Modular system for unattended energy generation and storage
First Claim
1. An apparatus for supplying energy to a load, comprising:
- an energy recharge unit;
an energy storage unit;
an energy converter connected to said energy recharge unit, said energy converter being capable of transferring energy at a power level from said energy recharge unit to an output node at a predetermined voltage, said power level being determined by a power transfer controller; and
a bi-directional energy converter connected to said energy storage unit and to said output node;
a sensorless current mode (SCM) controller connected to the energy storage unit to receive an output of the energy storage, to the output node to receive an output of the bi-directional energy converter, and to the bi-directional energy converter, the SCM controller being configured to control the operation of the bi-directional energy converter, based on the output of the energy storage and the output of the bi-directional energy converter, to maintain the voltage of the output node at the predetermined voltage by;
(i) converting energy of varying voltages from said energy storage unit to energy of varying current levels at the predetermined voltage to supplement said transferred energy with energy from said energy storage unit,(ii) converting said transferred energy to provide charging energy to said energy storage unit when said transferred energy exceeds a demand level of said load, and(iii) deactivating the bi-directional energy converter in response to the transferred energy falling below the demand level of said load and a charge level of the energy storage unit falling below a predetermined lower charge threshold.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for supplying energy to a load includes an energy recharge unit, an energy storage unit, an energy converter connected to the energy recharge unit, the energy converter being capable of transferring energy at a power level from the energy recharge unit to an output node, the power level being determined by a power transfer controller, and a bi-directional energy converter connected to the energy storage unit and to the output node. The bi-directional energy converter is capable of converting energy of varying voltages from the energy storage unit to energy of varying current levels to supplement the transferred energy with energy from the energy storage unit so as to maintain a constant voltage on the output node. The bi-directional energy converter is capable of converting the transferred energy to provide charging energy to the energy storage unit when the transferred energy exceeds a demand level of the load while maintaining the constant voltage at the output node.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. An apparatus for supplying energy to a load, comprising:
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an energy recharge unit; an energy storage unit; an energy converter connected to said energy recharge unit, said energy converter being capable of transferring energy at a power level from said energy recharge unit to an output node at a predetermined voltage, said power level being determined by a power transfer controller; and a bi-directional energy converter connected to said energy storage unit and to said output node; a sensorless current mode (SCM) controller connected to the energy storage unit to receive an output of the energy storage, to the output node to receive an output of the bi-directional energy converter, and to the bi-directional energy converter, the SCM controller being configured to control the operation of the bi-directional energy converter, based on the output of the energy storage and the output of the bi-directional energy converter, to maintain the voltage of the output node at the predetermined voltage by; (i) converting energy of varying voltages from said energy storage unit to energy of varying current levels at the predetermined voltage to supplement said transferred energy with energy from said energy storage unit, (ii) converting said transferred energy to provide charging energy to said energy storage unit when said transferred energy exceeds a demand level of said load, and (iii) deactivating the bi-directional energy converter in response to the transferred energy falling below the demand level of said load and a charge level of the energy storage unit falling below a predetermined lower charge threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of providing energy to a load from a power supply system, said power supply system comprising an energy recharge unit, an energy converter with an input connected to the energy recharge unit and an output connected to an output node and coupled to a power transfer controller, a rechargeable energy storage unit, a bi-directional energy converter with an input connected to said rechargeable energy storage unit and an output connected to said output node, said output node being connected to an input of said load, and a sensorless current mode (SCM) controller with a first input connected to said rechargeable energy storage unit and a second input connected to the output of the bi-directional energy converter, said method comprising:
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exposing said energy recharge unit to a corresponding energy source as to produce electric energy; determining via said power transfer controller whether a power level of said produced electric energy is above a predetermined power threshold in order to activate said energy converter; converting said produced electric energy by said energy converter and delivering said converted electric energy to said load at a predetermined voltage in order to meet at least part of a demand level of said load; monitoring a voltage at said output node; and controlling the operation of the bi-directional energy converter with the SCM controller, based on an output of the energy storage unit and an output of the bi-directional energy converter, to maintain the voltage of said output node at the predetermined voltage by; (i) converting energy stored in said energy storage unit by said bi-directional energy converter to supplement said delivery of said converted produced energy to said load, and (ii) converting said transferred energy to provide charging energy to said energy storage unit when said transferred energy exceeds the demand level of said load, and (iii) deactivating the bi-directional energy converter in response to the transferred energy falling below the demand level of said load and a charge level of the energy storage unit falling below a predetermined lower charge threshold. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A computer readable medium comprising instructions which when executed by a computer system causes the computer to implement a method for providing energy to a load from a power apparatus, said power apparatus comprising an energy recharge unit, an energy converter with an input connected to the energy recharge unit and coupled to a power transfer controller, a rechargeable energy storage unit, a bi-directional energy converter with an input connected to said rechargeable energy storage unit, and a sensorless current mode (SCM) controller connected to said rechargeable energy storage unit and to the bi-directional energy converter, said method comprising:
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exposing said energy recharge unit to a corresponding energy source so as to produce electric energy; determining via said power transfer controller whether a power level of said produced electric energy is above a predetermined power threshold in order to activate said energy converter; converting said produced electric energy by said energy converter and delivering said converted electric energy to said load at a predetermined voltage in order to meet at least part of a demand level of said load; monitoring a voltage at said output node; and controlling the operation of the bi-directional energy converter with the SCM controller, based on an output of the energy storage unit and an output of the bi-directional energy converter, to maintain the voltage of said output node at the predetermined voltage by; (i) converting energy stored in said energy storage unit by said bi-directional energy converter to supplement said delivery of said converted produced energy to said load, (ii) converting said transferred energy to provide charging energy to said energy storage unit when said transferred energy exceeds the demand level of said load, and (iii) deactivating the bi-directional energy converter in response to the transferred energy falling below the demand level of said load and a charge level of the energy storage unit falling below a predetermined lower charge threshold.
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34. A system for performing a method for providing energy to a load from a power apparatus, said power apparatus comprising an energy recharge unit, an energy converter with an input connected to the energy recharge unit and coupled to a power transfer controller, a rechargeable energy storage unit, a bi-directional energy converter with an input connected to said rechargeable energy storage unit, said energy recharge unit being exposed to a corresponding energy source so as to produce electric energy, the system comprising:
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at least one processor programmed to determine via said power transfer controller whether a power level of said produced electric energy is above a predetermined power threshold in order to activate said energy converter, to activate said energy converter to convert said produced electric energy and to deliver said converted electric energy to said load at a predetermined voltage in order to meet at least part of a demand level of said load; and a sensorless current mode (SCM) controller connected to the rechargeable energy storage unit to receive an output of the energy storage, to the output node to receive an output of the bi-directional energy converter, and to the bi-directional energy converter, the SCM controller being configured to control the operation of the bi-directional energy converter, based on the output of the energy storage and the output of the bi-directional energy converter, to maintain the voltage of said input at the predetermined voltage by; (i) converting energy stored in said energy storage unit for supplementing said delivery of said converted produced energy to said load (ii) converting at least part of said transferred energy to provide charging energy to said energy storage unit when said transferred energy exceeds the demand level of said load, and (iii) deactivating the bi-directional energy converter in response to the transferred energy falling below the demand level of said load and a charge level of the energy storage unit falling below a predetermined lower charge threshold. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification