Patent ID: 11936227
Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G  Y | IPC H

Claim 10:
11. A method for performing energy management using a battery string,
the battery string including multiple battery circuit modules connected in series,
each of the battery circuit modules including
a battery,
an output terminal that outputs a voltage of the battery,
a first switch connected to the output terminal and connected in parallel with the battery, and
a second switch connected in series with the battery, and

each of the battery circuit modules being configured such that the voltage of the battery is applied to the output terminal when the first switch is in an electrically disconnected state and the second switch is in an electrically connected state, the method comprising:
determining whether power fluctuations in requested energy management are acceptable for a degradation diagnosis;
when a determination is made that the power fluctuations in the requested energy management are not acceptable for the degradation diagnosis, selecting the batteries included in the battery string as candidate target batteries, and when a determination is made that the power fluctuations in the requested energy management are acceptable for the degradation diagnosis, selecting the batteries included in the battery string other than one or more batteries that are subjected to the degradation diagnosis, as the candidate target batteries;
selecting one or more target batteries from the candidate target batteries;
controlling the first and second switches so as to disconnect, from a circuit, the batteries included in the battery string other than the one or more target batteries; and
performing the requested energy management using the one or more target batteries, with the batteries other than the one or more target batteries being disconnected from the circuit.