IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 16, NO.

3, MAY 2001 293

Generation Control Circuit for Photovoltaic Modules

Toshihisa Shimizu, Member, IEEE, Masaki Hirakata, Tomoya Kamezawa, and Hisao Watanabe

Abstract—Photovoltaic modules must generally be connected

in series in order to produce the voltage required to efficiently
drive an inverter. However, if even a very small part of photovoltaic
module (PV module) is prevented from receiving light, the genera-
tion power of the PV module is decreased disproportionately. This
greater than expected decrease occurs because PV modules which
do not receive adequate light cannot operate on the normal oper-
ating point, but rather operate as loads. As a result, the total power
from the PV modules is decreased if even only a small part of the
PV modules are shaded. In the present paper, a novel circuit, re-
ferred to as the generation control circuit (GCC), which enables
maximum power to be obtained from all of the PV modules even if
some of the modules are prevented from receiving light. The pro-
posed circuit enables the individual PV modules to operate effec-
tively at the maximum power point tracking, irrespective of the se-
ries connected PV module system. In addition, the total generated
power is shown experimentally to increase for the experimental
set-up used in the present study.
Index Terms—AC interactive inverter, multistage chopper, pho-
tovoltaic module.
Fig. 1. Series and parallel connection of photovoltaic modules. (a) Series
connection. (b) Parallel connection.
I. INTRODUCTION
the PV modules are normally installed on the roof. Thus, in ad-
R ECENTLY, awareness of the importance of protecting the
global environment has been growing, leading to calls for
progress in the effective use of energy in various fields. As a
dition to shadows created by clouds, those created by neigh-
boring homes, trees, utility and/or telephone poles, and power
result, not only methods for saving energy, but also the devel- line cables sometimes partially cover these PV modules. In con-
opment of the new energy sources has been investigated. PV ventional PV power systems, these shadows lower the overall
cells are currently considered to be a new energy source, and generation power to a larger degree than was initially expected.
a great deal of research has been conducted in this field over Thus, the construction cost is increased, because the number of
the last few decades. As a result, the major disadvantages pre- PV modules installed on the roof must be increased, and as a
viously associated with the application of PV power genera- result, PV power generation will be less attractive. Therefore,
tion, such as initial cost, generation efficiency, and reliability, the present authors developed a new circuit, called the genera-
no longer present such a significant problem. PV generation is tion control circuit (GCC), which maintains generation power
a flexible power generation method which is applicable in both even when some of the PV modules are shaded from light. In
small and large power generation plants, i.e., plants that gen- this method, GCC controls individually the operation point of
erate anywhere from less than 3 kVA to over 100 kVA. In recent each of the PV modules, including the shaded PV modules, so
years, interest in small PV power generation systems designed as to generate the maximum power for each of the modules. As
to be installed and used in the house has grown. However, es- a result, the decrease in the total generation power is minimized.
pecially in urban areas, various problems limit the effectiveness In the present paper, the characteristics and problems associ-
and economic feasibility of PV power generation. When a typ- ated with parallel-connected and series-connected PV modules
ical urban home is equipped with a PV power generation system, are discussed. Next, the principle by which the generation con-
trol circuit operates is presented in relation to solving the above
mentioned problems. Two types of practical circuit configura-
tions for GCC are proposed and the control schemes of these
Manuscript received November 15, 1999; revised February 3, 2001. Recom-
mended by Associate Editor K. Smedley. configurations are described. In addition, the effectiveness of
T. Shimizu is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Tokyo the proposed circuit is confirmed experimentally [1]–[4].
Metropolitan University, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan (e-mail: shimizu@eei.
metro-u.ac.jp).
M. Hirakata is with the Fuji Electric Company, Ltd., Mie 513-0816, Japan II. CONNECTION METHODS OF PV MODULES AND
(e-mail: hirakata-masaki@fujielectric.co.jp). ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS
T. Kamezawa is with the Hitachi Company, Ltd., Chiba 275-8611, Japan
(e-mail: kame@gm.narashino.hitachi.co.jp). A. Connection Methods
H. Watanabe is with the Toshiba Company, Ltd., Tokyo 183-0043, Japan
(e-mail: hisao@wta.att.ne.jp). In the PV power generation system, multiple PV modules are
Publisher Item Identifier S 0885-8993(01)04043-1. generally connected in series, as shown in Fig. 1(a), in order to
0885–8993/01$10.00 © 2001 IEEE
294
Fig. 2. Shadow effect on the PV modules. (a) Construction of PV module and
its internal connection. (b) Generation current on the partially shadowed PV
modules.
obtain sufficient dc voltage for realizing high conversion effi-
ciency in the AC interactive inverters. Furthermore, the conven-
tional PV module is constructed of several PV cells connected in
series, as shown in Fig. 2(a). Fig. 2(b) shows the measured gen-
eration current when some of the PV cells on a PV module are
covered partially by a shadow. It is clear that even the slightest
shadow falling on a PV module causes a significant drop in gen-
eration power. Consequently, the case in which the shaded PV
modules in the PV generation system do not operate under uni-
form generation conditions should be examined.
When the nonshaded PV modules and the shaded PV modules
are connected in parallel, the generation voltage is fixed for each
PV module and is uniform throughout the entire PV generation
system, and the current generated from each PV module flows
without restriction, as shown in Fig. 1(b). In other words, the
output voltage of the PV system becomes the voltage of a single
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 16, NO. 3, MAY 2001
Fig. 3. Generation characteristics for two parallel-connected PV modules.
(a) I –V characteristics. (b) P –V characteristics.
module, and the output current becomes the sum of the currents
in each module.
In contrast, when each PV module is connected in series, the
same current flows through each module and the output voltage
becomes the sum of the voltages across each of the modules.
However, the voltage of each module is decided according to
the generation current, which depends on the generation condi-
tions. Therefore, the optimal generation voltages are not always
obtained for each PV module. In particular, when some of the
PV modules do not have sufficient generation current, as shown
in Fig. 2(a) and (b), the voltage of the PV modules is greatly
decreased and the resultant generation power is also greatly de-
creased.
The individual generation conditions for series-connected or
parallel-connected PV modules are clarified in the following
section through consideration of the operation point.
B. Operation in Parallel-Connected PV Modules
Fig. 3(a) shows the typical generation characteristics and –
curve for two parallel-connected PV modules that have different
generation conditions. In this figure, PV and PV represent
shaded and nonshaded modules, respectively. In parallel con-
nection, the generation voltage is the same for each PV module.
Thus, the operating point of each PV module is given by the
point of intersection of the operation line, which is parallel to
SHIMIZU et al.: GENERATION CONTROL CIRCUIT FOR PHOTVOLTAIC MODULES 295

