Title: An intelligent reconfiguration technique for enhancing the power from photovoltaic module in partially shaded environments

Authors: K. Saravanan; C. Sharmeela

Addresses: SRM University, SRM Nagar, Kattankulathur, 603 203, Tamilnadu, India ' Department of Chemical Engineering, ACTECH, Anna University, Guindy, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract: Partial shading in PV panels occur due to passing of clouds, shadows of tree, building and poles which in turn greatly reduces the power output. In the proposed work, the solar PV modules are rearranged using a novel reconfiguration topology resulting in the effective distribution of the shadowing effect over the entire PV array without modifying the electrical connections. This proposed reconfiguration topology is so versatile that it can be extended for any number of PV modules. The system performances are investigated for different shadowing pattern and the results obtained using the intelligent reconfiguring technique yields improved performance compared with Su Do Ku configuration.

Keywords: partial shade; photovoltaics; PV panels; solar panels; intelligent control; Su Do Ku; total cross tied; intelligent reconfiguration; solar power; solar energy; reconfiguration topology; shadow patterns.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEC.2016.076526

International Journal of Power and Energy Conversion, 2016 Vol.7 No.2, pp.178 - 190

Received: 24 Mar 2015
Accepted: 01 Sep 2015
Published online: 11 May 2016 *

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