Patent · US Expired

Conditioning circuit for a power supply at the maximum power point, a solar generator, and a conditioning method

US6984970B2 · kind B2 · utility

416Cited by
4References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateSep 22, 2003
Grant dateJan 10, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 30, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S323/906
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The invention relates to a conditioning circuit that measures operating points of a power supply to deduce therefrom the current-voltage characteristic thereof and to determine directly the voltage corresponding to its maximum power point, without using any kind of tracking algorithm that causes the operating point of the power unit to oscillate about the maximum power point. The maximum power point voltage VMPP is supplied to a controller which regulates a power cell by slaving it to the input voltage until the output voltage of the supply is equal to the maximum power point voltage VMPP. The invention also relates to a solar generator and an associated conditioning method. One particular application is to high-power satellites.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.