Method and Apparatus for In-Situ Health monitoring of Solar Cells in Space
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
InventorsMichael J. Krasowski, Norman F. Prokop
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention describe an apparatus including an oscillator, a ramp generator, and an inverter. The oscillator is configured to generate a waveform comprising a low time and a high time. The inverter is configured to receive the waveform generated by the oscillator, and invert the waveform. The ramp generator is configured to increase a gate control voltage of a transistor connected to a solar cell, and rapidly decrease the gate control voltage of the transistor. During the low time, a measurement of a current and a voltage of the solar cell is performed. During the high time, a measurement of a current of a shorted cell and a voltage reference is performed.
Claims1
An apparatus for in-situ monitoring of solar cells, comprising:
- an oscillator that generates a waveform comprising a low time and a high time;
- an inverter that receives the waveform generated by the oscillator, and inverts the waveform;
- and a ramp generator that increases a gate control voltage of a transistor connected to a solar cell, and then rapidly decreases the gate control voltage of the transistor, wherein, during the low time of the waveform, a measurement of a current and a voltage of the solar cell is performed as the current and voltage of the solar cell are transmitted through a first channel and to a second channel, and wherein, during the high time of the waveform, a measurement of a current of a shorted solar cell and a voltage reference is performed as the current of the shorted solar cell and the voltage reference are transmitted through the first channel and the second channel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.