The electricity demand of the world is growing at a rapid pace. On the other hand, pollution levels due to conventional power generating techniques are drastically increasing and resulting in harmful environmental issues and impacts. As an alternative to this, renewable or clean energy generation from solar photovoltaic’s (PV) in large scale grid connected systems is being increasingly encouraged at the present time. One of the emerging trends in solar PV module power generation is building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems. It meets the local load demands of the building or residential systems and can be used as a stand-alone or on-grid connected system. This paper briefs about the development and recent trends related to renewable energy generation from BIPV systems and its maximum power generation techniques. It also describes both the current-voltage (I-V) and power-voltage (P-V) characteristics of various BIPV products at dissimilar values of solar irradiation. With BIPV, the building or residential components like the roof, an outer wall, window glass, etc., are replaced by PV array module and hence a dual purpose is served with a reduction in the overall cost.

Building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems are gaining major attention in modern cities due to the absence of free space to install ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) plants. A large interconnected BIPV array (liBA) is essential for standalone and grid-connected BIPV systems. The major problem with liBA is the partial shading (PS) phenomenon that increases the mismatch losses (MmLs) and reduces the maximum power (MP) output. Modelling, simulation, and performance analysis of a novel 7 × 5 and 7 × 8 hybrid triple-tied total-cross-tied (TrTd-TtCrTd) fixed BIPV array for increasing MP with reduced MmLs under extreme PS conditions are the main goals of this research paper. In addition, existing hybrid arrays such as series-parallel total-cross-tied (SePl-TtCrTd), bridge-linked total-cross-tied (BdLk-TtCrTd), and honey-combed total-cross-tied (HnCb-TtCrTd), as well as conventional triple-tied (TrTd) and total-cross-tied (TtCrTd), are compared. The simulation results are also validated experimentally using two PS situations. Finally, the global maximum power point (GlMxPoPt), MmLs, fill factor (FiFa), and efficiency (Effy) are used to evaluate the performance. Under six different extreme PS scenarios, the simulation results show that the proposed 7 × 5 hybrid TrTd-TtCrTd array increases GlMxPoPt by 4.84 %, decreases MmLs by 3.46 %, and increases FiFa and Effy by 2.20 % and 0.34 %, respectively. Under two severe PS scenarios, simulation results show that the proposed 7 × 8 large size hybrid TrTd-TtCrTd array increases GlMxPoPt by 3.43 %, decreases MmLs by 2.29 %, and increases FiFa and Effy by 1.26 % and 0.23 %, respectively. Under two extreme PS scenarios, experimental results indicate that the proposed 7 × 8 hybrid TrTd-TtCrTd solar array increases GlMxPoPt by 2.84 %, decreases MmLs by 2.12 %, and increases FiFa and Effy by 1.82 % and 0.22 %, respectively. The proposed hybrid TrTd-TtCrTd array improves GlMxPoPt, reduces MmLs and improves FiFa and Effy with low wiring requirements under different PS cases.

On-grid and off-grid building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems require a large size BIPV array (LSBA) as their major renewable energy generator. Partial Shading (PS) significantly contributes to power loss in LSBA. One effective solution to mitigate the adverse effect of PS in LSBA is the application of fixed or static BIPV array configurations (BIPV-ACs). This research article critically compares the different fixed BIPV-ACs for modelling, designing and critical analysis of LSBA. Different existing and proposed fixed BIPV-ACs are modelled and simulated in MATLAB/Simulink under six dissimilar cases of PS patterns. Further, the performance is investigated in terms of global maximum power point (G-M-PP), mismatch loss (ML), fill factor (FF), efficiency (η), relative power loss (RPL) and relative power gained (RPG) to identify the best BIPV-AC. Experimental justification of simulation results under two PS pattern cases is reported. The best BIPV-ACs with high G-M-PP and low ML are Total-Cross-Tied (TCT), Triple-Tied (TT), Modified Triple-Tied (M-TT) and Hybrid Bridge-Linked Total-Cross-Tied (H-BL-TCT). Finally, the comprehensive critical analysis reveals that the H-BL-TCT array is the best performing array with low ML, high FF and η, and high G-M-PP with low wiring requirements than the TCT array. The simulation results conclude that the H-BL-TCT array improves G-M-PP by 6.40 %, reduces ML by 4.23 %, and improves FF & η by 4.58 % and 0.54 %. The experimental results infer that the H-BL-TCT array improves G-M-PP by 0.83 %, reduces ML by 0.75 %, and improves FF & η by 0.88 % and 0.09 %.

Partial shading is a significant limitation that decreases the maximum power output of large photovoltaic (PV), and building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) arrays installed in modern buildings. One of the optimum solutions to mitigate the difficulty related to partial shading is applying different interconnected fixed BIPV array configurations. This research article aims to modelling, simulation, and performance analysis of a novel conventional 7 × 8 Quarter-Tied (QrTd) fixed BIPV array configuration under the centre, left staircase, frame, left corner, diagonal, and left side shading pattern cases in Matlab/Simulink. Moreover, a comprehensive study with existing conventional fixed BIPV array configurations such as Series-Parallel (SePl), Bridge-Linked (BdLk), Honey-Combed (HnCb), Triple-Tied (TrTd), Total-Cross-Tied (TtCrTd) array interconnections is also executed. The variable parameters for performance evaluation include global maximum power point (GlMxPoPt), mismatch losses (MmLs), fill factor (FiFa), efficiency (Effy), relative power loss (RlPwLs) and relative power gained (RlPwGn). Experimental validation under two partial shading cases is also reported for the justification of simulation results. The simulation results infer that the proposed QrTd configuration improves GlMxPoPt by 4.31%, reduces MmLs by 3.54%, and improves FiFa & Effy by 2.44% and 0.34%, respectively, under six different shading cases. The experimental results conclude that the proposed QrTd configuration improves GlMxPoPt by 1.62%, reduces MmLs by 1.15%, and improves FiFa & Effy by 0.65% and 0.14%, respectively, under two shading cases. Moreover, the wiring requirement and the wiring losses are also lower in the proposed QrTd configuration than in the TtCrTd configuration.