Method and device for paralleling energy sources
AssigneeCustom Electronics, Inc.
InventorsEduard K. Mueller, Shawn Morris, Kyle J. DeStefano, Zack Thomas Joseph, Johnathan A. Rozanski
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Abstract
An energy storage system is provided, including: a plurality of energy storage devices, wherein each energy storage device includes an energy source; a junction unit for connecting the plurality of the energy storage devices in parallel to a common power bus, the junction unit including a control circuit; a power conversion unit coupled to the common power bus; and protection circuitry coupled to the control circuit for preventing current from one of the energy storage devices from flowing to another of the energy storage devices.
Claims19
An energy storage system comprising:
- a plurality of energy storage devices;
- a junction unit for connecting the plurality of the energy storage devices in parallel to a common power bus, the junction unit including a control circuit;
- a power conversion unit coupled to the common power bus;
- and
- a protective circuit array including, for each energy storage device, a diode and a switch connected in parallel on a respective input lead inside the junction unit, wherein the control circuit drives the switch to selectively regulate current flow from each energy storage device to prevent current from one energy storage device from flowing to another energy storage device and to control current flow and charge level.
A method for supplying current from a plurality of energy storage devices to a power bus, comprising:
- connecting the plurality of the energy storage devices in parallel to a power bus;
- and
- preventing current from flowing from any of the energy storage devices having too low of a voltage to the power bus, wherein the preventing comprises, for each energy storage device:
- coupling a protection circuit between the energy storage device and the power bus;
- connecting a switch between the energy storage device and the power bus;
- coupling a diode between the energy storage device and the power bus in parallel with the switch;
- measuring a voltage provided by the energy storage device;
- comparing the voltage provided by the energy storage device to a predetermined voltage level;
- and
- selectively decoupling the energy storage device from the power bus if the measured voltage provided by the energy storage device is lower than the predetermined voltage level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.