IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. ED-18, NO.

8, AUGUST 1971

483

Electrical Output of Shadowed Solar Arrays

Abslracf-The effects of shadows on the current-voltage characteristics of solar cell circuits are studied and used for the development of several mathematical models. These models describe
circuits
of any geometry with or without shunt or blocking diodes. For efficient analyses of larger arrays the concept of the shadowing factor
is developed. All models are useful in analyses performed by hand
or digital computer, using theoretical or empirical input data.

DEFINITIONS
AND NOMENCLATURE
Shadows

A single pointlightsourceilluminatinganobject
placed before a surface will produce two different types
of shadows: an eigenshadow(orself-shadow)on
that
part of the object which is naturally not illuminated,
INTRODUCTION
and a cast shadow on the surface
which is caused by the
object.
Only
the
latter
type
of
shadowing
is considered
REQUENTLY, portions of solar energy converin
this
paper.
All
shadows
are
considered
to
have zero
ters(solararrays)areshadedbystructural
eleillumination
intensity,
and
transitions
between
illumiments suchas antennas, booms, or portions of the
nated
and
shadowed
areas
are
assumed
to
be abrupt.
satellite body. Such shadows are usually time-varying
T
h
e
models
presented
in
the
following,
however,
can be
and of complicated geometry. Accurate knowledge of
used
directly
to
treat
all
cases
of
penumbra-type
the output losses caused by these shadows is required
shadows.
for a precise determination
of the actual array power
The determination of the actual shadow patterns on
output as well as for assessment of bus voltage variathe
array is beyond the scope of this paper, and various
tions, ripple, andnoise.
methods
suchasthose
of descriptivegeometry
[l],
Because of the nature of the electrical characteristics
photography,
or
computer
techniques
[
2
]
may
be
used
of solar cells, the power losses are not proportional to
todeterminethem.Instantaneouslyvaryingshadow
the shaded, or projected shaded areas, but are greater.
be time-averaged,just as theinstanTwo mechanisms induce these power losses: shadowed patternsmay
taneously illuminated array areas (i.e., power output)
cells in series with illuminated
cellsblock the current
may be averaged, provided the instantaneous values are
flow in an entire series string, and shadowed cellsin
not needed for calculating noise, ripple, or charge/disparallel with illuminated
cells shunt part of the genperformance
of an
energy
storage
battery
erated current. Currentflow blocking may be minimized charge
connected to the array.
byinstalling so-called shuntdiodesacrossshadowed
cells or cell groups, while shunting may be minimized by
Solar Cells
dividinglargeparallelgroupsintosmalleronesand
T h e basis for all solar array models presented herein
connectingeachgroupthrough
a so-calledblocking,
is a solar cell current-voltage, or I ( v ) , relationship obdiode to the bus. This diode isolates shadowed groups
tained by physical measurement at some standard test
fromilluminatedonesandtherebypreventsshunt
conditions. The solarcell is considered a two-port black
current losses.
Previous work on shadowed solar arrays published in box with light energy entering one port, and current,
voltage, and impedance being offered at the other. The
the literature reported on more or
lessspecificcases,
mostly on flat, semioriented arrays. The purpose
of this equivalent circuit of this black box is of no interest to
paper is to present general array and subarray models this study. The exit ports I ( v ) characteristics are deuseful for almost any array geometry, circuit topology, fined by the externally measurable quantities of terminal current 1, as function of terminal voltage v , at a
or array size andcomplexity.Several
models are degiven
light intensity Q, cell temperature, and state of
rived from actual cell characteristics, and are given for
charged-particle
irradiation.Implicitintheseoutput
analyses requiring varying degrees of accuracy. For the
characteristics
is
the internal cell seriesresistance R,
analysis of larger, nonoriented arrays, oneof the models
which
causes
the
familiar
voltagetranslationas
Q is
is simplified resulting in the shadowing factor concept.
varied
[
3
1.
This concept, providing speedy and precise results, has
I t is assumed that the cell temperature and chargedbeenusedsuccessfullyby
theauthorandotherson
particle
irradiation is held constant for the following.
several occasions (not reported here).
T h e black box output at some standard conditions(Le.,
Manuscript received August 25,1969. This paper was presented
at
the Seventh IEEE Photovoltaic SpecialistsConference, Pasadena, at light level Q) may be given functionally by

Calif., November 19-21, 1968.

