Boosting Solar Sustainability: Performance Assessment of Roof-Mounted PV Arrays Under Snow Considering Various Module Interconnection Schemes

Ebrahim Mohammadi (), Gerry Moschopoulos and Aoxia Chen
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Ebrahim Mohammadi: Electric Power Engineers LLC, Austin, TX 78735, USA
Gerry Moschopoulos: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
Aoxia Chen: Electric Power Engineers LLC, Austin, TX 78735, USA

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 1, 1-28

Abstract: The transition to renewable energy sources is vital for achieving sustainability, and photovoltaic (PV) systems play a key role in this shift. However, their performance can be significantly affected in snowy conditions, where the irradiation and energy production are limited. This study addresses a critical gap in the literature by developing a MATLAB/Simulink model that considers the impacts of snow layering and removal on roof-mounted photovoltaic arrays. This study investigates various module interconnection schemes—including Series, Series-Parallel, Total-Cross-Tied, Bridge-Linked, and Honey-Comb—to determine their impact on energy efficiency in snowy environments. Based on the results, when the modules are fully covered by uniform snow, the power losses can increase from 38.9% to 93.2% for all interconnection schemes by increasing the accumulated snow from 1 cm to 5 cm. When the modules are covered by nonuniform snow and the snow removal is considered the TCT scheme has the minimum power losses and the maximum efficiency, depending on the accumulated snow pattern. For the worst scenario, the power loss is 70.1% for TCT, 71.7% for SP, 72% for HC, 72.3% for BL, and 76.7% for series interconnection. For the other scenarios, almost a similar trend can be observed where the TCT interconnection has the maximum efficiency, and the series interconnection has the minimum efficiency.

Keywords: sustainability; photovoltaic systems; snow coverage; energy efficiency; renewable energy; module interconnection schemes; MATLAB/Simulink; cold climate performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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