Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers (전자공학회논문지)

The Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers (대한전자공학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

A Micro Solar Energy Harvesting Circuit with MPPT Control

MPPT 제어기능을 갖는 마이크로 빛에너지 하베스팅 회로

  • Yoon, Eun-Jung (Dept. of Electronics Engineering, University of Incheon) ;
  • Park, Jong-Tae (Dept. of Electronics Engineering, University of Incheon) ;
  • Yu, Chong-Gun (Dept. of Electronics Engineering, University of Incheon)
  • Received : 2013.01.23
  • Published : 2013.06.25
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

In this paper a micro solar energy harvesting system with MPPT(Maximum Power Point Tracking) control using a miniature PV(photovoltaic) cell of which the output is less than 0.5V is proposed. The MPPT control is implemented using linear relationship between the open-circuit voltage of a PV cell and its MPP(Maximum Power Point) voltage such that a pilot PV cell can track the MPP of the main PV cell in real time. The proposed circuit is designed in 0.18um CMOS process. The designed chip area is $900um{\times}1370um$ including a load charge pump and pads. Measured results show that the designed system can track the MPP voltage changes with variations of light intensity. The designed circuit with MPPT control delivers MPP voltages to load even though the load is heavy such that it can supply more power when the MPPT control is applied. The proposed circuit does not require any precharged battery resulting in more suitability for miniaturized self-powered systems compared to the existing works.

본 논문에서는 0.5V 이하의 낮은 전압을 출력하는 초소형 PV(photovoltaic) 셀을 이용한 MPPT(Maximum Power Point Tracking) 제어 기능을 갖는 마이크로 빛에너지 하베스팅 시스템을 제안한다. MPPT 제어는 PV 셀의 개방전압과 MPP(Maximum Power Point) 전압간의 비례관계를 이용하여, 파일럿(pilot) PV 셀로 하여금 주(main) PV 셀의 MPP를 실시간 추적할 수 있도록 설계하였다. 제안된 회로는 0.18um CMOS 공정으로 설계되었으며, 칩 면적은 부하단 전하펌프와 패드를 포함하여 $900um{\times}1370um$이다. 제작된 칩을 측정한 결과 설계된 회로가 빛 세기의 변화에 따른 MPP 전압 변화를 실시간 트래킹하는 것을 확인하였다. 또한 MPPT 제어기능을 적용했을 때 부하가 큰 경우에도 MPP 근처의 전압을 부하에 공급함으로써 MPPT 제어기능을 적용하지 않았을 때에 비해 더 많은 전력을 부하로 공급하는 것을 확인하였다. 기존의 마이크로 빛에너지 하베스팅 회로에 비해 제안된 회로는 제어회로 구동을 위해 미리 충전된 배터리가 필요하지 않기 때문에 배터리를 사용하지 않는 초소형 자가발전 시스템에 적합하다.

Keywords

References

  1. D. Dondi, A. Bertacchini, L. Larcher, P. Pavan, D. Brunelli, and L. Benini, "A solar energy harvesting circuit for low power applications," IEEE ICSET, pp. 945-949, 2008.
  2. H. Shao, C. Tsui, and W. Ki, "The Design of a Micro Power Management System for Applications Using Photovoltaic Cells With the Maximum Output Power Control," IEEE Trans. on VLSI Systems, vol.17, no.8, pp. 1138-1142, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVLSI.2008.2001083
  3. I. Doms, P. Merken, C. Van Hoof, and R. P. Mertens, "Capacitive Power Management Circuit for Micropower Thermoelectric Generators With a 1.4 uA Controller," IEEE JSSC, vol. 44 , no. 10, pp. 2824-2833, 2009.
  4. C. Lu, V. Raghunathan, and K. Roy, "Maximum Power Point Considerations in Micro-Scale Solar Energy Harvesting Systems," ISCAS, pp. 273-276, 2010.
  5. D. Dondi, A. Bertacchini, D. Brunelli, L. Larcher, and L. Benini, "Modeling and optimization of a solar energy harvester system for self-powered wireless sensor networks," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, pp. 2759-2766, 2008.
  6. E. Mendez-Delgado, G. Serranoy and E. I. Ortiz-Rivera, "Monolithic integrated solar energy harvesting system," 35th IEEE PVSC, pp. 2833-2838, 2010.
  7. C. Lu, S. P. Park, V. Raghunathan, and K. Roy, "Low-Overhead Maximum Power Point Tracking for Micro-Scale Solar Energy Harvesting Systems," VLSID, pp.215-220, 2012
  8. X. Li, C.-Y. Tsui, W.-H. Ki, "Solar Energy Harvesting System Design Using Re-configurable Charge Pump", IEEE FTFC, 2012.
  9. C. Hua et al., "Implementation of a DSP-controlled photovoltaic system with peak power tracking," IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 45, pp. 99-107, Feb. 1998. https://doi.org/10.1109/41.661310
  10. W. Wu et al., "DSP-Based multiple peak power tracking for expandable power system," in Proc. Applied Power Electronics Conf. and Exposition 2003, vol. 1, pp. 525-530, 2003.
  11. C. Hua and C. Shen, "Control of DC/DC converters for solar energy system with maximum power tracking," 23rd IECON, vol.2, pp. 827-832, 1997.
  12. http://www.solarbotics.com