Energy yield simulations of interconnected solar PV arrays

In this paper, the electrical characteristics of array interconnection schemes are investigated, using simulation models, tc find a configuration that is comparatively less susceptible to shadow problem and power degradation resulting from the aging of solar cells. Three configurations have been selected for comparison: (i) simple series-parallel (SP) array which has zero interconnection redundancy, (ii) total-cross-tied (TCT) array which is obtained from the simple SP array by connecting ties across each row of junctions; it may be characterized as the scheme with the highest possible redundancy and (iii) bridge-linked (BL) array in which all cells are interconnected in bridge rectifier fashion. The explicit computer simulations for the energy yield and current-voltage distributions in the array are presented, which seem to favour cross-tied configurations (TCT and BL) in coping with the effects of mismatch losses.