Power conversion system and method

An electric power conversion system, comprising:

• a direct current (DC) bus;
• a DC power source directly electrically coupled to the DC bus;
• an inverter directly coupled to the DC bus and electrically connectable to a stationary alternating current (AC) electric power grid, the inverter adapted to convert DC electric energy on the DC bus to AC electric energy for the stationary AC electric power grid;
• a battery, the battery comprising an all iron redox flow battery having a plating electrolyte and a redox electrolyte, the all iron redox flow battery adapted to permit the plating electrolyte and the redox electrolyte to comprise different molar concentrations of a predetermined salt;
• a sole DC/DC converter electrically coupled to the DC bus and the battery and including switchable transistors;
• and
• a controller, the controller electrically coupled to the DC power source and the battery, the controller including executable instructions stored in non-transitory memory to:
• switch the transistors to adjust a direction of current flow and/or adjust an effective impedance of the DC bus;
• and
• operate the sole DC/DC converter in a buck mode in response to a first operating condition of the DC power source, and to operate the DC/DC converter in a boost mode in response to a second operating condition of the DC power source.

A method of electric power conversion, comprising:

• operating a sole direct current (DC)/DC converter of a power distribution system for an all iron redox flow battery in a buck mode in response to operating conditions of a photovoltaic array, operating the sole DC/DC converter of the power distribution system in a boost mode in response to operating conditions of the photovoltaic array, the sole DC/DC converter directly electrically coupled to a DC bus, the photovoltaic array directly coupled to the DC bus, the DC bus directly electrically coupled to an inverter;
• and
• switching transistors of the sole DC/DC converter to adjust an electrical impedance provided by the DC bus to maximize an electrical output of the photovoltaic array;
• wherein the all iron redox flow battery includes a plating electrolyte and a redox electrolyte, the all iron redox flow battery adapted to permit the plating electrolyte and the redox electrolyte to comprise different molar concentrations of a predetermined salt.