DE20203595U1 - inverter - Google Patents

Description

^2001/00383

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FRONIUS Welding Machine Production GmbH & Co. KG No. 89

A 4643 Pettenbach

Inverter

The invention relates to an inverter as described in the preamble of claim 1.

A wide variety of inverter systems or inverters are already known, for example from DE 199 19 766 A1 and DE 295 17 414 U1, in which all components and elements or assemblies, such as at least one DC-DC converter, one DC-AC converter, a control device, intermediate circuit capacitors, switching elements or relays, etc., are arranged in a basic housing and external components, such as an energy source or an energy generator, in particular a solar module, an energy storage device, in particular a battery, are connected to the inverter.

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According to DE 199 19 766 A1, an inverter for a PV system is described which has a common inverter bridge with several DC-DC converters connected in parallel for each energy generator, which is formed from several solar modules connected in series. The inverter has several slots arranged in parallel for the detachable accommodation of the DC-DC converters, which makes it possible to expand the inverter system. This means that the inverter can only be expanded on the power section side.

DE 295 17 414 Ul describes an inverter system in which the entire controller is modular and can therefore be expanded as required in terms of its electrical performance and the capacity of the individual components without having to replace the control electronics, i.e. the control device. All modules are housed on DIN rails in a splash-proof base housing.

The disadvantage of these systems is that although the inverter systems can be expanded, when adding additional components, they must first be electrically connected to the components already in use, which means that a corresponding amount of wiring is required. This means that an expansion of the system or the inverter system is not possible without trained specialist personnel.

The invention is based on the object of creating an inverter system in which the system can be expanded without additional wiring effort in the basic housing of the inverter.

This object of the invention is achieved in such a way that several identical slots, each with a plug-in element, are arranged in the basic housing of the inverter in the form of a plug-in card system, wherein the plug-in elements are connected via a common bus system and the bus system has all control lines, data lines, power supply lines, etc., and that individual components or assemblies or additional components are designed as plug-in cards with a plug-in element corresponding to the slots and can be arranged as desired in the individual slots, wherein when a plug-in card is inserted, an independent electrical line connection is established between the plug-in elements of the slot and the plug-in elements of the plug-in cards.

A particular advantage is that the customer has to pay for the purchase of such a change

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This means that the customer only has to purchase a basic package containing the most important components once for the inverter system and can then only purchase the options or extensions he wants or needs. This retrofitting work can be carried out by the customer himself without the help of a specialist, as these extensions only have to be plugged into the slots, which means that contact and recognition are carried out independently.

A key advantage of this design is that the use of a standardized bus system to connect the individual slots for expanding the inverter enables the subsequent development of option cards or plug-in cards without "redesign" or modifications to the inverter, and older systems can be upgraded at any time with these newly developed option cards or plug-in cards.

Another advantage here is that by designing the components or assemblies in the form of a standardized plug-in card system, the manufacturing costs, maintenance costs and repair costs can be significantly reduced, and at the same time the size and manufacturing costs of such inverters can be significantly reduced. The components can be easily replaced, particularly during repairs, with the new components being recognized automatically, thus ensuring very short system downtimes.

A further advantage is that the compact construction unit and the predefined slots mean that all protective measures for inverters can be taken into account by the manufacturer for a later expansion of the system. Another advantage is that with such a structure, very short cable connections are available between the slots, so that the line losses can be greatly reduced and at the same time the interference, for example the switching frequencies of the individual components, are negligible due to the short cable routing and simple shielding of the cables is possible.

Further advantageous measures are described in claims 2 to 16. The resulting advantages can be taken from the description.

The invention is described in more detail below by means of exemplary embodiments.

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Show it:

Fig. 1 a block diagram of an inverter system with the essential components in a simplified, schematic representation; 5

Fig. 2 shows another block diagram for another embodiment of the inverter with the essential components in a simplified, schematic representation.

