Analysis of electrical behaviour of PV arrays covered with nonuniform snow

Snowfall during cold months impacts the performance of photovoltaic (PV) installations. In real field operations, different ambient conditions often cause non-uniform snow accretion on PV panels. This can have a considerable effect on PV power production depending on array configuration, the pattern of snow coverage, and bypass diodes included in a PV system. The electrical behaviour of snow-covered PV cells is experimentally characterised. Then, the true impact of non-uniform snow accretion on PV system performance is investigated. Effect of employing bypass diodes on a PV string power generation is also verified. Different PV array layouts are studied to improve the PV harvest efficiency in cold climate regions. This research may be regarded as a practical tool for the design and selection of PV modules subjected to snowfall.