Protective circuit

• US 7,864,497 B2
• Filed: 01/24/2006
• Issued: 01/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forsching E.V.
• Original Assignee: Guenther Spelsberg GmbH and Company KG, Insta Elektro GmbH
• Inventors: Quardt, Dirk, Grosch, Volker, Mundinger, Harald, Grossen, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Danny
• Application Number:
  US11/814,045
• Publication Number:
  US 20090195081A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,806 Days
• Field of Search: 361/92, 136/244, 320/136
• US Class Current: 361/92
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/02021 for solar cells electrical connection means, e.g. junction boxes, specially adapted for structural association with photovoltaic modules H02S40/34
• CPC Class Codes: H02S 50/00 Monitoring or testing of PV systems, e.g. load balancing or fault identification
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/50 Photovoltaic [PV] energy

Abstract

A protective circuit for electrical connection to solar cells of a solar cell module is provided with a protective circuit that has a controlled electronic circuit arrangement. In this way, only minimal heating of the protective circuit for electrical connection of solar cells of a solar cell module occurs in operation. The controlled electronic circuit arrangement can have a trigger circuit and a switching arrangement which can be triggered by the trigger circuit, the switching arrangement being connected parallel to at least one solar cell, and in the case of shading of the solar cells, is at least temporarily activated by the trigger circuit so that a current bypass for the shaded solar cell is achieved.

Claims

1. A protective circuit for electrical connection of solar cells of a solar cell module, with protective means for providing a current bypass for a shaded solar cell, wherein the protective circuit has a controlled electronic circuit arrangement as the protective means;

wherein the protective means comprises at least one transistor and at least one DC/DC converter which is connected parallel thereto and which is connected to a trigger circuit via an energy storage device;

wherein the solar cells are arranged in a plurality of series-connected solar cell strings, and wherein a respective protective means is provided for each solar cell string, the protective means each comprising a parallel connected transistor that is connected via a respective gate to the trigger circuit that is assigned to at least two of the solar cell strings.

2. Protective circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controlled electronic circuit arrangement has a switching arrangement which can be triggered by the trigger circuit, the switching arrangement being connected parallel to at least one solar cell, and in the case of shading of the solar cells is at least temporarily activated by the trigger circuit so that said current bypass for the shaded solar cell is achieved.

3. Protective circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein the switching arrangement has two series-connected electrical or electronic switching devices which are triggered by the trigger circuit.

4. Protective circuit as claimed in claim 3, wherein the switching devices are two oppositely polarized transistors.

5. Protective circuit as claimed in claim 4, wherein the oppositely polarized transistors are MOSFETs.

6. Protective circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein current produced by unshaded solar cells of the solar cell module supplies power to the trigger circuit.

7. Protective circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein the trigger circuit comprises a storage capacitor.

8. Protective circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein a respective DC/DC converter is connected to each trigger circuit for each solar cell string, the DC/DC converter being connected parallel to the series connection of each solar cell string.

9. Protective circuit as claimed in claim 8, wherein an energy storage device is assigned to at least one of the DC/DC converters.

10. Protective circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the trigger circuit of the circuit arrangement has a microcontroller.

11. Protective circuit as claimed in claim 3, wherein the trigger circuit of the circuit arrangement has a microcontroller.