Modeling and simulation of photovoltaic array with different interconnection configurations under partial shading conditions for fill factor evaluation

Partial shading of a photovoltaic array is the condition under which different modules in the array experience different irradiance levels due to shading. This difference causes mismatch between the modules, leading to undesirable effects such as reduction in generating power and hot spots. The severity of these effects can be reduced by changing module interconnections of a solar array, three different interconnections configurations, series-parallel (SP), bridge-linked (BL) and total-cross-tied (TCT) of photovoltaic generator are studied using simulation models to compare their performances, also studied their characteristic parameter variation in the function of shading, with a special attention to: Open circuit voltage (Voc), Short circuit (Isc), Maximum power (Pmp) and fill factor (FF) evaluation, in order to find which configuration is less influential to partial shading effect.