The author is with T R W Systems, Inc., Redondo Beach,Calif.

Ic(v>

= IL

- Idvo),

20

484

lEEE TRANSACTIONS ON E L ~ C I K U I Yu n y I u w ,

= I L - vG(v),

<0

(1)

where I, is the terminal current, v is the terminal voltage, and I& is a constant current equal to the terminal
short-circuit current. Io(v0) is a function responsible for
the typical solar cell curve shape and corresponds conceptually to the diode conduction current in the simple
lumped-constants solar cell model frequently given in
the literature.
G(v) is a nonlinear conductive element in parallel with
the output port terminals which affects the cell characteristics only whenZI is negative. This element represents
the cell reversecharacteristics,whichareimportant
when solar cells are connected into arrays where they
are subjected to external bias.
I t has been determined experimentally that, at light
intensities corresponding to between zero and two solar
constants, the solar cell I ( v ) curve shape is invariant
with intensity and translates only along the current and
voltage axes. Using this finding, (1) may be written for
any light intensity different from Q (i.e.?a t k Q ) :

I ~ ( v ) k I L - I O ( VOA v ) ,
=

klr,

-~G(v),

v 20

v<o

(24

where

AV

(1 - k ) l ~ R .

(2b)

T h e significance of (1) and ( 2 ) is clear in Fig. 1. Curve

A in this figure shows a cell curve at intensity Q, while

Fig. 1. Effects of illuminationandshadowingonthecurrent-

curve B shows the samecell curve atzero intensity, Le.,

voltage relationshipsof a solarcell and a submodule with twocells
in parallel.
a t k = O . Any point on the A curve of Fig. 1 has shifted
along the current axis by the amount of (1 - - k ) I L =I&
and along the
vol tage axis by an amount
of Av = (1 - k) I L R ing (3) in terms of v and then forming the sum a t conof I,:
=I&!. The negative signin iront of Av is consistent stant current values
with the observation that the current to be subtracted
i-S
from theshort-current
at agivenvoltage
becomes
V8(IJ =
c"d(1)iIls.
(4)
i= 1
smaller and smaller as the light intensity is reduced to
lower andlowervalues,
Le., the I ( v ) curveshiftsto
Equation (4) may now be expressed in terms
of I and
higher and higher voltages.
written functionally as
The intensity modifier k may reflect changes in the
Ia(VJ
~ [ K IL Io(V, - A V ) ]
(5 a>
solar distance, cover glass transmission losses, or angle
of incidence effects.
where

Submodules and Strings

V, =

A number of solar cells connected in parallel form a

submodule, and a number of submodules in serieswhich
provide power directly to the bus is called a string. A
submodule composed of p equal cells of (2) connected in
parallel has characteristics
IM(v>
= ~ [ K IL I O ( VOA u ) ] ,

20

= P[KIL- v G ( v ) ] ,

7~

<0

(sa)

where
AV = (1 - k ) p I L R .

(3b)

The first-quadrant portion of the I ( V ) curve of a string

with s submodules in series is obtained by first express-

S?I

and

AV

= (1

- K)ILSR.

(5 b)

T h e reverse characteristics of the string I ( V ) curve are

of no importance if isolation diodes connect the string
to the bus.

