Regulation: Direct Coupling with Array Reconfiguration

Direct coupling mismatch may be improved by performing a PV-array reconfiguration: if we consider two identical groups of PV-modules, at low irradiance all groups are connected in parallel, providing the high currents necessary to the pump starting. From a given irradiance level, the groups are connected in series, doubling the voltage and reducing the current of the PV array. This requires an electronic switch of rather simple technology (cf Salameh, 1990¹).

This strategy is not advised when several pumps are used: the Cascading operation is probably more suited in this case.

But be careful: the determination of the irradiance threshold for commuting the arrays is of great importance for the final performances (see the Results analysis for details) !