Module Level Electronic Circuit Based PV Array for Identification and Reconfiguration of Bypass Modules

In this article, a novel electronic circuit based on optocoupler is designed for each module of photovoltaic (PV) array to deal with partial shading conditions. The proposed circuit not only provides electronic monitoring at the module level but also ensures the reconfiguration of bypass modules. The control framework of the proposed scheme works in two steps. In Step-1, the PV array is connected in series-parallel (SP) configuration and the power-voltage (P-V) curve is traced to search the global maximum (GM). In Step-2, bypass modules are separated from PV array through their respective electronic circuits in a decentralized control manner, and the power of bypass modules is stored in the battery. The proposed electronic circuit provides a low cost solution as it is free from expensive sensing and complex switching network. Moreover, the control operation of proposed scheme is simple. The proposed scheme is verified through computer-aided simulations and a hardware prototype of 170 W. The comparative study indicates that the proposed scheme yields more energy than past proposed solutions.