Design and Implementation of Automated PV Array Reconfiguration System

The solar photovoltaic water pumping system is one of the major essential renewable energy applications, especially in rural areas. This work aimed to design four modules PV array for a PV based water pumping system and to achieve greater output power on varying partial shading and irradiation condition. The four-modules PV array adjusts the electrical configuration of panel depends on the insolation observed by the solar panels and Fully and Partial Shaded Condition (PSC). In this work the Switching network, reconfigurable program and reconfigurable PV controller units are proposed for consistent process of reconfigurable solar PV array. The proposed controller unit is designed and simulated in Simulink software to calculate system operation and output power under changing irradiance and PSC. The small scale prototype is developed in order to validate the results. The outdoor test results and its analysis shows the reconfigurable PV array is able to deliver maximum output on varying operating conditions. Maximum 53.87% percentage of power and 52% percentage running time of pump can be increased by using this reconfiguration strategy.