Method and device for controlling a configurable power supply to provide AC and/or DC power output
First Claim
1. A method for controlling a photovoltaic power supply assembly a photovoltaic and a configurable power supply electrically coupled to the photovoltaic module, the method comprising:
- determining (i) whether a direct current (DC) electric accessory has been electrically connected to the configurable power supply and (ii) whether an alternating current (AC) electric accessory has been inductively coupled to the configurable power supply;
in response to determining that the DC electric accessory has been electrically connected, modifying a circuit topology of the configurable power supply to a first circuit topology to convert a power supply input received from the photovoltaic module to a DC power output to the DC electric accessory, andin response to determining that the AC electric accessory has been inductively coupled to the configurable power supply, modifying the circuit topology of the configurable power supply to a second circuit topology to convert a power supply input received from the photovoltaic module to an AC power output to the AC electric accessory,wherein determining whether the AC electric accessory has been inductively coupled to the configurable power supply comprises determining whether a primary coil of the configurable power supply is inductively coupled to a secondary coil of an internal electronic circuit of the AC electric accessory.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus, device, and system for generating an amount of output power in response to a direct current (DC) power input includes a configurable power supply, which may be electrically coupled to the DC power input. The configurable power supply is selectively configurable between multiple circuit topologies to generate various DC power outputs and/or and AC power output. The system may also include one or more DC power electronic accessories, such as DC-to-DC power converters, and/or one or more AC power electronic accessories such as DC-to-AC power converters. The power electronic accessories are couplable to the configurable power supply to receive the corresponding DC or AC power output of the configurable power supply.
188 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for controlling a photovoltaic power supply assembly a photovoltaic and a configurable power supply electrically coupled to the photovoltaic module, the method comprising:
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determining (i) whether a direct current (DC) electric accessory has been electrically connected to the configurable power supply and (ii) whether an alternating current (AC) electric accessory has been inductively coupled to the configurable power supply; in response to determining that the DC electric accessory has been electrically connected, modifying a circuit topology of the configurable power supply to a first circuit topology to convert a power supply input received from the photovoltaic module to a DC power output to the DC electric accessory, and in response to determining that the AC electric accessory has been inductively coupled to the configurable power supply, modifying the circuit topology of the configurable power supply to a second circuit topology to convert a power supply input received from the photovoltaic module to an AC power output to the AC electric accessory, wherein determining whether the AC electric accessory has been inductively coupled to the configurable power supply comprises determining whether a primary coil of the configurable power supply is inductively coupled to a secondary coil of an internal electronic circuit of the AC electric accessory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A photovoltaic configurable power supply comprising:
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an input converter having an input to receive a direct current (DC) power input from a photovoltaic module, the input converter being selectively configurable between a first circuit topology to convert a power supply input received from the photovoltaic module to a DC power output and a second circuit topology to convert a power supply input received from the photovoltaic module to an AC power output based on a control signal; and an input controller electrically connected to the input converter, the input controller comprising a processor and a memory, the memory comprising a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the input controller to; determine (i) whether a direct current (DC) electric accessory has been electrically connected to the input converter and (ii) whether an alternating current (AC) electric accessory has been inductively coupled to the input converter, in response to determining that the DC electric accessory has been electrically connected to the input converter, modify the circuit topology of the input converter to the first circuit topology, and in response to determining that the AC electric accessory has been inductively coupled to the input converter, modify the circuit topology of the input converter to the second circuit topology, wherein to determine whether the AC electric accessory has been electrically connected to the input converter comprises to determine whether a primary coil of the input converter is inductively coupled to a secondary coil of an internal electronic circuit of the AC electric accessory. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for controlling a photovoltaic power supply assembly comprising a photovoltaic module and a configurable power supply electrically coupled to the photovoltaic module, the method comprising:
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determining (i) whether a direct current (DC) electric accessory has been electrically connected to the configurable power supply and (ii) whether an alternating current (AC) electric accessory has been inductively coupled to the configurable power supply; in response to determining that the DC electric accessory has been electrically connected, modifying a circuit topology of the configurable power supply to form a buck-boost DC converter to deliver an amount of DC power to the DC electric accessory, in response to determining that the AC electric accessory has been inductively coupled to the configurable power supply, modifying the circuit topology of the configurable power supply to form a DC-AC inverter circuit to deliver an amount of AC power to the AC electric accessory, and in response to determining that the DC electric accessory has been electrically connected, modifying the circuit topology of the configurable power supply to form a DC pass-through circuit based on a state of an electronic switch. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification