Heterogeneous arrays of storage devices: An approach to get linear output with maximum efficiency from energy systems

There is an increasing interest in using energy storage devices. Storage devices like batteries are used in hybrid vehicles. There is also interest in using batteries and devices like ultra capacitors with windmill and solar panels to mitigate the effect of power fluctuation. The power losses, and subsequently the overall efficiency of practical energy storage devices are highly nonlinear and greatly depend on the rate of charging. In order to maximize efficiency, advance energy systems would utilize heterogeneous arrays of storage devices consisting of multiple power sources combined with multiple control units. This paper proposes such a heterogeneous energy system using PID control which will give linear output with maximum efficiency to the load.