Patent ID: 7683505

Claim:
A universal energy supply system for at least one electrical consumer, comprising: at least one AC voltage source; an AC/DC converter coupled between the AC voltage source and a cable connection to the at least one electrical consumer, wherein the AC/DC converter is operable to convert an AC voltage into DC voltage, which DC voltage is supplied to the electrical consumer via the cable connection and wherein the AC/DC converter comprises; a number of AC/DC converting units which are connected in parallel, on an input side, with the AC voltage source and which are serially connected to the electrical consumer on an output side, wherein each AC/DC converting unit has a primary and secondary winding and has a switch that, when closed, enables energy from the AC source to be stored in the primary winding and that, when open, enables energy stored in the primary winding to be transmitted to the secondary winding; and a controller in communication with the AC/DC converting units, wherein the controller independently controls an output voltage of each AC/DC converting unit and monitors functionality of each AC/DC converting unit; wherein at least a few of the AC/DC converting units have phase-shifted clock frequencies relative to one another.