Array
.The array consistsof all the stringsfeeding a particular bus system. Its equation is obtained by forming the
sum of all string currentsat constant voltage values and
accountingfortheisolationdiodedrop.
If the array
voltage is forced by an energy storage battery aornumber of other power-producing strings, the string voltage
V , is also forced so t h a t

RAUSCHENBACH

: ELECTRICAL OUTPUT

485

OF SHADOWED SOLAR ARRAYS

where V Dis the isolation diode drop and I 8 and I D are

the respective string and diode currents.
For an array comprised of m strings, each generally
beingilluminated
at adifferentintensity,thearray
current I A is
m

j= 1
m

[kjIL - IO(VS $. V D

- A v ) j ] V ~ s (7)

I,(v) = I M ( v )= I L - Io(~0).

(10)

Curve A in Fig. 1 shows that this approximation calculates the power output as too high from this partially
shadowed submodule.
Next, assume that the above submodule of two cells
inparallel is represented by twoequallyilluminated
cells at one-half of the original intensity. The submodule
equation is the sum at constant voltages of two cells of
(2) with k = 0.5 :

j-1

EFFECTS
OF SHADOWS
ON CELLS
AND SUBMODULES
A shadow falling on a portion
of a single cell or a

I M ( v )= I L - 2I0(~0- 0.51~R).

(11)

This curve,also shown in Fig.1, is lower than the correct

curve.
Beforeproceeding,
(9) shall begeneralized. If the
submodule contains p cells in parallel, and r p of them
are illuminated, i.e.,
(1- r ) 9 of them are shadowed, then
the submodule equation becomes

submodule will reduce the total output by two mechanisms: 1) by reducing the energy input to the cell, and
2) by increasing interhal energy losses in the nonilluminated cell portions. If the energy conversion capability
is uniform over the entire active
cell area, the shortIM(z')= I i l l u m Idark
circuit current will be proportional to the nonshadowed
(illuminated) area, regardlessof the shape orposition of where
the shadow (at leastfor up to two solar constants intenI i l l u m = rpRIL - rpIO(v0 - A V I )
sity and contemporary solar cells). If the total active
cell area is A and the illuminated, active portion
thereof where
is Ad, the short-circuit current output of the partially
Av, = (1 - r)pILR.
shadowed cell becomesr 1 where
~
The dark component, I d a r k = - (1-r)pIo(vo-Avz) with
Avz= (1- - r ) f i I ~ R , is, of course, independent of k.
Equations (10) and (11) may be similarly generalized.
All three models, shown in Fig. 1, are then expressed as
Hence, a partial shadow on a
cell will have the same
effect on I L as reduced light intensity on
a nonshadowed follows.
Accurate Model: From (9),
cell. T h e remainder of the cell I ( v ) curve will, however,
not follow thisrelationshipas
will be shownbythe
1-r
examples below.
I,(v) = rp AIL - IO(VO
- A z J~ )-- IO(VO
- AVZ)
r
For illustration, let a submodule at normal incidence
consisting of p = 2 identical cells in parallel be partially
Av, = (1 - k)rpILR
shadowed with r = 0.5, and such that one cell is illumiAvZ = (1 - r)pILR
nated and the other is dark. From ( 2 ) the illuminated
V 2 0.
(12)
cell equation with k = 1 is I c ( v ) = I . ~ , - l o ( v ~ )and
, that
of theshadowedordark
cell with k = O is I,(v)
Optimistic Approximation : From (10) ,
= -1o(vo - ILR). The partially shadowed submodule
I,(v) = rp[kIL - Io(v0- A v ) ]
characteristics are the current sum of these two equations at constant voltage values:
AV = (1 - ~ ) P I L R

IM(V>= Ia(v) J k b )
= I L - IO(vo) - Io(v0 - I L R ) .

v 2 0.
(9)

Boththe single-cell componentsandtheirsumsare

illustrated in Fig. 1.
While (9) represents the correct solution to the
examplegiven,thereareother,approximatesolutions
available
which
may
solve
certain
problems
more
rapidly. These approximations are shown below.
First, assume that the above submodule of two cells
in parallel is represented by the illuminated cell only.
In this case, the submodule equation is identical to a
single-cell equation and the losses in the dark cell are
neglected :

Pessimistic Approximation: From (1l),

Av = (1 - rk)ILR

v 2 0.

