Grey Wolf Optimizer-Based Array Reconfiguration to Enhance Power Production from Solar Photovoltaic Plants under Different Scenarios

Astitva Kumar, Mohammad Rizwan, Uma Nangia and Muhannad Alaraj
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Astitva Kumar: Department of Electrical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi 110042, India
Mohammad Rizwan: Department of Electrical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi 110042, India
Uma Nangia: Department of Electrical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi 110042, India
Muhannad Alaraj: Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah 52571, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-18

Abstract: The extraction of maximum power is a big challenge in solar photovoltaic-based power plants due to varying atmospheric and meteorological parameters. The concept of array reconfiguration is applied for the maximum power extraction in solar PV plants. Using this approach, the occurrence of multiple peaks in P-V and I-V characteristics during partial shade can be smoothened and reduced significantly. Partial shading due to the movement of the cloud is considered in the research. The cloud movement mainly because of velocity and wind direction is used for creating various shading conditions. The main focus is to reduce the power losses during partial shading using a nature-inspired optimization approach to reconfigure the array for different types of shading conditions. A grey wolf optimizer-based bridge-linked total cross-tied (GWO-BLTCT) configuration is proposed in this paper. The performance of the proposed topology is compared with standard and hybrid topologies, namely, series-parallel, total cross-tied, BLTCT, and SuDoKu-BLTCT, based on performance indicators such as fill factor, performance ratio, power enhancement, and power loss. The proposed GWO-BLTCT outperforms the remaining topologies due to the least power loss and high fill factor. It also has the highest average power enhancement and performance ratio with 23.75% and 70.02% respectively.

Keywords: array reconfiguration; maximum power point; optimization algorithm; partial shading conditions; solar PV system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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