Back to results
US 2015/0101651 A1Published application
Systems and methods for an enhanced watchdog in solar module installations
AssigneeTigo Energy, Inc.
InventorsRon HADAR, Shmuel Arditi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for automatically or remotely rendering a solar array safe during an emergency or maintenance. A watchdog unit is disclosed for monitoring a signal from a central controller. If the signal is lost, interrupted, or becomes irregular, or if a shutdown signal is received, then the watchdog unit can shut down one or more solar modules. Shutting down a solar module can mean disconnecting it from a power bus of the solar array or lowering the solar module voltage to a safe level.
Claims20
A photovoltaic system, comprising:
- a power bus;
- an inverter coupled between the power bus and a power grid;
- and
- a plurality of photovoltaic modules, each respective photovoltaic module of the photovoltaic modules having a watchdog unit coupled between the respective photovoltaic module and the power bus, the watchdog unit comprising:
- a local controller configured to monitor a communication from a central controller and determine whether the communication from the central controller has been interrupted for a time period longer than a predetermined number of allowed skips;
- and
- at least one switch coupled between photovoltaic cells of the respective photovoltaic module and the power bus;
- wherein the at least one switch connects power from the photovoltaic cells of the respective photovoltaic module to the power bus in absence of a determination by the local controller that the communication from the central controller has been interrupted for a time period longer than the predetermined number of allowed skips;
- and
- wherein the at least one switch disconnects power from the photovoltaic cells of the respective photovoltaic module from the power bus in response to a determination by the local controller that the communication from the central controller has been interrupted for a time period longer than the predetermined number of allowed skips.
7 more elements
A device, comprising:
- a local controller in communication with a central controller, the local controller verifying communication with the central controller;
- and
- at least one switch coupled between a photovoltaic module and a power bus connecting a plurality of photovoltaic modules to an inverter, the least one switch reducing an output voltage from the photovoltaic module to the power bus to a predetermined level in response to the location controller failing to verify the communication with the central controller for a time period longer than a predetermined number of allowed skips.
A photovoltaic module, comprising:
- a plurality of photovoltaic cells;
- a local controller;
- and
- at least one switch coupled between a photovoltaic module and an output of the photovoltaic module, the local controller controlling a duty cycle of the least one switch to adjust a voltage of the output of the photovoltaic module, the local controller verifying communication with a central controller, the least one switch reducing the voltage of the output of the photovoltaic module below a predetermined level in response to the location controller failing to verify the communication with the central controller for a time period longer than a predetermined number of allowed skips.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.