10247results about "Sustainable buildings" patented technology

A smart grid gateway which includes a onboard computer programmed to provide load measurement and control of at least one local resource or asset. At least one metrology module is configured to provide metering of the at least one local resource or asset. At least one LAN module is configured to communicate with the at least one local resource or asset. At least one WAN module is configured to communicate with a network operations center.

Solar power systems and structures are mountable to a power distribution structure, e.g. a power pole or tower, which supports alternating current (AC) power transmission lines. An exemplary power generation structure is fixedly attached to and extends from the power distribution structure, and comprises a mounting rack. A solar array, comprising at least one solar panel, is affixed to the mounting rack. A DC to AC invertor is connected between the DC outputs of the solar array and the AC power transmission lines. The length of the solar array is generally in alignment with the power distribution structure, and the width of the solar array is greater than half the is circumference of the power distribution structure. The mounting rack and solar array may preferably be rotatable, such as based on any of location, time of day, or available light.

A system for electric grid utilization and optimization comprising a communications interface executing on a network-connected server and adapted to receive information from a plurality of iNodes, the plurality of iNodes comprising a source iNode, a sink iNode, a plurality of transmission or distribution iNodes, an event database coupled to the communications interface and adapted to receive events from a plurality of iNodes via the communications interface, a modeling server coupled to the communications interface, and a statistics server coupled to the event database and the modeling server, wherein the modeling server, receives a request to establish an allocation of at least one of transmission losses, distribution losses, and ancillary services to a specific sink iNode, computes at least one virtual path for electricity flow between a source iNode and the specific sink iNode, the computed path being determined based on optimization of perceived comfort of users in affected areas.

A site controller adapted to be used in an automated monitoring system for monitoring and controlling a plurality of remote devices via a host computer connected to a first communication network is provided. The site controller is configured for controlling communication with the host computer and a plurality of communication devices that define a second communication network associated with the plurality of remote devices. Briefly described, in one embodiment, the site controller comprises a transceiver configured to communicate with the plurality of communication devices via the second communication network; a network interface device configured to communicate with the host computer via the first communication network; and logic configured to: manage communication with each of the plurality of communication devices, via a first communication protocol, based on one or more communication paths for each of the plurality of communication devices, each communication path comprising one or more communication devices involved in the communication link between the transceiver and each of the plurality of communication devices; and manage communication with the host computer via a second communication protocol.

An electric power meter includes an embedded decomposition module that is configured to decompose a power meter signal into constituent loads to segregate and identify energy consumption associated with each individual energy consumption device within a plurality of energy consumption devices coupled to the power meter.

Systems and methods for enabling a mobile user to notify an automated monitoring system of an emergency situation are provided. The automated monitoring system may be configured for monitoring and controlling a plurality of remote devices and may comprise a site controller in communication with the plurality of remote devices via a plurality of transceivers defining a wireless communication network and in communication with a host computer via a wide area network. Briefly described, one such method comprises the steps of: receiving notification that the mobile user desires to initiate transmission of an emergency message to the site controller; determining the identity of the mobile user; and providing an emergency message over the wireless communication network for delivery to the site controller, the emergency message indicating the identity of the mobile user.

A method and apparatus for switching AC appliances and lights of residences and other automation systems through SPDT or DPDT relays connected in electrical circuit with SPDT or DPDT switch including a current sensor and/or a status sensor. The operating key of the relay and the key lever of the electric switch can each be used for operating a dedicated appliance or light, a group of appliance and lights and all appliance and/or lights including scenarios setup via the many well known two way, three way or four way light switches, by operating the switch lever or key in multi steps. The SPDT or DPDT relays are operated via RF, IR and fiber optic communicating two way signal for operating the lights and reporting statuses.

An automated meter reading network system to collect utility usage data from multiple utility meters having utility meter sensors, program product, and associated methods are provided. The system includes multiple meter data collectors each in communication with one or more utility meters to collect utility usage data and forming a wireless communications network. The system also includes a host computer in communication with the meter data collectors either directly or through multiple field host data collectors which can be connected to the host computer through a wide area network. The system also includes a meter data collector program product at least partially stored in the memory of the host computer to manage the communication network. The meter data collector program product is adapted to analyze signal strength between nodes and to dynamically adjust the power level settings of the individual nodes to enhance network performance.

A circuit tracer for use with circuit breakers equipped with sensors capable of sensing at least a change in the power consumption of the circuit and transmitting, preferably wirelessly, such information. The information is received directly or indirectly by a circuit tracer having a display, the display showing all the circuit breakers equipped with the sensors. Upon changing the load of an electricity outlet, such as a wall outlet, a light source, HVAC, pump, electrical machinery, etc., the sensor equipped circuit breaker provides an indication of such power or current consumption change to the circuit tracer. This allows the user of the circuit tracer to associate on the circuit tracer the circuit breaker with the specific electricity outlet. The association information may be saved on a central server or database for future use.

Electrical supply apparatus (201) for providing electrical power to a first type of socket and a second type of socket (410). The apparatus comprises an electrical power source (420) for providing electrical power, a first mains circuit (204) for conveying electrical power to the first type of socket, a second mains circuit (208) for conveying electrical power to the second type of socket, and a control unit (210) configured to interrupt the supply of electrical power through the second mains circuit, and thus to the second type of socket. The interruption of electrical power through the second mains circuit does not interrupt the supply of electrical power to the first type of socket.

Provided is a wireless power transmission apparatus. The apparatus includes an ultrasound transmitter generating an ultrasound signal in response to an external source voltage and transmitting the generated ultrasound signal to a medium layer and an ultrasound receiver receiving the ultrasound signal through the medium layer and converting the received ultrasound signal into a driving voltage. The ultrasound transmitter and receiver are manufactured to control impedance values thereof to be matched with each other and a distance between the ultrasound transmitter and receiver is controlled according to predetermined distance conditions.

A method and system for uplink-downlink transmission of data packets in a wireless cellular network, during idle state of User Equipment (UE) using connectionless transmission is disclosed. The method establishes S1 common bearer between a Radio Access Network (RAN) node and Serving Gateway (SGW) and S5 common bearer between the SGW and Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW). The method defines a modified Uu interface between the UE and the RAN node. The method appends data packets with UE Identifier (ID) and routing information as packet header information to independently route data packets through wireless cellular network in a self-sustainable manner using the established common bearers and the modified Uu interface. The method secures data packets by providing integrity and ciphering protection. The method eliminates cost of dedicated bearer set up and reduces signaling overhead on the Uu interface thereby improving network efficiency and battery life of the UE.

A method and apparatus for coordinating communication in a wireless sensor network may include a plurality of nodes, such as routers, edge nodes, data accumulators and/or gateways. Time management functions, such as determining an elapsed time, may be controlled based on a detected temperature, e.g., a temperature detected at a node, and/or based on a detected clock skew between two or more clocks in two or more different devices. Accurate time management may allow for devices to more accurately coordinate communication instances, e.g., communication that occurs at periodic wake up times. A cluster head, such as a data accumulator, may be associated with a network after its initial formation and cause nodes in the network to alter their hierarchy in the network, thereby making the cluster headaccumulator a parent to nodes in the network. Nodes having a relatively lower hop count may have a higher battery capacity than nodes having a higher hop count.

A system for modifying the functionality of intelligent electronic devices installed and operating in the field is disclosed. Each of the intelligent electronic devices operates with a software configuration to monitor electrical energy. A copy of the software configurations may be maintained in a database. Changes to the operation of one or more of the intelligent electronic devices may be made as a function of modifications to the database.

A solution for centrally managing and federating outage specific information and for rapidly providing controlled access to this information in a role tailored fashion. The information can be gathered and provided in real-time along with programmatically determined proposed actions. An information recipient can configure and dynamically change the manner in which the information is presented, so that relevant information for that recipient can be rapidly digested. For example, a manager with a moderate level of technical knowledge may want information to be presented pictorially and in summary fashion, while a highly technical troubleshooter may want to configure information presentation to show key network statistics and values. In one embodiment, outage information can be presented in a Web portal having multiple discrete and customizable portlets, which include a geography portlet and a system portlet.