METHOD FOR DISTRIBUTED POWER HARVESTING USING DC POWER SOURCES
First Claim
1. A method for harvesting power from a distributed power system having a plurality of DC power sources and a plurality of DC power converters, the method comprising:
- coupling each of the power sources to a respective DC power converter;
coupling the power converters in series, to thereby form a serial string;
coupling the serial string to an input of a DC/AC inverter;
fixing voltage level at the input of said DC/AC inverter to a predetermined fixed constant value, thereby forcing current flowing through the serial string to vary according to power provided by the power sources so as to maintain the fixed constant value.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for combining power from DC power sources. Each power source is coupled to a converter. Each converter converts input power to output power by monitoring and maintaining the input power at a maximum power point. Substantially all input power is converted to the output power, and the controlling is performed by allowing output voltage of the converter to vary. The converters are coupled in series. An inverter is connected in parallel with the series connection of the converters and inverts a DC input to the inverter from the converters into an AC output. The inverter maintains the voltage at the inverter input at a desirable voltage by varying the amount of the series current drawn from the converters. The series current and the output power of the converters, determine the output voltage at each converter.
156 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for harvesting power from a distributed power system having a plurality of DC power sources and a plurality of DC power converters, the method comprising:
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coupling each of the power sources to a respective DC power converter; coupling the power converters in series, to thereby form a serial string; coupling the serial string to an input of a DC/AC inverter; fixing voltage level at the input of said DC/AC inverter to a predetermined fixed constant value, thereby forcing current flowing through the serial string to vary according to power provided by the power sources so as to maintain the fixed constant value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In a distributed power system having a DC power source coupled to a load, a method for improving the reliability of components within the load, comprising:
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coupling the DC power source to the load; maintaining by the load the input voltage to the load at a fixed predetermined constant voltage, thereby holding the input voltage at a set value, the fixed predetermined voltage being a safe operating voltage for the components within the load; varying the current input to the load according to the power drawn from the DC power source. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for harvesting power from a plurality of solar panels, comprising:
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coupling each of the plurality of solar panels to one of a plurality of DC/DC converters; coupling the plurality of DC/DC converters in series to form a string; coupling the string to an input of a DC/AC inverter; operating the DC/AC inverter to maintain a fixed constant voltage at the input; operating each converter individually to draw maximum power from its respective solar panel and to convert the power to be output at the string by individually varying the input voltage or current to each respective converter according to a predetermined criterion. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification