A smart battery power balance system and method to maximize the operating life of a mobile computing device and a portable peripheral (e.g., a peripheral having scanning capability). The mobile computing device battery and portable peripheral battery parameters such as battery level, velocity/rate of consumption and usage history are collected. A curve fitting and estimation is done to predict the empty time for complete battery discharge of the mobile computing device and portable peripheral. Based on this analysis, if the calculated empty time of the mobile computing device battery is less than the portable peripheral battery, the portable peripheral charges the mobile computing device battery and if the calculated empty time of the mobile computing device battery is greater than that of the portable peripheral battery, the portable peripheral battery does not charge the mobile computing battery.

Electrical circuit arrangement for an energy storage system comprising a first electrochemical energy storage device and a second electrochemical energy storage device.

A battery system includes a battery module that includes a plurality of battery cells, a monitoring unit configured to monitor a parameter of each of the battery cells, and a control unit configured to determine whether there is an abnormal battery cell in the battery module using the parameter, to calculate a reference voltage for balancing the battery cells when it is determined that there is an abnormal battery cell in the battery module, and to control cell balancing of the battery cells to an equalization target range.

An arrangement for feeding electrical power into an AC grid includes a multiplicity of feed modules. Each feed module includes a converter module for converting a direct voltage into an alternating voltage, as well as a storage module for storing electrical energy. The storage module is connected to a direct voltage side of the converter module and an alternating voltage side of the converter module is configured for connection to the AC grid and/or to at least a further one of the feed modules, so that on the alternating voltage side the feed modules form a series circuit that can be connected to the AC grid. At least one of the storage modules is configured for connection to an energy generation plant.

A power-supply and recharge group for an electric vehicle comprising: a first battery pack; a second battery pack; a first DC-to-DC converter; a second DC-to-DC converter; a low-voltage power-supply source; and a control unit configured to: detect a charge difference between a first and a second battery pack; transfer an electric current from a low-voltage power-supply source to the one of the first and second battery pack having a lower charge, until said charge difference is cancelled; connect the first and the second battery pack to one another in series and recharge them by means of a recharge station on the outside of the vehicle. A direct connection between the DC-to-DC converters can replace the auxiliary low-voltage source.

A vehicle includes an electric machine, a battery, and a controller. The electric machine is configured to deliver power to wheels to drive the vehicle. The battery has an array of cells that are configured to deliver electrical power to the electric machine. The controller is programmed to, in response to a charge imbalance within the array of cells, simultaneously discharge a number of cells within the array based on a temperature of the controller.

A system and associated method are described for balancing an electrical parameter associated with stored electric power in a multi-cell battery. A cell charge balancing system determines a first plurality of the electrical parameters associated with respective ones of the plurality of cells, a plurality of first charge parameters associated with the cells, and a first quality index. A second plurality of the electrical parameters are determined, and second charge parameters are determined to determine a second quality index. The first and second quality indices are compared, and a cell charge balancing routine controls the balancing system based upon the first quality index when the first quality index is greater than the second quality index. The cell charge balancing routine controls the cell charge balancing system based upon the second quality index when the first quality index is less than the second quality index.

Described herein are systems and methods that allow for automatic detection of the highest available cell voltage and/or location of the top voltage in a battery stack, in real-time, without having to use separate, dedicated PCBs for different battery stack configurations, and without having to manually configure PCBs based on the number of cells each battery stack has. In certain embodiments, automatic detection is accomplished by a software-configurable battery management circuit that supports any battery pack size without the need to perform hardware modifications or the added cost of customizing boards for battery stacks that have different numbers of cells. In addition, a novel diode-OR analog multiplexer circuit allows the chip to be powered prior to the selection of the top cell.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an energy storage system includes one or more power sources, one or more energy storage components, and one or more solid state circuit breakers disposed between the one or more power sources and the one or more energy storage components such that electrical power is exchanged between the one or more power sources to the one or more energy storage components through the one or more solid state circuit breakers. The energy storage system also includes a controller configured to operate the one or more solid state circuit breakers to control current exchanged with the one or more energy storage components and protect the one or more energy storage components from the one or more power sources during a fault condition.

Disclosed is a battery balancing apparatus and method. The battery balancing apparatus includes a plurality of balancing circuits, each balancing circuit is connected in parallel to a respective battery cell among a plurality of battery cells and the plurality of balancing circuits are connected in series to each other, in one-to-one relationship; and a control unit operably coupled to each balancing circuit. The control unit selects at least one of the plurality of battery cells as a balancing target, based on a SOC of each battery cell, and outputs an enable signal and a balancing message to each balancing circuit connected to each battery cell selected as the balancing target. Each balancing circuit transmits a first wireless signal and a second wireless signal corresponding to the balancing message by using electric energy stored in each battery cell, when the enable signal is received by each balancing circuit.