the -axis (for example, , and ), and the – curve

of each PV module. When the output current of the PV system
is increased from zero to the maximum current, the operation
point of each PV module moves as indicated in Fig. 3(b),
for PV and for PV . This opera-
tion characteristic reveals that not only the nonshaded modules,
but also the shaded module, can operate in the area where each
PV module can generate power. Hence, the total output power
characteristics of these PV modules, the – curve, is obtained
as shown in Fig. 3(b). Then, the total output power, , is
given by

(1)

where, : generation power on PV , : generation

power on PV .
If each voltage is equivalent at the maximum power point,
the output power, , obtained at the maximum power
point, in this case point , becomes

(2)

where, and are the maximum power on PV and

PV , respectively.

C. Operation in Series-Connected PV Modules

Fig. 4(a) shows the typical – curve for PV modules con-
nected in series for the same conditions shown in Fig. 3(a). In
series connection the generation current is the same for each PV
module. Therefore, the operating point of each PV module is
given by the point of intersection of the operation line, parallel
to the -axis (for example, , and ), and the –
curve of each PV module. When the output current of the PV
system is increased from zero to the maximum current, the op-
eration point of each PV module moves as indicated in Fig. 4(a),
for PV and
for PV .
On operation line , the shaded PV module, PV , gener-
ates its maximum power, but the nonshaded module, PV , does
not generate its maximum power yet. When the operation line
moves to , the operation points of each module PV and PV
move to and , respectively, and the generation power
on PV increases. However, the operation point of PV , , Fig. 5(a) and (b) show the operation principles of the pro-
moves to the negative voltage region because the current gen-
erated from PV flows through the bypass diode connected in
anti-parallel with PV , and the resultant generation power on
PV becomes negative. This means that the shaded PV module
cannot generate any power and causes a power loss. On oper-
ation line , the nonshaded PV module, PV , generates the
maximum power, , but the shaded module, PV , cause a
power loss . Hence, the output power, , on this system
is decreased to
(3)
The total output power characteristic of this PV system, the
– curve, is obtained in the same manner and is shown in
Fig. 4(b). Two peaks in power exist, but the output powers at
Fig. 4. Generation characteristics for two series-connected PV modules.
(a) I –V characteristics. (b) P –V characteristics.
these peak points are much smaller than that of the parallel con-
nected condition shown in Fig. 3(b).
Although only two-PV module connection is described in the
present paper, the mechanism by which power reduction occurs
for multiple PV modules that are connected in series is similar
to that for two-PV module connection.
III. GENERATION CONTROL CIRCUIT (GCC)
A. Operation Principles of the Generation Control Circuit
(GCC)
posed generation control circuit, in which PV modules are
connected in series. The GCC has multiple voltage sources,
to , and the sum of these voltage, to , is equivalent to
the output voltage, , on the system. Also, voltage sources
through are connected in parallel to PV modules PV
through PV , respectively. For the circuit shown in Fig. 5(a),
not only the output power of this system but also the power for
GCC are always supplied from the output terminal on the se-
ries connected PV module. However, for the circuit shown in
Fig. 5(b), the voltage source, from to , on GCC gener-
ates the positive or negative output power in two ways because
input terminals, such as and in Fig. 5(a), do not exist.
Therefore, while some of these voltage sources generate pos-
itive output power, the other sources generate negative output
power, and hence the sum of all of these powers should be zero.
296 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 16, NO. 3, MAY 2001

Fig. 6. Circuit configuration of GCC based on a dc/dc converter.

Hence, the output current, , and the output power, , on

this system are calculated as equations (8) and (9), respectively

(8)

(9)

Equation (9) demonstrates that each PV module generates its

own power on the desired generation voltage, even though the
respective generation currents don’t coincide with each other.
Fig. 5. Operating principle of the generation control circuit. (a) Type A. Furthermore, the power obtained from the output terminal on the
(b) Type B. system is the sum of the power generated by these PV modules.
In the system shown in Fig. 5(b), the input power, in (6),
In the system shown in Fig. 5(a), is assumed to be the must be zero because there is no input terminal for the current
largest current, i.e., , as shown in Fig. 5(a). Hence, the output current equals
. However, there is no restriction of the current direction on
the current to . Therefore, the power flows from to PV
(4)
when the difference between and , , is positive
and from PV to when is negative, and the sum
The difference between and is supplied by voltage
of all these powers is zero. Then (5) is revised to
source , enabling PV to maintain generation voltage .
Thus, the total output power, , and the input power, ,
on GCC are calculated as (10)

and the output current is calculated as

(5)
(11)
and
(6) Hence, the resultant output power, , on the system can also
be obtained by (9).
where, is the input current of GCC.
Assuming that the loss on GCC is negligible, the input power B. Practical Circuit Configuration of Generation Control
of GCC is equal to the sum of the output power Circuit
Figs. 6 and 8 show the practical circuit configurations of the
(7) proposed GCC, which realizes the principles shown in Fig. 5(a)
and (b), respectively. Fig. 6 shows the circuit configuration of a
SHIMIZU et al.: GENERATION CONTROL CIRCUIT FOR PHOTVOLTAIC MODULES 297

Fig. 9. Gate signal of the multistage chopper for the GCC.

PV module, thereby, is decided depending both on the –

Fig. 7. Operation waveforms of the dc/dc converter for the GCC. curve and on the generation voltage,

(12)

where, : OFF time of switch , and : Switching In-

terval

(13)

(14)
Thus equals the OFF-duty ratio

(15)

By substituting (15) into (11), the output current is calculated as

(16)

Therefore, the output power, , is expressed as

(17)

Fig. 8. Circuit configuration of GCC based on a multistage chopper. Thus, individual control of each of the generation voltages, ,
and precise generation control is realized.
dc/dc converter having multiple dc voltage output. Each output
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS OF GENERATION
voltage of the dc/dc converter is controlled to when the
CHARACTERISTICS
number of output voltage sources is . Since the output voltages
cannot be controlled individually, precise generation voltage In this chapter, some of the typical generation characteris-
control on each PV module cannot be realized. However, severe tics obtained from the experimental set-up are explained. The
power reduction is prevented on the shaded PV modules. The two-stage chopper circuit shown in Fig. 10 is used in order to
most advantageous feature of this topology is the simple and simplify the explanation. Switching frequency of the chopper
easy control of the dc/dc converter circuit as shown in Fig. 7. circuit is selected to 20 kHz.
Fig. 8 shows the circuit configuration of a multistage chopper As mentioned in (16), output current is expressed as
circuit, and Fig. 9 shows the gate signals for the switches,
(18)
– . The averaged voltage, , in Fig. 8 on steady-state
condition is obtained from the state space averaging method. Since, and are
When the OFF-duty ratio, , on each switch, , is defined
(19)
as Eqs. (12) and (13), the generation control voltage, , for
each PV module, PV , is decided in proportion to the switching and
OFF-duty ratio, , as in (14). The generation current on each (20)
298 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 16, NO. 3, MAY 2001

