Dynamic PV array reconfiguration under suboptimal conditions in hybrid solar energy harvesting systems

Solar energy is the most popular renewable energy source, but solar energy harvesting suffers from a series of serious obstacles in effective utilisation. In case of suboptimal conditions such as partial shading of photovoltaic (PV) module, PV cell mismatch, early ageing and different fault conditions, the overall system efficiency and robustness are severely degraded. The use of bypass diode and maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques doesn't offer anymore a near optimal solution for the above-mentioned problems. In the past, reconfigurable PV arrays have been proposed with the possibility to interchange PV cells with spare cells. In this paper, the efficiency and robustness enhancement given by dynamic PV array reconfiguration is investigated in order to minimise the negative effects of suboptimal conditions and to offer the golden ratio in output energy in case of hybrid solar energy harvesting systems.