Patent ID: 8476870

Claim:
A method for diagnosing defective elements in a standalone system comprising providing the standalone system having: an intermittent power source providing a first voltage and a first current, a power regulator electrically coupled to the intermittent power source, a power storage element charged by the power regulator with an effective charging current and an effective charging voltage, measuring the effective charging current and the effective charging voltage, determining an effective charging power according to said measurements of the effective charging current and the effective charging voltage, comparing the effective charging power with a predefined power threshold, disconnecting the power storage element if the effective charging power is lower than the power threshold, measuring a maximum instantaneous deliverable power by the intermittent power source while the power storage element is disconnected, determining a state of charge of the disconnected power storage element, determining a theoretical charging voltage of the power storage element, the theoretical charging voltage being a function of the measured state of charge, determining a theoretical charging power of the power storage element, the theoretical charging power being a function of the measured state of charge, comparing the effective charging power of the storage element with the smaller of the theoretical charging power of the storage element and of the maximum power deliverable by the generator, and according to the comparing the effective charging voltage with the theoretical charging voltage of the power storage element so as to determine a normal behavior of the standalone system, a malfunctioning behavior of the generator and a malfunctioning behavior of the power storage element.