Other Parts Discussed in Thread: TPS61088, TPS610987
I've been reviewing the application note for the TPS61200 to use it as a charger with a 0.5V solar cell: http://www.ti.com/lit/an/slva345b/slva345b.pdf. I'm checking to see if I can do something similar but with a higher power output. I'd like to try this out with a standard 125mm solar cell, which typically have Vmpp = 0.55V and Impp = 6A with an output of Vout = 2.25V and Iout = 0.25A maximum. First, I know this is a huge efficiency loss, but 125mm solar cells are pretty easy to get.
The first problem I noticed when I started going through the equations in the application note was that the inductor current was way too high. With these values, the inductor current is around 2.25A. If I want to keep the inductor current under 1A to avoid damaging the TPS61200, the maximum output current I think I can do is around 100mA.
So far I haven't found another boost converter that would be suitable to drive this size of solar cell. Is there a different boost converter that would work for what I am trying to do? Or, is there a different way to boost the input voltage prior to the TPS61200? If I could get the voltage up to 1V I think the part could do what I want.
