Remotely controllable modular power control device for power generation

• US 9,929,665 B2
• Filed: 04/20/2016
• Issued: 03/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: De Hoog, Julian, Kalyanaraman, Shivkumar, Kolluri, Ramachandra
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, RAJNIKANT B
• Application Number:
  US15/134,027
• Publication Number:
  US 20170310232A1
• Time in Patent Office: 706 Days
• Field of Search: 363 16- 20, 363 34- 41, 363 89, 363 97, 363 98, 363132, 363127, 307 18, 307 22, 307 26, 307 31, 307151, 323205, 323224, 323235, 323207, 323906, 700295, 700297, 700298
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00004 characterised by the power network being locally controlled
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00017 using optical fiber
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/20 The dispersed energy generation being of renewable origin
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/24 of photovoltaic origin
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/16 The load or loads being an Information and Communication Technology [ICT] facility
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/381 Dispersed generators
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/48 Controlling the sharing of the in-phase component
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/50 Controlling the sharing of the out-of-phase component
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/0009 Devices or circuits for detecting current in a converter
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/08 Circuits specially adapted for the generation of control voltages for semiconductor devices incorporated in static converters
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 5/42 by static converters
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/56 Power conversion systems, e.g. maximum power point trackers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 40/70 Smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the energy generation sector
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/00 Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 10/123 the energy generation units being or involving renewable energy sources
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/124 using wired telecommunication networks or data transmission busses

Abstract

A power adjusting circuit includes a sensor configured to measure a voltage and a current of the first AC output by an inverter, an AC/DC/AC converter configured to receive the first AC output from the inverter, and a controller configured to convert the first AC output to a second AC output having a desired power factor.

Claims

1. A power adjusting circuit comprising:

a sensor positioned at an output of an inverter to measure a voltage and a current of a first AC signal output by the inverter;

an AC/DC/AC converter connected to the output of the inverter to receive the first AC signal output from the inverter; and

a controller wirelessly receives a request signal including a first amount of desired active power and a second amount of desired reactive power, determines a third amount of active power and a fourth amount of reactive power in the first AC signal from the measured voltage and current, determines an adjustment signal based on the first through fourth amounts, and applies the adjustment signal to the AC/DC/AC converter to cause the AC/DC/AC converter to convert the first AC signal to a second AC signal having the first amount of the desired active power and the second amount of the desired reactive power,

wherein the inverter comprises a DC/DC converter receiving an output of a photovoltaic array and a DC/AC converter receiving an output of the DC/DC converter.

2. The power adjusting circuit of claim 1, wherein the first AC signal is at a unity power factor and the second AC signal is at a desired power factor not equal to the unity power factor.

3. The power adjusting circuit of claim 1, wherein the controller determines a fifth amount of harmonic power in the first AC signal, the request signal includes a sixth amount of desired harmonic power, the controller determines the adjustment signal by further using the fifth and sixth amounts, and the adjustment signal further causes the second AC signal to include the sixth amount of the desired harmonic power.

4. The power adjusting circuit of claim 2, wherein the controller applies the adjustment signal to the AC/DC/AC converter periodically to gradually convert the first AC signal having the unity power factor to the second AC signal having the desired power factor.

5. The power adjusting circuit of claim 1, wherein the AC/DC/AC converter comprises an AC/DC converter, a DC link capacitor, and a DC/AC converter connected in parallel with one another, wherein the AC/DC converter receives the first AC signal output by the inverter.

6. The power adjusting circuit of claim 1, wherein the sensor is a Hall effect sensor including a portion encircling a wire connected to an output of the inverter.

7. A power adjusting circuit comprising:

a sensor positioned at an output of an inverter to measure a voltage and a current of a first AC signal output by the inverter;

a first AC/DC/AC converter connected to the output of the inverter to receive the first AC signal output from the inverter and a first controller that controls the first AC/DC/AC converter; and

a second AC/DC/AC converter connected to the output of the inverter to receive the first AC signal output from the inverter and a second controller that controls the second AC/DC/AC converter,

wherein the controllers negotiate with one another to determine first and second amounts of active power to provide, and third and fourth amounts of reactive power to provide,

wherein the first controller applies a first adjustment signal to the first AC/DC/AC converter based on the first amount and the third amount and the second controller applies a second adjustment signal to the second AC/DC/AC converter based on the second amount and fourth amount, to cause the AC/DC/AC converters to collectively generate a second AC signal having a different power factor from the first AC signal, the second AC signal having an amount of active power totaling the first and second amounts and an amount of reactive power totaling the third and fourth amounts.

