Power supply system and fuel cell unit

• US 20050084721A1
• Filed: 07/23/2004
• Published: 04/21/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Japan Research Institute Limited (Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Japan Research Institute Limited (Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Inoue, Makoto, Ikuma, Hitoshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,535,118 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 307/38
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 16/003 of fuel cells with other electrochemical devices, e.g. capacitors, electrolysers
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04604 Power, energy, capacity or load
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04619 of fuel cell stacks
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04925 Power, energy, capacity or load
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/0494 of fuel cell stacks
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04947 of auxiliary devices, e.g. batteries, capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 1/14 Balancing the load in a network
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/30 The power source being a fuel cell
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/60 Limiting power consumption in the network or in one section of the network, e.g. load shedding or peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/50 Fuel cells

Abstract

There is provided a power supply system for supplying power to a plurality of loads includes: a fuel cell for generating DC power; a plurality of connection units, wherein one of the plurality of connection units receives information to decide power consumption of the load from the load when any of the plurality of loads is connected to any of the connection units; and a control unit operable to compute the power consumption of the load based on the information received by the connection unit when power supply is requested from another load among the plurality of loads connected to the connection unit, and operable to inform a user of power shortage without supplying power to the load when the power consumption of the load is higher than surplus power of the fuel cell, in a state where power is supplied to at least one of the plurality of loads.

Claims

1. A power supply system for supplying power to a plurality of loads, comprising:

a fuel cell for generating DC power;

a plurality of connection units, wherein one of said plurality of connection units receives information to decide power consumption of the load from the load when any of the plurality of loads is connected to any of said connection units; and

a control unit operable to compute the power consumption of the load based on the information received by said connection unit when power supply is requested from another load among the plurality of loads connected to said connection unit, and operable to inform a user of power shortage without supplying power to the load when the power consumption of the load is higher than surplus power of said fuel cell, in a state where power is supplied to at least one of the plurality of loads.

2. A power supply system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said connection unit receives load identification information to identify the connected load from the load,

said control unit comprises:

a power consumption storing unit operable to decide maximum power consumption of each of the loads and store them in association with the load identification information on each load;

a power consumption deciding unit operable to receive the load identification information from said connection unit and retrieve the power consumption corresponding to the load identification information from said power consumption storing unit; and

a comparison unit operable to compare the power consumption retrieved by said power consumption deciding unit with the surplus power of said fuel cell.

3. A power supply system as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a display unit operable to display a list of loads connected to said connection units, a power consumption list of each of the connected loads, a list of loads being supplied with power from said fuel cell among the loads connected to said connection units, and the surplus power of said fuel cell.

4. A power supply system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said control unit decides which load is to be suspended from usage among the plurality of loads, which are supplied with the power, to supply the power to the other load based on the power consumption stored on said power consumption storing unit and the surplus power of said fuel cell when said control unit decides that the power consumption of the other load is higher than the surplus power, and

said display unit displays which load is to be suspended from usage among the plurality of loads, which are supplied with the power, to supply the power to the other load based on the decided result of said control unit.

5. A power supply system as claimed in claim 3, further comprising an electricity accumulation unit having shorter response time than that of said fuel cell with regard to power supply, said electricity accumulation unit being charged by said fuel cell, and

said control unit is operable to supply power from said electricity accumulation unit to the load within a predetermined response period after a power-supply request from the load, while supplying power from said fuel cell to the load after the predetermined response period has been elapsed.

6. A power supply system as claimed in claim 1, wherein power consumption of the loads differs depending on operating conditions,

said control unit supplies the surplus power to the load and to send a control signal to operate the load under the operating conditions corresponding to the surplus power to the load when said connection unit receives a request of power supply from the load of which the power consumption is higher than the surplus power.

7. A power supply system as claimed in claim 6, further comprising a display unit operable to indicate that the load is operating with low power when said control unit sends the control signal to the load.

8. A power supply system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a switching unit operable to selectively connect said connection units with an external power source, wherein said control unit causes said switching unit to connect said connection unit with the external power source to supply power from the external power source to the load via said connection unit when said control unit receives a request of power supply from the load connected to said connection unit of which the power consumption is higher than the surplus power of said fuel cell.

9. A power supply system as claimed in claim 8, further comprising a display unit operable to indicate that the power is being supplied to the load from the external power source.

10. A power supply system as claimed in claim 1, wherein

when said control unit receives a request of additional power from the load to which an amount of power has been already supplied when the additional power is lower than the surplus power,

said control unit increases power supplied to the load when the additional power is lower than the surplus power, and

said control unit informs the user of power shortage without increasing power supplied to the load when the additional power is higher than the surplus power.

11. A power supply system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said connection unit receives the load identification information via a power line for transmitting power to the load.

12. A power supply system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

transformers operable to transform DC power generated by said fuel cell into a desired voltage;

a DC/AC converter operable to convert the DC power generated by said fuel cell into AC power, wherein said DC/AC converter is provided in parallel with said transformers; and

DC/AC switching units for selecting whether either of said transformers or said DC/AC converter is to be connected to said connection units,

wherein said control unit decides whether the load connected to said connection unit is operated by either of the DC power or the AC power and to control said DC/AC switching unit based on the decided result.

13. A power supply system as claimed in claim 12, wherein said connection unit receives load identification information to identify the connected load from the load,

said control unit comprises:

a power-type storing unit operable to associate a power type of each of the loads, i.e., the DC power or the AC power, with the load identification information on each of the loads and to store them; and

a power type deciding unit operable to receive the load identification information from said connection unit and to decide whether the load is operated by either of the DC power or the AC power based on the load identification information.

14. A power supply system as claimed in claim 12, wherein said power supply system is connected to an external power source which generates DC power,

the power supply system further comprises a switching unit operable to select whether the DC power of the external power source is supplied to said DC/AC converter and said transformers, and

said control unit controls said switching unit to supply the DC power of the external power source to said DC/AC converter and said transformers.

15. A power supply system as claimed in claim 12, wherein said power supply system is connected to an external power source which generates AC power,

the power supply system further comprises:

an AC/DC converter operable to convert AC power of the external power source into DC power;

a first switch operable to select whether the DC power converted by said AC/DC converter is supplied to said transformers; and

a second switch operable to select whether the AC power of the external power source is supplied to said connection units,

wherein said control unit controls said first switch and said second switch based on the comparison result of the power consumption of the load connected to said connection unit with the surplus power of said fuel cell, and also based on the decision result of deciding whether the load is operated by the DC power or the AC power.

16. A fuel cell unit for generating power to be supplied to loads, comprising:

a fuel cell for generating DC power; and

a control unit operable to compare power consumption of the load with surplus power of said fuel cell and to inform a user of power shortage without supplying power to the load when the power consumption is higher than the surplus power.