A Reconfiguration of an MPBR Array to Improve PV System Performance Under PSC

Partial shading causes uneven levels of irradiance on the PV array. Uneven distribution of sunlight causes mismatch losses in PV modules connected in series. A significant problem for photovoltaic (PV) systems is partial shadowing, which reduces total efficiency. There have been several physical relocation techniques studied to reduce the negative effects of partial shade on PV arrays. In the previous study, it has been seen that the Puzzle Based Reconfiguration (PBR) approach yielded good results. However, when an in-depth study was conducted, a drawback in that approach was noticed. Specifically, regardless of the type of PV array used, there was no relocation or reconfiguration possible for the 1st and last columns. This meant that the PBR formulation only occurred in the middle, and no changes were made to the 1st and last columns, thus preventing the reduction of shading effects effectively. This paper presents a novel method for physically reconfiguring PV modules in a photovoltaic array called Modified Puzzle Based Reconfiguration (MPBR) in which every cells of PV array gets distributed. The goal of this research is to increase PV array power production while reducing the effects of partial shade. The effectiveness of the MPBR method is evaluated against traditional array configurations and PBR under various shadowing conditions. To assess the effectiveness of MPBR arrangements, key parameters such as Global Maximum Power (GMP), Mismatch Loss (ML), and Fill Factor (FF) have been analyzed. This detailed evaluation highlights the benefits regarding the physical reconfiguration of MPBR method in mitigating partial shading effects, resulting in lower ML compared to traditional methods. For this evaluation, MATLAB Simulink has been used to model a 6×6 PV array.