A magnetic trickle-charge regulator for a solar cell/battery space power system

A high-efficiency switching regulator provides precise temperature-compensated trickle charge current to maintain a battery at full state of charge while powering standby system loads. Here a single core dc feedback magnetic current sensor circuit is described. The circuit is used in a closed loop to directly regulate battery trickle charge current with an accuracy of 0.3 percent of total load power. Control loop integration of the low-bandwidth sensor by multiple loop techniques is described and analyzed. Test results are reported.