To begin with, it should be noted that in the different embodiments described, identical parts are provided with identical reference symbols or identical component designations, whereby the disclosures contained in the entire description can be transferred analogously to identical parts with identical reference symbols or identical component designations. The position information chosen in the description, such as top, bottom, side, etc., also refers to the figure directly described and shown and, if the position changes, is to be transferred analogously to the new position. Furthermore, individual features or combinations of features from the different embodiments shown and described can also represent independent, inventive or inventive solutions in themselves.

Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of an inverter system 1 with an inverter 2 (outlined in dash-dotted lines). Since the individual components or assemblies and functions of the inverter system 1 are already known, these will not be discussed in more detail. The schematic representation of the electrical and mechanical structure of the inverter 2 was chosen because it makes it easy to see how the individual components or assemblies can be connected or put together.

For example, the inverter 2 in the base housing 3, which is schematically shown by the dot-dash lines, has at least the most necessary components or assemblies, such as a control device 4, a DC-DC converter 5, an intermediate circuit 6, which is formed by intermediate circuit capacitors, and a DC-AC converter 7 as well as other components, such as switching elements, relays, etc. (not shown). A power source 9 or an energy generator is connected to the DC-DC converter 5 via a bus system 8, which can, for example, consist of one or more parallel

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and/or solar modules 10 connected in series with one another, which are referred to as a string. The DC-AC converter 7 is in turn connected via the bus system 8 with its outputs, for example, to an alternating voltage network 11 and/or one or more consumers 12, such as an energy storage device, in particular a battery, a refrigerator, a radio device, etc.

The DC-DC converter 5 is formed, for example, from at least one inverter 13, a transformer 14 and a rectifier 15. The intermediate circuit 6 is constructed from one or more capacitors or intermediate circuit capacitors. In order to generate a desired alternating voltage for the alternating voltage network 11 or the consumers 12, the DC-AC converter 7 is formed by a corresponding inverter 16, which converts the direct voltage into an alternating voltage. Other components or assemblies, such as filters, smoothing capacitors, etc., are not shown in the embodiment shown and are assigned accordingly to the individual components or assemblies.

Furthermore, the inverter 2 has a regulator or control device 4, which can be formed by a microprocessor, a microcontroller or a computer, for example. It is also possible for the individual modules or components, such as the DC-DC converter 5 and DC-AC converter 7, to have their own regulator, so that corresponding controls are only carried out by this regulator for this module, with the control specifications being specified by the higher-level control device 4.

The control device 4 thus carries out a corresponding control of the individual components via the bus system 8. Furthermore, the control device 4 can control the energy supply or the energy flow for the AC network 11 or for the consumers 12, whereby a corresponding switching module 17 is connected via the bus system 8 to which all consumers are connected, i.e. that connection sockets for external components, such as the energy generator 9, in particular the solar module 10, and the consumers 12 are arranged or designed on the base housing 3, which can be activated accordingly via the switching module 17. For this purpose, the individual control or regulation sequences are stored in the control device 4 by means of corresponding software programs and/or data or characteristics. Furthermore, several measuring systems (not shown) for recording

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The current and voltage are measured at various points or modules or components of the inverter system 1 in order to ensure safe operation of the system.

As can be seen from the exemplary embodiment, the individual components or assemblies are modular, and the inverter 2 can be expanded as required. The individual components or assemblies are connected together or controlled via the bus system 8 in such a way that the inverter 2 converts the energy generated by the energy generator or energy source 9 or stored in the energy storage device, in particular a direct voltage, into another form of energy, in particular an alternating voltage, and then supplies it to the alternating voltage network 11 and/or the consumers 12. It is also possible for the energy generated, in particular direct voltage, to be used to charge the energy storage device or to supply consumers 12 that can be operated with direct voltage.

What is essential in this already known circuit design is the technical solution of the modular design of the inverter 2, as described below.

For this purpose, several identical slots 18, each with a plug-in element 19, are arranged in the base housing 3 of the inverter 2 in the form of a plug-in card system, whereby the plug-in elements 19 are connected via the common bus system 8. The bus system 8 has all control lines, data lines, power supply lines, etc. It is of course possible for the bus system 8 and the plug-in elements 19 to be designed separately in order to comply with the relevant safety regulations.

