Patent Application

App. No. 11/879,054

Abstract

Claims (27)

1 . An apparatus for converting direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC), comprising:

a plurality of inverters, each inverter having a separate DC input adapted to be coupled to at least one solar cell defining an area of a solar panel.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each inverter of the plurality of inverters comprises a plurality of boost circuits, where each boost circuit is adapted to optimize the maximum power point of an area of the solar panel.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein a DC bus couples to an output DC of the plurality of boost circuits.

4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein each inverter of the plurality of inverters comprises a DC/AC converter coupled to the plurality of boost circuits, wherein the DC/AC converter is shared by the plurality of boost circuits.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each inverter of the plurality of inverters comprises at least two boost circuits coupled to a DC/AC converter.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the area is a row of serially coupled solar cells.

7 . An apparatus for generating solar power comprising:

at least one photovoltaic panel, wherein the photovoltaic panel comprises a plurality of areas comprising at least one solar cell; and

an inverter coupled to each area in the plurality of areas of the photovoltaic panel.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of areas comprising a row of at least one solar cell.

9 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the inverter comprises a plurality of boost circuits, where each boost circuit is adapted to optimize the maximum power point of an area of the solar panel.

10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein a DC bus couples to an output DC of the plurality of boost circuits.

11 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the inverter comprises a DC/AC converter coupled to the plurality of boost circuits, wherein the DC/AC converter is shared by the plurality of boost circuits.

12 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the inverter comprises at least two boost circuits coupled to a DC/AC converter.

13 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the area is a row of serially coupled solar cells.

14 . The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the at least one photovoltaic panel comprises a plurality of photovoltaic panels, where each panel is positioned such that a first panel shades a second panel and each inverter that is coupled to an area that is shaded is adapted to optimally couple power from the shaded area of at least one solar cell.

15 . A method for converting DC to AC, comprising:

receiving DC from at least one solar cell defining each of a plurality of areas of a photovoltaic panel; and

converting the DC from each of the plurality of areas to a single AC output.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the converting step comprises:

converting DC from each of the plurality of areas to support DC outputs;

combining the separate DC outputs to form a single DC output; and

converting the single DC output into the single AC output.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the converting step comprises:

converting DC from each of the plurality of areas to separate AC outputs; and

combining the separate AC outputs to form a single AC output.

Assignments (9)