EFFICIENT EAST-WEST ORIENTATED PV SYSTEMS WITH ONE MPP TRACKER

ABSTRACT: A willingness to install east-west orientated photovoltaic (PV) systems has lacked in the past. Nowadays, however, interest in installing PV systems on east-west roofs is steadily increasing. Although south orientated systems are better, east-west orientated PV systems can also generate substantial earnings. Moreover, due to the sharp drop in module prices, increased demand for east-west systems are expected for the future.
From the perspective of grid operators, east-west orientated PV systems are preferable to south orientated ones, as the energy is fed-in more evenly throughout the day, therefore reducing power peaks thus relieving the grid. Up to now it was assumed that east-west orientated PV systems require separate inverters for each orientation, or at least one inverter with multiple MPP Trackers (Maximum Power Point), to avoid mismatching losses. This paper will show an analysis of east-west orientated PV systems connected to one MPP Tracker and demonstrate the high performance of such systems.