(14)

Reverse Characteristics: For (12), (13), and (14),

I M ( v )= p[rkIL- v G ( v ) ] ,

< 0.

T o facilitate writing of (12)-(14), all three equations for

partially shadowed submodules are expressed simply as

486
\

Fig. 2.
IM(V)

I(0)

\ \

I .

HIGH OUTPUT
CELL NUMBER 2
1*(v)

Current-voltage characteristics of two unequal solar cells connected in series.

J(v),

v20

I ( 0 ) - ZJG(V), v

<0

STRING
MODELS WITHOUT
SHUNT
DIODES
(15)

T h e generalcurrent-voltagecharacteristics
of an
entire unshadowed solar cell string ( 5 ) are nearly idenwhere I ( 0 ) = rpkIL, and J(v) provides the same function
tical to the average individual
cell characteristics, exfor the submodule that Io(vo)serves in the cell ( l ) , except for thecoordinatescales,someadditionalseries
cept that J(v) may represent any of the corresponding
resistance due to cell interconnections, and some minor
terms in (12)-(14)~.
alterations of the cell I( V ) curves due to the string
I n 1961, Luft [4] measured the variation in cell outassemblytechniques.Forsimplicity,theseeffectsare
putwiththeamount
of shadowing on someearlier
understood to be included in the basic
cell model and,
1-by-2-cm solar cells with 1.5 grid lines/cm. He found
hence,areomittedinthisdiscussion.Theblocking
that the cell open-circuit voltages and the currents near
diodes are considered later in the array analysis.
theoptimumpowerpointdidnotcorrespondtothe
In this section it is assumed that the solar cells have
values,whichwouldbeexpectedfromlightintensity
infinite breakdown voltages and zero reverse currents.
variations,butweremostlylower,dependingonthe
This assumption is an excellent one as long as the cell
shadowlocation on the cells. Whilethesevariations
reversecurrentsremainnegligible(comparedtothe
were relatively significant for single-cell measurements,
cell output currents) up to voltages in the order of the
the deviation becameless significant whenthe shadowed
magnitude of thebusvoltage.Themodel
for aparcell was part of a larger group of cells (string). In 1966,
tially shadowed submodule with p cells in parallel was
Treble [5] reported experimental results which showed
shown in (15) to be I M ( =I(O)
~ ) -J(v) and the string
thatthe cell I,, is indeedproportionaltothenonI ( V ) curvewasobtainedbysumming
all the s subshadowed cell area and is not affected by shape or posimodule characteristicsof that string at constant current
tion of the shadow. However, he did not report on the
values as shown for (4) and (5) for the nonshadowed
variations of other cell parametersasafunction
of
case. By substitution,
shadowing.
I e ( V S )= I ( 0 ) - J ( V B AV).
(16)
CURRENT-LIMITING
BY CELLSOR SUBMODULES
Threesolutionsto
(16) areoutlinedforapartially
CONNECTED
IN SERIES
of s = 48 series-connected
shadowed string consisting
=

I n Fig. 2, two cells of unequal output are shown connected in series. The terminal behavior of this cell pair,
requiring 11=I,, is obtained by summing the cell voltages at constantcurrentvaluesasillustrated.
I t is
clearly seen that the lower output cell number one, i.e.,
a shadowed cell, limits the output from the higher outp u t cell number two. The amount of the limiting depends, of course, on the reverse characteristics of cell
number one. In order to analyze
cells connected in series.
thereversebreakdowncharacteristicsmustbeconsidered as expressed by the term G ( v ) in ( 2 ) .

submodules of p = 8 parallel-connected cells each, illuminatedwithintensity

Q. Fromthe infinitenumber of
possible shadow patterns, three distinct cases of special
interest may be isolated
Case A: The same portions of active cell areas are
shadowed in each submodule.
Case B : One submodule is completely shadowed, all
others are illuminated.
Case C: Several submodules are shadowed, each by a
differentamount.Themostheavilyshadowedsubmodule is illuminated by the ratio
r of (8).