8. The power adjusting circuit of claim 7, wherein the first AC signal has current in phase with a grid voltage and the second AC signal has current that is in or out of phase with the grid voltage.

9. The power adjusting circuit of claim 7, wherein the first AC signal consists entirely of active power and the second AC signal contains reactive and harmonic power.

10. The power adjusting circuit of claim 7, wherein the controllers wirelessly receive a total of the first and second amounts of active power and a total of the third and fourth amounts of reactive power to generate.

11. The power adjusting circuit of claim 7, wherein each AC/DC/AC converter comprises an AC/DC converter, a DC link capacitor, and a DC/AC converter connected in parallel with one another, wherein the AC/DC converter receives the first AC signal output by the inverter.

12. The power adjusting circuit of claim 7, wherein the inverter comprises a DC/DC converter receiving an output of a photovoltaic array and a DC/AC converter receiving an output of the DC/DC converter.

13. The power adjusting circuit of claim 7, wherein the sensor is a Hall effect sensor including a portion encircling a wire connected to an output of the inverter.

14. The power adjusting circuit of claim 7, wherein the controllers apply their respective adjustment signals to their respective AC/DC/AC converters periodically to gradually produce the second AC signal having the power factor.

22. The power adjusting circuit of claim 10, wherein the controllers negotiate with one another to determine fifth and sixth amounts of harmonic power to provide, wherein the first controller applies the first adjustment signal to the first AC/DC/AC converter based further on the fifth amount of harmonic power, and wherein the second controller applies the second adjustment signal to the second AC/DC/AC converter based further on the sixth amount of harmonic power.

15. A power adjusting circuit comprising:

a sensor positioned at an output of an inverter to measure a voltage and a current of a first AC signal output by the inverter;

a first AC/DC/AC converter connected to an output of the inverter to receive the first AC signal output from the inverter and a first controller that controls the first AC/DC/AC converter;

a second AC/DC/AC converter connected to an output of the inverter to receive the first AC signal output from the inverter and a second controller that controls the second AC/DC/AC converter; and

a central controller informs the first controller of a first amount of power to provide and informs the second controller of a second amount of power to provide,

wherein the first controller applies a first adjustment signal to the first AC/DC/AC converter based on the first amount and the second controller applies a second adjustment signal to the second AC/DC converter based on the second amount, to cause the AC/DC/AC converters to collectively generate a second AC signal having a desired power factor different from the first AC signal,

wherein, periodically, the first controller applies the first adjustment signal to the first AC/DC/AC converter and the second controller applies the second adjustment signal to the second AC/DC/AC converter, to gradually produce the second AC signal having the desired power factor.

16. The power adjusting circuit of claim 15, wherein the first AC output has current in phase with grid voltage and the second AC output has current that is in or out of phase with the grid voltage.

17. The power adjusting circuit of claim 15, wherein the first AC output consists entirely of active power and the second AC output contains at least one of reactive and harmonic power.

18. The power adjusting circuit of claim 15, wherein each controller is configured to wirelessly receive an amount of active power and an amount of reactive power to generate.

19. The power adjusting circuit of claim 15, wherein each AC/DC/AC converter comprises an AC/DC converter, a DC link capacitor, and a DC/AC converter connected in parallel with one another, wherein the AC/DC converter receives an AC output of the inverter.

20. The power adjusting circuit of claim 15, wherein the inverter comprises a DC/DC converter receiving an output of a photovoltaic array and a DC/AC converter receiving an output of the DC/DC converter.

21. The power adjusting circuit of claim 15, wherein the sensor is a Hall effect sensor including a portion encircling a wire connected to an output of the inverter.