Adaptive Power Conditioning for Solar Cell Arrays

This paper describes a technique for the design of power conditioning equipment which insures optimal power transfer from a solar cell array to its load. This new concept, called "adaptive" power conditioning, forces a solar cell to operate at its maximum power point, regardless of its environment, its impedances, or changes in the source volt-ampere characteristics. When I autodemands decrease, the adaptive feature is automatically disabled and surplus energy remains in the solar array without contributing to satellite overheating or battery overcharging.