A Reconfiguration Method for Extracting Maximum Power from Non-Uniform Aging Solar Panels

Udenze, Peter, Hu, Yihua ORCID: 0000-0002-1007-1617, Wen, Huiqing, Ye, Xianming and Ni, Kai ORCID: 0000-0002-7467-2921 (2018) A Reconfiguration Method for Extracting Maximum Power from Non-Uniform Aging Solar Panels. ENERGIES, 11 (10). p. 2743.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en11102743

Abstract

<jats:p>Aging affects different photovoltaic (PV) modules in a PV array in a non-uniform way, thereby leading to non-uniform working conditions of the PV modules and resulting in variations in the power outputs of the PV array. In this paper, an algorithm is developed for optimising the electrical configuration of a PV array during the non-uniform aging processes amongst the PV modules. A new PV array reconfiguration method is proposed to maximize the power generation from non-uniformly aged PV arrays through rearrangements of the positions of the PV modules without having to replace the aged PV modules with new ones, thereby saving on maintenance costs. This reconfiguration strategy requires information about the electrical parameters of the PV modules in an array, so as to choose the optimal reconfiguration topology. In this algorithm, the PV modules are sorted iteratively in a hierarchy pattern to reduce the effect of mismatch due to the non-uniform aging processes amongst PV modules. Computer simulation and analysis have been carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method for different sizes of non-uniform aged PV arrays (4 × 4, 10 × 10, and 100 × 10 arrays) with MATLAB. The results show an improvement in the power generation from a non-uniformly aged PV array and can be applied to any size of PV array.</jats:p>

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	solar PV, MPPT, non-uniform aging, rearrangement
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	03 Dec 2018 09:09
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 01:10
DOI:	10.3390/en11102743
Open Access URL:	https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/10/2743
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3029352