Patent ID: 8158877

Claim:
A solar cell installation comprising: a plurality of groups of solar cells, the plurality of groups of solar cells being serially interconnected to generate an overall output power to a load; a separate local power point optimizer for each group of solar cells in the plurality of groups of solar cells and serially interconnects a corresponding group of solar cells to other groups of solar cells in the plurality of groups of solar cells, the local power point optimizer including a power point controller configured to modulate a first transistor to electrically connect and disconnect the corresponding group of solar cells to the installation to adjust a bias point of the corresponding group of solar cells to deliver maximum power as determined by the local power point optimizer; and a maximum power point tracking module configured to adjust an operating point of the plurality of groups of solar cells to maximize the overall output power to the load as determined by the maximum power point tracking module; wherein the separate local power point optimizer for each group of solar cells in the plurality of groups of solar cells further comprises an output stage at the output of the separate local power point optimizer, the output stage being configured to filter a voltage output of the corresponding group of solar cells.