Modeling and Simulation of Partial Shaded PV Modules

Partial shading instances are very common in photovoltaic (PV) systems. The mismatch losses and hot spot effects caused by partial shading can not only affect the output power of solar system, but also can bring security and reliability problems. A mathematical model reflecting the output electrical characteristics of the partial shading PV module is put forward in this paper. Compared with the traditional model, it is able to show the variation of the output electrical characteristics of the PV module by adjusting the irradiance, temperature and the area of partial shading. The model is used to analyze the power losses of the partial shaded PV model with different number of bypass diodes. The simulation results show that a PV model under partial shading with 6 bypass diodes is the best configuration to minimize the mismatch power loss. It has an important meaning for practical engineering application.