The individual components or assemblies or further components or additional components are designed as plug-in cards 20, as indicated by dashed lines, with a plug-in element 21 corresponding to the slots 18. The plug-in cards 20 can be arranged as desired in the individual slots 18, whereby when a plug-in card 18 is inserted, an independent electrical line connection is established between the plug-in elements 19 and 21 of the slot 18 and the plug-in cards 20. It is also possible for connection sockets or interface plugs to be arranged on the plug-in cards 20 or option cards for connecting further external components or assemblies.

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The modular design of the inverter 2 means that it is equipped in such a way that when the inverter 2 is purchased, only the most necessary plug-in cards 20 of the components or assemblies for operating the inverter 2 with the core functions are arranged in the basic housing 3, as described above, and further optional plug-in cards 20, in particular option cards, can be plugged in, i.e. the inverter 2 can be expanded at any time with another plug-in card 20, as indicated for example with dashed lines, and the function or performance of the system can thus be improved. The option cards can be formed, for example, by additional DC-DC converters, input and/or output cards, modules for communication with other devices, modules for energy management functions, modules for data acquisition and/or storage, modem cards, Internet cards, interface cards, etc.

The plug-in card 20 shown in dashed lines is, for example, an Internet card 22 which has, for example, an interface 23 for connecting to a telephone network or other connection options for the Internet, such as a television network or cable television, power supply network, etc. This gives the operator of this system the option of making the appropriate settings, controls and queries from a remote location via the Internet and at the same time the manufacturer can carry out maintenance work and system updates, whereby this plug-in card 20 creates a significant improvement in the core functions of the system.

If, for example, an interface card for a computer or a home network is purchased in addition to the Internet card mentioned, the user can query the system data via a computer and carry out the corresponding visualization. This can be done by simply installing a corresponding software program, which enables the system status to be clearly displayed. This also enables a connection to other systems controlled or monitored by the computer.

If an additional plug-in card 20 is purchased for the inverter 2, this can be installed by the operator himself. To do this, he only has to insert the plug-in card 20 into a free slot 18 or by replacing an occupied slot 18. The inverter 2, in particular the control device 4, automatically recognizes the new plug-in card 20 and automatically initializes the new functions.

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This modular design allows the inverter 2 to be expanded as required by adding plug-in cards 20 or option cards.

In order to ensure that the inverter 2 can be expanded without limit, the bus system 8 for the slots 18 is designed from the housing of the inverter 2 in the form of an interface plug 24. This ensures that the inverter 2, in particular the number of slots 18, can be expanded using a slot expansion module (not shown), which is structurally similar to the basic housing 3 of the inverter 2, in which further slots 18 connected via a bus system are arranged, wherein the slot expansion module has at least one corresponding interface plug 24 for connection to the inverter 2. It is of course possible for several slot expansion modules to be connected to one another via corresponding interface plugs 24. It is also possible for another fully equipped inverter 2 or one equipped with the most necessary components to be connected via the interface plug 24, whereby an increase in the performance of the system can be achieved. For this purpose, the connection to a slot extension module 24 or an inverter can be made via an interface cable or the mechanical design of the inverter 2 can be such that these modules or the housings are simply plugged in and thus a mechanical and electrical connection is established.

In order to ensure trouble-free operation of the inverter 2, it is possible for certain areas in the base housing 3 to be electromagnetically shielded. The base housing 3 is preferably divided into three areas, namely a control area 25, a power section area 26 and an additional function area 27. This is implemented in a simple form by arranging or inserting electrically conductive partitions 28 between the slots 18 of the inverter 2 and/or the slot extension module to shield against magnetic and/or electrical radiation. It is of course also possible for such areas to be fixed, with any number of slots 18 being arranged in the individual areas. It is also possible for the partitions 28 to be arranged between all or certain slots 18.

