Maximizer DC Controller (MAXC)

Microcontroller for managing real-time power converters 

The Solantro^™ SA3102 (MAXC) Maximizer Controller integrated circuit is the central controller for PV power conversion applications, such as DC-optimizer and safety switch disconnect applications, and also for the DC stage of micro-inverter applications. It provides the control functions for DC-DC power conversion topologies which are used to convert solar panel power at the maximum power point (MPP).

The SA3102 (MAXC) analog signals AN1, AN2, AN3, AN4, and AN5, are provided by a companion SA1002 (APM) or other conditioning circuitry. The three fast analog inputs, AN1, AN2, and AN3 are acquired by the voltage comparator block and are used for soft switching by forming the input to the control algorithm generating the control signals for the SA1002 (APM) MOSFET drivers (HS1, HS2, LS1, LS2) or other drivers. The analog signals AN3, AN4, and AN5 are band-limited with anti-aliasing filters, and are digitized with high resolution 10-bit A/D converters. The current sensing inputs, ISENSP and ISENSN, together with the analog signal AN1 are used for optimizing the MPPT.

An I2C serial interface provides data communication to the slave device. Two communication ports to the 32-bit micro-controller is available through the UART interfaces. A serial peripheral interface (SPI) is used for connecting to external flash memory. The isolation interface provides a bi-directional data communication interface between the SA3102 (MAXC) and other devices across a galvanic isolation.The MAXC generates the gate drive timing waveforms for a variety of DC power topologies. The MAXC takes analog signals AN3, AN4 and AN5 from the companion SA1001 - AoPM chip, band-limits them with anti-aliasing filters, digitizes them with high resolution A/D converters.