The usage of conventional energy applications generates disproportionate emissions of greenhouse gases and the consumption of part of the energy resources available in the world. It has become an important problem which has serious effects on the climatic change. Therefore, it is crucial to reduce these emissions as much as possible. To be able to achieve this, renewable energy technologies must be used instead of conventional energy applications. Solar Photovoltaic (PV) technologies do not release greenhouse gas emissions directly and can save more than 30 million tonnes of carbon per exajoule of electricity generated relative to a natural gas turbine running at 45% efficiency. Shadowing is one of the most important aspects that affects the performance of PV systems. Consequently, many investigations through this topic are being done in order to develop new technologies which mitigate the impact of shadowing during PV production. In order to minimise the impact of shadowing it is desired to be able to predict the performance of a system with PV-modules during shadowing. In this thesis a simulation program for calculating the IV-curve for series connected PV-modules during partial shadowing has been developed and experimentally validated. PV systems modelling and simulation in LTspice environment has been presented and validated by means of a comparative analysis with the experimental results obtained in a set of tests performed in the laboratory of Gävle University. Experimental measurements were carried out in two groups. The first group corresponds with the experiments done in the string of six modules with bypass diodes while the measurements of the second group have been performed on a single PV module at HIG University. The simulation results of both groups demonstrated a remarkable agreement with the experimental data, which means that the model designed at LTspice supposes a very useful tool that can be used to study the performance of PV systems. This tool contributes to the investigations in this topic and it aims to benefit future installations providing a better knowledge of the shading problem. The master’s thesis shows an in-depth description of the required method to design a PV cell, a PV module and a PV array using LTspice IV and the input parameters as well as the needed tests to adjust the models. Moreover, it has been carried out a pedagogical study describing the effect that different shadow configurations have in the performance of solar cells. This study facilitates the understanding of the performance of PV modules under different shadowing effects. Lastly, it has also been discussed the benefits of installing some newer technologies, like DC-DC optimizers or module inverters, to mitigate the shadowing effects. The main conclusion about this topic has been that although most of the times the output power will be increased with the use of optimizers sometimes the optimizer does not present any benefits.

The grid-connected photo-voltaic (PV) system is one of the most promising renewable energy solutions which offers many benefits to both the end user and the utility network and thus it has gained the popularity over the last few decades. However, due to the very nature of its invariability and weather dependencies, the large scale integration of this type of distributed generation has created challenges for the network operator while maintaining the quality of the power supply and also for reliable and safe operations of the grids. In this study, the behavioral impact of large scale PV system integration which are both steady and dynamic in nature was studied.  An aggregate PV model suited to study the impacts was built using MATLAB/Simulink.  The integration impacts of PV power to existing grids were studied with focus on the low voltage residential distribution grids of Mälarenergi Elnät AB (10/0.4 kV). The steady state impacts were related to voltage profile, network loss. It was found that the PV generation at the load end undisputedly improves the voltage profile of the grid especially for the load buses which are situated at farther end of the grid. Further, with regard to the overvoltage issue, which is generally a concern during the low load demand period it was concluded that, at a 50% PV penetration level, the voltage level for the load buses is within the limit of 103% as prescribed by the regulator excepting for few load buses. The voltage level for load buses which deviate from the regulatory requirement are located at distance of 1200 meter or further away from the substation. The dynamic impact studied were for voltage unbalancing in the grid, which was found to have greater impact at the load buses which is located farther compared to a bus located nearer to the substation. With respect to impact study related to introduction of harmonics to the grid due to PV system integration, it was found that amount of harmonic content which was measured as total harmonic distortion (THD) multiplies with integration of more number of PV system. For a 50 % penetration level of PV, the introduced harmonics into the representative network is very minimal. Also, it was observed from the simulation study that THD content are be less when the grid operates at low load condition with high solar irradiance compared to lower irradiance and high load condition.