System interconnection electric power generator and control method therefor

• US 6,809,942 B2
• Filed: 06/24/2002
• Issued: 10/26/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sanyo Electric Air Conditioning Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Masanori, Onizuka, Keigo, Makino, Yasuhiro, Madenokouji, Masaki
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, MATTHEW VAN
• Application Number:
  US10/179,325
• Publication Number:
  US 20030002310A1
• Time in Patent Office: 855 Days
• Field of Search: 363/34, 363/37, 363/59, 363/60, 363/95, 363/97, 363/98, 363/131, 363/132, 307/46, 307/48, 307/49, 307/65, 307/66, 307/72-76, 307/80, 307/84-86, 361/42, 361/45, 361/49
• US Class Current: 363/98
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/10 The dispersed energy generation being of fossil origin, e.g. diesel generators
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/24 of photovoltaic origin
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/28 The renewable source being wind energy wind motors F03D
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/381 Dispersed generators
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/007 Plural converter units in cascade push-pull DC/DC converters with pre-regulator H02M3/3374; DC-AC converters following a DC-DC stage including a high frequency transformer H02M7/4807; DC-AC converters following a DC-DC conversion stage generating periodically varying voltages H02M7/4826
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/797 using semiconductor devices only
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/56 Power conversion systems, e.g. maximum power point trackers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/76 Power conversion electric or electronic aspects

Abstract

In a solar energy generator including a solar battery a microcomputer for controlling at least a boosting circuit and an inverter circuit so that AC power suitably usable as the AC power of a commercial power supply system can be supplied to the commercial power supply system, the power to be supplied to the various kinds of equipment of the solar energy generator is selectively supplied from one of the solar battery and the commercial power supply system. The microcomputer stores the operational status data of the solar energy generator into an external storage device, and these data can be used for maintenance or trouble shooting of the solar energy generator.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a system interconnection electric power generator comprising an electric power generator for generating DC power, a boosting circuit for boosting the DC power generated in the electric power generator, and an inverter circuit for converting the DC power boosted in the boosting circuit to AC power, the AC power thus boosted being supplied to a commercial power supply system, characterized in that data representing an operational status of the system interconnection electric power generator under operation are stored in a storage device.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the operational status data is data on a protecting operation of protecting the system interconnection electric power generator or the commercial power supply system.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the operational status data of the system interconnection electric power generator under operation are stored in the storage device while keeping control power for a controller of the system interconnection electric power generator just before the operation of said system interconnection electric power generator is stopped.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the operational status data of said system interconnection electric power generator is stored in the storage device while keeping control power for a controller of the system interconnection electric power generator when the amount of insolation is reduce to a predetermined level or less.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a judgment on sunset is made under the state that control power for a controller of the system interconnection electric power generator is kept, and if the judgment on sunset is affirmative, the supply of the power to the commercial power supply system is stopped.

6. A system interconnection electric power generator having various kinds of equipment for generating electric power and supplying the electric power to a commercial power supply system electrically-connected thereto, comprising

an electric power generator for generating DC power;

a boosting circuit for boosting the DC power generated in said electric power generator;

an inverter circuit for converting the DC power boosted in said boosting circuit to AC power;

a controller for controlling at least said boosting circuit and said inverter circuit;

plural DC lines connected between said electric power generator and said boosting circuit so that direct current achieved in said electric power generator flows through said plural DC lines; and

a DC earth fault detector for measuring the difference in current between said plural DC lines extending from said electric power generator to detect whether DC earth fault occurs or not in said system interconnection electric power generator, wherein said DC earth fault detector comprises a current sensor disposed on said plural DC lines, and said current sensor has a detecting core formed of a zero current transformer (ZCT).

7. The system interconnection electric power generator as claimed in claim 6, wherein a magnetic member of said zero current transformer around which a coil is wound is formed of permalloy.

8. The system interconnection electric power generator as claimed in claim 6, wherein said current sensor is disposed so that said DC lines penetrate through said detecting core of said current sensor, said detecting core is kept under an excited state so that the difference in flowing current between said DC lines can be measured, and it is judged on the basis of the output from said detecting core whether DC earth fault occurs in said DC lines.

9. The system interconnection electric power generator as claimed in claim 6, wherein said electric power generator comprises a solar battery for generating the electric power corresponding to the amount of sunlight received.

10. A system interconnection electric power generator having an electric power generator (11) for generating DC power, a boosting circuit (14) for boosting the DC power supplied from the electric power generator (11) to a predetermined voltage larger than the system voltage of a commercial power line, said boosting circuit (14) being equipped with a capacitor (26) for charging DC power, an inverter circuit (15) for converting the boosted DC power to AC power and supplying the AC power thus converted through said commercial power line to a commercial power supply system (13), and a microcomputer (17) for controlling the boosting circuit (14) and the inverter circuit (15), characterized by further comprising:

a switched power source that is connected between said boosting circuit (14) and said microcomputer (17) and directly supplied with the DC power charged in said capacitor (26) from said boosting circuit (14) so as to supply regulated DC power to said microcomputer (17) irrespective of variation of the DC power generated by said electric power generator (11), wherein said inverter circuit has at least four arms each having a switching element and a fly-wheel diode, and said capacitor (26) charges the DC power generated by said electric power generator (11) and then boosted by said boosting circuit (14) or DC power achieved by passing AC power from the commercial power line through said flywheel diodes (30) of said inverter circuit (15) to rectify the AC power.

11. The system interconnection electric power generator according to claim 10, wherein the DC power supplied from said switched power source to said microcomputer corresponds to DC power achieved by boosting and stabilizing the DC power generated in said electric power generated if the DC power generated by said electric power is more than a predetermined threshold value, or to DC power achieved by rectifying and stabilizing AC power from the commercial power line if the DC power generated by said electric power is not more than the predetermined threshold value.

12. The system interconnection electric power generator as claimed in claim 11, wherein the AC power from the commercial power line is rectified by said fly-wheel diodes of said inverter and then supplied through said boosting circuit to said switched power source.

13. The system interconnection electric power generator as claimed in claim 10, wherein said electric power generator comprises a solar battery for generating the electric power corresponding to the amount of sunlight received.

14. The system interconnection electric power generator as claimed in claim 10, wherein said microcomputer intercepts the electric connection between power source and the commercial power line when the operation of said system interconnection electric power generator is finish.

15. The system interconnection electric power generator as claimed in claim 10, further comprising:

a storage device that is controlled by said microcomputer so as to store operation status data of said system interconnection electric power generator under operation.

16. The system interconnection electric power generator as claimed in claim 15, wherein the operational status data are data on a protecting operation of protecting said system interconnection electric power generator or the commercial power supply system.

17. The system interconnection electric power generator as claimed in claim 15, wherein said controller controls said storage device to store the operational status data of said system interconnection electric power generator under operation while keeping the power to be supplied to said controller just before the operation of said system interconnection electric power generator is finished.

18. The system interconnection electric power generator as claimed in claim 15, wherein said electric power generator comprises a solar battery for generating the electric power corresponding to the amount of sunlight received.

19. The system interconnection electric generator as claimed in claim 14, wherein said microcomputer makes a judgment as to sunset, and stops the power supply to said commercial power line when the judgment on sunset is confirmed.