Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to energy storage systems, and, for example, to fast engaging-disengaging connectors for cell-to-system battery design.
Conventional energy storage systems (battery systems) can comprise one or more cells that connect one or more PCBA (printed circuit board assemblies) via one or more terminal connectors. For example, cylindrical cell configurations can be electrically connected to the PCBA using spot or wedge welding on metal bus bars or by using bolts to connect cells with threaded tabs. As such an approach mostly requires automatic welding lines, field replacement of problematic cells to avoid unnecessary RMA of an entire battery module is not possible or can be extremely difficult to conduct (e.g., each screw must be removed layer by layer).
Similarly, prismatic cell configurations can be electrically connected to the PCBA using screws (e.g., cells with threaded tabs) or spot welding (e.g., cells with smooth tabs). Such an approach requires connecting sensing cables to the PCBA and can be time consuming and hard to automate. Additionally, using spot welded FPC (flexible printed circuit) for sensing battery voltage and temperature, field replacement of the cells can be hard to disconnect and can have reliability concerns after reconnection).
Likewise, pouch cell configurations can be electrically connected using either welding (e.g., ultrasonic, laser, etc.) or screws. The former, however, is not suitable for field replacement of cells, and the latter is a complex assembling process (i.e., a requires sorting out the tabs, screw securing the tabs on to a bus bar, and/or connecting sensing cables).
While the aforementioned methods are suitable for connecting the various cell configurations, such methods are not configured for fast engagement/assembling without heavy investment in equipment and are not configured for fast disengagement to enable field replacement of cells.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved fast engaging-disengaging connectors for cell-to-system battery design.
Energy storage systems are provided herein. For example, in at least some embodiments, an energy storage system comprises a printed circuit board assembly configured to connect to a chassis of the energy storage system and a battery cell comprising a connecting/disconnecting device configured to engage a corresponding connecting/disconnecting device on the printed circuit board assembly for providing at least one of electrical interconnection, routing, voltage sensing, or temperature sensing.
In accordance with at least some aspects of the disclosure, an energy management system comprises a distributed energy resource comprising a renewable energy source, a load center connected to the renewable energy source, and an energy storage system, comprising a printed circuit board assembly configured to connect to a chassis of the energy storage system and a battery cell comprising a connecting/disconnecting device configured to engage a corresponding connecting/disconnecting device on the printed circuit board assembly for providing at least one of electrical interconnection, routing, voltage sensing, or temperature sensing.
These and other features and advantages of the present disclosure may be appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the present disclosure, along with the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout.
So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to fast engaging-disengaging connectors for cell-to-system battery design. For example, an energy storage system comprises a printed circuit board assembly configured to connect to a chassis of the energy storage system. A battery cell comprises a connecting/disconnecting device configured to engage a corresponding connecting/disconnecting device on the printed circuit board assembly for providing at least one of electrical interconnection, routing, voltage sensing, or temperature sensing. The apparatus described herein provide for a relatively quick connect and disconnect of battery cells to a PCBA without the need of expensive components. Additionally, the apparatus described herein provide relatively easy field replacement of battery cells, thus alleviating the need for total module RMA (return material authorization) and provides potential commercial advantages to sale.
The system 100 comprises a structure 102 (e.g., a user's structure), such as a residential home or commercial building, having an associated DER 118 (distributed energy resource). The DER 118 is situated external to the structure 102. For example, the DER 118 may be located on the roof of the structure 102 or can be part of a solar farm. The structure 102 comprises one or more loads (e.g., appliances, electric hot water heaters, thermostats/detectors, boilers, water pumps, and the like), one or more energy storage devices (an energy storage system 114), which can be located within or outside the structure 102, and a DER controller 116, each coupled to a load center 112. Although the energy storage system 114, the DER controller 116, and the load center 112 are depicted as being located within the structure 102, one or more of these may be located external to the structure 102. In at least some embodiments, the energy storage system 114 can be, for example, one or more of the energy storage devices (e.g., IQ Battery 10®) commercially available from Enphase® Inc. of Petaluma, CA. Other energy storage devices from Enphase® Inc. or other manufacturers may also benefit from the inventive methods and apparatus disclosed herein.
