Emergency Lighting DC Bus Control for Hybrid Battery Backup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing emergency lighting systems face limitations due to high costs and resource-intensive installation and maintenance, as well as inefficient battery usage, where batteries are often replaced before reaching 70-80% of their capacity, leading to suboptimal system duration.
Innovation Solution
An emergency lighting system with a DC bus and a bus manager that connects local and central batteries, enabling bidirectional energy flow and intelligent management of power supply, allowing batteries to be reused and extended beyond their initial capacity, and enabling hybrid operation combining centralized and self-contained systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If centralized emergency lighting systems are used, then system reliability is improved, but installation cost and complexity increase due to expensive cabling requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the emergency lighting infrastructure into autonomous segments (self-contained units with local batteries) that can operate independently. Each unit contains its own power supply and control circuitry, eliminating the need for complex centralized cabling while maintaining system reliability through distributed operation.
Solution Approach 2:
A communication bus serves as an intermediary layer between self-contained units and the central control system. This bus enables data exchange and coordination without requiring expensive power cabling, allowing the system to achieve centralized management benefits while maintaining the simplicity of self-contained units.
2Ease of manufacture
If self-contained emergency lighting systems are used, then installation cost is reduced, but maintenance resources and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system design makes maintenance activities universal across all self-contained units through standardized battery types, uniform communication protocols, and identical control circuitries. This standardization enables technicians to perform maintenance on any unit with the same skills and resources, reducing overall maintenance complexity despite the distributed nature of the system.
Solution Approach 2:
The communication bus provides continuous feedback about battery status, charge levels, and system health to a central management system. This enables predictive maintenance scheduling and remote diagnostics, reducing the need for frequent on-site maintenance visits while keeping installation costs low.
3Duration of action of moving object
If battery capacity is increased to extend system duration, then emergency lighting duration is improved, but battery replacement cost and waste increase when batteries reach end of life
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements battery recovery and reuse programs where end-of-life batteries from one location are recovered, refurbished or recycled, and deployed to other locations. The communication bus tracks battery lifecycle data to optimize replacement schedules and identify batteries suitable for recovery, reducing waste while maintaining adequate system duration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts operating parameters such as LED brightness levels and power consumption based on remaining battery capacity and predicted duration requirements. This optimization extends the effective usage period of each battery, reducing the frequency of replacements and associated waste without compromising the minimum required emergency lighting duration.
4Reliability
If batteries are replaced at 70-80% capacity to ensure system duration, then system reliability is maintained, but battery usage efficiency and cost-effectiveness worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically determines battery replacement timing based on real-time performance data, actual usage patterns, and predicted remaining capacity rather than fixed percentage thresholds. The communication bus enables continuous monitoring of battery health metrics, allowing the system to extend battery usage until actual performance degradation threatens system duration requirements, thereby improving battery utilization efficiency while maintaining reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to an emergency lighting system (100), comprising a DC bus (103), at least one driver (101) for emergency lighting means that is connected to the DC bus (103), wherein the at least one driver (101) is further connected to a local battery (102), at least one central battery (105), a bus manager (104) connected to the at least one central battery (105), wherein the bus manager (104) further comprises output terminals for connecting the bus manager (104) to the DC bus (103). The bus manager (104) comprises a communication interface (104a) for communicating with the at least one driver (101), wherein the bus manager (104) is configured to receive an energy supply information from the at least one driver (101) and/or from the central battery (105), wherein the bus manager (104) is configured to control the at least one driver (101) to receive a power supply from the local battery (102) or from the central battery (105) based on the energy supply information.