A Simple Bipolar Transistor-Based Bypass Approach for Photovoltaic Modules

This paper presents a novel bypass approach for photovoltaic panels relying on a bipolar transistor operated in saturation, the activation of which is handled automatically by a circuit comprising a pair of MOS transistors only. The functioning principle of the proposed system is explained and the improvements in terms of reliability of the bypassed subpanel and power produced by the string in comparison with a traditional diode-based scheme are quantified. The analysis is corroborated by dc/transient measurements and tailored PSPICE simulations.