TIDA-010042 Reference Design

Texas Instruments

400-W GaN-based MPPT charge controller and power optimizer reference design

Description

This reference design is a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) solar charge controller for 12-V and 24-V solar panels. This compact reference design targets small and medium power solar charger solutions and is capable of operating with 15- to 60-V solar panel modules: 12- or 24-V batteries and providing upwards of 20 A output current. The design uses a two-phase interleaved buck converter to step down the panel voltage to the battery voltage. The buck converter and its connected gate drivers are controlled by a microcontroller unit (MCU): which calculates the maximum power point using the perturb and observe method. The solar MPPT charge controller is created with real-world considerations: including reverse battery protection: software programmable alarms and indications: and surge and ESD protection.

Features
  • 96% efficiency in 12-V systems and 97% efficiency in 24-V systemsWide input voltage range: 15 V to 60 VHigh rated output current: 20ABattery reverse polarity: over-charge and over-discharge protectionsSystem over-temperature and ambient light detection capabilitiesSmall board form factor: 130 mm x 82 mm x 38 mm
Applications
  • Solar power optimizer
  • Solar charge controller
  • Portable power station
Product Categories
  • Power management