Hybrid PV Array Configurations for Mitigating the Mismatching Power loss and Number of Peaks in the Output Characteristics under various PSCs

The photovoltaic (PV) central inverter architecture comprises various array configurations. The conventional configurations are series-parallel (S-P), total-cross-tied (T-C-T), bridge-linked (B-L), and honey-comb (H-C). These configurations produce the higher mismatching power loss and also represents the number of peak power points (PPPs) in the output characteristics (I - V & P - V curves) under partial shading conditions (PSCs). This paper proposes the 6 x 6 hybrid configurations, such as series-parallel: total-cross-tied (S-P: T-C-T), bridge-linked: total-cross-tied (B-L: T-C-T), honey-comb: total-cross-tied (H-C: T-C-T) and bridge-linked: honey-comb (B-L: H-C). The hybrid configurations are formed by combining any two of the conventional configurations. The two-diode model of the PV module is used for modelling the hybrid configurations in MATLAB/Simulink software tool. The performance of the hybrid configurations is determined under various PSCs and compared with the conventional configurations. The amount of power generated at the global-PPP (G-PPP), the mismatching power loss and the number of local-PPPs (L-PPPs) generated in each configuration under-considered PSCs are noted.