Journal Pre-proof

Photovoltaic chain operation analysis in condition

of partial shading for systems with and without
bypass diodes

Wojciech Kreft, Estera Przenzak, Mariusz

Filipowicz

PII: S0030-4026(21)01423-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2021.167840
Reference: IJLEO167840

To appear in: Optik

Received date: 21 July 2020
Revised date: 17 July 2021
Accepted date: 15 August 2021
Please cite this article as: Wojciech Kreft, Estera Przenzak and Mariusz
Filipowicz, Photovoltaic chain operation analysis in condition of partial shading
for systems with and without bypass diodes, O p t i k , (2020)
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2021.167840
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 Photovoltaic chain operation analysis in condition of
partial shading for systems with and without bypass diodes

Wojciech Kreft*
AGH University of Science and Technology
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering
Department of Automatic Control and Robotics
Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland
email: wkreft@agh.edu.pl

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Estera Przenzak, Mariusz Filipowicz
AGH University of Science and Technology
Faculty of Energy and Fuels

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Department of Sustainable Energy Development
Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland

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email: esterap@agh.edu.pl, filipow@agh.edu.pl
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Abstract:
The paper focuses on the operation analysis of the photovoltaic chain in condition of partial shading.
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For the needs of this analysis, the model of this PV system was implemented in the MATLAB/Simulink. This
model corresponded to the structure of the real photovoltaic system on which experiments were carried out. The
model consists of 7 PV modules connected in series, where each of them can receive a different irradiance. Two
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cases were analyzed, the first when each of the 7 modules had a bypass diode and the second when there were no
bypass diodes in the system. The model was validated by identifying parameters based on 2 experiments carried
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out under different conditions, so that the model corresponds to the actual installation on which the experiments
were conducted. The operation of the model was analyzed for various configurations of partial shading and the
presence or absence of bypass diodes.
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Keywords: Modelling, Photovoltaic system, Partial shading, Bypass diode, Maximum power point
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(MPP)

1. Introduction

In practical terms, the problems related to partial shading of a photovoltaic system are
of the highest importance. The best operating conditions of PV modules are achieved when
the distribution of solar radiation on the module surface is uniform. Even a slight shadowing
occurring on a very limited area may lead to a significant drop in power generated by the
whole module. This shady part is often no longer a part of the electricity generator, but a load
(resistance).
The energy losses caused by shading in photovoltaic (PV) panels are disproportional
to the shadowed area and are difficult to quantify. The methods for determining partial

* Corresponding author

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shading effects are presented in [1, 2, 3]. The operation of photovoltaic systems in conditions
of partial shadowing is not safe and therefore a variety of methods to detect the occurrence of
the shadowing were developed. In [4, 5] a mathematical model for on-line calculation of
expected power in current conditions was developed. The difference of the calculated and
measured power is analyzed and used to create a warning signal informing about the
shadowing.
Partial shading causes some difficulties in finding MPP due to potential local maxima.
Conventional algorithms are easily trapped at local minimum.However, there are algorithms
finding MPP and thus avoid finding the local maxima [6, 7, 8, 9 ,10, 11]. Especially worth
mentioning are meta-heuristic and artificial intelligence algorithms for finding MPP [12, 13,
14]. Some laboratory works are devoted to build emulators of PV modules which would give
consideration to the effect of partial shadowing [15, 16]. For the PV system, a module model

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was developed and the results of the experiment were compared with the simulations. The
comparison of the model and experiments results leads to the identification of the model

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parameters. An exemplary methods of performing PV cell parameters identification are
presented in [17, 18, 19].
All the negative effects referred to above, occur in case of serial connection of
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modules, which in turn is favorable in terms of operating conditions for an inverter, because
the total voltage in the MPP point is the largest. In terms of avoiding problems resulting from
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shadowing, parallel connection of modules is the best solution. In such case the total power in
the MPP is the same as for the serial connection and the system is significantly less sensitive
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to non-uniform irradiation. In practice, the structure of the photovoltaic panels consists of

chains of serial cells, and these chains are connected in parallel.
To improve the efficiency of the photovoltaic panels, bypass diodes are used. One
bypass diode usually corresponds to a few or over a dozen cells connected in series. Its task is
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the transmission of electrical current outside the cells in case of its partial shading. Owing to
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the bypass diodes, photovoltaic systems work with higher efficiency, because the bypass
diodes protects single cells working in a receiver mode. The bypass diodes also protects
panels from thermal damage like “hot spots” caused by the heat generation on the dimly lit
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cells as a result of the high electric current.

