Atom Search Optimization-Based PV Array Reconfiguration Technique under Partial Shading Condition

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) reconfiguration is an effective solution for reducing the hot spot effect caused by partial shadows on PV arrays. This paper proposed an efficient atom search optimization- (ASO-) based PV reconfiguration method. The analysis and comparison with the other four reconfiguration methods were performed by three evaluation criteria, which are mismatch loss, fill factor, and standard deviation, respectively. The conclusion can be drawn that the efficiency, rapidity, and reliability of ASO are superior to those of other methods. Besides, a moving cloud shadow mode of 9 × 9-scaled PV array is designed in this paper, which can be widely recommended to thoroughly study a PV reconfiguration approach.