PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULE OR ARRAY SHUTDOWN

• US 20160118934A1
• Filed: 06/23/2015
• Published: 04/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Solaredge Technologies Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Sunpower Corporation (Totalenergies Se)
• Inventors: Ponec, Andrew Joseph, Johnson, Benjamin Alexander
• Granted Patent: US 10,992,255 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/24 of photovoltaic origin
• CPC Class Codes: H02S 40/30 Electrical components
• CPC Class Codes: H02S 40/32 comprising DC/AC inverter means associated with the PV module itself, e.g. AC modules
• CPC Class Codes: H02S 40/34 comprising specially adapted electrical connection means to be structurally associated with the PV module, e.g. junction boxes
• CPC Class Codes: H02S 50/00 Monitoring or testing of PV systems, e.g. load balancing or fault identification
• CPC Class Codes: H02S 50/10 Testing of PV devices, e.g. of PV modules or single PV cells testing of semiconductor devices during manufacturing H01L22/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/50 Photovoltaic [PV] energy

Abstract

A photovoltaic (PV) system can include a plurality of PV modules and circuitry configured to receive an indication of a status of the PV system and to, in response to the indication, determine whether to switch between a first state in which the PV modules output DC power and a second state in which the PV modules do not output power.

Claims

1. A photovoltaic (PV) system, comprising:

a plurality of PV modules configured to provide direct current (DC) power to an inverter;

circuitry associated with the plurality of PV modules, wherein the circuitry is configured to;

receive an indication of a status of the PV system, and

in response to receiving the indication of the status of the PV system, determine whether to switch between a first state in which the plurality of PV modules are enabled and a second state in which the plurality of PV modules are disabled.

2. The PV system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry comprises a respective voltage limiting device coupled to each of the plurality of PV modules, wherein each respective voltage limiting device is configured to, in response to receiving the indication, determine whether to switch between the first state in which a corresponding one of the plurality of PV modules is enabled and a second state in which the corresponding one PV module is disabled.

3. The PV system of claim 1, wherein the indication is a shutdown indication, wherein in response to receiving the shutdown indication, the circuitry is configured to switch the plurality of PV modules to the second state.

4. The PV system of claim 1, wherein the indication is a heartbeat indication, wherein in response to receiving the heartbeat indication, the circuitry is configured to maintain the plurality of PV modules in the first state.

5. The PV system of claim 4, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

determine that the heartbeat indication has not been received within a threshold amount of time, and

in response to determining that the heartbeat indication has not been received within the threshold amount of time, switch the plurality of PV modules to the second state.

6. The PV system of claim 1, wherein the indication is a startup indication, wherein in response to receiving the startup indication, the circuitry is configured to switch the plurality of PV modules from the second state to the first state.

7. The PV system of claim 1, wherein the inverter is configured to send the startup indication to the circuitry as a voltage on a DC power line coupled to the circuitry.

8. The PV system of claim 1, wherein the indication is a parameter measured by the circuitry.

9. The PV system of claim 1, wherein the indication is a time-varying light indication or a vibration indication.

10. The PV system of claim 1, further comprising:

the inverter configured to provide the indication of the status of the PV system to the circuitry.

11. The PV system of claim 10, wherein to provide the indication, the inverter is configured to modify a modulation scheme to apply a voltage based on the modified modulation scheme to the PV modules.

12. The PV system of claim 10, wherein the inverter is configured to provide a heartbeat indication to the circuitry, and wherein startup circuitry is configured to provide a startup indication to the circuitry.

13. A method for operating a photovoltaic (PV) module, the method comprising:

circuitry associated with a PV module receiving an indication of a status of a PV system, and

the circuitry determining, based on the received indication, whether to switch between a first state in which the PV module is enabled and a second state in which the PV module is disabled.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said receiving an indication includes receiving a shutdown indication, wherein said determining includes determining, based on the received shutdown indication, to operate the PV module in the second state.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein said receiving an indication includes receiving a heartbeat indication, wherein said determining includes determining, based on the received heartbeat indication, to operate the PV module in the first state.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the circuitry determining that no heartbeat indication has been received for a threshold amount of time, and in response to said determining that no heartbeat indication has been received for the threshold amount of time, operating the PV module in the second state.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein said receiving the indication includes receiving, from an inverter, a voltage having a different modulation scheme from an operating modulation scheme.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein said receiving an indication includes receiving a startup indication, wherein said determining includes determining, based on receiving the startup indication, to switch the PV module from the second state to the first state.

19. A voltage limiting device, comprising:

circuitry configured to;

receive an indication of a status of a PV module associated with the voltage limiting device, and

in response to receiving the indication of the status of the PV module, determine whether to switch the PV module between an enabled state and a disabled state.

20. The voltage limiting device of claim 19, wherein the circuitry is coupled to a DC power line, wherein the indication is a startup indication received from an inverter over the DC power line, wherein in response to receiving the startup indication, the circuitry is configured to switch the PV module from the disabled state to the enabled state.