An adaptive maximum power point tracker for maximising solar cell efficiency in wireless sensor nodes

The success of wireless sensor networks is somehow related to the energy supplies which, generally provided by batteries is a finite resource. Energy scavenge must be pursuit to grant long time operation and solar energy is surely the most effective one due to its ubiquitous distribution and relatively high power density. In this paper we propose a maximum power point tracker circuit (MPPT) for wireless nodes, i.e., a power converting circuit for optimally transferring solar energy to rechargeable batteries; efficiency is granted by an adaptive algorithm which keeps the MPPT in its optimal working point by tracking solar radiation so as to maximise the energy generation and transfer flow