A novel monocrystalline PV array configuration for enhancing the maximum power under partial shading conditions

Abstract Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have gained importance as a promising renewable energy source in recent years. PV arrays are prone to variable irradiance levels under partial shading conditions due to non-uniform shading. As a result, there will be a decrease in the amount of power produced and hotspots will occur. To overcome these issues, it is essential to select an appropriate PV material and a suitable array configuration. To obtain the maximum output power from a PV array under partial shading conditions, this paper suggests a novel triple-series–parallel ladder topology with monocrystalline PV material. Considering short and wide, long and wide, short and narrow, long and narrow, middle and diagonal shading situations, a 6 × 6-sized array has been considered and compared with other existing configurations such as total cross-tied, bridge-link, honeycomb, series–parallel and series–parallel cross-tied. The proposed configuration has an optimal number of cross ties to produce maximum power. It has 4 cross ties fewer than a honeycomb, 3 cross ties fewer than a bridge link, 16 cross ties fewer than a total cross-tied and 7 cross ties fewer than series–parallel cross-tied configurations. The proposed configuration has an improvement in power of 0.1% to 20% compared with other configurations under the considered shading scenarios. PV arrays are prone to non-uniform irradiance levels under partial shading conditions, which decrease the amount of power produced and cause hotspots. A novel triple-series–parallel ladder topology with monocrystalline PV material is proposed to counter the effects of partial shading. Graphical Abstract Graphical Abstract