The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 08, 2016
Filed:
Mar. 09, 2012
David L. Klein, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Jan Mark Noworolski, Burlingame, CA (US);
David L. Klein, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Jan Mark Noworolski, Burlingame, CA (US);
SunPower Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
In one embodiment, a solar cell installation includes several groups of solar cells. Each group of solar cells has a local power point optimizer configured to control power generation of the group. The local power point optimizer may be configured to determine an optimum operating condition for a corresponding group of solar cells. The local power point optimizer may adjust the operating condition of the group to the optimum operating condition by modulating a transistor, such as by pulse width modulation, to electrically connect and disconnect the group from the installation. The local power point optimizer may be used in conjunction with a global maximum power point tracking module.