— Solar photovoltaic (SPV) has become increasingly popular for generating clean electricity. However, one challenge that affects their performance is partial shading. Partial shading (PS) occurs when certain portions of the solar panel receive reduced solar irradiance due to obstructions such as trees, buildings, dust, snow or debris. The non uniform solar irradiance received by the modules leads to decrease in power generation from the SPV. In the present paper a comprehensive investigation of three different configurations namely Series-Parallel (SP), Bridge Linked (BL) and Total-Cross-Tied (TCT) PV array configurations have been done to find out the configuration least susceptible to the adverse impact of PS. The first half of the present paper undertakes theoretical analysis of the different configurations by writing Kirchhoff’s current – voltage equation and solving them using Newton Raphson’s method. The second part undertakes experimental investigation of the output performance of different configurations of solar PV array under PS condition using a prototype indoor experiment. Four different shading patterns have been used in this work. The output performance comparison in terms of maximum power delivered, power loss and efficiency among these configurations have been done conducted under different shading patterns.