Detecting harmful overcurrents in PV arrays at shadow condition through binary coding method

With the aim of protect sunny modules against the negative effect of shaded ones, bypass diodes are used in solar array. There exist two major conventional configurations for bypass diodes: overlapped and no-overlapped. Alternatively, it seems that shadow reduces the output power of solar array and leads to reducing output current. The fact is, behavior of array under partial shading condition is extremely depends on shadow shape. Some shadow shapes act reversely, they increase the output current. The object of this paper is detecting these unusual overcurrents with using binary coding method. This method provides a robust mathematical way to analyze all possible shadow shapes on solar array. MATLAB software has been used for simulation while in the experimental process solar array is tested under real shading condition. Additionally, a statistical method has been used for comparison of simulation and experimental results. Good agreement between the standard simulations results with the presented technique shows the validity of this method.