Method and system for controlling an output power produced by one or more conventional solar cells

Abstract

A solar cell management system for increasing the efficiency and power output of a solar cell and methods for making and using the same. The management system provides an electric field across one or more solar cells. The imposed electric field exerts a force on both the electrons and holes created by light incident on the solar cell and accelerates the electron-hole pairs towards the electrodes of the solar cell. The solar cell management system considers variations in configuration of solar cells to maximize the power output of the solar cells. The accelerated electron-hole pairs have a lower likelihood of recombining within the cells' semiconductor's material. This reduction in the electron-hole recombination rate results in an overall increase in the solar cells' efficiency and greater power output.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for controlling an output power produced by one or more conventional solar cells, comprising:
 a voltage pulse control circuit for coupling with one or more output power electrodes of the solar cells and inducing an adjustable electric field at the solar cells by varying at least one of a magnitude, a frequency, a duration and a duty cycle of one or more voltage pulses with a positive magnitude applied across the output power electrodes,   wherein the adjustable electric field controls the output power available from the solar cells at the output power electrodes.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein said voltage pulse control circuit induces the adjustable electric field in a first direction being in a same direction as a polarity of the output power electrodes for increasing the output power supplied by the solar cells,   wherein the electric field induced with the first direction accelerates a mobility of an electron and a hole of at least one first electron-hole pair in the solar cells,   wherein said voltage pulse control circuit induces the adjustable electric field a second direction being in an opposite direction of the polarity of the output power electrodes for decreasing the output power supplied by the solar cells,   wherein the electric field induced with the second direction decreases a mobility of an electron and a hole of at least one second electron-hole pair in the solar cells,   wherein the adjustable electric field controls the output power by controlling an output current available from the solar cells at the output power electrodes, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a voltage pulse application circuit disposed between the output power electrodes of the solar cells and a voltage source circuit for generating the voltage pulses based upon a source voltage provided by the voltage source circuit. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 ,
 wherein said voltage pulse application circuit comprises a switching circuit coupled with the voltage source circuit and alternating between closing a current path between the voltage source circuit and the output power electrodes to induce the electric field at the solar cells during a first switching mode and opening the current path during a second switching mode to generate the at least one voltage pulse,   wherein said voltage pulse control circuit varies the at least one of the magnitude, the frequency, the duration and the duty cycle of the one or more voltage pulses by adjusting at least one of a switching frequency between the first switch mode and the second switch mode, a first duration of the first switch mode, a second duration of the second switch mode and a duty cycle of the first switch mode and the second switch mode, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a second voltage pulse control circuit for coupling with one or more second output power electrodes of one or more second conventional solar cells and inducing a second adjustable electric field at the second solar cells by varying at least one of a magnitude, a frequency, a duration and a duty cycle of one or more second voltage pulses applied across the second output power electrodes, wherein the second adjustable electric field controls a second output power available from the second solar cells at the second output power electrodes. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 ,
 wherein said second voltage pulse control circuit induces the second adjustable electric field at the second solar cells concurrently with said voltage pulse control circuit inducing the adjustable electric field at the solar cells,   wherein said second voltage pulse control circuit induces the second adjustable electric field at the second solar cells serially with said voltage pulse control circuit inducing the adjustable electric field at the solar cells, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein said voltage pulse control circuit adjusts the voltage pulses within at least one of a magnitude range between 100 Volts and 500 Volts, a frequency range including 20 microseconds, a duration range between 10 nanoseconds and 2000 nanoseconds, and a duty cycle range between 0.1% and 10%,   wherein the solar cells are disposed in a predetermined solar cell configuration,   wherein the predetermined solar cell