PV Module Topologies for a Performance Analysis Under Faults

Solar energy has become the global most known renewable energy source. One of its uses is that photovoltaic panels are directly converting that energy into electricity. And, it is not a secret anymore that the power these modules produce, strongly depends on the quantity and quality of irradiance they receive. Nevertheless, the way the modules are wired can have consequences when a fault occurs. So in this paper, the various existing topologies of connection are first presented. These are the Simple Series (SS), the Parallel (P), the Series-Parallel (SP), the Bridge-Link (BL), the Honey-Comb (HC), and the Total-Cross-Tied (TCT). Knowing that SS and P are not much of use in a PV plant installation, we choose a simulation of the four other topologies amongst them (SP, BL, HC, TCT) under standard test conditions (1000 W/m2 of irradiance and 25 °C of temperature) in an open-access software, named LtSpice, and also under faulty conditions. The defect chosen here is the partial shading and we tried three positions of the shading shape. The hypothesis considered is that the module(s) shaded is (are) receiving less irradiance than the others, around half of the standard value (500 W/m2). The output power in the Series-Parallel (SP) and the Total-Cross-Tied (TCT) was then compared. These results obtained are next discussed to study the behavior of the solar generator under a faulty condition.