The Effect of Partial Shading on PV Characteristics and Maximum Power Point Tracking

PV arrays get shaded, completely or partially, by the passing clouds, neighboring buildings and power poles. Under partially shaded conditions PV characteristics get more complex with multiple peaks. Hence, it is necessary to understand them in order to extract maximum power. This paper presents a simulation study of the effects of partial shading on PV characteristics and the result of using conventional MPPT schemes (P&O) in tracking the MPP under partial shading conditions. Keywords: Photovoltaic (PV), Maximum Power Point (MPP), Global Peak, Perturb and Observe (P&O