RAUSCHENBACH: ELECTRICAL OUTPUT OF SHADOWED SOLAR ARRAYS

487

reverse characteristics is indeed a very realistic model

leading to much less conservatism in power assessments
than may be deduced from Fig. 5.

STRING VOLTAGE (VOLTS)

Fig. 3.

I ( V ) curves of a partially shadowed string

without shunt diodes.

STRING
MODELSWITH SHUNT
DIODES
From Figs. 2 and 3 i t becomes readily apparent that,
if a cell in a series string is shadowed, the amount of
current limitingcan be reduced, Le., theoutputincreased, if cells with low breakdown voltages are used.
This thinking has led to the use of shunt, or bypass,
diodes connected across shadowed cells or submodules.
The addition of theseshuntdiodesacrossshadowed
submodules artificially produces a very low breakdown
voltage. The diodes are connected across the submodules
such that the shunt diodegoes into forward conduction
when thesubmoduleissubjectedtoreversebias.
A
submodule becomes reversed biased when the remainder
of the series string containing this submodule tries
to
force a greater current through this submodule than its
short-circuit current permits.
Early work on shunt diode application was done in
1963 byBaronandVirobik[6],
[SI,whosuccessfully
incorporatedshuntdiodesinthePioneerSpacecraft
solar array. In 1964, Virobik developed an approximate
modelfor solararrayanalysisutilizingshuntdiodes
[lo]. Barton refined this model in 1965 and used i t in
graphical form for practical array analyses
[ l l ] . Conn
[12] adoptedBartons modelin1966for
thedigital
computer
analyses
described
by
Luft,
Barton,
and
Conn [13].
In the following, a precise string model with shunt
diodes is developed as a logical extension of the discussionsinthe
foregoing sections. An approximation is
then made which leads to Bartons model. This is accomplished by first substituting the shunt diode characteristics Id(v) for G(v) in(15), so that the submodule
equationwith p cells and d shunt diodesinparallel
becomes

The solutions to (16) for the cases above (illustrated

in Fig. 3) are as follows.
Case A : Equation (16) is directly applicable since r
in this equation is identical to all the rs in the s = 48
submodule equations.
Case B : According to the assumption
of negligible
reverse currentflow through darkcells, the string output
I,(V) = I ( 0 ) - J(V),
05v
is nearly zero.
Case C: By the foregoing, the most heavily shadowed
= I(0)
dId(v),
v <0
(11)
submodule limits the string output. Hence, the string
where i t is implied that the shunt diode forward conoutput is equal to the sum of (s - 1) =47 fully illumiduction currentflows only when v is negative. The string
natedsubmodulesplusonepartiallyshadowedsubvoltage is obtained similarly as shown earlier by first
module, all of the type of (15). T h e graphical solution of
expressing (17) in terms of v, forming the sum
this sum is given for submodules according to (14) and
8
(for a number of values of r by the dashed curves) in
V
d
I
d
=
[ m
(18)
Fig. 3. T h e solid curves in this figure show the experii= 1
mental dataof [7].
The test resultsincluded in Fig. 3 were obtained from and expressing it again in terms of I,
a typical string consisting of 1-by-2-cm-size cells with
1 8 ( V 8 )= ~ ( I M
v , ,p , S, d , Y , . * ) (19)
very low breakdown voltages in the order
of 2 to 4V and
of 1963-1964 vintage. Very similar results were reportedFor a partially shadowed string with shunt diodes, the
same three shadowing cases studiedfor a string without
in 1965 bySullivan [8], whoalsostudiedthereverse
discussed again here.
behavior of severalsubmodules.Based
on Sullivans shunt diodes are
Case A: Since this case is independent of the reverse
study of less leaky cells and the characteristics of other,
more
recently
manufactured
cells with 20-to-30-V characteristics, the results obtained with either (16) or
breakdown voltages, the string
model of (16) without (19) are identical.

