Experimental Analysis to Extract the Maximum Output of Serial and Parallel PV Module Configurations under Partial Shadow Conditions: A Case Study for Bambey, Senegal

Abstract

Using an experimental setup, the series configurations (SC) and the parallel configurations (PC) of the PV cell connection are studied to compare their performance under the condition of partial shading s. The performance of the configurations is evaluated by comparing the open-circuit voltage, the short-circuit current, the maximum power point (MPP), the voltage and current corresponding to MPP, and the Fill Factor (FF). The variations of the series resistance and the shunt resistance of a PV module under different irradiance levels are also determined by considering the effect of thermal voltage. Finally, a comparison between the performance losses in the different configurations is presented. The results of this study show that the parallel configuration has the best performance under the conditions of partial shade in the context of this work.