1. An imaging apparatus comprising:
a photo-electro conversion unit on a substrate;
a transfer switching unit on the substrate at one side of the photo-electro conversion unit;
a storage region on the substrate at one side of the transfer switching unit;
a plurality of pixels including a reset switching unit on the substrate at one side of the storage region; and
a control circuit reading a signal level and a reset signal level and applying a signal to the transfer switching unit and the reset switching unit,
wherein the control circuit reduces an integration time required for accumulating overflow charges generated from the photo-electro conversion unit in the storage region, and reads an overflow level of the photo-electro conversion unit, and
wherein the overflow level read by the control circuit is used for calculating an actual overflow signal.
2. The imaging apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control circuit applies again a reset signal to the reset switching unit before reading the overflow level of the photo-electro conversion unit to reduce the integration time required for accumulating the overflow charges in the storage region.
3. The imaging apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control circuit maintains a turn-on state of the reset switching unit for a predetermined time before reading the overflow level of the photo-electro conversion unit to reduce the integration time required for accumulating the overflow charges in the storage region.
4. The imaging apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control circuit omits the reading of the overflow level if an overflow charge is not generated in the photo-electro conversion unit.
5. The imaging apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control circuit forms a first signal level based on the overflow level and the reset signal level.
6. The imaging apparatus of claim 5, wherein the control circuit forms a second signal level based on the reset signal level and the signal level of the storage region, and outputs the first and second signal levels.
7. The imaging apparatus of claim 6, wherein the control circuit turns on the transfer switching unit to transfer the stored optical charges from the photo-electro conversion unit to the storage region.
8. The imaging apparatus of claim 6, wherein the control circuit reads the signal level of optical charges transferred to the storage region.
9. The imaging apparatus of claim 6, wherein the same storage region is used when reading the overflow level.
10. The imaging apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a summer combining the first signal level and the second signal level and providing the actual overflow signal.
11. The imaging apparatus of claim 10, further comprising an analog-digital converter (ADC) connected to the summer.
12. The imaging apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control circuit applies a reset signal to the reset switching unit to drain optical charges stored in the storage region, and reads the reset signal level.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A photovoltaic system comprising:
an inverter,
a photovoltaic generator comprising a plurality of serially connected photovoltaic modules, said photovoltaic generator connected to the inverter by an electrical supply line,
a controllable fuse interconnected in the electrical supply line between the inverter and the photovoltaic generator and having a signal input, and
a voltage-dependent resistor connected between the signal input of the controllable fuse and the electrical supply line and generating a control signal which triggers the controllable fuse responsive to the control signal and interrupts the electrical supply line.
2. The photovoltaic system of claim 1, wherein the controllable fuse is a self-destructing fuse.
3. The photovoltaic system of claim 2, wherein the controllable fuse is a pyroelectric fuse.
4. The photovoltaic system of claim 1, wherein the controllable fuse is an overvoltage protector.
5. The photovoltaic system of claim 4, further comprising a control unit, wherein the overvoltage protector has a signal output which provides a second signal when the overvoltage protector is triggered, which second signal is supplied to the control unit which generates from the second signal the control signal.
6. The photovoltaic system of claim 4, wherein the overvoltage protector is constructed based on zinc oxide.
7. The photovoltaic system of claim 5, wherein the control signal is a DC voltage signal providing a DC current between 2 A and 5 A for a duration of at least 10 ms.