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US 8,970,176 B2Granted
DC micro-grid
AssigneeBloom Energy Corporation
InventorsArne Ballatine, Chad Pearson, Ranganathan Gurunathan, Prasad Pmsvvsv, Alberto Doronzo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for creating and operating a Direct Current (DC) micro-grid. A DC micro-grid may include power generators, energy storage devices, and loads coupled to a common DC bus. Power electronics devices may couple the power generators, energy storage devices, and loads to the common DC bus and provide power transfer.
Claims56
A Direct Current (DC) micro-grid, comprising:
- at least one power generator coupled to at least one power generation bus;
- at least one energy storage device coupled to at least one energy storage bus;
- at least one load coupled to at least one load bus;
- a common DC bus;
- a first power electronics device configured to provide power transfer coupling the at least one power generation bus to the common DC bus;
- a second power electronics device configured to provide power transfer coupling the at least one energy storage bus to the common DC bus;
- a third power electronics device configured to provide power transfer coupling the at least one load bus to the common DC bus;
- a second power generator coupled to a second power generation bus;
- a second energy storage device coupled to a second energy storage bus;
- a second common DC bus;
- a fourth power electronics device configured to provide power transfer coupling the second power generation bus to the second common DC bus;
- a fifth power electronics device configured to provide power transfer coupling the second energy storage bus to the second common DC bus;
- and
- a sixth power electronics device configured to provide power transfer coupling the at least one load bus to the second common DC bus.
11 more elements
A Direct Current (DC) micro-grid, comprising:
- at least one power generator coupled to at least one power generation bus;
- at least one energy storage device coupled to at least one energy storage bus;
- at least one load coupled to at least one load bus;
- a common DC bus;
- a first power electronics device configured to provide power transfer coupling the at least one power generation bus to the common DC bus;
- a second power electronics device configured to provide power transfer coupling the at least one energy storage bus to the common DC bus;
- and
- a third power electronics device configured to provide power transfer coupling the at least one load bus to the common DC bus;
- wherein the at least one power generator comprises a plurality of DC generators and the at least one energy storage device comprises:
- an alternating current (AC) input coupled to an AC/DC converter;
- an output of the AC/DC converter coupled to the power generation bus;
- a storage device;
- a charge module coupled to the output of the AC/DC converter and the storage device, the charge module configured to control charging of the storage device;
- and
- a discharge module coupled to the storage device and the output of the AC/DC converter, the discharge module configured to control discharge of energy from the storage device.
12 more elements
A method for operating a direct current (DC) micro-grid, comprising:
- providing at least one power generator to a power generation bus;
- providing at least one energy storage device to an energy storage bus;
- providing at least one load to a load bus;
- providing the power generation bus, the energy storage bus, and the load bus to a common DC bus, wherein each of the power generation bus, the energy storage bus, and the load bus, respectively, are coupled to the common DC bus via a respective power electronics device;
- operating the DC micro-grid such that a power requirement of the at least one load is maintained according to a following:
- P(to storages)=P(generators)−P(loads), if P(generators)>P(loads);
- or i.
- P(from storages)=P(loads)−P(generators), if P(generators)<P(loads), ii.
- where P is Power;
- and
- operating a second independent common DC bus coupled to the at least one load to provide alternative power to the at least one load.
8 more elements
A method for operating a direct current (DC) micro-grid, comprising:
- providing at least one power generator to a power generation bus;
- providing at least one energy storage device to an energy storage bus;
- providing at least one load to a load bus;
- providing the power generation bus, the energy storage bus, and the load bus to a common DC bus, wherein each of the power generation bus, the energy storage bus, and the load bus, respectively, are coupled to the common DC bus via a respective power electronics device;
- operating the DC micro-grid such that a power requirement of the at least one load is maintained according to a following:
- P(to storages)=P(generators)−P(loads), if P(generators)>P(loads);
- or i.
- P(from storages)=P(loads)−P(generators), if P(generators)<P(loads), ii.
- where P is Power;
- and
- communicating between the at least one power generator, the at least one energy storage device, and the at least one load;
- wherein the communication is performed by injecting signals into the common DC bus;
- and
- wherein communicating between the at least one power generator, the at least one energy storage device, and the at least one load includes using a digital addressing scheme and frequency or amplitude modulation for addressing.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.