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Title: Recovery of inter-row shading losses using differential power-processing submodule DC–DC converters

Journal Article · · Solar Energy
 [1];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]
  1. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
  2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  3. Rovira i Virgili Univ. (Spain)
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Large commercial photovoltaic (PV) systems can experience regular and predictable energy loss due to both inter-row shading and reduced diffuse irradiance in tightly spaced arrays. This article investigates the advantages of replacing bypass diodes with submodule-integrated DC-DC converters (subMICs) to mitigate these losses. Yearly simulations of commercial-scale PV systems were conducted considering a range of row-to-row pitches. In the limit case of array spacing (unity ground coverage), subMICs can confer a 7% increase in annual energy output and peak energy density (kW h/m2). Simulation results are based on efficiency assumptions experimentally confirmed by prototype submodule differential power-processing converters.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E); European Union (EU)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308; AR0000216; 626117
OSTI ID:
1339516
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1344947
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5J00-65132
Journal Information:
Solar Energy, Vol. 135, Issue C; ISSN 0038-092X
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 12 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (13)

Shadow effect of adjacent solar collectors in large scale systems journal January 1979
Improvement and validation of a model for photovoltaic array performance journal January 2006
Control of Submodule Integrated Converters in the Isolated-Port Differential Power-Processing Photovoltaic Architecture journal December 2014
Characterization of Power Optimizer Potential to Increase Energy Capture in Photovoltaic Systems Operating Under Nonuniform Conditions journal June 2013
Soiling losses for solar photovoltaic systems in California journal September 2013
Architectures and Control of Submodule Integrated DC–DC Converters for Photovoltaic Applications journal June 2013
Performance of Mismatched PV Systems With Submodule Integrated Converters journal January 2014
Performance of Power-Limited Differential Power Processing Architectures in Mismatched PV Systems journal February 2015
Shading effects in rows of solar cell panels journal April 1984
Modeling daylight availability and irradiance components from direct and global irradiance journal January 1990
Submodule Integrated Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking for Solar Photovoltaic Applications journal June 2013
Differential Power Processing for Increased Energy Production and Reliability of Photovoltaic Systems journal June 2013
Dependence of diffuse light blocking on the ground cover ratio for stationary PV arrays journal December 1997

Cited By (1)

Vertical Bifacial Solar Farms: Physics, Design, and Global Optimization text January 2017

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
photovoltaic systems
power electronics
partial shading
energy conversion
power system simulation
MLPE
subMICs
distributed power electronics