Abstract
Solar energy harvesters have been used lately as a source for battery chargers in a low power scheme. These energy harvesting/charging systems can operate efficiently at relatively high threshold luminance, and they exhibit 0% efficiency below threshold luminance or at strong shading. The objective of this article is to introduce a new topology that improves the charge efficiency, functionality, sensitivity, and reliability of the Photo-Voltaic (PV) solar chargers during strong overcast while employing minimum hardware. The proposed topology responds to a wide range of solar irradiation and functions as an efficient charger with an improved battery charging current for slow charge topology at strong shading. It employs a boost converter with a second inductor and exploits the non-linearity of the PV characteristics of a solar cell to reduce power loss. To verify the proposed topology, a prototype, 1.4V/18 mW charger was built and successfully tested with 87.3% heavily sourced efficiency retained.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 7519-7528 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1 2023 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Control and Systems Engineering
- Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering