Granted Patent B1

US 12,306,261 · App. 18/792,150 · Granted May 20, 2025

Inventors: Erin E. Bjornsson (Portland, OR); Gokhan Budan (Oxford, GB); Mark Holveck (Sunnyvale, CA)

Assignee: Lunar Energy, Inc.

G01R31/392G01R31/367G01R31/386G01R31/389

Abstract

Claims (67)

1. A power system, comprising:

a power converter that is used to generate a measurement-related AC signal at a measured discrete frequency;

a battery that receives the measurement-related AC signal at the measured discrete frequency and responds to the measurement-related AC signal at the measured discrete frequency; and

a controller that:

receives discrete-frequency battery state information associated with the battery responding to the measurement-related AC signal at the measured discrete frequency; and

determines a battery health metric based at least in part on the discrete-frequency battery state information and battery pre-characterization information, including by:

receiving the battery pre-characterization information, wherein the battery pre-characterization information includes:

a first dataset of known battery state information associated with a healthier battery state that includes, for a plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies, at least one measurement associated with each of the plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies and a battery health metric associated with each of the plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies; and

a second dataset of known battery state information associated with an unhealthier battery state that includes, for a plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies, at least one measurement associated with each of the plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies and a battery health metric associated with each of the plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies; and

comparing the discrete-frequency state information against the battery pre-characterization information in order to determine the battery health metric.

2. The power system recited in claim 1 , wherein the battery health metric includes one or more of the following: a capacity of the battery or an impedance of the battery.

3. The power system recited in claim 1 , wherein:

the power converter generates the measurement-related AC signal in response to receiving a control signal; and

the control signal is generated based at least in part on one or more hardware limitations that include one or more of the following: a battery cell minimum voltage, a battery cell maximum voltage, or a hardware component maximum current.

4. The power system recited in claim 1 , wherein:

the power converter generates the measurement-related AC signal in response to receiving a control signal; and

the control signal is generated based at least in part on one or more grid share limitations that include one or more of the following: a restricted period or a restricted operation.

5. The power system recited in claim 1 , wherein:

the power converter generates the measurement-related AC signal in response to receiving a control signal; and

the control signal is generated based at least in part on one or more user-related limitations that include one or more of the following: a restricted period or a restricted operation.

6. The power system recited in claim 1 , wherein:

the power converter generates the measurement-related AC signal in response to receiving a control signal; and

the control signal is generated based at least in part on one or more conservation limitations that include one or more of the following: a knee point value, a capacity value, or a last health measurement timestamp.

7. The power system recited in claim 1 , further including:

a hardware filter, wherein:

the power converter outputs a non-ideal signal; and

the hardware filter inputs the non-ideal signal and outputs a semi-filtered signal; and

a software filter, wherein:

the software filter inputs the semi-filtered signal and outputs a further improved signal; and

the further improved signal is used as the measurement-related AC signal.

8. A method, comprising:

using a power converter to generate a measurement-related AC signal at a measured discrete frequency;

receiving, at a battery, the measurement-related AC signal at the measured discrete frequency and respond to the measurement-related AC signal at the measured discrete frequency;

receiving discrete-frequency battery state information associated with the battery responding to the measurement-related AC signal at the measured discrete frequency; and

determining a battery health metric based at least in part on the discrete-frequency battery state information and battery pre-characterization information, including by:

receiving the battery pre-characterization information, wherein the battery pre-characterization information includes:

a first dataset of known battery state information associated with a healthier battery state that includes, for a plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies, at least one measurement associated with each of the plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies and a battery health metric associated with each of the plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies; and

a second dataset of known battery state information associated with an unhealthier battery state that includes, for a plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies, at least one measurement associated with each of the plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies and a battery health metric associated with each of the plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies; and

comparing the discrete-frequency state information against the battery pre-characterization information in order to determine the battery health metric.

9. The method recited in claim 8 , wherein the battery health metric includes one or more of the following: a capacity of the battery or an impedance of the battery.

10. The method recited in claim 8 , wherein:

the power converter generates the measurement-related AC signal in response to receiving a control signal; and

the control signal is generated based at least in part on one or more hardware limitations that include one or more of the following: a battery cell minimum voltage, a battery cell maximum voltage, or a hardware component maximum current.

11. The method recited in claim 8 , wherein:

the power converter generates the measurement-related AC signal in response to receiving a control signal; and

the control signal is generated based at least in part on one or more grid share limitations that include one or more of the following: a restricted period or a restricted operation.

12. The method recited in claim 8 , wherein:

the power converter generates the measurement-related AC signal in response to receiving a control signal; and

the control signal is generated based at least in part on one or more user-related limitations that include one or more of the following: a restricted period or a restricted operation.

13. The method recited in claim 8 , wherein:

the power converter generates the measurement-related AC signal in response to receiving a control signal; and

the control signal is generated based at least in part on one or more conservation limitations that include one or more of the following: a knee point value, a capacity value, or a last health measurement timestamp.

14. The method recited in claim 8 , wherein:

the power converter outputs a non-ideal signal;

the method further includes:

using a hardware filter to input the non-ideal signal and output a semi-filtered signal; and

using a software filter to input the semi-filtered signal and output a further improved signal; and

the further improved signal is used as the measurement-related AC signal.

15. A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and comprising computer instructions for:

using a power converter to generate a measurement-related AC signal at a measured discrete frequency;

receiving, at a battery, the measurement-related AC signal at the measured discrete frequency and respond to the measurement-related AC signal at the measured discrete frequency;

receiving discrete-frequency battery state information associated with the battery responding to the measurement-related AC signal at the measured discrete frequency; and

determining a battery health metric based at least in part on the discrete-frequency battery state information and battery pre-characterization information, including by:

receiving the battery pre-characterization information, wherein the battery pre-characterization information includes:

a first dataset of known battery state information associated with a healthier battery state that includes, for a plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies, at least one measurement associated with each of the plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies and a battery health metric associated with each of the plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies; and

a second dataset of known battery state information associated with an unhealthier battery state that includes, for a plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies, at least one measurement associated with each of the plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies and a battery health metric associated with each of the plurality of pre-characterization discrete frequencies; and

comparing the discrete-frequency state information against the battery pre-characterization information in order to determine the battery health metric.

Assignments (1)

References Cited (8)