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Smart and scalable power inverters

DC
  • US 8,786,133 B2
  • Filed: 07/15/2010
  • Issued: 07/22/2014
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2009
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A system for providing AC power to a power grid from a plurality of individual DC power sources each having a DC power output port, comprising:

  • a) a plurality of power inverters, each of said power inverters having one DC power input port, an AC power input port, and an AC power output port, said DC power input port having one DC power source connected thereto;

    b) said AC power output port of each inverter being connected in a daisy chain to the AC power input port of the next inverter, except for the AC power input port of the first inverter being left open, and the AC power output port of the last inverter being connected to a power service panel of the power grid;

    c) each of said power inverters including;

    i) a DC-DC boost converter connected to said DC power source and arranged to convert the power source voltage to a higher DC voltage suitable for inversion;

    ii) a DC-AC inverter connected to said DC-DC boost converter and arranged to invert the DC power to AC power with voltage higher than the incoming AC power voltage;

    iii) an internal AC powerline that combines the generated AC power with the external AC power from the power grid;

    iv) a load interface circuit connected to said DC-AC inverter and to said internal AC powerline, said load interface circuit being arranged to filter high-frequency components out of the said DC-AC inverter'"'"'s AC output;

    v) an MFA microcontroller connected to said DC-DC boost converter, DC-AC inverter, and load interface circuit, said microcontroller arranged to monitor the DC boost voltage, control the DC-DC boost converter, perform maximum power point tracking (MPPT), perform DC-AC inversion and AC power synchronization, monitor AC current and voltage for generated power amount and status, perform powerline communications, and perform logic controls such as AC powerline switching and isolation;

    vi) a powerline modem connected to said microcontroller and said internal AC powerline through an interface circuitry for transmitting and receiving performance data between said microcontroller and said power grid;

    vii) a line sensing circuit connected to said internal AC powerline and said microcontroller for detecting the phase and zero-crossing point of the incoming AC power from the power grid; and

    viii) a solid state switch connected to said internal AC powerline and external AC powerline, and arranged to disconnect said internal AC powerline from the AC grid during the non-generation time.

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