STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States for governmental purposes without the payment of royalty therefor.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/014,931 filed on Feb. 8, 1993 now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates in general to techniques for power switching regulators and in particular to regulators for space-based and ground-based power systems.

2. Description of the Prior Art

FIG. 1 illustrates a typical space power system, in which the labels R_S and R_L refer to the resistances of the source and reflected load comprised of electrical demands from circuit elements of a spacecraft, respectively. Energy from a solar array is regulated by a power conditioning unit and supplied to the load, while a battery supplies storage energy to meet demands during peak load periods or during periods of eclipse when the solar array is not supplying energy. Two common types of power conditioning units are shunt systems or peak power tracking (PPT) systems. In a shunt system, the array is tied directly to the load through a diode, and excess array power is dissipated by the shunt when the battery is fully charged. In a PPT system, the PPT continuously senses the operating point of the solar array and generates a control signal to maximize power from the array. The control signal is used to adjust the reflected load impedance (R_L) through a switching converter to match the internal impedance of the array (R_S).

The primary advantage of the PPT over the shunt system is that the power generated by the array may be maximized through control of the converter. This allows the array size to be reduced or the load increased for a particular mission. FIG. 2, which is a typical solar array characteristic curve, illustrates this advantage. To draw maximum power, it is necessary to match the load impedance to the internal impedance of the array. The PPT generates a control signal that selects the operating point. This signal is updated continuously since the characteristics of the array change due to variations in temperature, illumination intensity, radiation degradation, aging and partial failure. In contrast with a PPT, a shunt system must be biased far off the maximum power point to allow for these variations.

These aspects of a PPT are disclosed in the prior art. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,272, the phase of the output current is monitored as the operating point of the source is dithered. The phase of output current response with respect to the dither indicates which side of peak power point source is operating. However, the system becomes unstable when negative impedance loads are present. An example of a negative impedance load is a power converter input port since current decreases in response to a voltage rise, due to its constant power output.

E. N. Costogue and Dr. S. Lindera disclose a dynamic impedance comparison technique in "Comparison of Candidate Solar Array Maximum Power Utilization Approaches", 11th IECEC (1976). The operating point of the source is dithered while the resultant voltage and current are measured. Measured waveforms are multiplied and differentiated in order to determine the relationship of source impedance to load impedance. Negative feedback is used to drive the system to the operating point where the source and load impedances are equal, this point equating to maximum power. A significant shortcoming of this system is that it becomes unstable with negative impedance loads.

Another technique is a slope detection technique of Paulovich. "Slope Detection As A Method Of Determining The Peak Power Point Of Solar Arrays" NASA Report No. X-636-64-282 (Oct. 1964). A constant current dither is inputed into the source and the voltage response is measured in order to determine the slope of IV curve of the source. Negative feedback is used to drive the system to a predetermined source slope, which is expected to be near the maximum power point. However, changes in characteristics of the source complicate tracking and result in less than maximum power. Another shortcoming of this technique is that the system is potentially unstable with negative impedance loads.

Costogue also discloses a variation of dynamic impedance comparison technique which senses the onset of voltage collapse. Unlike the above references, this technique can be used to maintain stability while driving negative impedance loads. The relationship of source impedance to load impedance is first determined through mathematical manipulation of voltage and current in response to dithering of the source. Negative feedback is used to drive system to an operating point short of the maximum power point, thereby preventing source voltage collapse. The primary shortcoming of this technique is that only a fraction of maximum power is tracked.

A primary object of the invention is therefore a technique that supplies maximum power while maintaining stable operation with negative impedance loads, such as power supply inputs and arcjet engines. Another object of the invention is a simple PPT with a low parts count that results in low levels of overhead power, high reliability, and low production costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a simple, low overhead peak power tracker (PPT) that varies the operating point of an energy source in one direction until a divergence in the array voltage is detected, whereupon the PPT reverses direction until the system is again stable. Repeating this procedure allows the array maximum power point to be tracked. This technique takes advantage of the inherent instability in the power system that occurs when the magnitude of the impedance of the source exceeds the negative impedance of the load.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a typical power system showing an energy source, a power conditioning unit, a battery and a load.

FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating the electrical characteristics of a solar array.

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating the collapse of array voltage.

FIG. 4 is a schematic of an embodiment of the present invention incorporating a comparator.

FIG. 5 is a schematic of an embodiment of the present invention incorporating a differentiator.

FIG. 6 is a schematic of an embodiment of the present invention incorporating a linear implementation of the negative impedance PPT.

FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating typical waveforms obtained through experiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention takes advantage of inherent large signal instability that occurs when source impedance magnitude equals that of negative impedance load. This instability occurs in the voltage of a solar array as it reaches the peak power point.

