A novel algorithm for performance improvement of solar photovoltaics under partial shading conditions

The conventional sources of energy, widely used for generating electricity is depleting and there is rapid growth in electricity demand. Solar energy for electricity generation is popular and widespread as it is clean and abundantly found in nature. Partial shading on solar photovoltaics directly affects performance by reducing the power output of the system. As a contribution to further developments in photovoltaic technologies, factors that affect the performance of photovoltaics, under partial shading conditions were studied to improve the technology. Currently available strategies include the use of bypass diodes, Centralized Maximum Power Point Tracking, Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking as solutions. Comparison of these methods were done and observed that Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking gave the optimum solution. A DC-DC converter along with a Maximum Power Point Tracker was interfaced at each PV module which enabled the Maximum Power Point to be tracked. In this paper, a novel algorithm is proposed for optimal configuration of solar panels under partial shading conditions. The simulations were done in Matlab/Simulink.