back
of panels or within the junction box of a solar module. Thus for example, two bypass diodes would
be sufficient for a solar panel with a rated power of about 50 watts containing between 36 to 40
individual cells. Many high end solar panels have them fabricated directly onto the semiconductor
photovoltaic cell structure.
While it is possible to connect any type of diode to the back of a solar panel, the type and selection
of a bypass diode depends mainly on the current and power rating of the cells, and/or panels, it
has to protect. The most common type of bypass diode used is the Schottky diode with current
ratings ranging from 1 to 60 amperes and voltage ratings of up to 45 volts, which is more than
enough for a single 12V or 24V battery charging solar panel.