US 11,843,349 B2
In-situ I-V measurement of a module in a PV array
Michael Gostein, Austin, TX (US); and William Stueve, Austin, TX (US)
Filed by Michael Gostein, Austin, TX (US); and William Stueve, Austin, TX (US)
Filed on May 9, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/739,823.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/327,702, filed on Apr. 5, 2022.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/186,237, filed on May 10, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0360216 A1, Nov. 10, 2022
Int. Cl. H02S 50/15 (2014.01); H02S 50/10 (2014.01); G01R 21/06 (2006.01)
CPC H02S 50/10 (2014.12) [G01R 21/06 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An in-situ current-voltage (I-V) measurement device, comprising
module connections,
string connections,
a variable load,
a current measurement circuit,
a voltage measurement circuit, and
a controller coupled to said variable load, said current measurement circuit, and said voltage measurement circuit,
wherein said device is configured to couple via said module connections to a module and via said string connections to a string,
said voltage measurement circuit is configured to measure a module voltage across said module,
said current measurement circuit is configured to be in a series combination with said module and to measure a module current through said module,
said variable load is configured to be in a parallel combination with said series combination of said module and said current measurement circuit, and
said string is configured to be in series with said parallel combination of said variable load and said series combination of said module and said current measurement circuit, and
wherein said controller is configured to shift an I-V operating point of said module based at least upon varying said variable load and to receive current readings from said current measurement circuit and voltage readings from said voltage measurement circuit.