Analysis of Photovoltaic Systems Power Losses in Partial Shading Conditions

Photovoltaic (PV) system characteristics are significantly affected by shading conditions and thus the power productivity of the system is subject to vary accordingly. Therefore, this triggers the need for a broad understanding for the power losses caused by partial shading conditions (PSC). This paper presents an indicative analysis of various kinds of PV power losses associated with different shading scenarios that are likely to take place in real PV system based on MATLAB simulations. Furthermore, to address the impact of bypass diodes implementation, the analysis takes the case of unbypassed PV modules into consideration. The power losses categories are investigated in different PV configurations to highlight the role of system's arrangement and size in power losses associated with partial shading conditions with notable shortcomings and generalizations.