Fuel cell inverter
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for supplying power to an external load, comprising:
- providing a DC power source, a converter, a battery and a DC bus;
supplying DC power from the DC power source to the converter;
supplying DC power from the converter to the DC bus;
controlling the amount of DC power provided from the converter to the DC bus based on the DC power available from the DC power source, wherein the DC power source provides varying DC voltage;
controlling the amount of DC power provided from the battery to the DC bus based on the amount of DC power supplied to the DC bus from the converter;
maintaining a substantially constant DC voltage on the DC bus inverting the DC voltage from the DC bus to AC voltage; and
supplying the AC voltage to the external load.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is directed to a method, system and device for converting direct current (DC) electrical voltage from a fuel cell to an alternating current (AC) voltage. The inventive method regulates power drawn from the fuel cell and from a battery to maintain a substantially constant DC voltage across a DC bus, and inverts the DC voltage from the DC bus to the AC voltage. The method may further electrically isolate the fuel cell from the load. Also, the inventive method may prevent current from flowing to the fuel cell. The inventive method may also provide a charging current to the battery.
-
Citations
41 Claims
-
1. A method for supplying power to an external load, comprising:
-
providing a DC power source, a converter, a battery and a DC bus;
supplying DC power from the DC power source to the converter;
supplying DC power from the converter to the DC bus;
controlling the amount of DC power provided from the converter to the DC bus based on the DC power available from the DC power source, wherein the DC power source provides varying DC voltage;
controlling the amount of DC power provided from the battery to the DC bus based on the amount of DC power supplied to the DC bus from the converter;
maintaining a substantially constant DC voltage on the DC bus inverting the DC voltage from the DC bus to AC voltage; and
supplying the AC voltage to the external load. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A system for converting DC electrical voltage from a DC power source to an AC voltage, wherein the DC power source provides varying DC voltage, the system comprising:
-
a DC-to-AC inverter;
a DC bus coupled to the DC-to-AC inverter;
a converter having an output connected to the DC bus and an input connected to the DC power source, said converter providing power to the DC bus based on the DC power available from the DC power source;
a battery; and
a device coupled to the battery and to the converter, wherein the device controls the flow of current to and from the battery, and wherein the device controls the amount of DC power supplied from the battery to the DC bus, based on the amount of DC power provided from the DC power source to the DC bus. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
-
32. A device for converting electrical voltage from a fuel cell to an AC voltage, comprising:
-
a DC bus;
an inverter coupled to the DC bus, wherein the inverter converts DC voltage from the DC bus to an AC voltage;
a battery;
a controller device coupled to the battery and to the DC bus, wherein the controller device controls the flow of current to and from the battery, and wherein power is controlled from the battery based on DC power provided from the DC power source to the DC bus; and
a boost converter having an input connected to the fuel cell and an output connected to the controller device and the DC bus, said boost converter being operable to regulate power provided from the fuel cell to the DC bus based on the DC power available from the DC power source, wherein the boost converter provides a charging current to the battery and protects against current flowing to the fuel cell. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
-
Specification