MULTI-CELLULAR PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL SYSTEM WITH DC-DC CONVERSION REPLICATED FOR GROUPS OF CELLS IN SERIES OF EACH PANEL AND PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL STRUCTURE
First Claim
1. A photovoltaic energy conversion system, comprising:
- a plurality of multi-cellular photovoltaic panels each including;
a plurality of groups of photovoltaic cells structured to generate voltages, respectively;
a DC bus; and
a plurality of DC-DC converters having respective inputs coupled respectively to the groups of photovoltaic cells and respective outputs connected to said DC bus, each converter being structured to regulate the voltage generated by a corresponding group of the groups of photovoltaic cells;
each converter including a power switch and a control logic circuit structured to process monitored values of at least one of electrical input and output parameters and execute an algorithm of maximum power point tracking of said corresponding group of photovoltaic cells of the panel for producing a drive control signal for controlling the power switch of the DC-DC converter.
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Abstract
A photovoltaic energy conversion system includes a distributed control structure for groups of cells of each multi-cellular panel, the components of which are entirely physically integrated in the photovoltaic panel. Each multi-cellular photovoltaic panel has a DC bus, supplied in parallel by a plurality of DC-DC converters, each provided with a controller that controls the working point of the photovoltaic cells coupled to the input of the DC-DC converter for a maximum yield of electric power by implementing a relatively simple MPPT algorithm. The controller includes a logic circuit and A/D converters of analog signals representing the input voltage and the input current generated by the group of cells that is coupled to the input of the DC-DC converter and optionally also of the output voltage of the converter, and a relatively simple D/A converter of the drive control signal of the power switch of the DC-DC converter.
138 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A photovoltaic energy conversion system, comprising:
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a plurality of multi-cellular photovoltaic panels each including; a plurality of groups of photovoltaic cells structured to generate voltages, respectively; a DC bus; and a plurality of DC-DC converters having respective inputs coupled respectively to the groups of photovoltaic cells and respective outputs connected to said DC bus, each converter being structured to regulate the voltage generated by a corresponding group of the groups of photovoltaic cells;
each converter including a power switch and a control logic circuit structured to process monitored values of at least one of electrical input and output parameters and execute an algorithm of maximum power point tracking of said corresponding group of photovoltaic cells of the panel for producing a drive control signal for controlling the power switch of the DC-DC converter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A multi-cellular photovoltaic panel, comprising:
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connection terminals structured to connect the panel to an external circuit; an inner DC bus coupled to the connection terminals; a plurality of groups of photovoltaic cells structured to generate voltages, respectively; a plurality of DC-DC converters having respective inputs coupled respectively to the groups of photovoltaic cells and respective outputs coupled to said DC bus, each converter being structured to regulate the voltage generated by the corresponding group of photovoltaic cells, each DC-DC converter including; a power switch; and a control logic circuit structured to process monitored values of electrical input and/or output parameters and execute an algorithm of maximum power point tracking of said corresponding group of photovoltaic cells of the panel for producing a drive control signal for controlling the power switch of the DC-DC converter. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A photovoltaic energy conversion method, comprising:
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producing photovoltaic energy using a plurality of multi-cellular photovoltaic panels, the producing including; generating respective voltages from respective groups of photovoltaic cells; and individually regulating the respective voltages, the regulating including; DC-DC converting the voltages using plural DC-DC converters respectively coupled to the groups of photovoltaic cells; and processing monitored values of at least one of electrical input and output parameters and executing an algorithm of maximum power point tracking of said respective group of photovoltaic cells of the panel for producing a drive control signal for controlling a power switch of a corresponding one of the DC-DC converters. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification