New Configuration of Solar Photo Voltaic Array to Address Partial Shaded Conditions

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of partial shading on energy output of various solar photo voltaic array (SPVA) configurations. Due to the practical difficulty of conducting experiments on varied array sizes, a generalized MATLAB M-code has been developed for any required array size, configuration and shading patterns. The proposed model can provide sufficient degree of precision without increasing the computational effort. On performing the analysis on various configurations, a new configuration, modified bridge has been proposed in this paper. The comparative study of these configurations is made for different random shading patterns to determine which configuration is less susceptible to power losses under partial shading. Results are discussed in detail and some recommendations are extracted by testing several shading scenarios. The results are verified practically using electronic load.