Fig. 10. Two-stage chopper circuit for the GCC.

power and flowing into and are

(21)
and
(22)
From (14), (21), and (22), it is clear that
(23)
This result means that the chopper circuit allows bidirectional en-
ergy flow between each PV module and the direction of energy
flow is dependent upon the generation current of PV modules.
Fig. 11(a) and (b) show the experimental results of the gen-
eration characteristics (the – and – curves) on the non-
shaded and the shaded PV modules. In order to simulate a par-
tially shaded PV module, part of the PV module is shaded ar-
tificially. The output voltage, the output current, and the output
power are defined as , and , respectively, on the shaded Fig. 11. Experimental results of generation characteristics on a partially
PV module, PV , and as , and , respectively, on the shaded PV module and a nonshaded PV module. (a) I –V characteristics.
(b) P –V characteristics.
nonshaded PV modules, PV .
In Fig. 11(b), the maximum power, , on PV is ob-
tained at , and the maximum power, , on PV is
obtained at . In this case, is slightly lower than
, and is lower than . Since is 3.94
W and is 16.1 W, the potential power, ,
is 20.04 W. Fig. 12 shows the generation characteristics ( –
curves) when these two PV modules are connected in series.
Curves (a) and (b) show the generated power for inactive and ac-
tive condition of generation control circuits as shown in Fig. 10,
respectively. In this case, GCC is operated at the condition of
and . The maximum power is limited
to W on curve (a), but the maximum
power increases to W on curve (b). Thus,
assisted by the generation control circuit, these two PV mod-
ules can operate along the vertical operation line OP shown
in Fig. 11(b), and as a result the resultant generation power
increases. However, the generation power is still
smaller than because the operation voltage Fig. 12. Experimental results of generation characteristics on the two series-
connected PV module. (a) GCC is inactive. (b) GCC is active.
of each PV module does not coincide with the optimum value,
and , in each PV module.
As mentioned previously, the generation voltage across each Fig. 13(b) shows the generation power for the previous gener-
PV module is determined using (14). So the voltage ratio can ation lines. The maximum power is obtained at ,
be controlled using OFF-duty factor control. Fig. 13(a) shows where the operation line crosses each of the maximum genera-
the operation lines when the OFF-duty ratio, , is changed tion voltages, and , and the resultant generation
while maintaining a constant operation voltage on PV2. power is almost equal to the potential power of each of the PV
SHIMIZU et al.: GENERATION CONTROL CIRCUIT FOR PHOTVOLTAIC MODULES 299

Fig. 14. Control system for GCC (multistage chopper).

Fig. 15. Experimental result of the OFF-duty ratio control.

at t1. At t2, the generation power decreased because the ar-

Fig. 13. OFF-duty ratio control and output power. (a) Variation of the OFF- tificially created shadows are increased on the PV1 modules,
duty ratio control and the resultant operation points. (b) Output power versus
the OFF-duty ratio. but the power decrease is minimized. When the artificially cre-
ated shadows are removed at t3, the generation power increases
again. This result demonstrates that the proposed OFF-duty con-
modules. Thus, the OFF-duty control is effective in generating trol performs stable operation.
the maximum power on each of the PV modules. Fig. 16(a) and (b) show the experimental result of the field
Fig. 14 shows the control system in which a multistage test. Two systems, as shown in Fig. 16(a), were used in this
chopper circuit is used for generation control. The output field test in order to compare the generation power. 12 PV mod-
current, , is controlled by the buck-chopper circuit so as to ules are connected in series in each system and the output power
generate the maximum power at the given OFF-duty ratio of rating is 600 W. Generated power in each PV system are sup-
GCC. On the OFF-duty factor control, only the output voltage plied to the utility line through the conventional ac interactive
and the output current are measured, and each OFF-duty inverters. In one system, roughly 4.5% of the surface of the
is adjusted by a microcomputer. The control steps for this PV module was covered by the artificial shadow, as shown in
multistage chopper are shown as follows. Fig. 16(a). In the other system, no shadow covered the surface
Step 1) Initialize each OFF-duty as of the PV module. Fig. 16(b) shows the relationship between
. the test results of the operation time and the generation power
Step 2) Set on each system. Maximum generation power on the nonshaded
Step 3) Keep the ratio of except system reaches almost 480 W. On the shaded system, the gen-
constant, and adjust . eration control circuit was shut down at 9:15 AM and then reac-
Step 4) Control so as to generate the maximum power. tivated at 12:20 AM. The generated power decreased consider-
Step 5) (change the target ) ably, to 300 W, when the generation control circuit was inactive.
Step 6) If then . When the generation control circuit was reactivated, the gener-
Step 7) Repeat steps 3–6. ated power increased to 360 W. These results verify the ability
Fig. 15 shows the experimental result of OFF-duty control. of the generation control circuit to prevent large drops in gener-
The generation power increases when the GCC control starts ated power due to shadows on PV modules.
300 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 16, NO. 3, MAY 2001

