Hybrid Quadra‐Tied Solar PV System With Optimised Metaheuristic MPPT Algorithms for Enhanced Urban Rooftop Performance

ABSTRACT This research work helps in selecting the most appropriate combination of solar photovoltaic (SPV) array configuration and metaheuristic MPPT technique to reduce the power loss in rooftop SPV systems due to partial shading conditions caused due to tall neighbouring buildings in urban areas. A novel hybrid SPV array configuration based on Quadra Tied (QT) configuration has been proposed which offers maximum power extraction in the same range as that of the established best performing Total Cross Tied (TCT) configuration while having fewer cross‐links. Simulations have been performed using MATLAB/Simulink to test the performance of these configurations amidst commonly encountered partial shading conditions (PSCs) in urban areas and to compare it with the existing TCT, Series‐Parallel (SP) Bridge Linked (BL) and Honeycomb (HC) configurations. Further, the proposed configurations are interfaced with Cuckoo Search (CS) and Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA) based MPPT techniques and tested under PSCs. A hardware model is prepared to test and compare the transient and steady state response of the MPPT techniques in real time along with the proposed and established SPV array configurations to select the best combination of SPV array configuration and MPPT technique for the given application.