Performance of conventional and modified solar photovoltaic array configuration under the combined effect of seasonal variation and partial shaded conditions

The energy yield of the photovoltaic (PV) array varies with every season, primarily due to variation in the availability of solar insolation and ambient temperature. Moreover, the energy generation of an installed PV array gets severely impacted by the partial shading conditions (PSCs), which occurs when neighbouring objects or even debris cast shadow on some portion of the array. The combined effect of seasonal variation and partial shading can lead to more pronounced fluctuation and deterioration in the energy yield of the PV array. In this work, the performance of a conventional and modified PV array configuration under the combined effect of seasonal variation and PSC has been investigated. Both the array configurations have been characterized experimentally in real field conditions under uniform and PSCs. The outdoor current-voltage (I-V) data and weather data is used to estimate the seasonal energy yield and DC performance ratio of the arrays under different PSC scenarios. It is found that under unshaded condition, both the PV arrays generate same energy in different seasons. Under PSCs, the modified PV configuration outperforms the conventional one, with a notable improvement in energy generation in all the seasons.