Twisted Two-Step Arrangement for Maximum Power Extraction From a Partially Shaded PV Array

Partial shading is one of the biggest challenges in the optimum utilization of photovoltaic (PV) panels. Occurrence of shade on the front side of a panel affects the light transmission completely or partially, leading to its production loss. Hence, in this article, to improve the electrical performance of the partially shaded solar panel, a physical-array-reconfiguration-based novel twisted two-step technique is proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is verified by utilizing three shade patterns at various locations of the panel. A comparative analysis with various prominent methods in terms of four critical performance metrics is carried out. Furthermore, an experimental study conducted on a 3 × 3 PV array reveals that the output power has increased by 41% by the reconfiguration technique.