Granted Patent B2

US 12,418,177 · App. 18/661,963 · Granted Sep 16, 2025

Inventors: Meir Adest (Modiin, IL); Lior Handelsman (Givatayim, IL); Yoav Galin (Raanana, IL); Amir Fishelov (Tel Aviv, IL); Guy Sella (Bitan Aharon, IL); Yaron Binder (Shoham, IL)

Assignee: Solaredge Technologies Ltd.

H02J1/102H02J3/381H02J7/00H02J7/35H02J9/00H02J3/46H02J2300/24H02J2300/26Y02B10/10Y02E10/56

Abstract

Claims (48)

1. A system comprising:

a plurality of battery cells;

a plurality of DC/DC power converters, each respective DC/DC power converter, of the plurality of DC/DC power converters, comprising:

input terminals coupled to a respective battery cell of the plurality of battery cells; and

a controller configured to operate in a charge mode, a bypass mode and a discharge mode,

wherein the controller is configured to, in the charge mode, set an input current at the input terminals to charge the respective battery cell of the plurality of battery cells according to power charge requirements of the respective battery cell,

wherein the controller is configured to, in the bypass mode, operate the respective DC/DC power converter to bypass the respective battery cell,

wherein the controller is configured to, in the discharge mode, operate the respective DC/DC power converter to provide energy from the respective battery cell to output terminals, and

wherein the output terminals of all of the plurality of DC/DC power converters are coupled in series to form a series string; and

a second controller configured to regulate a voltage across the series string to be a fixed voltage.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein each respective DC/DC power converter of the plurality of DC/DC power converters comprises a buck plus boost power converter.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second controller is a controller of a separate DC/DC power converter.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second controller is a controller of a DC/AC power converter.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a second series string comprising a second plurality of battery cells and a second plurality of DC/DC power converters, wherein output terminals of all of the second plurality of DC/DC power converters are coupled in series to form a second series string and the second series string is connected in parallel to the series string.

6. A system comprising:

a plurality of battery cells; and

a plurality of DC/DC power converters, each respective DC/DC power converter, of the plurality of DC/DC power converters, comprising:

input terminals coupled to a respective battery cell of the plurality of battery cells,

a controller configured to operate in a charge mode, a bypass mode and a discharge mode,

wherein the controller is configured to, in the charge mode, set an input current at the input terminals to charge the respective battery cell of the plurality of battery cells according to power charge requirements of the respective battery cell,

wherein the controller is configured to, in the bypass mode, operate the respective DC/DC power converter to bypass the respective battery cell,

wherein the controller is configured to, in the discharge mode, operate the respective DC/DC power converter to provide energy from the respective battery cell to output terminals,

wherein the output terminals of all of the plurality of DC/DC power converters are coupled in series to form a series string, and

wherein each respective DC/DC power converter of the plurality of DC/DC power converters comprises a first control loop configured to provide a first feedback signal to the controller from the input terminals of the respective DC/DC power converter, and a second control loop, wherein the second control loop is configured to provide a second feedback signal to the controller from output terminals of the respective DC/DC power converter.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of DC/DC power converters comprises a buck plus boost power converter.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the first control loop is configured to provide a feedback signal indicating a current flowing through input terminals of the respective DC/DC power converter.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the first control loop is configured to provide a feedback signal that indicates a power flowing through input terminals of the respective DC/DC power converter.

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein each respective DC/DC converter is configured to select between:

operating the first control loop and not operating the second control loop,

operating the second control loop and not operating the first control loop, and

operating the first control loop and the second control loop simultaneously.

11. The system of claim 6 , further comprising a second series string comprising a second plurality of battery cells and a second plurality of DC/DC power converters, wherein output terminals of all of the second plurality of DC/DC power converters are coupled in series to form a second series string and the second series string is connected in parallel to the series string.

12. The system of claim 6 , further comprising a power controller connected across terminals of the series string.

13. A method comprising:

coupling a plurality of battery cells to a plurality of DC/DC power converters, wherein coupling the plurality of battery cells to the plurality of DC/DC power converters comprises coupling input terminals of each of the plurality of DC/DC power converters to a respective battery cell of the plurality of battery cells;

operating a controller of a respective DC/DC power converter of the plurality of DC/DC power converters in one of a charge mode, a bypass mode and a discharge mode,

wherein:

operating the controller, in the charge mode, sets an input current at the input terminals to charge the respective battery cell of the plurality of battery cells according to power charge requirements of the respective battery cell,

operating the controller, in the bypass mode, operates the respective DC/DC power converter to bypass the respective battery cell, and

operating the controller, in the discharge mode, operates the respective DC/DC power converter to provide energy from the respective battery cell to output terminals; and

coupling the output terminals of the plurality of DC/DC power converters in series to form a series string.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising operating each respective DC/DC power converter of the plurality of DC/DC power converters according to a feedback signal of a control loop configured to indicate a current flowing through input terminals of the respective DC/DC power converter.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising operating each respective DC/DC power converter of the plurality of DC/DC power converters according to a feedback signal of a control loop configured to indicate a voltage flowing through output terminals of the respective DC/DC power converter.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising operating each respective DC/DC power converter of the plurality of DC/DC power converters according to a second feedback signal of a second control loop configured to indicate a voltage flowing through output terminals of the respective DC/DC power converter.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising coupling a power controller to the series string and operating the power controller to set a charge mode or a discharge mode for the series string.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the power controller comprises an additional power converter.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein each respective DC/DC power converter of the plurality of DC/DC power converters comprises a buck plus boost power converter.

20. The method of claim 13 , further comprising coupling a second series string comprising a second plurality of DC/DC power converters and a second plurality of battery cells, in parallel to the series string.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (6)

References Cited (400)