  We propose a simple approach to study the conductance through an array of $N$
interacting quantum dots, weakly coupled to metallic leads. Using a mapping to
an effective site which describes the low-lying excitations and a slave-boson
representation in the saddle-point approximation, we calculated the conductance
through the system. Explicit results are presented for N=1 and N=3: a linear
array and an isosceles triangle. For N=1 in the Kondo limit, the results are in
very good agreement with previous results obtained with numerical
renormalization group (NRG). In the case of the linear trimer for odd $N$, when
the parameters are such that electron-hole symmetry is induced, we obtain
perfect conductance $G_0=2e^2/h$. The validity of the approach is discussed in
detail.
