# US 10,245,959 B2 · Power converter system and method of manufacturing thereof > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,245,959 B2 - Document ID: US10245959B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/877,583 - Filed: 2015-10-07 - Published: 2016-04-07 - Granted: 2019-04-02 - Earliest claimed: 2014-10-07 - Assignees: Nanyang Technological University - Applicants: Nanyang Technological University - Inventors: Anshuman Tripathi; Satyajit Athlekar; Nishanthi Duraisamy - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10245959B2 ## CPC - B60L 53/00: Methods of charging batteries, specially adapted for electric vehicles; Charging stations or on-board charging equipment therefor; Exchange of energy storage elements in electric vehicles - H02J 7/00: Circuit arrangements for charging or discharging batteries or for supplying loads from batteries - H02J 3/381: {Dispersed generators} - H02J 4/00: Circuit arrangements for mains or distribution networks not specified as AC or DC; Circuit arrangements for mains or distribution networks combining AC and DC sections or sub-networks (arrangements using intermediate DC-AC-DC conversion H02J1/002; arrangements using high-voltage DC [HVDC] links H02J3/36) - H02J 2101/24: Photovoltaics - H02J 2101/28: Wind energy - H02J 2105/37: exchanging power with electric vehicles [EV] or with hybrid electric vehicles [HEV] - H02M 3/158: including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load - Y02E 10/56: Power conversion systems, e.g. maximum power point trackers - Y02E 10/76: Power conversion electric or electronic aspects - Y02E 60/00: Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation - Y02T 10/70: Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries - Y02T 10/7072: Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors - Y02T 90/14: Plug-in electric vehicles - Y04S 10/126: the energy generation units being or involving electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV], i.e. power aggregation of EV or HEV, vehicle to grid arrangements [V2G] - B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES - H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY - H02M: APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF (transformers H01F; dynamo-electric converters H02K47/00; controlling transformers, reactors or choke coils, control or regulation of electric motors, generators or dynamo-electric converters H02P) - Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION - Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION - Y04S: SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS ## Abstract There is provided a power converter system including a power bus, a plurality of power converter modules connected to the power bus in parallel, a plurality of energy storage modules, each energy storage module coupled to the power bus via a corresponding one of the plurality of power converter modules, and a controller module configured to control at least one of the power converter modules to operate in one of a plurality of operating modes. In particular, the plurality of operating modes of the power converter module includes a plurality of charging power conversion modes for connecting an input power source to the corresponding energy storage module for charging power to the corresponding energy storage module. There is also provided a corresponding method of manufacturing the power converter system. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A power converter system comprising: a power bus; a plurality of power converter modules connected to the power bus in parallel; a plurality of energy storage modules, each energy storage module coupled to the power bus via a corresponding one of the plurality of power converter modules; and a controller module configured to control at least one of the plurality of power converter modules to operate in each of a plurality of charging power conversion modes, each charging power conversion mode configured for connecting an input power source to the corresponding energy storage module for charging power to the corresponding energy storage module, wherein the at least one power converter module is configured to be switchable by the controller module to operate in any one of the plurality of charging power conversion modes. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The power converter system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of charging power conversion modes comprises an alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) power conversion mode and a DC to DC power conversion mode. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The power converter system according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of charging power conversion modes further comprises a DC to AC power conversion mode. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The power converter system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of operating modes of the at least one power converter module further comprises a plurality of discharging power conversion modes for connecting the corresponding energy storage module to an electrical load for discharging power to the electrical load. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The power converter system according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of discharging power conversion modes of the at least one power converter module comprises a direct coupling mode for coupling power from the corresponding energy storage module to the electrical load without power conversion, a DC to AC power conversion mode, and a DC to DC power conversion mode. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The power converter system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one power converter module comprises a power converter circuit configured to be switchable by the controller module to operate in any one of the plurality of operating modes. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The power converter system according to claim 6, wherein the power converter circuit comprises a plurality of switches that may be actuated by the controller module for switching the power converter circuit to operate in any one of the plurality of operating modes. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The power converter system according to claim 6, wherein the controller module is configured to detect a type of the input power source coupled to the power converter system and control the at least one power converter module to operate in one of the plurality of operating modes based on the type of the input power source detected. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The power converter system according to claim 6, wherein the controller module is configured to detect a type of an electrical load connected to the power converter system and control the at least one power converter module to operate in one of the plurality of operating modes determined based on the type of electrical load detected. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The power converter system according to claim 8, wherein the type of the input power source is AC or DC. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The power converter system according to claim 1, wherein the controller module is further configured to monitor the performance of at least one of the plurality of energy storage modules and control the at least one power converter module corresponding to said at least one of the energy storage modules based on the performance detected. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The power converter system according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of operating modes of the at least one power converter module further comprises an isolation mode for isolating the corresponding energy storage module from the power bus, and the controller module is configured to switch the at least one power converter module to the isolation mode when the corresponding energy storage module is detected to be faulty based on the performance monitored. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The power converter system according to claim 1, wherein the controller module is further configured to selectively set the plurality of power converter modules to operate in one of the plurality of operating modes based on a type and a power demand of the electrical load detected. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The power converter system according to claim 1, wherein the power bus is a source power bus and the power converter system further comprises a load power bus and a plurality of power converter modules connected to the load power bus in parallel, and wherein said each energy storage module is further coupled to the load power bus via a corresponding one of the plurality of power converter modules connected to the load power bus. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The power converter system according to claim 14, wherein one or more of the plurality of power converter modules coupled to the source power bus is operable to transfer power from the input power source to corresponding one or more of the plurality of energy storage modules, and one or more of the plurality of power converter modules coupled to the load power bus is operable to transfer power discharged from the corresponding one or more of the plurality of energy storage modules to an electrical load simultaneously. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The power converter system according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of the controller module, wherein each of the plurality of power converter modules comprises a respective one of the plurality of controller modules. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The power converter system according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of energy storage modules is a hybrid energy storage module comprising at least two types of energy storage devices. ### Claim 18 A method of manufacturing a power converter system, the method comprising: providing a power bus; connecting a plurality of power converter modules to the power bus in parallel; providing a plurality of energy storage modules, and coupling each energy storage module to the power bus via a corresponding one of the plurality of power converter modules; and providing a controller module configured to control at least one of the plurality of power converter modules to operate in each of a plurality of charging power conversion modes, each charging power conversion mode configured for connecting an input power source to the corresponding energy storage module for charging power to the corresponding energy storage module, wherein the at least one power converter module is configured to be switchable by the controller module to operate in any one of the plurality of charging power conversion modes.