Analysis of Partial Shading Effects of Solar PV Module Configurations Using MATLAB/Simulink

Abstract

Solar energy is an important aspect of renewable energy because we can easily obtain access to the source. The photovoltaic (PV) cell is the fundamental unit in the power conversion of the solar system. When the PV cells are exposed to partial shading as a result of a multitude of environmental conditions, the performance of the solar PV module is remarkably affected in terms of the efficiency of the system. In many cases, the PV arrays are shadowed, whether completely or partially, by passing clouds, neighboring buildings and towers, trees, or the shadow of one solar array falling on another. This study investigates the effects of partial shading on energy output of different configurations of solar PV modules. In this study, three different solar PV configurations are investigated: 1) Series 2) Parallel, and 3) Series-Parallel. All the considered PV configurations are analyzed using several possible scenarios of shading in order to evaluate their performances and to find a configuration that is comparatively less susceptible to electrical mismatches due to shadow problems. Owing to the practical difficulty of conducting experiments on varied array sizes, the proposed model also includes a general model of a PV module, which was implemented on MATLAB/Simulink and has been developed for any required array size, configuration and different shading patterns. This model is simple and especially useful to calculate the actual performances of the PV modules under various operating conditions.