REFERENCES
[1] M. Hirakata, T. Shimizu, and G. Kimura, “Generation control circuit for
PV system,” in Proc. ICEE’96, vol. 2, Aug. 1996, pp. 992–996.
[2] N. H. Kutkut, D. M. Divan, and D. W. Novotony, “Charge equalization
for series connected battery strings,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 31,
pp. 562–568, May/June 1995.
[3] H. Fujimoto, T. Kagotani, and H. Kidoguchi, “Photovoltaic inverter with
a novel cycloconverter for interconnection to a utility line,” in IEEE
Proc. IAS’95, 1995, pp. 2461–2467.
[4] B. S. Borowy and Z. M. Salameh, “Methodology for optimally sizing
the combination of a battery bank and PV array in a wind/PV hybrid
system,” IEEE Trans. Energy Conversion, vol. 11, pp. 367–373, June
1996.

Toshihisa Shimizu (M’80) was born in Tokyo,

Japan, in 1955. He received the B.E., M.E., and
Dr.Eng. degrees in electrical engineering from
Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan, in
1978, 1980, and 1991, respectively.
In 1998, he was a Visiting Professor at the Vir-
ginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Vir-
ginia Tech), Blacksburg, for four months. He joined
Fuji Electric Corporate Research and Development,
Ltd. in 1980. Since 1994, he joined the Department
of Electrical Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan Uni-
versity, as an Associate Professor. His research interests include power con-
verters, high frequency inverters, photovoltaic power generations, UPS’s, EMI
problems, etc.
Dr. Shimizu has received the Transactions Paper Award from the Institute
of Electrical Engineers of Japan in 1999. He is a member of the Institute of
Electrical Engineers of Japan (IEEJ) and the Japan Society of Power Electronics.

Masaki Hirakata was born in Gunma, Japan, in

1972. He received the B.E. degree in electrical
engineering from the Science University of Tokyo,
Japan, in 1995 and the M.E. degree in electrical
Fig. 16. Experimental result of the field test. (a) Block diagram of the engineering from the Tokyo Metropolitan University
experimental setup. (b) Output power versus operation time. in 1997.
Since 1997, he has been with Fuji Electric
Company, Ltd., Tokyo, His research interests include
V. CONCLUSIONS power converters, and ac drive systems.
Mr. Hirakata is a member of the Institute of Elec-
The generation control circuit for PV modules is proposed, trical Engineers of Japan (IEEJ).
and two practical circuit configurations, the dc/dc converter type
and the multistage chopper type, are presented. Despite the fact
that several of the PV modules are connected in series, the gen-
Tomoya Kamezawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, in
eration control circuit enables each of the individual PV mod- 1973. He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees in elec-
ules to operate effectively at maximum power even when some trical engineering from Tokyo Metropolitan Univer-
of the PV modules are covered by shadows. The dc/dc converter sity, in 1996 and 1998, respectively.
Since 1998, he has been with Hitachi Corporation,
type GCC yields simple and stable circuit operation, except for Chiba, Japan. His research interests include power
the precise generation control on each PV module. The multi- converters and photovoltaic generation systems.
chopper type GCC yields stable circuit operation and precise
generation control on each PV module. The OFF-duty control
method on the chopper type GCC is presented in order to op-
timize the generation voltage on each of the PV modules. Ex-
perimental and field tests demonstrated the effectiveness of the
proposed GCC. The number of stages on the multistage chopper Hisao Watanabe was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1973.
or the number of the secondary voltage circuits on the dc/dc con- He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees in electrical
engineering from Tokyo Metropolitan University, in
verter should be determined by the number of PV modules that 1997 and 1999, respectively.
are connected in series. Since 1999, he has been with Toshiba Corpora-
tion, Tokyo. He has worked on the Development and
Design Section, Fuchu Works. His research interests
ACKNOWLEDGMENT include power electronics for elevator and escalator
system.
The authors would like to thank G. Kimura for his help in Mr. Watanabe is a member of the Institute of Elec-
construction of a field experimentation model. trical Engineers of Japan (IEEJ).