Scalable highly available modular battery system

1. A modular battery pack system comprising:

a plurality of battery sub-modules operably connected in parallel;

an isolation system configured to discretely isolate any one of the battery sub-modules from supplying power to a host system, the isolation system comprising an ORing field-effect transistor (FET) for each of the battery sub-modules, with each ORing FET operably connected at its input with an output of a corresponding battery sub-module and operably connected at its output with outputs of the other ORing FETs; and

a conditioning system configured to discretely isolate any one of the battery sub-modules from the remaining battery sub-module(s) for conditioning of the isolated battery sub-module by discharging at least a portion of the battery sub-module, wherein each battery sub-module is connected to the conditioning system via a FET, such that conditioning is selectively applicable via the FETs to any one or more of the battery sub-modules.

2. The modular battery pack system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more buck-boost modules operably connected in parallel between an output of the isolation system and an output of the battery pack system.

3. The modular battery pack system of claim 1 , further comprising a supervisory control unit operably connected with the isolation system automatically controlling selected isolation of the battery sub-modules.

4. The modular battery pack system of claim 1 , further comprising a supervisory control unit operably connected with the isolation system and the conditioning system automatically controlling selected isolation and conditioning of the battery sub-modules.

5. The modular battery pack system of claim 4 , wherein the supervisory control unit comprises a host interface for access to the supervisory control unit by a host system sourced by the battery pack system.

6. The modular battery pack system of claim 1 , wherein the isolation system is configured for accepting connection of an additional battery sub-module in parallel with the plurality of battery sub-modules to increasingly scale energy capacity of the battery pack system.

7. The modular battery pack system of claim 1 , further comprising a spare battery sub-module operably connected in parallel with the plurality of battery sub-modules, wherein the spare battery sub-module is initially discretely isolated from the plurality of battery sub-modules via the isolation system, and further wherein the isolation system is configured to replace one of the plurality of battery sub-modules with the spare battery sub-module by select isolation of the one battery sub-module from the remaining battery sub-module(s) and select de-isolation of the spare battery sub-module.

8. The modular battery pack system of claim 7 , wherein the isolation system replaces the one battery sub-module with the spare battery sub-module upon substantial failure of the one battery sub-module.

9. A method for providing a modular battery system, the method comprising:

using an ORing field-effect transistor (FET) to selectively and discretely isolate a battery sub-module from a plurality of battery sub-modules operably connected in parallel; and

selectively and discretely isolating any one of the battery sub-modules from the plurality of battery sub-modules for conditioning of the isolated battery sub-module by discharging at least a portion of the battery sub-module;

wherein each battery sub-module is operably connected through an ORing FET with a host system for supplying power to the host system and each battery sub-module is also connected to a conditioning system via another FET, such that conditioning is selectively applicable via the respective FETs to any one or more of the battery sub-modules.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising adding an additional battery sub-module in parallel with the plurality of battery sub-modules to increasingly scale energy capacity of the battery pack system.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

providing a spare battery sub-module operably connected in parallel with the plurality of battery sub-modules, wherein the spare battery sub-module is initially discretely isolated from the plurality of battery sub-modules; and

replacing one of the plurality of battery sub-modules with the spare battery sub-module by selectively isolating the one battery sub-module from the remaining battery sub-module(s) and selectively de-isolating the spare battery sub-module.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising replacing the one battery sub-module with the spare battery sub-module upon substantial failure of the one battery sub-module.

13. A battery pack system comprising:

an isolation system operably connected to the output of at least two battery modules and configured to isolate any one of the battery modules while any remaining battery sub-module(s) continue to provide power to an output of the battery pack system, wherein the isolation system comprises an ORing field-effect transistor (FET) for each of the battery sub-modules, with each ORing FET operably connected at its input with an output of a corresponding battery sub-module and operably connected at its output with outputs of the other ORing FET(s); and

a conditioning system operably connected to the output of the at least two battery modules and configured to isolate any one of the battery modules from the remaining battery sub-module(s) for conditioning of the isolated battery sub-module by discharging at least a portion of the battery sub-module, wherein each battery sub-module is connected to the conditioning system via a FET, such that conditioning is selectively applicable via the FETs to any one or more of the battery sub-modules.

14. The battery pack system of claim 13 , wherein isolation of any one of the battery sub-modules is automatically controlled by a supervisory control unit based on feedback about the battery pack system.