Of course, it is possible that the different areas can also be designed differently, as is shown for example in a further embodiment described below in Fig. 2. This means that, for example, in the power section

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area 26, the components, in particular the DC-DC converter 5, the intermediate circuit 6 and the DC-AC converter 7, are not modular and a direct wiring of the components is carried out, whereas the additional function area 27 is modular with several slots 18.
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Furthermore, the modular design makes it possible for different slots 18 with different plug-in elements 19 for the different plug-in cards 20 or option cards to be arranged in the inverter 2 and/or in the slot extension module. The slots 18 can be formed, for example, by ISA and/or PCI and/or PCMCIA plug-in elements 19, etc. This means that the operator can only arrange the corresponding plug-in card 20 in certain slots 18 when expanding the system independently. This has the advantage that the internal wiring effort can be significantly reduced, since only the required lines for the corresponding plug-in cards 20 are arranged on the plug-in element 19 of the slot 18. This also means that the safety regulations can be easily observed, since, for example, those lines that carry high energy can be arranged at a corresponding distance and the other lines, in particular data lines, can be easily shielded against external interference.

Furthermore, an input and/or output module 29, such as a touch screen, an LCD display and/or setting elements, etc., is integrated in the base housing 3 of the inverter 2 for the input and display of data and/or functional sequences, wherein the input and/or output module is connected to the bus system 8. When the inverter 2 is expanded, the input options and/or display of the data and/or functional sequences are adapted independently.

In Fig. 2, another embodiment of a structure of the inverter 2 is described.

The difference between this embodiment - according to Fig. 2 - and the embodiment in Fig. 1 is that the inverter 2 has a so-called mixed system in terms of construction, i.e. that on the one hand a direct wiring of the individual components or assemblies has been carried out and on the other hand a plug-in card system, as described in detail in Fig. 1, is used.

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For this purpose, the inverter 2 is divided into several areas, in particular into three main areas, namely the power section area 26, the additional function area 27 and a connection area 30. The modules or components of the DC-DC converter 5, the intermediate circuit 6, the DC-AC converter 7 and the control device 4 are arranged in the power area. In this area, however, direct wiring is now carried out, i.e. the individual modules are no longer connected via the bus system 8, but are connected together according to the required connections. Only the control device 4 is connected to the bus system 8, so that the other plug-in cards 20 or option cards can be controlled from it.

The additional function area 27 corresponds to the design according to Fig. 1, so that now in these so-called option cards, for example, modules for communication with other devices, modules for energy management functions, modules for data acquisition and/or storage, modem cards, Internet cards 22, interface cards, etc. can be arranged.

All connection sockets, terminal connections, etc. for the external components, such as the energy source 9 or the solar modules 10, the AC voltage network 11, the consumers 12 are now arranged in the connection area.

This technical solution means that the inverter 2 can only be upgraded by the operator using option cards. In order to increase the performance of the system, it is necessary for a specialist to carry out an extension by installing new components or by connecting it to another inverter 2.

This design of the inverter 2 has the advantage that the inverter 2 is very insensitive to interference, since the individual areas can be very well shielded from each other and can be appropriately distanced and at the same time the safety regulations for the most diverse countries can be implemented.

Finally, for the sake of clarity, it should be noted that in order to better understand the structure of the inverter system, this system or its components have been shown partly out of scale and/or enlarged and/or reduced.

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The problem underlying the independent inventive solutions can be taken from the description.

Above all, the individual embodiments shown in Fig. 1; 2 can form the subject matter 5 of independent solutions according to the invention. The relevant inventive tasks and solutions can be found in the detailed descriptions of these figures.

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Reference symbol list

1 inverter system

2 inverters

3 Basic housing

4 Control device

5 DC-DC converters

6 Intermediate circuit

7 DC-AC converter

8 Bus system

9 Energy source

10 solar module

11 AC network

12 consumers

13 Inverter

14 Transformer 15 Rectifier

16 inverters

17 Switching module

18 Slot 19 Plug-in element

20 plug-in card

21 Plug-in element

22 Internet card 23 Interface

24 interface connectors

25 Control area

26 Power section 27 Additional function area

28 Partition wall

29 Input and/or output module

30 Connection area

Claims (16)

