Patent ID: 7633284

Claim:
A method for monitoring and controlling various parameters of individual ultracapacitor cells or group of ultracapacitor cells in a string of ultracapacitors, said method comprising the steps of: selectively monitoring, with a charge and monitoring circuit, various parameters, which include at least one of voltage, current, temperature, DC resistance, AC impedance, and capacity, for individual ultracapacitor cells of a string, or combinations of ultracapacitor cells within a string, or an entire string of ultracapacitor cells, and selectively delivering charge current to any individual cell or group of cells in the string, to replace charge lost due to discharge either external or internal to the ultracapacitor cell; selectively making, via a cell selector comprising an arrangement of switches appropriate positive or negative connections from the terminals of the ultracapacitor cell, group of ultracapacitor cells, or string of ultracapacitor cells to said charge and monitoring circuit; controlling, via a local controller comprising a microprocessor, the charging and monitoring parameters of the charge and monitoring circuit according to signals from a central processor, wherein the local controller sets other functional parameters of the charge and monitoring circuit, including at least one of switching frequency, voltage setpoints, current setpoints, temperature setpoints, and other parameters; allowing, via a signal conditioning circuit, signal transfer between the monitoring circuit and cell selector and the central processor while maintaining optical voltage isolation between them; providing the central processor which, through the signal conditioning circuit, controls the cell selector to select individual ultracapacitor cells or groups of ultracapacitor cells according to software instructions, transmits data to and receives data from the charge and monitoring circuit, and controls the operation of the charge and monitoring circuit, and providing the central processor with: data storage allowing the recording of data from the various ultracapacitor cells or groups of ultracapacitor cells; communication ports that allow the central processor to interact with other systems for analysis, acknowledgement of alarms, and control of all functions; and software that defines how ultracapacitor cells or groups of ultracapacitor cells must be monitored and controlled.