1235results about "Light to electrical conversion" patented technology

Stationary and on-board battery chargers, methods of charging batteries, electric-vehicle chargers, and vehicles with chargers, including electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. Chargers may automatically charge at the correct battery voltage for various types of batteries. Chargers have variable AC power supplies controlled by digital controllers, isolation transformers, and rectifiers. Transformers may be foil-type, and may have copper foil. Power supplies may be variable-frequency generators and the controllers may control the frequency. Use of the variable frequency generator supply facilitates reduced component size and weight and better battery charging performance. Electric vehicle chargers may have card readers, and vehicles may have batteries and a charger. Methods of charging include identifying the battery type and gradually increasing the charging at different rates of increase while monitoring charging voltage, charging current, or both, until a current lid is reached. Charging may occur at constant current and then at constant voltage.

The electrical vehicle energy storage system permits the electric refueling of the electric vehicle just like an automobile would be refueled with gasoline at a gas station. Circuitry on board the vehicle accessible by the electric refueling station enables the determination of the energy content of the battery module or modules returned to the electric refueling station and the owner of the vehicle is given credit for the energy remaining in the battery module or modules which have been exchanged. Selective refueling may take place for given battery modules by removing them from the battery system and charging them at home, office or factory. A process for operating an electric vehicle is also disclosed and claimed.

An ECU executes a program including a step of detecting a present location using a GPS system; a step of reading out data of a geographical map proximate to the present location and presenting in the geographical map charging installations including a charging installation employing solar light, together with the location of its vehicle; a step of, if a presentation switching request is made and a real-time solar radiation correction request is made, detecting a solar radiation amount and correcting a charge amount per unit time provided by the power generation installation employing solar light, based on the detected solar radiation amount; and a step of detecting an SOC in the battery to calculate an amount of discharge done until arrival at the charging installation, calculating time required for charging up to a fully charged state, and presenting the time required for charging in the geographical map.

Hybrid vehicles and other vehicles with one or more torque producing devices operate more effectively with proper resolution of torque requests. In one aspect of the present invention, a plurality of vehicle force and torque requests are resolved at different levels depending on the vehicle architecture. In another aspect of the present invention, torque requests are resolved into base requests and fast requests depending upon response times of torque devices satisfying these requests.