Patent ID: 8674548
Filing Date: 2014-03-18
Classification: H01L,H02H,H02J,H02M,Y02E

Abstract:
1. A photovoltaic power conditioning unit for delivering power from one or more photovoltaic panels to an ac mains power supply, the power conditioning unit comprising: a dc input for receiving power from said one or more photovoltaic panels; an ac output for delivering ac power to said ac mains power supply; a bank of electrolytic energy storage capacitors for storing energy from said dc input for delivering to said ac mains power supply; a dc-to-ac converter coupled to said ac output and having an input coupled to said bank of electrolytic energy storage capacitors for converting energy stored in said bank of electrolytic energy storage capacitors to ac power for said ac mains power supply; and a plurality of sense and control circuits, one for each of said electrolytic energy storage capacitors of said bank of electrolytic energy storage capacitors, wherein each of said sense and control circuits is coupled in series with an associated energy storage capacitor of said bank, and wherein each of said sense and control circuits is configured to disconnect the associated electrolytic energy storage capacitor from said bank of capacitors upon detection of a current flow through the associated electrolytic energy storage capacitor of greater than a threshold current value that is set according to a number of electrolytic energy storage capacitors in the bank.