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON E L O L I K U ~U L I . ~ - ,

488

40C

35c

30C

25C

-*

s
OT

2M:

cd
I-

VI

15C

1 oc

5c
STRINGVOLTAGE[VOLTS)

Fig. 4. I ( V ) curves of the partially shadowed string of

Fig. 3 with shunt diodes.
C

Case B : The string curve is the sum of (s - I) =47

STRING VOLTAGE V (VOLTS)
fully illuminated submodules plus one nonilluminated
Fig. 5 . Partially shadowed string characteristics for illustrated
submodule of (17) as illustrated in Fig. 4 for r = 0. I t will
shadow pattern (shadowing Case C of Fig. 3).
be noted that only the power (and voltage drop) dissipated in the shunt diode
is lost.
Fig. 4 alsoillustratestheresultingsummationfor
where ZJ is the submodule photovoltaic voltage under
eight discrete stepsof Y , as well as the experimental data full illumination and V d the voltage drop of the shunt
of [ 7 ] .
diode connected across this now shadowed submodule.
Case C: T h e effect of a general shadow pattern on a
If A V could be assumed a
constant, then a family of
stringconsisting of 20 submodules of 7 parallel-con- curves, each displaced by
A V to the left of adjacent
nected cells each is illustrated in Fig.5.
curves, could be drawn. The highest voltage curve, of
T h e experimental data substantiate the validity
of course, is theunshadowedoutputcurve
(18) andinthe model. The somewhat higher experimental current
creasing
numbers
of entire
submodules
shadowed
output as compared to the prediction was caused
by (shadowing Case B above) would be represented by the
incompleteshadowing of the cells duringtheexperilower voltage lines shown in Fig.
6.
ment. The theoretical curve of Fig. 5 was obtained by
Similarly, shadowing of series-connected columns of
digitalcomputercomputationscarriedoutaccording
cells (shadowing Case A above) reduces the unshadowed
to (17)-(19).
string output by
AI = (1- - r ) l ( O ) as shown by the current
In the following, Barton's approximationis described. lines in Fig. 6. Any particular shadow pattern on the
Inspection of Figs. 4 and 5 reveals a certain pattern
string can then readily be transformed into the correaccording to which the string
I( V ) curve shapeis altered sponding I ( V ) curve by the method suggested by and
when cells in a submodule are shadowed.
If one sub- illustrated in Fig. 6. By determining the value for A V
module is completely shadowed, the I( V ) curve will, in experimentally,
this
approximation
may
become
a
...~
..., accurate
.
general terms,- be loweredin voltageby A V=v V d hiphlv
one. Toimorovetheaccuracveven

489

RAUSCHENBACH : ELECTRICAL OUTPUT OF SHADOWED SOLAR ARRAYS

"THEORETICAL CURVE" OF
FIGURE 5 . DOTTED LINE
IS THE APPROXIMATE
MODEL OUTPUT.

\
\

would lead to prohibitively large amounts of d a t a t o be

generatedand processed.While the shadowing factor
could be used in theanalysis of arrays using shunt
diodes, it is developed here only for arrays not using
them. Blocking diodes, however, are required.
For the following, consider a solar array of a spinning
satellite. Define a coordinate system xyz such that its
origin is located at the center-of-mass of the arbitrary
shaped satellite. The z axis coincides with the satellite
spin axis, and the center of the sun is always located in
the yz plane. Let the solar array be divided into zones
2, each characterized by its typical zone temperature
and zone angle a. Let each zone be divided into flat
panels (facets) N , symmetrically distributed and separatedbypanelangle
X. The first panels of different
zones are displacedfrom
the referencepanelbyan
angle x.The solar vector makes an angle
0 with the spin
axis, and the normal to each panel makes an angle
y
with the solar vector. In terms of the given definitions,
for each panelof each zone,