configuration includes a series configuration, a parallel configuration or a combination thereof,   wherein said voltage pulse control circuit determines the magnitude of the voltage pulses based upon the predetermined solar cell configuration,   wherein said voltage pulse control circuit concurrently applies the voltage pulses across the output power electrodes of two or more of the solar cells,   wherein said voltage pulse control circuit serially applies the voltage pulses across the output power electrodes of two or more of the solar cells,   wherein said voltage pulse control circuit is adapted to apply the voltage pulses across the output power electrodes without structural modification of the solar cells,   wherein the output power electrodes comprise one or more existing electrodes of the solar cells,   wherein the induced electric field increases the output power supplied by the solar cells by:   up to fifty percent under low light conditions;   more than fifty percent under low light conditions;   up to twenty percent under high intensity light conditions;   between twenty percent and fifty percent; or   more than fifty percent,   wherein the output power supplied by the solar cells is based upon at least one of an intensity of light incident on the solar cells, a thickness of the solar cells, a pulse width of the voltage pulses and a frequency of the voltage pulses, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the output power electrodes of the solar cells are coupled with a load for receiving the output power supplied by the solar cells. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 ,
 wherein the load comprises an inverter for converting the output power supplied by the solar cells into alternating current power or current,   wherein the system further comprises an isolation circuit for electrically isolating the load from the solar cells in the radio frequency domain,   wherein said isolation circuit comprises at least one of a radio frequency (RF) choke, a capacitor, an inductor and a battery, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 ,
 wherein the system further comprises a mitigation circuit for mitigating voltage drop-out at the load,   wherein said mitigation circuit comprises at least one of a capacitor, an inductor and a battery,   wherein said mitigation circuit stores the output power supplied by the solar cells between application of adjacent voltage pulses,   wherein said mitigation circuit provides the stored output power to the load during application of a selected voltage pulse, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         11 . A method for controlling an output power produced by one or more conventional solar cells, comprising:
 coupling a voltage pulse control circuit to one or more output power electrodes of the solar cells, the voltage pulse control circuit for inducing an adjustable electric field at the solar cells by varying at least one of a magnitude, a frequency, a duration and a duty cycle of one or more voltage pulses with a positive magnitude applied across the output power electrodes,   wherein the adjustable electric field controls the output power available from the solar cells at the output power electrodes.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 ,
 wherein the voltage pulse control circuit induces the adjustable electric field in a first direction being in a same direction as a polarity of the output power electrodes for increasing the output power supplied by the solar cells,   wherein the electric field induced with the first direction accelerates a mobility of an electron and a hole of at least one first electron-hole pair in the solar cells,   wherein the voltage pulse control circuit induces the adjustable electric field a second direction being in an opposite direction of the polarity of the output power electrodes for decreasing the output power supplied by the solar cells,   wherein the electric field induced with the second direction decreases a mobility of an electron and a hole of at least one second electron-hole pair in the solar cells,   wherein the adjustable electric field controls the output power by controlling an output current available from the solar cells at the output power electrodes, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising coupling a voltage pulse application circuit with the voltage pulse control circuit, the voltage pulse application circuit being disposed between the output power electrodes of the solar cells and a voltage source circuit for generating the voltage pulses based upon a source voltage provided by the voltage source circuit. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 ,