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Sometimes blocking diodes are used in more complex PV systems. In this case, one
blocking diode falls on one PV chain. The task of blocking diodes is to prevent reverse
current flow [20, 21]. A typical configuration with bypass diodes and blocking diodes is
shown in Fig. 1.

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 Fig. 1. Modules with bypass diodes and blocking diodes at the termination of each chain.

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In the paper, a case of a chain consisting of seven PV modules is considered. Each
module can represent any complex PV structure. It is possible to describe a complicated

uniform on the considered structure [22]. -p

serial-parallel structure by an equivalent structure under the assumption that irradiation is

Individual values of light intensity may be assigned to each element (module) in the
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considered chain. It allows to compare simulation results with results obtained in the real
photovoltaic installation located in AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow.
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Parameters for two selected lighting conditions were identified and the two cases were
described by the same set of parameter values.
Research works on the aforementioned installation were previously carried out and
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concerned the reduction of electrical power loss [23].

The contribution and novelty of the paper is quantitative comparision of the
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photovoltaic system operation in condition of partial shading with and without bypass diodes.
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2. Model of the photovoltaic chain

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The analyzed PV chain consists of 7 modules connected in series. Each module can be
treated as a single cell with appropriately chosen parameters assuming that the irradiance for
each module is uniform. A model for a such system was created in MATLAB/Smulink, which
is a technical computing environment often used to simulate photovoltaic systems [22, 24,
25]. Another photovoltaic chain created in a similar way was presented in [23].
The model of the photovoltaic chain has a form of a Simulink diagram. The
exponential Schockley diode model was used and then a 2-diode model of cell was created to
build the PV chain model.
The Schockley diode model is described by the formula (1).

Vd q

I d  I 0 (e akT
 1) (1)

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where:

Vd – diode voltage [V],

Id – diode current [A],
I0 – saturation current of a diode [A],
k – Boltzmann’ constant, 1.3865×10-23 [J/K],
q – electron charge, 1.6021×10-19 [C],
a – diode factor,
T – diode temperature [K].

The 2-diode model of cell is usually used in modelling of solar cell [20, 22, 23, 24, 26,
27]. This model includes the above mentioned Schockley diode model. The electrical scheme

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of this solar cell is presented in Figure 2.

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Fig. 2. The 2-diode model of a solar cell.

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The current I presented in Fig. 2 was given by formula 2.

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(V  IRs ) q (V  IRs ) q
V  IRs
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I  I ph  I 0 (e a1kT
 1)  I 0 (e a2 kT
 1)  (2)
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The current source (Fig.2) generates a photocurrent Iph proportional to the solar
irradiance [21]. It is described by the formula (3). The influence of the ambient temperature
on the short circuit current was neglected.

G R p  Rs
I ph  I sc _ STC (3)
GSTC Rp

where:

V – cell voltage [V],

Rp – parallel resistance [Ω],
Rs – serial resistance [Ω],
G – irradiance [W/m2],

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a1 – diode factor with index 1.,
a2 – diode factor with index 2.,
GSTC – Standard Irradiance, 1000 [W/m2],
Isc_STC – Short circuit current in standard conditions [A].

A Simulink diagram of complete model of the photovoltaic chain consisting of seven

cells connected in series is presented in Fig. 3. The cells are marked as PV cell1 – PV cell7,
while G1-G7 represent the solar irradiance in W/m2.
A paper [22] assumes that the current flowing through the entire chain plays the role
of the input and the chain voltage is the output. Also a simplified model of a bypass diode was
considered in that case. According to the model, the total generated current flows through the
particular cell or bypass diode assigned to this cell.

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Contrary to paper [22], a more detailed model of the bypass diode is developed in this
article. There are no blocking diodes because the model describes only one chain. The voltage
of the chain is used as an input to the model and the output is the current flowing through the

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entire chain.

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Fig. 3. A Simulink diagram of photovoltaic chain with seven cells.