The load center 112 is coupled to the DER 118 by an AC bus 104 and is further coupled, via a meter 152 and a MID 150 (e.g., microgrid interconnect device), to a grid 124 (e.g., a commercial/utility power grid). The structure 102, the energy storage system 114, DER controller 116, DER 118, load center 112, generation meter 154, meter 152, and MID 150 are part of a microgrid 180. It should be noted that one or more additional devices not shown in
The DER 118 comprises at least one renewable energy source (RES) coupled to power conditioners 122. For example, the DER 118 may comprise a plurality of RESs 120 coupled to a plurality of power conditioners 122 in a one-to-one correspondence (or two-to-one). In embodiments described herein, each RES of the plurality of RESs 120 is a photovoltaic module (PV module), although in other embodiments the plurality of RESs 120 may be any type of system for generating DC power from a renewable form of energy, such as wind, hydro, and the like. The DER 118 may further comprise one or more batteries (or other types of energy storage/delivery devices) coupled to the power conditioners 122 in a one-to-one correspondence, where each pair of power conditioner 122 and a DC battery 141 may be referred to as an AC battery 130.
The power conditioners 122 invert the generated DC power from the plurality of RESs 120 and/or the DC battery 141 to AC power that is grid-compliant and couple the generated AC power to the grid 124 via the load center 112. The generated AC power may be additionally or alternatively coupled via the load center 112 to the one or more loads and/or the energy storage system 114. In addition, a power conditioner coupled to DC the battery converts AC power from the AC bus 104 to DC power for charging the DC battery 141. A generation meter 154 is coupled at the output of the power conditioners 122 that are coupled to the plurality of RESs 120 in order to measure generated power.
In some alternative embodiments, the power conditioners 122 may be AC-AC converters that receive AC input and convert one type of AC power to another type of AC power. In other alternative embodiments, the power conditioners 122 may be DC-DC converters that convert one type of DC power to another type of DC power. In some of embodiments, the DC-DC converters may be coupled to a main DC-AC inverter for inverting the generated DC output to an AC output.
The power conditioners 122 may communicate with one another and with the DER controller 116 using power line communication (PLC), although additionally and/or alternatively other types of wired and/or wireless communication may be used. The DER controller 116 may provide operative control of the DER 118 and/or receive data or information from the DER 118. For example, the DER controller 116 may be a gateway that receives data (e.g., alarms, messages, operating data, performance data, and the like) from the power conditioners 122 and communicates the data and/or other information via the communications network 126 to a cloud-based computing platform 128, which can be configured to execute one or more application software, e.g., a grid connectivity control application, to a remote device or system such as a master controller (not shown), and the like. The DER controller 116 may also send control signals to the power conditioners 122, such as control signals generated by the DER controller 116 or received from a remote device or the cloud-based computing platform 128. The DER controller 116 may be communicably coupled to the communications network 126 via wired and/or wireless techniques. For example, the DER controller 116 may be wirelessly coupled to the communications network 126 via a commercially available router. In one or more embodiments, the DER controller 116 comprises an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or microprocessor along with suitable software (e.g., a grid connectivity control application) for performing one or more of the functions described herein. For example, the DER controller 116 can include a memory (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable storage medium) having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a processor perform a method for grid connectivity control, as described in greater detail below.
The generation meter 154 (which may also be referred to as a production meter) may be any suitable energy meter that measures the energy generated by the DER 118 (e.g., by the power conditioners 122 coupled to the plurality of RESs 120). The generation meter 154 measures real power flow (kWh) and, in some embodiments, reactive power flow (kVAR). The generation meter 154 may communicate the measured values to the DER controller 116, for example using PLC, other types of wired communications, or wireless communication. Additionally, battery charge/discharge values are received through other networking protocols from the AC battery 130 itself.
The meter 152 may be any suitable energy meter that measures the energy consumed by the microgrid 180, such as a net-metering meter, a bi-directional meter that measures energy imported from the grid 124 and well as energy exported to the grid 124, a dual meter comprising two separate meters for measuring energy ingress and egress, and the like. In some embodiments, the meter 152 comprises the MID 150 or a portion thereof. The meter 152 measures one or more of real power flow (kWh), reactive power flow (kVAR), grid frequency, and grid voltage.
