On the optimization of the interconnection of photovoltaic modules integrated in vehicles.

ABSTRACT

The design of photovoltaic modules for vehicle-integrated photovoltaics (VIPVs) must consider specific operating conditions like partial shading. Module cell interconnection topology must demonstrate resilience to such conditions to maximize energy generation without compromising shadow-free performance, manufacturing complexity, or cost. This study presents a modeling tool for VIPV, calculating effective irradiance on the VIPV surface using Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) point clouds to estimate the direct component and sky images for the diffuse irradiance. Subsequently, energy generated by the VIPV module is computed using circuit simulation software. Different module topologies regarding cell number, size, interconnections, and bypass diodes have been analysed. Results show significant daily energy production variations under partial shading conditions for different configurations (up to 41%). While integrating a large number of bypass diodes (160) offers optimal performance, this configuration may be impractical due to manufacturing complexity. However, similar results are achievable with appropriate configurations containing parallel branches and only 8 bypass diodes.