US 12,627,158 B2 · Systems and methods of DC power conversion and transmission for solar fields

Abstract

Systems and methods integrate advanced solar tracker, battery, inverter, and software technologies to improve performance, plant output, and costs. The systems may incorporate an advanced vanadium flow battery (VFB) that is DC-voltage (DV)-coupled to photovoltaic (PV) arrays for high, round-trip efficiency. The systems incorporate a DC architecture that optimizes performance for commercial, industrial, agricultural, and utility applications. A distributed direct current (DC) power system includes a centralized, single-stage inverter; PV arrays; maximum power point tracking (MPPT) converters coupled between the PV arrays and the centralized, single-stage inverter; batteries; and DC-DC battery converters (DCBCs) coupled to the batteries. The MPPT converters maximize solar power production by the PV arrays and minimize mismatch between the PV arrays. The DCBCs manage charge and discharge of the batteries, enable the interconnection of the PV arrays and the batteries, and supply a constant medium voltage to the central inverter.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A distributed direct current (DC) power system comprising:

a common DC bus;
an inverter configured to invert DC power to alternating current (AC) power coupled to the common DC bus;
a plurality of tracking controllers coupled to a plurality of photovoltaic (PV) strings and coupled to the common DC bus, the plurality of tracking controllers configured to maximize solar power production of the plurality of PV strings and minimize mismatch between the plurality of PV strings;
a plurality of DC-DC battery converters (DCBCs) coupled to a plurality of batteries and to the common DC bus, the plurality of DCBCs configured to;
manage charge and discharge of the plurality of batteries;
enable interconnection of the plurality of PV strings and the plurality of batteries via the common DC bus;
and
maintain a constant DC voltage to at the inverter via the common DC bus;
wherein the common DC bus connects the plurality of tracking controllers and the plurality of DCBCs to each other and connects the plurality of tracking controllers and the plurality of DCBCs to the inverter.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Systems and methods of DC power conversion and transmission for solar fields

Life of this patent

Systems and methods of DC power conversion and transmission for solar fields

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims16