Power-conditioned solar charger for directly coupling to portable electronic devices
The present invention relates to methods, tools and systems for manufacturing a durable and portable power-conditioned personal solar system charging apparatus. Various voltage and amperage matching algorithms are manipulated to particularize the personal solar system to power and/or charge an intended portable device or a set of intended portable devices having direct current (DC) load requirements. The optimized personal solar system that is matched to an intended device allows direct coupling to the intended device without the use of an internal battery or ancillary electronic circuit boards to distract the personal solar system output, and facilitates “fast” charging modes.
1. A method of providing a directly coupled, power conditioned photovoltaic system including a plurality of tiles for charging a smart-enabled electronic device via a Universal Serial Bus (“USB ”)port, the smart-enabled electronic device having at least one signal carrying data line for identifying the USB port type, comprising:
identifying a charging voltage range to initiate a charging sequence and a charging current that can be accepted by the smart-enabled electronic device;
selecting at least one solar cell, the at least one solar cell having an output voltage and a current per unit area;
quantifying a minimum number of tiles formed from the at least one solar cell necessary to create an output voltage for the plurality of tiles that falls within the charging voltage range;
using the current per unit area to calculate a desired surface area for each of the plurality of tiles such that each of the plurality of tiles generates a tile current that approximates the charging current;
cutting the plurality of tiles from the at least one solar cell, each of the plurality of tiles having a tile surface area that approximates the desired surface area;
stringing together the plurality of tiles to have the output voltage for the plurality of tiles that falls within the charging voltage range and an output current for the plurality of tiles that approximates the charging current;
encapsulating the strung plurality of tiles between at least a first material layer and at least a second material layer;
attaching an output connection to the strung plurality of tiles, the output connection including a USB connector suitable for directly connecting to the USB port of the smart-enabled electronic device;
identifying at least one signal for the at least one signal carrying data line that permits the smart-enabled electronic device to accept the charging current; and
providing the at least one signal to the at least one signal carrying data line.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of providing the at least one signal to the at least one signal carrying data line comprises shorting the at least one signal carrying data line.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of providing the at least one signal to the at least one signal carrying data line comprises incorporating a resistor having a series impedance of less than 200 ohms into the at least one signal carrying data line.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of providing the at least one signal to the at least one signal carrying data line characterizes the at least one signal carrying data line as a member selected from the group consisting of a dedicated charging port (DCP), a standard downstream port (SDP), a charging downstream port (CDP), and any combination thereof.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the smart-enabled electronic device is selected from a group consisting of a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop, a smart phone, a digital camera, an MP3 player, a personal data assistant (PDA), and any combination thereof.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the output connection comprises a junction box.