Effect of Series and Parallel Shading on the Photovoltaic Performance of Silicon Based Solar Panels
Pages 152-156
Shalaw Zrar Sdeeq, Aso Hamad Ameen and Fahmi Fariq Muhammad

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1929-6002.2015.04.04.5

Published: 18 December 2015

Abstract: In this research work silicon based solar panels were used to investigate the impact of series and parallel shading on the photovoltaic performance of inorganic solar panels. The results showed that voltage, current and power of the solar panels were reduced upon shading the series and parallel cells. This decrement was seen to be larger for the series shading compared to that of the parallel shading. This was attributed to the adverse effect of the series resistance of the shaded cells, which is acted as a bottleneck in front of the passage of current. This was not very effective in the parallel shading because current is readily capable to pass through the illuminated parallel cells and neglect the pathway of parallel shaded cells. From the results, it was concluded that the lower performance of solar panels due to shading effect is because of the change in the internal resistance of the panels. This situation is possible to occur during daily life use of solar panels as a result of the shading by clouds, dusts or trees. Hence, considerable investigation towards solving this problem is of great importance.