FIG. 3 demonstrates this behavior. As the control voltage is ramped up, the array voltage slowly drops as the charger draws more power from the array, until the maximum power point of the array is reached. The array voltage then quickly collapses after that point due to the negative input impedance of the charger. The control voltage comprises a first linear ramp signal when ramped up and a second step down signal.

The present invention changes this procedure. By ramping up the control voltage to the charger and sensing an increase in the rate of array voltage drop, the maximum power point of the system may be detected. The charger is backed off when collapse of array voltage is detected. This decrease in charger power will then push operation back to the stable side of the array, since the bus capacitance provides temporary hold-up; this prevents the array locking up to the battery. By constantly repeating this procedure, the peak power point of the array is maintained.

One possible implementation of this concept is shown in FIG. 4. It consists of a source 2, a battery and load 4, a converter 6, a PPT 8, and a current mode pulse width modulator (PWM) 10. A passive highpass network monitors the rate of voltage change in response to increasing power. When the peak power point of the source 2 is reached, voltage collapse begins to occur. The comparator that comprises the PPT 8 detects the resultant high rate in source voltage decay, and decreases the current command of the converter 6 through the current mode PWM 10 (with its error amp configured as an integrator) until the source 2 is again operating on the stable side of the peak power point. This implementation is disclosed by the inventor in "Solar Power System With Simplified Peak Power Tracking", Power Conversion and Intelligent Motion 92.

This type of divergence detection and recovery scheme results in the source operating point fluctuating slightly at the peak power point of the source. Not only is maximum power maintained without source voltage collapse, but the PPT may be implemented with a very simple circuit.

Variations of Invention

Several variations of the negative impedance PPT invention exist. First, rather than sensing array voltage, other system parameters, such as array current, could be monitored for divergence. Second, rather than the comparator implementation in FIG. 4, a differentiator could be used as in FIG. 5. This version has the advantage that the drive to recover from divergence is proportional to the rate of voltage variation, providing additional resistance to voltage collapse during operation with pulsed loads. Third, the invention may be configured as ah add-on feature to other PPT schemes. By using a linear implementation of the invention as in FIG. 6, the array voltage is regulated so that the negative input impedance of the converter is changed to positive and other PPT schemes may be operated at maximum power without voltage collapse. The invention is configured as an array regulator 12 that adjusts the current command to the converter 6 through the current mode PWM 10 so that a constant voltage is maintained at the source 2. Any techniques of PPT 8 may then be employed to select the array voltage corresponding to maximum power, while maintaining stable operation. This last implementation is disclosed by the inventor in "Solar Array Voltage Regulation Study", Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference 92.

Experimental Results

A laboratory experiment and a computer simulation were performed to validate this PPT technique with the comparator implementation (FIG. 4). In the laboratory experiment, a power source was constructed with a voltage source, series resistance, and parallel capacitance. A power converter was connected to the bus; acting as a negative impedance load. A FET transistor was also connected to the bus to act as a battery charger, where the transistor was controlled by the negative impedance PPT.

The Table I shows that the source was consistently operated at peak power (Vbus=Vps/2), despite dynamic changes in the source voltage and regulator load. Typical voltage waveforms are also included in FIG. 7.

              TABLE I______________________________________EXPERIMENTAL TEST RESULTSA           B      C          D     E______________________________________1      Vps      Vbus   Perr (%) Pconv Pfet3      75.00    38.40  0.06     5.50  11.904      70.00    35.60  0.03     5.50  9.795      65.00    32.70  0.00     5.50  7.686      60.10    29.50  0.03     5.50  5.757      55.00    25.70  0.43     5.50  3.838      50.00    23.00  0.64     5.50  2.189      45.00    21.30  0.28     5.50  0.7010     75.00    37.40  0.00     11.00 7.0711     60.00    29.50  0.03     11.00 0.50______________________________________

The computer simulation was similar. Once again, the peak power point of the source was found and maintained.

Both experiments demonstrate the benefits of the present invention due to its simplicity and effectiveness. The low parts count increases reliability while reducing power consumption. The simple design is also easy to implement and manufacture. The present invention is effective because the peak power point is closely tracked.

Two possible applications of the negative impedance PPT include use in a standard spacepower system architecture and in an electric propulsion power system. For example, the present invention would help to insure that solar power is fully utilized, thereby reducing the size and weight of the solar array. A load converter with switched outputs for payload support should also be incorporated.

Although the invention has been described in terms of a preferred embodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that alterations and modifications may be made without departing from the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that all such alterations and modifications be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.