Methods for managing electrical power

A system comprising:

• a plurality of Active Front End units adapted to be electrically coupled to a direct current (DC) bus, each of said first plurality of Active Front End units adapted to be electrically coupled to a predetermined distinct winding from a plurality of windings of a first transformer, each of said first plurality of Active Front End units adapted to convert alternating current (AC) to DC, each of said first plurality of Active Front End units adapted to supply DC to said DC bus, said DC bus adapted to be electrically coupled to a plurality of inverters, said plurality of inverters adapted to be electrically coupled to a synchronous AC motor, said plurality of inverters a first set of a plurality of sets of inverters adapted to be electrically coupled to a synchronous AC motor, each of said plurality of sets of inverters adapted to be operatively coupled to a distinct DC bus, each distinct DC bus adapted to be operatively coupled to a distinct winding segment of said synchronous AC motor.

A method comprising:

• electrically coupling a plurality of Active Front End units to a direct current (DC) bus, each of said plurality of Active Front End units adapted to be electrically coupled to a predetermined distinct winding from a plurality of windings of a first transformer, each of said plurality of Active Front End units adapted to convert alternating current (AC) to DC, each of said plurality of Active Front End units adapted to supply DC to said DC bus, said DC bus adapted to be electrically coupled to a first plurality of inverters, said first plurality of inverters adapted to be electrically coupled to a synchronous AC motor, said first plurality of inverters a first set of a plurality of sets of inverters adapted to be electrically coupled to a synchronous AC motor, each of said plurality of sets of inverters adapted to be operatively coupled to a distinct DC bus, each distinct DC bus adapted to be operatively coupled to a distinct winding segment of said synchronous AC motor.

A machine-readable medium comprising machine-implementable instructions for activities comprising:

• responsive to a determination that a phase angle is not within a predetermined range, automatically changing a duty cycle of at least a selected Active Front End unit of a plurality of Active Front End units, said phase angle calculated from a measured voltage on an AC bus adapted to provide AC power to said plurality of Active Front End units and a measured current directly associated with said selected Active front End unit, each Active Front End unit from said plurality of Active Front End units adapted to be electrically coupled to a DC bus and to apply a DC voltage on said DC bus, each Active Front End unit switched on at a fixed rate and for an individually variable duty cycle, a stagger angle of said plurality of Active Front Ends pre-set to manage AC harmonic distortions caused by predetermined power events on said DC bus, said stagger angle determined via division of a 360 degree cycle by a count of operating Active Front End units of said plurality of Active Front End units.