Energy Management for Multiple Charging Stations

A method for managing energy transfers between a plurality of vehicle charging systems each configured to charge vehicles at a vehicle charging site, comprising:

• receiving, via respective power input ports of each of the vehicle charging systems, an alternating current (AC) input electric power from a power source;
• converting, via respective power conversion circuits of each of the vehicle charging systems, the AC input electric power into a respective direct current (DC) energy storage currents;
• charging, using the respective DC energy storage currents, one or more batteries of an energy storage module of a vehicle charging system of the plurality of vehicle charging system and one or more additional batteries of an additional energy storage module of an additional vehicle charging system of the plurality of vehicle charging systems at the vehicle charging site;
• determining, by a system controller of the vehicle charging system, occurrence of a triggering condition for charge transfer between the one or more batteries of the energy storage module of the vehicle charging system and the one or more additional batteries of the additional energy storage module of the additional vehicle charging system via a direct connection between the vehicle charging system and the additional vehicle charging system;
• and
• in response to determining occurrence of the triggering condition, controlling, by the system controller, the vehicle charging system to effect the charge transfer based upon the triggering condition by providing a DC output from the energy storage module to the additional vehicle charging system via an inter-charger connection of the vehicle charging system, wherein the inter-charger connection is communicatively connected to the energy storage module and configured to non-concurrently (i) provide the DC output to the additional vehicle charging system and (ii) receive a DC input from the additional vehicle charging system via the direct connection with the additional vehicle charging system.

A site charging system for charging vehicles at a vehicle charging site, comprising:

• a plurality of vehicle charging systems at the vehicle charging site connected via a direct current (DC) bus, each vehicle charging system comprising:
• a power input port configured to receive an alternating current (AC) input electric power from a power source;
• a power conversion circuit configured to convert the AC input electric power into a direct current (DC) energy storage current;
• an energy storage module comprising one or more batteries configured to receive the DC energy storage current and store electric power derived therefrom;
• a vehicle coupling configured to receive a charging current from the energy storage module and to provide an electrical interconnect between the vehicle charging system and the vehicle in order to provide the charging current to the vehicle;
• an inter-charger connection communicatively connected to the energy storage module and to the DC bus to non-concurrently (i) provide a DC output to the DC bus and (ii) receive a DC input from the DC bus;
• and
• a system controller comprising one or more processors configured to control charge transfers between the one or more batteries of the energy storage module of the vehicle charging system and one or more additional batteries of an additional energy storage module of an additional vehicle charging system of the plurality of vehicle charging systems via the DC bus;
• and
• a centralized management system communicatively connected to the plurality of vehicle charging systems via one or more electronic communication connections, the centralized management system comprising one or more processors configured to:
• determine occurrence of a triggering condition for a charge transfer between the respective energy storage modules of a first vehicle charging system and a second vehicle charging system of the plurality of vehicle charging systems via the DC bus;
• and
• in response to determining occurrence of the triggering condition, control (i) the first vehicle charging system to provide DC power to the DC bus from the one or more batteries of the energy storage module of the first vehicle charging system and (ii) the second vehicle charging system to charge the one or more additional batteries of the additional energy storage module of the second vehicle charging system using the DC power from the DC bus.