A solar battery charger with maximum power point tracking

Abstract

This paper presents a solar charger ASIC for Li-Ion and Nickel-based (NiCd or NiMH) batteries. The system is a DC/DC converter that operates the solar panel at its maximum power point by tracking it using a hill-climbing algorithm. Only one external inductor and one diode are necessary. The circuit is fabricated in a 0.5μm 5V process. It features a low power consumption of 84μA.