Solar PV array reconfiguration under partial shading conditions for maximum power extraction using genetic algorithm Shubhankar Niranjan Deshkar, Sumedh Bhaskar Dhale, Jishnu Shekar Mukherjee, T. Sudhakar Babu n , N. Rajasekar School of Electrical Engineering, VIT University, Vellore 632014, Tamilnadu, India article info Article history: Received 19 June 2014 Accepted 28 October 2014 Keywords: Array reconfiguration Partial shading Genetic algorithm TCT abstract The contribution of renewable energy to the field of energy markets has been substantial over the last few years. A large number of PV array installations show the increasing contribution of solar energy to the renewable energy. Partial shading of the PV arrays is one of the most discussed and worked upon concept for the simple reasons that it decreases the power output of the PV array installations and exhibits multiple peaks in the I–V characteristics. As a result, the modules have to be reconfigured to get the maximum power output. This papers presents an optimization based approach for Total cross tied (TCT) connected modules in a PV array. The physical locations of the modules remain unchanged while the electrical connections are altered. The genetic algorithm (GA) as an optimization tool, gives the connection matrix for the new electrical interconnection which fetches the maximum power output from the PV array. This is done to obtain uniform dispersion of shadow throughout the panel. & 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 102 2. System description .................................................................................................. 103 2.1. Model of a solar (PV) cell ....................................................................................... 103 2.2. TCT configured PV array ........................................................................................ 104 2.3. Su Do Ku configured PV array.................................................................................... 104 3. Proposed GA based technique.......................................................................................... 104 4. Results and discussion................................................................................................ 105 5. Comparative analysis ................................................................................................. 109 6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 109 References ............................................................................................................. 110 1. Introduction The nonrenewable energy resources have started exhausting at an alarming rate and the world today has entered into energy crisis. As a consequence, increasing use of the renewable energy resources like the solar, wind, tidal etc., is the most evident solution to alleviate this problem [1,2]. There has been a lot of improvisation in the power semiconductor technology over the years. As a consequence the cost of the photovoltaic cells has reduced to a great extent which makes solar energy one of the most sought after solutions. Moreover, the added advantage is that the sunlight is available at free of cost and its use does not pollute the environment [3,4]. The total solar energy installed capacity as on December 2013 is 2180 MW and has got a potential to contribute 12,500 MW to the power demand of India till 2016– 2017 [5]. This is equivalent to saving 61 MT of coal per annum. The efficiency of a single solar PV module is very less and remains a matter of concern. Furthermore, a single module is incapable of catering to large load requirements. Therefore, inter- connection is recommended to meet higher load demands. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.10.098 1364-0321/& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ91 9600117935. E-mail address: sudhakar.babu2013@vit.ac.in (T.S. Babu). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 43 (2015) 102–110