Distributed battery system with wireless control and power transfer — A concept introduction

The paper introduces the concept of a battery system or pack architecture that is divided into several battery modules that share the load power wirelessly and are controlled wirelessly. Each of the wireless battery modules includes its own power electronics for DC-AC power conversion for Wireless Power Transfer (WPT), regulation of voltage and State-Of-Charge (SOC), and wireless communication link with an on-board unit. The on-board unit combines the power received wirelessly from all of the battery modules (AC-DC or AC-AC conversion) and its master controller uses the voltage, current, and other information received wirelessly from the battery modules to wirelessly send back control commands in order to regulate the discharge (or charge) rate of each battery module. For example, in the Electric Vehicles (EVs) application this wirelessly controlled and distributed battery system or pack can potentially allow for exchanging or swapping the wireless battery modules in a safer, easier, and faster manner. This can potentially contribute to significantly reduced “Range Anxiety” phenomenon that is associated with EVs.