Power supply and method for controlling it
First Claim
1. Apparatus for supplying power to a load comprising:
- a solar power cell;
a battery;
a load including plural load functions; and
a programmable controller programmed to selectively regulate energy obtained from one or more of the solar power cell and the battery and to selectively control energy obtained from one or both of the solar power cell and the battery supplied to power one or more of the load functions.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A self-powered apparatus includes a solar power cell, a battery, and a load. The load may include one or more load functions performed using power provided by one or both of the solar power cell and the battery. The inclusion of a battery permits the solar power cell to be sized much smaller than if the solar power cell was the only supply of power. A programmable controller selectively regulates power provided to one or more load functions and also selectively regulates whether one or both of the power cell and battery supplies the power. Switching circuitry, controlled by the programmable controller, selectively couples one or both of the battery and the solar cell to supply energy for powering the load. In a preferred example embodiment, the controller couples the battery and/or solar cell to charge a super capacitor, which then is selectively controlled to power the load. The programmable controller determines and prioritizes load function power requirements, and based thereon, determines which load functions will be powered based the priority of the load function requirements and the amount of power that can be supplied by the solar power cell as supplemented by the battery.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. Apparatus for supplying power to a load comprising:
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a solar power cell;
a battery;
a load including plural load functions; and
a programmable controller programmed to selectively regulate energy obtained from one or more of the solar power cell and the battery and to selectively control energy obtained from one or both of the solar power cell and the battery supplied to power one or more of the load functions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. Apparatus for supplying power to a load comprising:
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a solar power cell;
a battery;
a load including plural load functions;
a programmable controller programmed to selectively regulate energy obtained from one or more of the solar power cell and the battery and to selectively control energy obtained from one or both of the solar power cell and the battery supplied to power one or more of the load functions; and
an energy storage device coupled to one or both of the solar power cell and the battery and to the load for storing energy supplied by one or both of the solar power cell and the battery under control of the programmable controller and for supplying energy to power one or more of the load functions under the control of the programmable controller. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. Apparatus for supplying power to a load comprising:
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a solar power cell;
a battery;
an energy storage device coupled to the solar cell and to the battery;
a load including one or more load functions;
switching circuitry for selectively coupling the battery to the energy storage device and the solar cell to the energy storage device; and
a programmable controller programmed to selectively regulate power drawn from the energy storage device by the one or more load functions and controlling the switching circuitry to couple one or both of the solar power cell and battery to charge the energy storage device. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer-implemented method for use in a power supply apparatus including a solar power cell, a battery, an energy storage device coupled to the solar cell, the battery, and a load including one or more load functions performed using power stored in the capacitor, comprising:
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detecting a charge level of the energy storage device, and selectively regulating power drawn from the energy storage device by the one or more load functions and whether one or both of the solar power cell and battery charges the energy storage device. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification