Agence Spatiale Europeenne

Agence Spatiale Europeene

Philippe Alfred Perol

James Edward Haines

Giulio Simonelli

Dan Olsson

An electrical energy generation system comprising:

Power-maximizing electrical energy generation system

A device for protecting a voltage source and a load supplied with power by the voltage source, comprises a switching element interposed between the voltage source and the load and is associated with a current limiting circuit including a measuring unit for measuring the current provided by the source and a control unit for controlling the switching element so as to prevent the current from exceeding a predetermined current threshold, and a voltage limiting circuit adapted to control the switching element so as to prevent the voltage supplied to the load from exceeding a predetermined voltage threshold.

Protection device for protecting a voltage source and a load supplied thereby

The present invention relates to a converter comprising at least one converter module presenting at least one electricity feed terminal coupled to an electricity generator and to an electricity feed line such as a bus and including at least one series switch and at least one parallel switch, the series switch being connected in series between the electricity feed terminal and a first inductor, itself in series with an electricity source, the first series switch and the first inductor forming a series branch, and the parallel switch being connected in parallel between said series branch and ground, said switches of said module being controlled in phase opposition by a control circuit presenting a first control state in which said switches are operated in a first or &ldquo;voltage-lowering&rdquo; mode of operation in which an electrical current flows from the electricity generator to the electricity feed line, and a second control state in which said switches are operated in a second or &ldquo;voltage-raising&rdquo; mode of operation in which the current flows from the electricity source to the electricity generator. The parallel switch is placed in a parallel branch between said electricity feed terminal and ground, and the control circuit presents a third or &ldquo;shunt&rdquo; mode of operation in which the parallel second switch is closed and the series switch is open.

Electrical power supply converter

The invention relates to a converter module for delivering an electrical power supply from at least one first source generating electrical current, the module including both a first self-inductive branch extending between a power supply terminal for the first source and a node point and which is functionally associated with a shunt switch connected between the node point and a common mode pole, and a second branch extending between the node point and the common mode pole and presenting in series a controlled switch and a filter. The invention also provides a converter module wherein the filter has a first terminal for powering by an active terminal of a second source of electrical energy, in particular at least one battery.

Converter module for an electrical power supply and a system including it

A device for generating electrical energy for a power supply bus connected to a load. The device includes an electrical energy storage unit having at least one battery, a solar energy generator presenting a plurality of modules, a regulator for controlling discharging of the storage unit to power the bus, and for each module, a three-state control device. The device also includes a control unit causing the control devices to take up one of their three states. Each three-state control device has a first state in which current from the module powers the bus, a second state in which current from module powers the storage unit, and a third state in which the module is short-circuited.

Device for generating electrical energy for a power supply bus

A DC-DC converter includes a transformer with two oppositely-wound primary windings, one on each side of a center tap, and at least one secondary winding connected to a load having a given capacitance. A reference voltage source is connected to the center tap of the transformer via an inductor so that the transformer is driven by a current source. Two switching devices are each connected in the return path of the reference voltage and in series with a respective primary winding. A control unit alternately and periodically connects the return path for the reference voltage to one or other of the primary windings. The control unit includes an oscillator generating squarewave signals has two complementary outputs connected directly to a control terminal of a respective switching device. The frequency of the oscillator is substantially equal to the resonant frequency of a circuit comprising the secondary inductance of the transformer and the capacitance of the load.

High-efficiency DC-DC converter

The converter comprises a transformer having two primary windings; a voltage source having one of its terminals connected to the center tap; and two switches connected in series between the other terminal of the voltage source and a respective one of the primary windings, the switches having stray capacitances that impose a transition time between one of the switches switching OFF and the other switch switching ON. The transformer comprises a magnetic circuit having a gap, and each primary winding has a number of turns that is determined essentially as a function of the level of losses acceptable within the magnetic circuit, the size of the gap then being adjusted, taking account of the number of turns and the operating frequency, in such a manner as to reduce the magnetizing inductance of the transformer to a value such that said transition time is less than a given threshold corresponding to tolerances of the form factor.

Growing community of inventors

Den Haag, Netherlands

Philippe Alfred Perol