The MID 150, which may also be referred to as an island interconnect device (IID), connects/disconnects the microgrid 180 to/from the grid 124. The MID 150 comprises a disconnect component (e.g., a contactor or the like) for physically connecting/disconnecting the microgrid 180 to/from the grid 124. For example, the DER controller 116 receives information regarding the present state of the system from the power conditioners 122, and also receives the energy consumption values of the microgrid 180 from the meter 152 (for example via one or more of PLC, other types of wired communication, and wireless communication), and based on the received information (inputs), the DER controller 116 determines when to go on-grid or off-grid and instructs the MID 150 accordingly. In some alternative embodiments, the MID 150 comprises an ASIC or CPU, along with suitable software (e.g., an islanding module) for determining when to disconnect from/connect to the grid 124. For example, the MID 150 may monitor the grid 124 and detect a grid fluctuation, disturbance or outage and, as a result, disconnect the microgrid 180 from the grid 124. Once disconnected from the grid 124, the microgrid 180 can continue to generate power as an intentional island without imposing safety risks, for example on any line workers that may be working on the grid 124.
In some alternative embodiments, the MID 150 or a portion of the MID 150 is part of the DER controller 116. For example, the DER controller 116 may comprise a CPU and an islanding module for monitoring the grid 124, detecting grid failures and disturbances, determining when to disconnect from/connect to the grid 124, and driving a disconnect component accordingly, where the disconnect component may be part of the DER controller 116 or, alternatively, separate from the DER controller 116. In some embodiments, the MID 150 may communicate with the DER controller 116 (e.g., using wired techniques such as power line communications, or using wireless communication) for coordinating connection/disconnection to the grid 124.
A user 140 can use one or more computing devices, such as a mobile device 142 (e.g., a smart phone, tablet, or the like) communicably coupled by wireless means to the communications network 126. The mobile device 142 has a CPU, support circuits, and memory, and has one or more applications 146 (e.g., a grid connectivity control application) installed thereon for controlling the connectivity with the grid 124 as described herein. The one or more applications 146 may run on commercially available operating systems, such as 10S, ANDROID, and the like.
In order to control connectivity with the grid 124, the user 140 interacts with an icon displayed on the mobile device 142, for example a grid on-off toggle control or slide, which is referred to herein as a toggle button. The toggle button may be presented on one or more status screens pertaining to the microgrid 180, such as a live status screen (not shown), for various validations, checks and alerts. The first time the user 140 interacts with the toggle button, the user 140 is taken to a consent page, such as a grid connectivity consent page, under setting and will be allowed to interact with toggle button only after he/she gives consent.
Once consent is received, the scenarios below, listed in order of priority, will be handled differently. Based on the desired action as entered by the user 140, the corresponding instructions are communicated to the DER controller 116 via the communications network 126 using any suitable protocol, such as HTTP(S), MQTT(S), WebSockets, and the like. The DER controller 116, which may store the received instructions as needed, instructs the MID 150 to connect to or disconnect from the grid 124 as appropriate.
The connecting/disconnecting device 206 of the PCBA 208 comprises an aperture, slot or the like, and the connecting/disconnecting device 204 of a battery cell 201 of the plurality of battery cells 202 comprises a metal tab configured to be received/positioned within the slot and attached thereto. In at least some embodiments, the metal tab can be positioned within the slot and bent toward the PCBA 208 and soldered (or spot welded) to the PCBA 208. The metal tab can be made from metals including, but not limited to, Nickel, Silver, Copper, Aluminum, or other metal that is suitable for spot welding and/or soldering.
In use, when a battery cell 201 needs to be replaced (e.g., removal of a bad battery cell), a metal tab of the battery cell 201 that needs to be replaced can be cut, and the bad battery cell can be removed from the PCBA 208 and replaced with a new battery cell. For example, the new battery cell, which comprises a new metal tab, can be attached to the PCBA 208 by positioning the new metal tab of the new battery cell within the slot of the PCBA 208 and spot welding or soldering the new metal tab to the old metal tab still positioned on the PCBA 208. In at least some embodiments, the old metal tab can be completely removed if needed.
