Impact of shadow on the performances of a domestic photovoltaic pumping system incorporating an MPPT control: A case study in Bejaia, North Algeria

• Photovoltaic pumping system.
• Impact shadow on the performances of a domestic photovoltaic pumping system.
• Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control.

Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy is the solution combining economy and efficiency for the supply of stand alone systems. This combination can only be achieved by taking into account the effects of shading which have dramatic consequences on the electrical power delivered. In this paper, we present an experimental study of the effect of shading PV array on a pumping system performance. The experimental bench is installed at the Industrial Technology and Information Laboratory (LTII) in Bejaia (Algeria). In order to test the performances of the proposed system we propose different array configurations which show different behaviors against partial shading conditions. Shadow impacts fundamentally the global PV pumping system production; its influence is difficult to model because it depends on many parameters such as the configuration of the PV array, the relative rate of shadow, and the shaded area of the module. In general, it is better to have a completely shaded string than several partially shaded ones. These are ones of the most important conclusions obtained in this work.