A multiple-input SC DC-DC converter with battery charge process

Aimed at a backlighting application, a multiple-input switched-capacitor (SC) DC-DC converter with battery charge process is proposed in this paper. Unlike conventional SC power converters such as a Dickson-type converter, etc., the proposed converter drives some LEDs by converting energy from solar cells when solar cells offer enough energy. Furthermore, the proposed converter can charge a lithium battery when an output load is light. Hence, the proposed converter enables us to realize long battery runtime. The validity of circuit design is confirmed by theoretical analyses, simulations, and experiments. The derived theoretical formulas will be helpful to estimate circuit characteristics, because theoretical results agree well with SPICE simulation results. © 2009 IEEE.