12/08/2026
๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ, ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐
๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง โ ๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐-๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ + ๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
Partial shading from rooftop structures, equipment, trees, and other obstacles can reduce PV system output. Optimizers can help mitigate mismatch losses caused by shadingโbut does every module really need one?
To find out, AndSolar put four different configurations to the test on a real rooftop.
๐ฌ ๐
๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ข๐ ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ-๐๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ
๐น Group A: RSD, No Shading
๐น Group B: RSD, With Shading
๐น Group C: RSD + Optimizer, With Shading
๐น Group D: Optimizer, With Shading
๐ฅ๏ธ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ, ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ
Even a small shaded area can cause significant power losses.
In our test, shading less than ๐% of the stringโs total active area reduced Group Bโs energy output from ๐๐๐% to ๐๐.๐%. With Optimizers, Group D recovered the output to ๐๐.๐%, showing how Optimizers can effectively reduce shading-related mismatch losses.
๐ก ๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ
Instead of installing an Optimizer on every module, Group C used Optimizers only on the 3 shaded modules, while the remaining modules used RSDs.
It achieved 91.2% energy output, just 1.3 percentage points below the full-Optimizer setup at 92.5%โwith only 3 Optimizers instead of 19.
๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐
๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ
The result shows that Optimizers don't need to be installed on every module. By optimizing only where shading has the greatest impact, RSD + Optimizer offers a more flexible and cost-effective approach for partially shaded PV systems.
