Texas Instruments has developed two new solar kits based on its C2000 32-bit Piccolo and Concerto microcontrollers (MCUs).
The kits bring advanced peripherals, application-targeted development hardware, schematics, comprehensive software libraries of algorithms and a development environment to the renewable energy market, allowing designers to easily create solar inverter designs while evaluating various solar algorithms and topologies.
The C2000 Solar Developer’s Kit is TI’s first complete, high-voltage, string-ready, isolated MCU-controlled solar solution to help power designers create high-voltage solar applications. Comprised of two separate development boards, it provides a dual-controller design allowing developers to work with high-voltage power stages and inter-processor communications systems.
The primary board features a 300 V d.c. compatible input stage supporting up to 500 W with an interleaved boost stage for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and a resonant LLC stage for isolation, with both stages controlled by a single Piccolo MCU. The secondary board features a full-bridge DC/AC inverter supporting 120/220 V a.c. output with grid-matching, and can be controlled by a Concerto or Piccolo MCU, offering both control and connectivity in one processor.
Supporting both Piccolo and Concerto C2000 MCUs, the Solar Explorer Kit provides a complete, non-isolated design and features multiple power stages controlled with a single low-cost digital controller, ideal for designing solar and renewable energy applications. The kit includes multiple DC/DC conversions, as well as a DC/AC stage that supports a 12 V d.c./100 W input stage for a safe, low-cost architecture that can be used in desktop or low-voltage benchtop experimentation lab situations for learning digitally controlled power stages or use in non-grid-tied applications. These stages are all controlled by a single Piccolo MCU.
Featuring a single-switch DC/DC boost for MPPT, DC/DC SEPIC for battery charging and a full-bridge DC/AC inverter capable of driving 24 V a.c., the Solar Explorer Kit enables flexibility for low-voltage solar designs. Also included is a secondary processor controlling a solar panel emulator circuit, featuring a photodiode for light sensing. Providing optional support for the C2000 Concerto MCU adds connectivity functions to the digital controller through an included Ethernet-connected graphical user interface (GUI).
Integral to making solar development easy, TI provides complete open source software and tools to ease development. As part of the C2000 family of MCU devices, both solar development boards are fully supported in the controlSUITE software offering. With controlSUITE, designers can quickly find all the necessary tools and documentation for the solar development kits, including general-purpose algorithm libraries as well as renewable energy-specific functions.
For more information contact EBV Electrolink, +27 (0)21 402 1940, [email protected], www.ebv.com
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