I t should be noted that for naturally shaded panels

cos y
of (20) is negative. Panels with such negative outputs
musteither
be discounted if theyconnectthrough
blocking diodes to the bus, or they must be considered
as loads as discussed earlier in connection with Fig.
1.
Theoutputfrom
a partiallyshadowedarraywas
given by (8). If we define the relationship
r l ( 0 ) cos y = 0 ,

5 Y < 0.5

STRING VOLTAGE V (VOLTS)

Fig. 6. Accurate and approximate I ( V ) curves of the partially

shadowed string of Fig. 5 .

more, the sharp corners may be rounded off to approximatethesubmodule I ( V ) curveshapekneeandthe

shunt diodeknee.
I t should be noted that string I( V) curves as shown
in Figs. 3-6 are not shape invariant with intensity or
angle of incidence, Le., all characteristics become Is(V,)
= - J ( Vs+A V s ) with A V,=I(O)$R a t zero intensity.

for the most heavily shadowed submodulei n each string

and negligible cell reversecurrents,then
(8) maybe
restated as

where VA is still given by (7) and p i may be either 0 or

1 depending on whether r in (21) is smaller or larger
than 0.5. T h e choice of 0.5 will statistically result in zero
error for a large number of strings and random shadow
patterns. The unshadowed zone output, I z ~V( A ) ~ $,
, is
THESHADOWING
FACTOR
also given b y (22), except that all p i = 1. The ratio F of
T h e so-called shadowing factor F isdefined as the the partially shadowed zone output to the unshadowed
ratio of the outputof an entire partially shadowed, arbi-output
trarily sized and shaped solar array to the hypothetical
unshadowed outputof this same array.
The creation anduse of the shadowing factor has
been
found to be particularly helpful in the analysis of solar
arrays witha relatively large numberof strings arranged
incomplicatedfashionandsubjectedtosubstantial,
diverse, and rapidly varying shadow patterns forwhich
the detailed knowledge of the effectsdiscussedearlier

490

indicatesthefraction
of actuallyavailablecurrent.
Since for a given zonethe total aswell as this fractionof
available current is uniquely determined by the shortcircuit currents, (23) may be restated as
m

i= 1

where the I ( 0 ) terms have canceled out, andF has been

reducedto
a geometricprojectedarearelationship.
Equation (24) may be stated in words as follows: the
shadowingfactor F is theratio of theactualshortcircuit current output to the theoretical output from
total number strings which would be illuminated in the
absence of shadowing.
The instantaneous shadowing factor F may be averagedoveranyrange
of the spin angle
and/or sun
angle 8. Assume that an average shadowing factor 7 is
to be determined for n values of
all a t one 8. Then,
from the integral definitionof the average

~)

22

Pij

cos ydj

decision of which model t o be used must be determined

by a trade study. I t should be noted, however, that the
accuracy of the output of shadowed strings need only
be as high as the ratioof the numberof shadowed strings
on the array, multipliedby the desired array output
accuracy, indicates.
T h e cell andsubmodule models areextendedinto
string and array models, andcoverbothcaseswhere
shunt diodes are used and are not used to reduce power
losses. Shunt diodes are mostuseful on oriented or semioriented arrays, while they are
of less importance for
nonorientedarrays.
Theconcept of theshadowingfactor
is developed
from a simplification of the array model for relatively
the
large arrays. This concept permits a relatively accurate
butsimpledetermination
of theoutput of partially
shadowed arrays. The accuracyof this method increases
as the number of naturally illuminated strings on an
array increases and, of course, the ratio of shadowed to
nonshadowed strings decreases.
T h e models presentedmay
be
used
directlyfor
performing calculations or for preparing computer programs. The inputs for the models may be in the form
of mathematical expressions or sets of I , V data points.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Only for special cases, such as when A+ = X , or when n

is very large, ( 2 5 ) may be written as
1

The authorwishes to thank A. Conn for help with the

computer analyses and checking the equations; W. Luft
and P. Virobikforclarifyingdiscussions;and
H. G.
Mesch for providing the experimental data.