In use, when a battery cell 201 needs to be replaced, one or both of the PCBA can be removed from the plurality of battery cells by pulling the PCBA 208 from the plurality of battery cells 202 to disengage the protrusions from the sockets, so that the bad battery cell can be removed from the PCBA 208 and replaced with a new battery cell. For example, the new battery cell, which comprises a new protrusion, can be attached to the PCBA 208 by positioning the new protrusion of the new battery cell and the remaining protrusions of the other battery cells within the sockets of the PCBA 208 to reattach the PCBA 208 to the plurality of battery cells.
The integrated PCBA 208 is configured to connect to a chassis of the energy storage system. For example, the PCBA can be one of embedded in the chassis or connected to the chassis using at least one of nuts, bolts, screws, or adhesives. Additionally, the PCBA 208 is of conventional construction and can comprise a base, one or more signal processing components, one or more electrical traces, and one or more connection modules, all not shown. The base can be made of one or more suitable materials typically used for PCBA fabrication.
The one or more signal processing components can be built into (embedded) the base and can comprise sensing components/circuits that can operably communicate (via a wired or wireless configuration) with one or more components of the system 100 (e.g., the DER controller 116, the load center 112, etc.). For example, the one or more signal processing components can be configured to transmit/receive battery cell data to/from the DER controller 116, the load center 112, and/or a battery management unit (BMU) of the energy storage system 114. The battery cell data can comprise, for example, battery connection data (e.g., whether the PCBA 208 is connected to the battery cells), battery status data (e.g., charge of battery), etc.
The one or more electrical traces can be formed from one or more suitable conductive materials (e.g., copper, silver, gold, etc.) and are configured to electrically connect the one or more connectors and/or the one or more signal processing components to each other. The one or more electrical traces can be disposed on a top surface of the base of the PCBA 208, or the one or more traces can be embedded in the base.
The one or more connection modules can be configured to connect to a BMU (not shown). For example, in at least some embodiments, two of the one or more connectors are dedicated for connection to a BMU. In at least some embodiments, the connectors dedicated for connection to a BMU can correspond to a positive terminal and a negative terminal.
As described above, disposed along the base are one or more connectors/disconnectors (e.g., slots, sockets, or other type of connector) configured to connect to one or more battery cells, e.g., to connect to cylindrical battery cells, prismatic battery cells, or pouch battery cells.
For example,
In use, when a battery cell 305 needs to be replaced, the PCBA 310 can be removed from the plurality of battery cells 306 by pulling the PCBA 310 from the plurality of battery cells 306 to disengage the one or more quick connect/disconnect devices 308 from the first electrical connector 312. Thereafter, the bolts 307 and the overlay 302 with the one or more bus bars 304 can be removed so that the bad battery cell can be removed and replaced with a new battery cell. Once replaced, all components can be reattached. For example, a new battery cell can be reattached to/rejoined with the plurality of battery cells 306, and the overlay 302 with the one or more bus bars 304 can be reattached to the plurality of battery cells 306 (e.g., using the bolts 307), and the PCBA 310 can reconnected to the plurality of battery cells via connecting the one or more quick connect/disconnect devices 308 to the first electrical connector 312.
In use, when a battery cell 405 needs to be replaced, the PCBA 412 can be removed from the plurality of battery cells 404 by pulling the PCBA 412 from the plurality of battery cells 404 to disengage the one or more quick connect/disconnect devices 414 from the first electrical connector 416. Thereafter, the one or more screws 408 can be loosened so that the individual clamps 407 can be separated and the pouch cell tab 411 of the bad battery cell (or battery cells) can be removed from the clamp assembly 406. Once the bad battery cell is replaced with a new battery cell, all components can be reattached, e.g., pouch cell tab 411 of the new battery cell can be positioned between the individual clamps 407, the one or more screws 408 can be tightened, and the PCBA 412 reattached to the battery cells 404, as described above.
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.
This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/403,512, filed on Sep. 2, 2022, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63403512 | Sep 2022 | US |