Shade dispersion methodologies for performance improvement of classical total cross-tied photovoltaic array configuration under partial shading conditions

Large size photovoltaic (PV) systems face a large number of issues based on malfunction and unfavourable climatic conditions such as partial shading conditions (PSCs). These PSCs are the major causes of PV systems’ performance degradation. In this paper, a symmetric matrix (SM) game puzzle is used to reconfigure the electrical connections of the PV array system. Present shade dispersion methodology is based on the ‘physical reallocation of PV module-fixed electrical connections’ principle. Modification in the electrical connections of conventional total cross-tied (TCT) PV array configuration introduces a new ‘SM-TCT’ configuration. An extensive comparative study of conventional TCT and novel-TCT (NTCT) configurations with proposed SM-TCT configuration prove the effectiveness to achieve higher performance. The MATLAB/Simulink results are obtained on the basis of the non-linear nature of current-voltage and power-voltage characteristics. SM-TCT, Shape-do-Ku, NTCT and TCT configurations are examined under three realistic PSCs in terms of power and voltage at global maximum power point, improved fill factor, reduced power losses, performance ratio and power enhancement.