Impact of Shading
• Few or all the cells may be completely or
partially under shading because of cloud
movement, shadow of trees etc.
• This can cause problems like drop in output
power, heating of cell etc.
Impact of Shading
Scenario of one of the series connected cells getting completely
shaded
• Let n be the number of cells connected
in series
• Under normal operation, i.e. when all
the cells are in the sun, all cells
produce same voltage and short circuit
current
• When any 1 of the cell is completely
shaded, the Isc of that particular cell
drops to 0. The current which is
flowing through the remaining (n-1)
cells flows through the parallel
resistance (𝑅𝑃 ) of the shaded cell
Impact of Shading
Scenario of one of the series connected cells getting completely
shaded (cont.)
• There is a voltage drop across the resistance
• The diode is reverse biased i.e. 𝐼𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑒 = 0
• The whole current is flowing through 𝑅𝑃 and 𝑅𝑆 of the shaded cell
• Thus the shaded cell withdraws power instead of supplying power
• Due to the power loss in the resistances, the temperature of the shaded cell
increases
• This is called hot spot formation in a PV string
Impact of Shading
Change in IV characteristics
Scenario of one of the series connected cells getting completely
shaded
• When all the cells are under sun
• Let the DC output voltage is 𝑉
• As all cells are producing equal voltage, the output voltage is shared equally by all cells
𝑛−1
• So the voltage developed by the (n-1) cells is 𝑉𝑛−1 = 𝑉
𝑛
• When one of the cells is under shading
• The DC output voltage will be the voltage drop across resistances of the shaded cell
subtracted from voltage developed by the (n-1) cells i.e. 𝑉𝑆𝐻 = 𝑉𝑛−1 − 𝐼 𝑅𝑃 + 𝑅𝑆
𝑛−1 𝑛−1
• On substituting 𝑉𝑛−1 = 𝑉 we obtain 𝑉𝑆𝐻 = 𝑉 − 𝐼 𝑅𝑃 + 𝑅𝑆
𝑛 𝑛
Impact of Shading
Change in IV characteristics
Scenario of one of the series connected cells getting completely
shaded (cont.)
• During shading there is a reduction in
output voltage obtained by
𝑛−1
• ∆𝑉 = 𝑉 − 𝑉𝑆𝐻 = 𝑉 − 𝑉+
𝑛
𝑉
𝐼 𝑅𝑃 + 𝑅𝑆 = + 𝐼 𝑅𝑃 + 𝑅𝑆
𝑛
• Since 𝑅𝑃 ≫ 𝑅𝑆 ; 𝑅𝑆 in the above equation
can be neglected
• So the voltage reduction can be written
𝑉
as ∆𝑉 = + 𝐼𝑅𝑃
𝑛
• The modified IV curve due to this voltage
drop is shown in the figure
Impact of Shading
Scenario of one of the series connected cells getting partially shaded
• Let n be the number of cells connected in series and one of the cells is
partially shaded
• The characteristics will depend on the short circuit current of the partially
shaded cell
• For example if one of the n cells in 50% shaded, the short circuit current of
𝐼𝑆𝐶
that cell reduces to
2
• The IV characteristics is obtained by considering two operating
circumstances
𝐼𝑆𝐶
• First, when current supplied by remaining n-1 cells is less than
2
𝐼𝑆𝐶
• Second, when current supplied by remaining n-1 cells is greater than
2
Impact of Shading
Scenario of one of the series connected cells getting partially shaded
(cont.)
𝐼𝑆𝐶
1. When I < (Figure (a))
2
• Diode of the 1st cell is forward biased
𝐼 𝑉
• Current 𝐼𝑑 = ( 𝑆𝐶 − 𝐼 − 𝑑 ) will flow through
2 𝑅𝑃
the diode
• The partially shaded cell contributes positive
voltage
𝐼𝑆𝐶
2. When I > (Figure (b))
2
𝐼
• A current equal to (I − 𝑆𝐶 ) will flow through
2
the parallel resistance
• There is a voltage drop across the resistance.
• The diode becomes reverse biased and carries
no current
• Similar to a complete shading scenario, there
is a resultant voltage drop given by
𝑉 𝐼
∆𝑉 = + (𝐼 − 𝑆𝐶 )𝑅𝑃
𝑛 2
Impact of Shading
Change in IV characteristics for various partial shading scenarios
• Based on the analysis shown above different IV curves for different
scenarios is shown in the figure
Shade mitigation
• The problems arising due to shading can be taken care by the use of
• Bypass diode
• Blocking diode
Shade mitigation using bypass diode
• The problem of voltage drop and hot spot formation is solved using
a bypass diode
• A bypass diode is connected in antiparallel to the diode of the cell
• As shown in (a)
• The cell is under sun and gives voltage rise
• The bypass diode is reverse biased and no current flows through it
• This is operation of a normal cell where bypass diode is not even present
• As shown in (b)
• The cell is under shading and does not produce any current
• The current has to flow through the parallel resistance leading to voltage
drop across the cell
• This drop makes the bypass diode forward biased and all the current flows
through the diode and no current flows through the cell (resistance)
• This leads to a small voltage drop of the range 0.2 V to 0.6 V depending on
the type of diode used rather than the large voltage drop (∆𝑉 = 𝑉 𝑛 + 𝐼𝑅𝑃 )
that may occur without it.
Shade mitigation using bypass diode (cont.)
• Generally bypass diode is not provided across each cell in a module
• Few diodes are used such that each covers a number of cells within the module (Figure (a))
• With the use of these bypass diodes more power is obtained as compared to a module without bypass
diode (Figure (b))
• Similar to a bypass diode covering cells in a module; bypass diodes are used across modules in a string in
an array (Figure (c))
(a) Three bypass diodes, each covering (b) IV characteristics and maximum power (c) Use of bypass diode in a string of modules
one – third of the cells in a module of a module with 3 bypass diodes and one
cell shaded
Shade mitigation using blocking diode
• When strings are connected in parallel
• Instead of supplying current, the shaded string can withdraw current from rest of the parallel
connected strings (Figure (a))
• This problem is solved by using blocking diode; also known as isolation diode
• The blocking diode is placed at top of each string
• The diode blocks the reverse current withdrawn by the shaded string (Figure (b)).
(a) Without blocking diode (b) With blocking diode
Multiple MPPs for shaded cell with bypass diode
• Due to the complex IV characteristics depending on whether the bypass
diode is conducting or not, there may be multiple local maximum power
points
Assignment
• Make electrical network in MATLAB / SIMULINK to obtain:
a) IV and PV curves for a PV module at various insolations
b) IV and PV curves for a PV module under various shading scenarios as shown in the
figure
c) IV and PV curves for a PV module under various shading scenarios as in (b) and
each cell having bypass diode connected across it.
