Network analysis of fault-tolerant solar photovoltaic arrays

Large solar photovoltaic array networks have been investigated to find a configuration that is comparatively less susceptible to electrical mismatches due to manufacturerʹs tolerances in solar cell characteristics and shadow problems. Three network configurations have been selected for comparison: series-parallel, total-crossed-tied and bridge-linked. Explicit mathematical analysis based on randomly generated parameters of solar cell characteristics is presented. Series resistance of the constituent cells has been taken into account. The computational schemes for the array configurations of arbitrary size have been developed and implemented in numerical algorithms and computer programs. The illustrative numerical computations have shown that the bridge-linked array interconnection network under most conditions is superior to and never worse than the total-cross-tied and significantly superior to the series-parallel network in its fault-tolerance due to shadow effects and manufacturerʹs tolerances in cell characteristics.