Power supply device for vehicle

A power supply device adapted to be disposed in a vehicle having a battery, the power supply device comprising:

• a refrigeration cycle for air conditioning that includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator;
• a motor that is configured to drive the compressor;
• an inverter-integrated charger that is configured to selectively control operation of the motor using electrical power of the battery and charge of the battery with external power;
• a heat exchanger unit that is disposed in the refrigeration cycle and configured to cool a cooling-necessary part of the inverter-integrated charger using refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle, wherein the heat exchanger unit is a refrigerant reservoir portion in which liquid-phase refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle is stored;
• a controller that is configured to control operation of the inverter-integrated charger and that includes a determining means for determining whether the cooling-necessary part needs to be cooled, wherein when a traveling function of the vehicle is stopped and the battery is charged with the external power, the controller makes the inverter-integrated charger serve as:
• a charger to perform the charge of the battery, or
• an inverter to control the operation of the motor, thereby driving the compressor, upon determination that the cooling-necessary part needs to be cooled by the determining means;
• and
• a second level detecting unit that is configured to detect a level of liquid-phase refrigerant stored in the refrigerant reservoir portion, wherein the controller stops the drive of the compressor and makes the inverter-integrated charger serve as the charger to perform the charge of the battery when the level of liquid-phase refrigerant becomes equal to or higher than a second predetermined level.