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:
May. 20, 2014
Filed:
Mar. 01, 2010
Michael Joseph Stern, Westlake Village, CA (US);
Michael Joseph Stern, Westlake Village, CA (US);
Renewable Power Conversion, Inc., San Luis Obispo, CA (US);
Abstract
A DC-to-AC power converter is disclosed which provides current regulated three-phase AC outputs and very high conversion efficiencies. The converter sinks power from an external DC current source and steers that current directly into two phases of a three-phase load by using complementary semiconductor switches in disparate half-bridges of a six-pole bridge. The steering switch selection rotates every 60° to direct current into the two phases with the largest voltage differential at any given time. The remaining half-bridge acts as a high-frequency, bi-directional current source to balance the three-phase load currents. This topology and control method significantly reduces power conversion losses. Prior art converters first convert 'soft' DC sources to voltage sources and then to AC current sources. The invention eliminates the need for large filter inductors and DC bus capacitors used in prior art converters. The invention is optimized for photovoltaic, utility-grid-interactive applications.