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US 11,454,430 B2Granted
DC system controls
AssigneeSolarXWorks, LLC
InventorsScott Brown, Blake Barthelmess, Tor Hartmann, Donald McGraw
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A DC-powered system may include controls configured to switch between available DC power supplies and manage the refrigeration system in accordance with one or more methods. The one or more methods of the control system may include multiple tiers of power management, including, e.g., maximization of power usage when on a photovoltaic power supply to subcool a refrigerated load.
Claims20
A control system, comprising:
- one or more processors;
- a memory comprising one or more storage devices;
- and
- a control program including a plurality of instructions stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to:
- compare a direct current (DC) bus voltage of a DC power bus of an electrical system to a selected threshold, wherein the DC power bus is continuously electrically connected to a photovoltaic (PV) DC source and a non-PV DC source, such that the DC bus voltage is automatically supplied by whichever DC source has a higher output voltage;
- in response to the DC bus voltage being greater than the threshold, determine that DC power is provided to the electrical system by the PV source, and automatically transition the electrical system to (or maintain the electrical system in) a first mode, in which power consumption is maximized by causing continuous operation of one or more electrical loads of the electrical system;
- and
- in response to the DC bus voltage being lower than the threshold, determine that DC power is provided by the non-PV source, and automatically transition the electrical system to (or maintain the electrical system in) a second mode, in which power consumption is managed by cycling the one or electrical loads.
5 more elements
An electrical system, comprising:
- an electrical load;
- a plurality of electrical power sources coupled to the electrical load, including at least one photovoltaic (PV) source and at least one non-PV source;
- and
- a control system configured to compare a direct current (DC) bus voltage of a DC power bus of the electrical system to a selected threshold, wherein the DC power bus is continuously electrically connected to the PV source and the non-PV source, such that the DC bus voltage is automatically supplied by whichever DC source has a higher output voltage;
- and automatically operate the electrical load using electrical power from whichever DC source has a higher output voltage;
- wherein the control system is operable in a first mode, in which the electrical load is caused to run continuously in response to the DC bus voltage being greater than the threshold, and a second mode, in which the electrical load is caused to cycle on an as-needed basis in response to the DC bus voltage being lower than the threshold.
3 more elements
A method for controlling an electrical system, the method comprising:
- comparing a DC bus voltage of a DC power bus of an electrical system to a selected threshold, wherein the DC power bus is continuously electrically connected to a plurality of DC sources comprising a photovoltaic (PV) DC source and a non-PV DC source, such that the DC bus voltage is automatically supplied by whichever of the DC sources has a higher output voltage;
- automatically changing to whichever of the DC sources has a higher output voltage;
- using a controller of the electrical system, automatically maximizing power usage by running the electrical system continuously in response to the DC bus voltage being greater than the threshold;
- and
- using the controller, automatically managing power usage by cycling the electrical system in response to the DC bus voltage being lower than the threshold.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.