Power source apparatus, vehicle and power storage system using the power source apparatus

1. A power source apparatus comprising:

a plurality of modules;

a main controller connected to the plurality of modules to control said modules; and

a current detection section to detect output line current flow,

wherein each module comprises:

a battery block having a plurality of battery cells stacked together and connected in series and/or parallel;

a battery state detection section that detects the state of the battery cells; and

communication interface units for data communication with other modules and the main controller,

wherein the main controller is connected to the communication interface units of the modules via communication lines,

wherein the plurality of modules are connected in series and/or parallel with the output line,

wherein the current detection section is connected to the main controller via a signal line, and

wherein the main controller can perform computations based on data sent from the modules via the communication lines and/or information related to output current sent from the current detection section via the signal line.

2. The power source apparatus as cited in claim 1 wherein each module comprises a memory section capable of storing data transmitted through the communication interface units.

3. The power source apparatus as cited in claim 2 wherein each module enables the memory section to be over-written based on signals from the main controller.

4. The power source apparatus as cited in claim 1 wherein the modules are connected in series with the output line.

5. The power source apparatus as cited in claim 1 wherein the main controller and plurality of modules are connected via communication lines in any of the network topologies including a bus topology, daisy-chain topology, ring topology, or star topology.

6. The power source apparatus as cited in claim 1 wherein each module comprises a plurality of communication interface units, one communication interface unit can be connected with a module on the upstream-side, and another communication interface unit can be connected with a module on the downstream-side.

7. The power source apparatus as cited in claim 1 wherein each module comprises an equalizing circuit to equalize the remaining capacities of the plurality of battery cells that make up the battery block included in the module; and each module equalizes battery cell remaining capacity using the equalizing circuit upon receipt of instruction from the main controller.

8. The power source apparatus as cited in claim 1 wherein the battery state detection section comprises a voltage detection section to detect battery cell voltage.

9. The power source apparatus as cited in claim 1 wherein the battery state detection section comprises a temperature detection section to detect battery cell temperature.

10. The power source apparatus as cited in claim 8 wherein each module is configured to allow transmission of information related to the voltage of battery cells in that module to the main controller via the communication interface units.

11. The power source apparatus as cited in claim 1 wherein the main controller detects connection of each module to communication lines and has the capability to allocate a unique address to each module; each module can store its allocated unique address in the memory section; and system architecture allows data communication between the main controller and each module based on the unique address stored in the memory section.

12. A vehicle equipped with the power source apparatus cited in claim 1 .

13. A power storage system using the power source apparatus cited in claim 1 .