Design of solar photovoltaic micro-power supply for application of wireless sensor nodes in complex illumination environments

Abstract

The advantages of the wireless sensor nodes, integrated with the solar photovoltaic (PV) micro-power supply, have been proved, and some design technologies of the solar PV micro-power supply have been proposed in the previous report. However, using the wireless sensor nodes integrated with the solar PV micro-power supply is limited in complex illumination conditions because of the low energy conversion efficiency of the solar PV micro-power supply. To enlarge application environment of the wireless sensor nodes integrated with the solar PV micro-power supply, it is crucial to enhance the energy conversion efficiency of the solar PV micro-power supply in complex illumination conditions. In the study, a novel solar PV micro-power supply using the optimal voltage control technique and the solar cells array in series–parallel has been designed. Moreover, the wireless sensor node integrated with the solar PV micro-power supply has been achieved. In different illumination environments, the performances of the solar PV micro-power supply have been tested. According to test results, the solar PV micro-power supply can keep high output conversion efficiency and the output stability in complex illumination conditions.