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3. Identification of parameters
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The parameters of the model were identified using data obtained using the
experimental photovoltaic installation. Two series of measurements were used as a data
source. Identification allowed to find parameters which are presented in Table 1. The
graphical illustration of I-V and P-V characteristics obtained in the measurements and the
simulation are shown in Figs. 4-5 (the April measurements) and Figs. 6-7 (the February
measurements).

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Fig. 4. Fit of I-V data from 8.04.2016.

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Fig. 5. Fit of P-V data from 8.04.2016.

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Fig. 6. Fit of I-V data from 10.02.2016.

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Fig. 7. Fit of P-V data from 10.02.2016.

Parameters presented in Table 1 were obtained in the following conditions:

a) one module was slightly shadowed; light intensity was 350 W/m2 (The April data),
rest modules – 770 W/m2
b) one module was slightly shadowed; light intensity was 253 W/m2 (The February
data), rest – 600 W/m2.

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 Table 1. The parameters of the model.
No. Parameter Description Value
1. Rp [Ω] Parallel resistance 203

2. Rs [Ω] Serial resistance 0.5075

3. a1 Cell diode factor I 47.705

4. a2 Cell diode factor II 47.705

5. a3 Bypass diode 102

factor
6. Performance index (The Difference square 0.6902
April data) sum

7. Performance index (The Difference square 0.5898

February data) sum

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4. Model operation in partial shading condition

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The photovoltaic chain is sensitive to shadowing even when only one of its elements is

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shadowed. Therefore, the analysis of the I-V and P-V curves was conducted for the following
three cases:
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A1) all cells were uniformly irradiated by light with the irradiance of 600 W/m2,
A2) one cell was shadowed; the rest was irradiated as in case A1),
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A3) as in A2) case but without bypass diodes.

The results are presented in Figs. 8-9.

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Fig. 8. I-V curves for the three cases.

The P-V characteristics, particularly the power in the MPP are even more interesting.

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Fig. 9. P-V curves for the three cases.

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The general summary of the results for the model is presented in Table 2. High
variation of the generated power PMPP may be observed. In the analyzed conditions, the
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application of bypass diodes increased the efficiency of the chain by more than 4.7 times. It is
clear that a single, totally dark cell may cause the waste of even about 85% of the generated
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power if a bypass diode is not applied.

Table 2. The results of the analysis of electric properties of the chain for the three (A1-A3) cases in concern. The open circuit
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voltage Voc, the short circuit current Isc, the voltage in MPP VMPP, the current in MPP IMPP, the power in MPP PMPP, the fill
factor FF and the load in MPP RMPP are presented.
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case Irradiance of particular cell bypass Voc Isc VMPP IMPP PMPP FF RMPP
A1 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 YES 201.5 1.650 168.8 1.46 245.8 0.74 115.6
A2 600 600 600 600 600 600 YES 172.7 1.624 115.2 1.43 165.2 0.59 80.6
A3 600 600 600 600 600 600 NO 172.7 0.807 86.6 0.41 35.1 0.25 211.2
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Interesting results may be also obtained for various patterns of the cell irradiation. The
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following cases were analyzed and the results are shown in Table 3 and Figs. 10-11.

Table 3. The results of the analysis of electric properties of varied irradiance of modules. The open circuit voltage Voc, the
short circuit current Isc, the voltage in MPP VMPP, the current in MPP IMPP, the power in MPP PMPP, the fill factor FF and the
load in MPP RMPP are presented.
case Irradiance of particular cell Bypass Voc Isc VMPP IMPP PMPP FF RMPP
B1 253 600 600 600 600 600 YES 171.5 1.589 63.9 1.37 87.6 0.32 46.6
B2 50 253 600 600 600 600 600 YES 194.8 1.589 64.1 1.37 87.8 0.28 46.8
B3 100 253 600 600 600 600 600 YES 197.2 1.589 64.2 1.37 88.0 0.28 46.9
B4 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 YES 201.5 1.650 168.8 1.46 245.8 0.74 115.6

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Fig. 10. I-V curves for the described four cases.

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Fig. 11. P-V curves for the described four cases.

The results of the analyses of cases B1-B3 show that light intensity variation in case of
the most shadowed cells have an influence only on the final part of the characteristics.
For the irradiances referring to the April data, analyses of currents and voltages for
particular modules in the chain and for the bypass diodes were performed. The chain with and
without bypass diodes were analyzed. The results are presented in Table 4.

