Enhancing total cross tied photovoltaic array with different irradiance levels using Schottky bypass diodes Available to Purchase

The performance of photovoltaic systems is affected by many factors, including temperature, panel interconnection, and shading. Shading is one of the most common unpredicted phenomena, and, as such, is discussed in detail in this paper. Shading creates multiple issues for both photovoltaic modules and photovoltaic systems as a whole, including decreases in output power productivity, decreases in the overall life of photovoltaic panels, and the formation of hotspots on various surfaces, which can result in overheating and fires. This study investigated possible solutions to this, using various MATLAB/Simulink to explore the effects of shading on photovoltaic modules. Six shading patterns were applied to a Total Cross Tied photovoltaic array to examine performance parameters across two cases. This study combined the static reconfiguration technique or Total Cross Tied configuration with the diode technique to offer bypass and blocking diodes; the type of bypass diode was then changed from silicon to Schottky in case 2 in an attempt to mitigate the effect of shading on the photovoltaic systems and to thus enhance their performance characteristics. The main aim of this paper is thus an analysis of the resultant power versus voltage and current versus voltage characteristic curves to identify which case is superior in terms of eliminating the effects of partial shading and extracting greater output power, increasing both efficiency and fill factor as well as minimizing mismatches and power losses. Under all shading patterns, the simulation results show that the system with Schottky bypass diodes (case 2) is superior across all performance parameters to the system with silicon diodes (case 1). This occurs due to the fact that the forward voltage drop of Schottky diodes (about 0.4V) is smaller than that of silicon diodes (about 0.7V).