Computer simulation of the influence of shading on a solar photovoltaic array

ABSTRACT

Partial shading has been identified as a major simulation programme. The PVSYST simulation software has been used to evaluate the behaviour of, or cause for, reducing the energy of photovoltaic systems. In the present work the influence of shading effects on a solar photovoltaic array has been analysed, emphasising different shading quantities and changing the string length with the computer system for different shading situations. The result shows that the maximum power point of shaded string is not greatly influenced by the quantity of shade on one cell of that string ranging from 793 W at 25% shading to 780 W at 99% shading. The power generated at the maximum power point is reduced from 1846 W to 1530 W, that is, 17.1% reduction, which is a larger loss than the system comprising 4 modules in series and two strings in parallel with a loss of 9.1%.

KEYWORDS:

• PV array
• simulation
• PVSYST
• shading ratio
• series and parallel combination
• bypass diode

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Kaushik Pal http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7409-9344