Mitigating Partial Shading Effects in Photovoltaic Arrays using a Switch Matrix: Design, Modeling, and Performance Evaluation

Partial shading can significantly reduce the overall power output of PV systems due to the mismatch in irradiance levels across different solar modules. Static and dynamic array reconfigurations are reasonable solutions to reduce the partial shading effect and boost the array power harvesting. This article aims to investigate the effectiveness of a switch matrix system in mitigating the adverse effects of partial shading on photovoltaic (PV) arrays. The study proposes the use of a switch matrix to dynamically reconfigure the interconnections between PV modules, thereby minimizing power losses and improving system efficiency. The experiment involves the design and modeling of the switch matrix, followed by a comprehensive performance evaluation to assess its effectiveness in shading mitigation. For the Performance evaluation, many statistical metrics are used: 1) Mismatch power losses ML (%), 2) Fill factor FF (%), and 3) efficiency $\eta$ (%). The results of the experiments and the analyses showed that the proposed reconfiguration scheme successfully reduced the impact of partial shading on PV arrays.