The goal of this paper is to investigate total-cross-tied (TCT) configuration under partial shading condition. A full investigation requires mathematical analysis and simulation. An accurate mathematical analysis gives us a better understanding of how partial shading affects the output curves of the solar cell, so we first mathematically analyze the TCT (2 x 2) configuration under different partial shading conditions and then we check the mathematically analysis accuracy through Matlab simulation. All of the simulations in this paper are conducted using Matlab. We have used single diode solar cell model for mathematical analysis and the simulations. So we will explain how to acquire single diode solar cell model and its effective parameters. The better performance of TCT configuration among other configurations is why we have chosen this configuration to investigate under partial shading condition. The superiority of TCT configuration to other configurations like Honey-comp (HC), Bridge-linked (BL) and Series-parallel (SP) under different partial shading conditions is demonstrated and various aspects of these configurations in terms of output characteristics (maximum output power and power dissipation percentage) is displayed using Matlab simulation. All of the required inputs for simulations are extracted from standard photovoltaic cell datasheets. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.