US 12,074,565 B2
Photovoltaic module or array shutdown
Benjamin Alexander Johnson, Fremont, CA (US); and Andrew Joseph Ponec, Salem, OR (US)
Assigned to Solaredge Technologies Ltd., Herzeliya (IL)
Filed by SunPower Corporation, Santa Jose, CA (US)
Filed on Jul. 28, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/875,892.
Application 17/875,892 is a continuation of application No. 17/223,953, filed on Apr. 6, 2021, granted, now 11,437,953.
Application 17/223,953 is a continuation of application No. 14/748,038, filed on Jun. 23, 2015, granted, now 10,992,255, issued on Apr. 27, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/069,784, filed on Oct. 28, 2014.
Prior Publication US 2022/0368281 A1, Nov. 17, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H02J 3/38 (2006.01); H02S 40/32 (2014.01); H02S 40/34 (2014.01); H02S 50/00 (2014.01); H02S 50/10 (2014.01)
CPC H02S 40/34 (2014.12) [H02S 40/32 (2014.12); H02S 50/00 (2013.01); H02S 50/10 (2014.12); H02J 2300/24 (2020.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A photovoltaic (PV) system, comprising:
an inverter configured to transmit a heartbeat indication of a status of the PV system, wherein the heartbeat indication is generated from the inverter by altering a normal operation of the inverter;
a plurality of PV cells configured to provide direct current (DC) power to the inverter; and
a junction box coupled to the plurality of PV cells, the junction box comprising circuitry associated with the plurality of PV cells, wherein the circuitry comprises one or more switches, and wherein the circuitry is configured to:
determine whether the heartbeat indication of the status of the PV system has been received, and
in response to receiving the heartbeat indication of the status of the PV system, control the one or more switches to switch between a first state in which the plurality of PV cells are enabled and a second state in which the plurality of PV cells are disabled.