 wherein the voltage pulse application circuit comprises a switching circuit coupled with the voltage source circuit and alternating between closing a current path between the voltage source circuit and the output power electrodes to induce the electric field at the solar cells during a first switching mode and opening the current path during a second switching mode to generate the at least one voltage pulse,   wherein the voltage pulse control circuit varies the at least one of the magnitude, the frequency, the duration and the duty cycle of the one or more voltage pulses by adjusting at least one of a switching frequency between the first switch mode and the second switch mode, a first duration of the first switch mode, a second duration of the second switch mode and a duty cycle of the first switch mode and the second switch mode, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising coupling a second voltage pulse control circuit with one or more second output power electrodes of one or more second conventional solar cells, the second voltage pulse control circuit inducing a second adjustable electric field at the second solar cells by varying at least one of a magnitude, a frequency, a duration and a duty cycle of one or more second voltage pulses applied across the second output power electrodes, wherein the second adjustable electric field controls a second output power available from the second solar cells at the second output power electrodes. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 ,
 wherein the second voltage pulse control circuit induces the second adjustable electric field at the second solar cells concurrently with the voltage pulse control circuit inducing the adjustable electric field at the solar cells,   wherein the second voltage pulse control circuit induces the second adjustable electric field at the second solar cells serially with the voltage pulse control circuit inducing the adjustable electric field at the solar cells, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 ,
 wherein the voltage pulse control circuit adjusts the voltage pulses within at least one of a magnitude range between 100 Volts and 500 Volts, a frequency range including 20 microseconds, a duration range between 10 nanoseconds and 2000 nanoseconds, and a duty cycle range between 0.1% and 10%,   wherein the solar cells are disposed in a predetermined solar cell configuration,   wherein the predetermined solar cell configuration includes a series configuration, a parallel configuration or a combination thereof,   wherein the voltage pulse control circuit determines the magnitude of the voltage pulses based upon the predetermined solar cell configuration,   wherein the voltage pulse control circuit concurrently applies the voltage pulses across the output power electrodes of two or more of the solar cells,   wherein the voltage pulse control circuit serially applies the voltage pulses across the output power electrodes of two or more of the solar cells,   wherein the voltage pulse control circuit is adapted to apply the voltage pulses across the output power electrodes without structural modification of the solar cells,   wherein the output power electrodes comprise one or more existing electrodes of the solar cells,   wherein the induced electric field increases the output power supplied by the solar cells by:   up to fifty percent under low light conditions;   more than fifty percent under low light conditions;   up to twenty percent under high intensity light conditions;   between twenty percent and fifty percent; or   more than fifty percent,   wherein the output power supplied by the solar cells is based upon at least one of an intensity of light incident on the solar cells, a thickness of the solar cells, a pulse width of the voltage pulses and a frequency of the voltage pulses, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the output power electrodes of the solar cells are coupled with a load for receiving the output power supplied by the solar cells. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 ,
 wherein the load comprises an inverter for converting the output power supplied by the solar cells into alternating current power or current,   wherein the method further comprises electrically isolating the load from the solar cells in the radio frequency domain,   wherein the load and the solar cells are electrically isolated via an isolation circuit,   wherein the isolation circuit comprises at least one of a radio frequency (RF) choke, a capacitor, an inductor and a battery, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 ,
 wherein the method further comprises mitigating voltage drop-out at the load,   wherein the voltage drop-out is mitigated via a mitigation circuit,   wherein the mitigation circuit comprises at least one of a capacitor, an inductor and a battery,   wherein the mitigation circuit stores the output power supplied by the solar cells between application of adjacent voltage pulses,   wherein the mitigation circuit provides the stored output power to the load during application of a selected voltage pulse, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         21 . A computer program product for controlling an output power produced by one or more conventional solar cells, the computer program product being encoded on one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media and comprising:
 instruction for coupling a voltage pulse control circuit to one or more output power electrodes of the solar cells, the voltage pulse control circuit for inducing an adjustable electric field at the solar cells by varying at least one of a magnitude, a frequency, a duration and a duty cycle of one or more voltage pulses with a positive magnitude applied across the output power electrodes,   wherein the adjustable electric field controls the output power available from the solar cells at the output power electrodes.   
     
