Patent ID: 7075306

Claim:
A power control apparatus for controlling charging and discharging of a plurality of storage means, said power control apparatus comprising: voltage measuring means for measuring voltages of each of said storage means: current measuring means for measuring currents flowing through each of said storage means; a status detecting means for detecting an operating status of each storage means, from values measured by said voltage measuring and current measuring means; and a charging/discharging controlling means for controlling currents, voltages, or power according to the operating status of each storage means detected by said status detecting means, to charge or discharge said storage means; wherein: said status detecting means calculates an internal impedance or open circuit voltage of each storage means; and said charging/discharging controlling means calculates a permissible charging or discharging current value of each storage means from its internal impedance, open circuit voltage, preset maximum permissible voltage and minimum permissible voltage, calculates a sum of all currents flowing through said storage means to suppress a current over the calculated permissible charging or discharging current from flowing into or out of each of said storage means, and controls the charging or discharging current to maintain the total current below the calculated total current value.