By Greentech Lead Team: Texas Instruments has introduced two new
solar kits based on TI’s C2000 32-bit Piccolo and Concerto microcontrollers
(MCUs).
C2000 high-voltage Solar Developer’s Kit and C2000 low-voltage
Solar Explorer Kit bring advanced peripherals, application-targeted
development hardware, schematics and comprehensive software libraries of
algorithms to the renewable energy market.
These new solar kits will allow designers to easily create
solar inverter designs while evaluating various solar algorithms and
topologies.
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.
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, the Solar Developer’s Kit provides a
dual-controller design allowing developers to work with high-voltage power stages
and inter-processor communications systems.
The primary
board features a 300VDC compatible input stage supporting up to 500W 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 120/220VAC 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, all perfect for designing solar and
renewable energy applications.
The Solar
Explorer Kit includes multiple DC/DC conversions, as well as a DC/AC stage that
supports 12VDC/100W input stage for a safe, low-cost architecture that can be
used in desktop or low-voltage bench top 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.
The Solar
Explorer Kit features a single-switch DC/DC boost for MPPT, DC/DC SEPIC for
battery charging and a full bridge DC/AC inverter capable of driving 24VAC
enables flexibility for low-voltage solar designs.
The Solar
Explorer Kit includes a secondary processor controlling a solar panel emulator
circuit, featuring a photo-diode 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).