SMA Solar Technology has been granted a patent for a battery inverter system. The system includes multiple battery inverter units, each with a multiphase inverter and a battery unit connected on the DC side. The battery units have individual units connected in parallel and are protected against overcurrent with rack fuses. The battery inverter units are connected in parallel on the AC side and operate with a common drive pulse pattern. The units are interconnected on the DC side with compensation fuses that trigger faster than the rack fuses in the event of a short circuit. GlobalData’s report on SMA Solar Technology gives a 360-degree view of the company including its patenting strategy. Buy the report here.
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According to GlobalData’s company profile on SMA Solar Technology, Smart energy mgmt systems was a key innovation area identified from patents. SMA Solar Technology's grant share as of September 2023 was 49%. Grant share is based on the ratio of number of grants to total number of patents.
Battery inverter system with parallel-connected units and faster fuses
A recently granted patent (Publication Number: US11770004B2) describes a battery inverter system that includes multiple battery inverter units. Each unit consists of an inverter and a battery unit connected on the DC side. The battery unit comprises several energy storage devices connected in parallel, each protected by a rack fuse against overcurrent conditions. The battery inverter units are connected in parallel on the AC side and operate together with a common drive pulse pattern.
The patent claims that the battery inverter units are interconnected on the DC side via compensation fuses, which are connected between the inverter and rack fuses of each unit. The compensation fuses have a lower nominal trigger value than the rack fuses, allowing them to trigger faster in the event of a short circuit in one of the inverters. This design ensures efficient and reliable operation of the system.
Additionally, the patent mentions that adjacent battery inverter units are connected to each other on the DC side via compensation fuses. Each battery inverter unit is also connected to a common neutral point through a respective compensation fuse. The inverters in the system are three-phase inverters and do not require a neutral conductor connection or DC/DC converters.
The patent further states that the battery inverter units have identical construction and/or power. The ratio between the storage capacity of the battery unit and the power of the associated inverter is equal for all units. The nominal current of the rack fuses and compensation fuses can differ by no more than a factor of two or can be the same. The nominal current of these fuses falls within a range of 100 A to 1000 A.
The inverters in the battery inverter units include a sinusoidal filter with a filter choke and a filter capacitor. The filter chokes of the sinusoidal filters are not magnetically coupled to each other. The filter capacitors are connected to a common reference potential. The inverters are connected in parallel on the AC side via a sinusoidal filter, and a common filter choke is connected downstream of the parallel-connected battery inverter units.
Overall, this patented battery inverter system offers a reliable and efficient solution for energy storage and conversion, with interconnected units and optimized fuse triggering for enhanced safety and performance.
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GlobalData Patent Analytics tracks bibliographic data, legal events data, point in time patent ownerships, and backward and forward citations from global patenting offices. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
