Effects of PV array layout, electrical configuration and geographic orientation on mismatch losses caused by moving clouds

The results of this study confirmed a prior conclusion, namely, that the mismatch losses decrease with decreasing PV string length. It was also found that the array orientation has a considerable effect on the mismatch losses of the studied array layouts. The mismatch losses were the smallest when the dominant direction of movement of the shadow edges was perpendicular to the PV strings. The differences in the mismatch losses between the studied electrical array configurations were very small. The results indicated that the mismatch losses caused by moving clouds have only a minor effect on the overall efficiency of PV arrays.