Patent ID: 8629647

Claim:
A battery charger for a photovoltaic system, comprising an input circuit having an input configured and arranged to couple to the photovoltaic system, an output circuit having an output configured and arranged to couple to a battery, a tracker circuit and a tracker bypass circuit each configured and arranged to couple between the input circuit and the output circuit, and each configured and arranged to provide a charging voltage and a charging current to the output circuit when connected thereto, a sensing circuit configured and arranged to sense a first value of a parameter indicating at least one of the charging voltage at the output and the charging current at the output when the tracker circuit is connected between the input circuit and the output circuit, and sense a second value of the parameter indicating at least one of the charging voltage at the output and the charging current at the output when the tracker bypass circuit is connected between the input circuit and the output circuit, and a controller circuit configured and arranged to connect a one of the tracker bypass circuit or the tracker circuit between the input circuit and the output circuit in dependence on a comparison between at least one of: the charging voltage of the first value and the second value, and the charging current of the first value and the second value.