     
         22 . The computer program product of  claim 21 ,
 wherein the voltage pulse control circuit induces the adjustable electric field in a first direction being in a same direction as a polarity of the output power electrodes for increasing the output power supplied by the solar cells,   wherein the electric field induced with the first direction accelerates a mobility of an electron and a hole of at least one first electron-hole pair in the solar cells,   wherein the voltage pulse control circuit induces the adjustable electric field a second direction being in an opposite direction of the polarity of the output power electrodes for decreasing the output power supplied by the solar cells,   wherein the electric field induced with the second direction decreases a mobility of an electron and a hole of at least one second electron-hole pair in the solar cells,   wherein the adjustable electric field controls the output power by controlling an output current available from the solar cells at the output power electrodes, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         23 . The computer program product of  claim 21 , further comprising instruction for coupling a voltage pulse application circuit with the voltage pulse control circuit, the voltage pulse application circuit being disposed between the output power electrodes of the solar cells and a voltage source circuit for generating the voltage pulses based upon a source voltage provided by the voltage source circuit. 
     
     
         24 . The computer program product of  claim 23 ,
 wherein the voltage pulse application circuit comprises a switching circuit coupled with the voltage source circuit and alternating between closing a current path between the voltage source circuit and the output power electrodes to induce the electric field at the solar cells during a first switching mode and opening the current path during a second switching mode to generate the at least one voltage pulse,   wherein the voltage pulse control circuit varies the at least one of the magnitude, the frequency, the duration and the duty cycle of the one or more voltage pulses by adjusting at least one of a switching frequency between the first switch mode and the second switch mode, a first duration of the first switch mode, a second duration of the second switch mode and a duty cycle of the first switch mode and the second switch mode, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         25 . The computer program product of  claim 21 , further comprising instruction for coupling a second voltage pulse control circuit with one or more second output power electrodes of one or more second conventional solar cells, the second voltage pulse control circuit inducing a second adjustable electric field at the second solar cells by varying at least one of a magnitude, a frequency, a duration and a duty cycle of one or more second voltage pulses applied across the second output power electrodes, wherein the second adjustable electric field controls a second output power available from the second solar cells at the second output power electrodes. 
     
     
         26 . The computer program product of  claim 25 ,
 wherein the second voltage pulse control circuit induces the second adjustable electric field at the second solar cells concurrently with the voltage pulse control circuit inducing the adjustable electric field at the solar cells,   wherein the second voltage pulse control circuit induces the second adjustable electric field at the second solar cells serially with the voltage pulse control circuit inducing the adjustable electric field at the solar cells, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         27 . The computer program product of  claim 21 ,
 wherein the voltage pulse control circuit adjusts the voltage pulses within at least one of a magnitude range between 100 Volts and 500 Volts, a frequency range including 20 microseconds, a duration range between 10 nanoseconds and 2000 nanoseconds, and a duty cycle range between 0.1% and 10%,   wherein the solar cells are disposed in a predetermined solar cell configuration,   wherein the predetermined solar cell configuration includes a series configuration, a parallel configuration or a combination thereof,   wherein the voltage pulse control circuit determines the magnitude of the voltage pulses based upon the predetermined solar cell configuration,   wherein the voltage pulse control circuit concurrently applies the voltage pulses across the output power electrodes of two or more of the solar cells,   wherein the voltage pulse control circuit serially applies the voltage pulses across the output power electrodes of two or more of the solar cells,   wherein the voltage pulse control circuit is adapted to apply the voltage pulses across the output power electrodes without structural modification of the solar cells,   wherein the output power electrodes comprise one or more existing electrodes of the solar cells,   wherein the induced electric field increases the output power supplied by the solar cells by:   up to fifty percent under low light conditions;   more than fifty percent under low light conditions;   up to twenty percent under high intensity light conditions;   between twenty percent and fifty percent; or   more than fifty percent,   wherein the output power supplied by the solar cells is based upon at least one of an intensity of light incident on the solar cells, a thickness of the solar cells, a pulse width of the voltage pulses and a frequency of the voltage pulses, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         28 . The computer program product of  claim 21 , wherein at least one of the output power electrodes of the solar cells are coupled with a load for receiving the output power supplied by the solar cells. 
     
     
         29 . The computer program product of  claim 28 ,
 wherein the load comprises an inverter for converting the output power supplied by the solar cells into alternating current power or current,   wherein the computer program product further comprises instruction for electrically isolating the load from the solar cells in the radio frequency domain,   wherein the load and the solar cells are electrically isolated via an isolation circuit, wherein the isolation circuit comprises at least one of a radio frequency (RF) choke, a capacitor, an inductor and a battery, or   a combination thereof.   
     
     
         30 . The computer program product of  claim 28 ,
 wherein the computer program product further comprises instruction for mitigating voltage drop-out at the load,   wherein the voltage drop-out is mitigated via a mitigation circuit,   wherein the mitigation circuit comprises at least one of a capacitor, an inductor and a battery,   wherein the mitigation circuit stores the output power supplied by the solar cells between application of adjacent voltage pulses,   wherein the mitigation circuit provides the stored output power to the load during application of a selected voltage pulse, or   a combination thereof.