1. Inverter which has a basic housing in which all the necessary components or assemblies, such as a DC-DC converter, a DC-AC converter, intermediate circuit capacitors, a control device, switching elements or relays, etc., are arranged, wherein the inverter, in particular the individual components or assemblies, is modular and the inverter or an inverter system can be expanded as desired by further components or assemblies and external components, such as an energy source or an energy generator, in particular a solar module, an energy storage device, in particular a battery, one or more consumers, etc., can be connected to the inverter, characterized in that in the basic housing ( 3 ) of the inverter ( 2 ) several identical plug-in locations ( 18 ), each with a plug-in element ( 19 ) in the form of a plug-in card system, are arranged, wherein the plug-in elements ( 19 ) are connected via a common bus system ( 8 ) and the bus system ( 8 ) contains all the control lines, data lines, energy supply lines, etc. and that individual components or assemblies or additional components are designed as plug-in cards ( 20 ) with a plug-in element ( 21 ) corresponding to the slots ( 18 ) and can be arranged as desired in the individual slots ( 18 ), wherein the plug-in elements ( 19 , 21 ) of the slot ( 18 ) and of the plug-in card ( 20 ) are designed to independently establish an electrical line connection with one another when the plug-in card ( 20 ) is inserted. 2. Inverter according to claim 1, characterized in that only the most necessary plug-in cards ( 20 ) of the components or assemblies for operating the inverter ( 2 ) with the core functions are arranged in the basic housing ( 3 ) and further optional plug-in cards ( 20 ), in particular option cards, can be plugged in. 3. Inverter according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the optional plug-in cards ( 20 ) or option cards are formed, for example, by further DC-DC converters ( 5 ), input and/or output cards, modules for communication with other devices, modules for energy management functions, modules for data acquisition and/or storage, modem cards, Internet cards ( 32 ), interface cards, etc. 4. Inverter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the inverter ( 2 ), in particular the control device ( 4 ) of the inverter ( 2 ), carries out an independent detection and initialization when the inverter ( 2 ) is expanded by a plug-in card ( 20 ) and/or an option card. 5. Inverter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that fixedly defined slots ( 18 ) are arranged for special plug-in cards ( 20 ) or option cards, such as the DC-DC converter ( 5 ) and the DC-AC converter ( 7 ). 6. Inverter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the inverter ( 2 ) can be expanded as required by adding option cards. 7. Inverter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that connection sockets for external components, such as the energy source ( 9 ) or the energy generator, in particular the solar module ( 10 ), the energy storage device, in particular the battery, one or more consumers ( 12 ), are arranged or designed on the base housing (3). 8. Inverter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bus system ( 8 ) for the slots ( 18 ) from the base housing ( 3 ) of the inverter ( 2 ) is designed in the form of an interface plug ( 24 ). 9. Inverter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the inverter ( 2 ), in particular the number of slots ( 18 ), can be expanded by a slot expansion module in which further slots ( 18 ) connected via a bus system ( 8 ) are arranged, wherein the slot expansion module has at least one corresponding interface plug ( 24 ) for connection to the inverter ( 2 ). 10. Inverter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that several slot extension modules can be connected to one another via corresponding interface connectors ( 24 ). 11. Inverter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that electrically conductive partitions ( 28 ) for shielding against magnetic and/or electrical radiation can be arranged or inserted between the individual slots ( 18 ) of the inverter ( 2 ) and the slot extension module. 12. Inverter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that different slots ( 18 ) with different plug-in elements ( 19 ) for different plug-in cards ( 20 ) or option cards are arranged in the basic housing ( 3 ) and/or in the slot extension module. 13. Inverter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the slots ( 18 ) are formed by ISA and/or PCI and/or PCMCIA plug-in elements ( 19 ). 14. Inverter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that connection sockets or interface plugs for the connection of further external components or modules are arranged on the plug-in cards ( 20 ) or the option cards. 15. Inverter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that an input and/or output module ( 29 ), such as a touch screen, an LCD display and/or setting elements, etc., is integrated in the base housing ( 3 ) of the inverter ( 2 ) for the input and display of data and/or functional sequences, wherein the input and/or output module ( 29 ) is connected to the bus system ( 8 ). 16. Inverter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that when the inverter ( 2 ) is extended, an independent adaptation of the input options and/or the display of the data and/or the functional sequences takes place.