The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 30, 2001
Filed:
Oct. 22, 1999
Applicant:
Inventors:
Assignee:
Agence Spatiale Europeenne, Paris, FR;
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G05F 1/10 ; G05F 1/40 ; H02J 3/12 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G05F 1/10 ; G05F 1/40 ; H02J 3/12 ;
Abstract
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.