Table 4. The results of the analysis of the April data referring to the chain with and without the bypass diodes.
Bypass VMPP [V] IMPP [A] PMPP [W] Vdark [V] Vbright [V] Idark [A] Ibright [A] Idark_bypass [A] Ibright_bypass [A]
YES 117.0 1.87 218.4 -30.8 24.6 1.11 1.87 0.75 -2.232×10-10
NO 183.9 0.88 162.2 16.4 27.9 0.88 0.88 --- ---

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where:
VMPP - voltage of the chain for MPP, IMPP - the total current for MPP, PMPP - maximal value of
power, Vdark - voltage of the shadowed cell, Vbright - voltage of the illuminated cell, Idark -
current flowing through the shadowed cell, Ibright - the illuminated cell current, Idark_bypass - the
bypass current in case of the shadowed cell and Ibright_bypass - the bypass current for the
illuminated cell.

The effect of power losses in the absence of bypass diodes is clearly visible. Other
parameters were also deteriorated in case with no bypass diodes. This especially concerned
the voltage increase. The bypass diode current was 0.75 A as compared to the current of 1.11
A in case of the shadowed cell.

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5. Conclusions

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A photovoltaic chain consisting of 7 modules connected in series was analyzed. For

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this model, the identification of its parameters was done on the basis of 2 experiments carried
out on a PV installation at different times and under different conditions. The simulation data
were compared with the experimental data, which allowed for the validation of the model.
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The identification was successful as the obtained model parameters were consistent for both
experiments simultaneously.
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The analysis of the PV chain performance for various partial shading conditions was
performed assuming the presence bypass diodes and the lack thereof. Significant differences
were noticed. A significant waste of generated power was observed in case of varied
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irradiance of particular modules in the chain. It was shown that bypass diodes are very
important in this case. The model may be used for designing and analyzing new photovoltaic
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systems with the possibility of partial shading. The model may also be useful for identifying
inverter operation cases in false MPP.
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On the installation building roof there are a lot of cooling installation devices, which is
typical situation in many buildings. It was unable to avoid partial shading which varies
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depending on the seasons and times of day. Generally, power losses caused by the system can
reach 20% of its nominal power. It was observed that in some parts of the panel temperature
may exceed even 90oC. It was a reason of appearance clearly visible “hot-spots” as results of
mechanical stress. This in turn can lead to micro-fractures and the breaking of
soldering connections – permanent damage of the photovoltaic panel. Unfortunately, such
situation affected almost 1/3 of the panels, motivated this research.
The subject of further research is the analysis of partial shading effects of photovoltaic
modules for different shadow and penumbra geometries.

Acknowledgements

This work was done under Statutory Activity of Faculty of Energy and Fuels AGH and
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science and Biomedical

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Engineering AGH. This Statutory Activity was supported by the Polish Ministry of Science
and Higher Education (agreement no 11.11.120.396).

Nomenclature

Vd Diode voltage [V]

Id Diode current [A]
I0 Saturation current of a diode [A]
k Boltzmann’ constant, 1.3865×10-23 [J/K]
q Electron charge, 1.6021×10-19 [C]
a Diode factor
T Diode temperature [K]

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Iph Photocurrent [A]
Rp Parallel resistance [Ω]

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Rs Serial resistance [Ω]
G Irradiance [W/m2]
STC Standard temperature condition
GSTC
Isc_STC
Irradiance in STC, 1000 [W/m2]
Short circuit current in STC [A]
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a1 Cell diode factor I
a2 Cell diode factor II
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a3 Bypass diode factor

Voc Open circuit voltage [V]
Isc Short circuit current [A]
MPP Maximum power point
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VMPP Voltage for MPP [V]

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IMPP Current for MPP [A]

PMPP Power for MPP [W]
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FF Fill factor
RMPP Load (resistance) for MPP [Ω]
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Vdark Voltage of the shadowed cell [V]

Vbright Voltage of the illuminated cell [V]
Idark Current flowing through the shadowed cell [A]
Ibright Illuminated cell current [A]
Idark_bypass Bypass current in case of the shadowed cell [A]
Ibright_bypass Bypass current for the illuminated cell [A]

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Conflict of interest
none.

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Highlights:
 A small shadow on PV surface may lead to a significant drop in generated power
 The bypass diodes protect a photovoltaic chain from power loss and damage
 Several local maximum power points may occur in condition of partial shading

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