Low cost battery charging systems

摘要

A battery charging system that may advantageously be used to directly charge a battery of a spacecraft, for example. The battery charging system permits charging of the battery without the use of power conditioners or dedicated charging arrays. Primary and secondary solar array strings are coupled by way of a shunt regulator circuit to a power bus, such as a power bus of the spacecraft. A shunt regulator circuit is coupled to the secondary solar array string and to the power bus. Charge control relays are coupled between the secondary solar array string and the battery. A computer is coupled to the shunt regulator circuit and to the charge control relays. Current from the secondary solar array string is used to charge the battery when the charge control relays are closed. If the computer determines that the battery is fully charged, the charge control relays are commanded open and current flows to the power bus unless shunted by the shunt regulator circuit. Fine control over the battery charge is achieved by adjusting the charging time and the number of circuits of the secondary solar array string that are connected to the battery.