Photovoltaic modules in the urban environment are very often exposed to uneven illumination conditions. The electrical interconnection between solar cells in a photovoltaic module limits the power that a solar module can generate under partial shading conditions. In this article, we introduce a PV module that is able to dynamically reconfigure the interconnection between its solar cells to minimise conduction and mismatch losses according to the irradiance distribution on its surface. Using an accurate simulation framework, it is determined that a reconfigurable PV module can generate over 12% more energy than a standard PV module with fixed topology and six bypass diodes, and as much energy as a fixed series-parallel module with six parallel strings, but at significantly lower currents. Simulation results are validated experimentally using a photovoltaic module with six reconfigurable blocks of cells controlled by a switching matrix on a high-performance solar flash simulator.

Photovoltaic systems in urban environments are usually partially shaded, thus the need for shade tolerant solar panels in the urban environment. We present the design of a series-parallel reconfigurable photovoltaic module. Given a specific irradiance distribution on its surface, it can change the interconnections between its solar cells to maximize the output power. First, we analyze the main trade-offs involved in the design of such module; then we propose an algorithm to choose the optimal module configuration; finally, we simulate the performance of different solar module architectures inferring the potential gain in annual energy yield.