pij

cos y;i

REFERENCES

111 F. Hohenberg, KonstructiveGeometrie in derTechnik.

Vienna:
Springer, 1961.
[2] IMP-D paddles configuration program, manual of procedure,
n
cos y i
NASA GoddardSpaceFlightCen.,Greenbelt,Md.,Rep.
i=l
X-542-66-507, Oct. 1966.
131
on solar
I , M. Wolf and H. Rauschenbach,Series resistance effects
cell measurements,in
AdvancedEnergyConversion,
vol. 3.
Theapplication
of theshadowingfactortoarray
New York: Pergamon, 1963, pp. 455-479.
analysis is outlined below. First, the shadowing factors
[4] W. Luft, Partial shading of silicon solar cell converter panels,
are determined, either according to (24) or (25). Next,
presented a t t$ AIEE Conf., Oct. 1961, Conf.Paper CP,,62-204.
[SI F. C. Treble, Field tests on UK3 solar cell assemblies,Royal
the shadowing factors are applied for calculating the
Aircraft Establishment, Apr. 1966, Tech. Rep. 66112.
instantaneous or average zone outputs, respectively, to
[6] W. R. Baron, T R W Systems, Inc., A method of reducing the
effects of cell shadowing on a series/parallel string of sola; cells,
the hypothetical, unshadowedzone output according to
photovoltaic or other incident energy conversion devices, U.S.
(8) with r = 1:
patent pending.
[7] TRW Systems, ;nc., Test Rep. 9361.11-T41, Jan. 1964.
m
[S] R. M. Sullivan, Shadow effectson a series-parallel array of solar
cells, NASA Goddard Space Flight Cen., Greenbelt, Md., Rep.
I z ( ~ A ) o , $pF(O)e,$
[I(O)cos Yj J ( ~ A ;]v
)
(27)
X-636-65-207.
i- 1
[9] W. R. Baron and P. F. Virobik,Solar array !hading and a
method of reducingthe associatedpower loss, in the Proc.
IEEE 4th Photovoltaic Specialists Conf., vol. 2, Aug. 1964, PICSOL 209/5.1.
i= 1
[lo] P. F. Virobik, Effect of shadows on solar array output, TRW
Systems, Inc., Eng. Rep. 9361.11-E42, Dec. 21, 1964.
CONCLUSION
of array incorporating sha[ l l ] J. R. Barton, Power output analysis
dow diodes, T R W Systems, Inc., Eng. Rep. 7062.6-011, July7,
Three different models for partially shadowed solar
1966.
A. Corm; Computer computation of shadow effects on solar
cells and submodules are presented. One
of these models [12] A.
cell arrays, TRW Systems, Inc., Eng. Rep. 9361.11-E72, Dec.
yields accurate results, but is tedious in actual use. T h e
21, 1966.
[13] W. Luft, J. Barton, and A. Conn, Multifaceted solar arrayperother two models are progressively less accurate, but
formance
determination,
presented
a t 1967 Intersociety
require correspondingly less data handling. A value for
Energy Conversion Engineering Conf., Miami Beach,Fla., Aug.
13-17,1967.
a n expected error cannot be stated because the accuracy[I41 T
R W Systems, Inc., Test Rep. 7442.9-080, Oct. 23,1967.
depends largely on specific cases to be analyzed, and a [IS] T R W Systems, Inc., Test Rep. 9361.11-T212, Dec. 16, 1965.