A preferred solar panel of rectilinear geometry has n row of m solar cells each row in a
regular grid array. The cells constituting each row are wired in parallel. The rows are wired in series and an equalizing network of (1) n−1 capacitors 1, 2, 3, . . . n−1 connected in electrical series and (2) a network of switches. The switch network connects at one, first, time
capacitor 1 across the parallel-connected cells of the 1st row, and
capacitor 2 across the parallel-connected cells of the 2nd row, and so on until
capacitor n−1 is connected across the parallel-connected cells of the [n−1]th row. The switch network connects at another, second, time capacitor 1 across the parallel-connected cells of the 2nd row, and capacitor 2 across the parallel-connected cells of the 3rd row, and so on until capacitor n−1 is connected across the parallel-connected cells of the nth row. This causes the
voltage across each row to be substantially equal to the
voltage across every other row. Since equal
voltage is a hallmark of parallel connection, this voltage equalized series connection is referred to as a virtual parallel connection. The end result is that the voltage across each
cell in the panel is substantially equal to the voltage across every other
cell in the panel, but the voltage presented at the panel terminals is n times the voltage on any
cell, and the current presented at the panel terminals is the sum of all of the cell currents divided by n.