Patent ID: 7531915

Claim:
An input power control (IPC) module for transferring power from a plurality of power sources to an alternating current (AC) system, comprising: a direct current (DC) bus operable at a DC bus voltage; a first primary converter module coupled to the DC bus and operable to receive a first amount of power from a first power source that is external to the IPC module, and operable to convert the received first amount of power into a first amount of DC power at the DC bus voltage; a second primary converter module coupled to the DC bus and operable to receive a second amount of power from a second power source that is external to the IPC module, and operable to convert the received second amount of power into a second amount of DC power at the DC bus voltage; and a secondary converter module coupled to the DC bus and electrically coupleable to the AC system, the secondary converter module operable to receive the first and the second amounts of DC power from the DC bus, and operable to convert the first and the second amounts of DC power into AC power that is transferred to the AC system at an AC system voltage; wherein the IPC module is operable to control the first amount of power transferred through the first primary converter module and to control the second amount of power transferred through the second primary converter module, and wherein the first primary converter module includes one of an a 1 ternating current to direct current (AC/DC) converter and a direct current to direct current (DC/DC) converter, and the second primary converter module includes the other of the AC/DC converter and the DC/DC converter.