( A Micro Solar Energy Harvesting Circuit with MPPT Control)

In this paper a micro solar energy harvesting system with MPPT(Maximum Power Point Tracking) control using a miniature PV(photovoltaic) cell of which the output is less than 0.5V is proposed. The MPPT control is implemented using linear relationship between the open-circuit voltage of a PV cell and its MPP(Maximum Power Point) voltage such that a pilot PV cell can track the MPP of the main PV cell in real time. The proposed circuit is designed in 0.18um CMOS process. The designed chip area is 900um×1370um including a load charge pump and pads. Measured results show that the designed system can track the MPP voltage changes with variations of light intensity. The designed circuit with MPPT control delivers MPP voltages to load even though the load is heavy such that it can supply more power when the MPPT control is applied. The proposed circuit does not require any precharged battery resulting in more suitability for miniaturized self-powered system