Battery charger and method for collecting maximum power from energy harvester circuit
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An energy harvesting system comprising:
- (a) an energy harvester having an output impedance;
(b) a first DC-DC converter for converting an input voltage received from an output conductor of the energy harvester to an output signal, the first DC-DC converter having an input impedance controlled by the input voltage to match the output impedance so as to provide maximum power point tracking (MPPT) between the energy harvester and the first DC-DC converter; and
(c) a receiving device coupled to receive the output signal.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An energy harvesting system for transferring energy from an energy harvester (2) having an output impedance (Zi) to a DC-DC converter (10) includes a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) circuit (12) including a replica impedance (ZR) which is a multiple (N) of the output impedance. The MPPT circuit applies a voltage across the replica impedance that is equal to an output voltage (Vin) of the harvester to generate a feedback current (IZR) which is equal to an input current (Iin) received from the harvester, divided by the multiple (N), to provide maximum power point tracking between the harvester and the converter.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An energy harvesting system comprising:
-
(a) an energy harvester having an output impedance; (b) a first DC-DC converter for converting an input voltage received from an output conductor of the energy harvester to an output signal, the first DC-DC converter having an input impedance controlled by the input voltage to match the output impedance so as to provide maximum power point tracking (MPPT) between the energy harvester and the first DC-DC converter; and (c) a receiving device coupled to receive the output signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A method for optimizing the efficiency of transferring energy to a DC-DC converter, the method comprising:
-
(a) applying an output current generated by an energy harvester having an output impedance as an input current to the DC-DC converter; (b) providing a replica impedance which is a scaled replica of the output impedance equal to the output impedance multiplied by a predetermined multiple; (c) applying an output voltage received from an output conductor of the energy harvester across the replica impedance to generate a feedback current representative of the input current supplied by the energy harvester to the DC-DC converter, the feedback current flowing to the replica impedance being derived from the input current to provide maximum power point tracking (MPPT) between the energy harvester and the DC-DC converter; and (d) applying an output signal generated by the DC-DC converter to a receiving device. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. An energy harvesting system for optimizing the efficiency of transferring energy to a DC-DC converter, comprising:
-
(a) means for applying an output current generated by an energy harvester having an output impedance as an input current to the DC-DC converter; (b) replica impedance means for providing a replica impedance which is a scaled representation of the output impedance; (c) means for applying an output voltage received from an output conductor of the energy harvester across the replica impedance to generate a feedback current representative of the input current supplied by the energy harvester to the DC-DC converter, the feedback current flowing to the replica impedance being derived from the input current to provide maximum power point tracking (MPPT) between the energy harvester and the DC-DC converter; and (d) means for applying an output signal generated by the DC-DC converter to a receiving device.
-
Specification