Adaptive load sharing system
AssigneeKoolbridge Solar, Inc.
InventorPaul Wilkinson Dent
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Sharing of load current in desired ratios between multiple electrical voltage sources is achieved without coupling between the sources by controlling a selection switch to select each voltage source for a proportion of the time at a high rate, the switching rate components being prevented from being seen by either the load or the sources through use of low-pass filters.
Claims12
An apparatus for adaptively sharing an electrical load between two independent, electrical power sources, comprising:—
- A variable coupling device to couple a first electrical power source to said load to supply a first proportion of the load current, and to couple a second electrical power source to the same said load to supply a second proportion of said load current, the coupling device maintaining isolation between the first and second power sources such that no power is transferred from the first power source to the second power source or vice versa.
An apparatus for adaptively sharing an electrical load between two independent, alternating current electrical power sources, comprising:—
- A first low pass filter for connecting said first electrical power source through a first electrically controlled semiconductor AC switch to the input of a third low pass filter;
- a second low pass filter for connecting said second electrical power source through a second electrically controlled semiconductor AC switch to the same input of said third low pass filter;
- output terminals for connection to said load, the output terminals being connected to the output of said third low-pass filter, and
- a switch controller for controlling said first and second AC switches to pass current from said first and second power source alternately at a high rate with respect to the cut-off frequency of said first, second and third low pass filters, wherein the proportion of time a source is selected determines the proportion of the load current supplied by that source.
A method for adaptively sharing an electrical load between two independent, electrical power sources, comprising:
- Determining a first fraction of the load current to be provided by a first of said two independent electrical power sources;
- determining the remaining fraction of the load current to be provided by the second of said two independent electrical power sources
- Transforming the voltage output of said first electrical power source to provide said first fraction of the desired load voltage;
- transforming the voltage output of said second electrical power source to provide said second fraction of the desired load voltage;
- connecting the transformed voltage outputs of said first and second power sources effectively in series such that said first and second fractions of said desired load voltage add to produce said desired load voltage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.