Electrical performance of a fully reconfigurable series-parallel photovoltaic module

Journal Article (2023)
Authors

Andres Calcabrini (TU Delft - Photovoltaic Materials and Devices)

M. Muttillo (TU Delft - Photovoltaic Materials and Devices)

M Zeman (TU Delft - Photovoltaic Materials and Devices)

P. Manganiello (TU Delft - Photovoltaic Materials and Devices)

Olindo Isabella (TU Delft - Photovoltaic Materials and Devices)

Research Group
Photovoltaic Materials and Devices
Copyright
© 2023 A. Calcabrini, M. Muttillo, M. Zeman, P. Manganiello, O. Isabella
To reference this document use:
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43927-3
More Info
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Publication Year
2023
Language
English
Copyright
© 2023 A. Calcabrini, M. Muttillo, M. Zeman, P. Manganiello, O. Isabella
Research Group
Photovoltaic Materials and Devices
Issue number
1
Volume number
14
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43927-3
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Abstract

Reconfigurable photovoltaic modules are a promising approach to improve the energy yield of partially shaded systems. So far, the feasibility of this concept has been evaluated through simulations or simplified experiments. In this work, we analyse the outdoor performance of a full-scale prototype of a series-parallel photovoltaic module with six reconfigurable blocks. Over a 4-month-long period, its performance was compared to a reference photovoltaic module with static interconnections and six bypass diodes. The results show that under partial shading, the reconfigurable module produced 10.2% more energy than the reference module. In contrast, under uniform illumination the energy yield of the reconfigurable PV module was 1.9% lower due to the additional losses introduced by its switching matrix. Finally, a modification in the reconfiguration algorithm is proposed to reduce the output current–voltage range of the module and simplify the design of module-level power converters while limiting the shading tolerance loss.