Solar inverter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9420732-B2
Application number	US-201414568233-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 12, 2014
Priority date	Jun 13, 2012
Publication date	Aug 16, 2016
Grant date	Aug 16, 2016

Abstract

A solar inverter is provided having a cooling module, a DC module, an inverter module and an AC module provided side-by-side within a chassis. The DC module includes an input accessible from a first side of the chassis and a disconnection switch on a second side of the chassis, with the input being configured to be connected to a DC solar power source. The AC module includes an output accessible from the first side of the chassis and a disconnection switch provided on the second side of the chassis. The cooling module is configured to pump a liquid coolant around the solar inverter in order to cool elements of the DC module, the inverter module and/or the AC module.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A solar inverter comprising a chassis, a cooling module, a DC module, an inverter module and an AC module, wherein:
the cooling module, the DC module, the inverter module and the AC module are provided side-by-side within the chassis;
the DC module comprises an input, a disconnection switch and an output, wherein the input of the DC module is configured to be connected to a DC solar power source and wherein the disconnection switch of the DC module is provided on an exterior of the chassis and is configured to electrically disconnect the input and the output of the DC module;
the inverter module comprises an input coupled to the output of the DC module and an output, wherein the inverter module is configured to convert DC power at the input of the inverter module into AC power at the output of the inverter module;
the AC module comprises an input coupled to the output of the inverter module, an output and a disconnection switch, wherein the disconnection switch of the AC module is provided on the exterior of the chassis and on a same side of the chassis as the disconnection switch of the DC module, and wherein the disconnection switch for the AC module is configured to electrically disconnect the output of the inverter module and the output of the AC module; and
the cooling module is configured to pump a fluid coolant around the solar inverter in order to cool one or more elements of the DC module, the inverter module and/or the AC module.

2. A solar inverter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the inverter module is positioned horizontally side-by-side the DC module and the AC module.

3. A solar inverter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the cooling module is positioned horizontally side-by-side the DC module.

4. A solar inverter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the cooling module is positioned horizontally side-by-side the AC module.

5. A solar inverter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the input of the DC module and the output of the AC module are positioned within the chassis.

6. A solar inverter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the input of the DC module and the output of the AC module are accessible from a first side of the chassis, wherein the first side of the chassis is opposite to the side on which the disconnection switches of the DC and AC modules are provided.

7. A solar inverter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein one or more of the cooling module, the DC module, the inverter module and the AC module is/are configured to be assembled prior to being included in said chassis.

8. A solar inverter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the cooling module, the DC module, the inverter module and the AC module are enclosed within the chassis.

9. A solar inverter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the DC module further comprises a DC contactor configured to selectively electrically connect the DC solar power source and the output of the DC module.

10. A solar inverter as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of fuses configured to couple a plurality of DC solar power sources to the DC module.

11. A solar inverter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the AC module further comprises an AC contactor configured to selectively electrically connect the output of the inverter module and the output of the AC module.

12. A solar inverter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the cooling module comprises a fluid reservoir, a pump, a heat exchanger, an inlet and an outlet, wherein the pump is used to direct the fluid coolant from the reservoir to the outlet of the cooling module from where the fluid coolant is used to cool elements of the solar inverter before the fluid coolant is returned to the inlet of the cooling module, and wherein fluid coolant received at the inlet of the cooling module is directed to the heat exchanger in order for at least some of the heat extracted from the solar inverter to be removed from the fluid coolant.

13. A solar inverter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the fluid coolant is a liquid coolant, and wherein the liquid coolant, after having passed the one or more elements to be cooled, is directed to a heat exchanger in which the liquid coolant is air cooled.

14. A solar inverter as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising means for directing the liquid coolant towards one or more heat generating parts of the solar inverter in order to remove heat therefrom.

15. A solar inverter according to claim 1 , where heat exchange between the liquid coolant and at least some of the one or more elements of the DC module, the inverter module and/or the AC module is performed in micro-channel heat exchangers.

Assignees

• Sma Solar Technology Ag

Inventors

• Desai Piyush Chandrakant
• Larsen Stephen Ray
• Gjini Orges
• Gray Matthew Donovan

Classifications

• H05K7/14324

  comprising modular units, e.g. DIN rail mounted units · CPC title

• H02S40/345

  with cooling means associated with the electrical connection means, e.g. cooling means associated with or applied to the junction box (cooling means for PV cells H10F77/63, for PV modules H02S40/42) · CPC title

• H02M7/003

  Constructional details, e.g. physical layout, assembly, wiring or busbar connections · CPC title

• H05K7/20927 Primary

  Liquid coolant without phase change · CPC title

• H05K7/20263

  Heat dissipaters releasing heat from coolant · CPC title