484results about "Tariff metering apparatus" patented technology

A system includes a central analysis station and a display. The central analysis station may be configured to receive a unique identifier and performance data from each of a plurality of solar panels. The central analysis station may detect a problem in at least one of the plurality of solar panels based on the performance data. A display may be configured to display a status of the at least one of the plurality of solar panels based on the detected problem.

An antenna apparatus can include a coaxial cable with one end of the coaxial cable forming a remote antenna and the other end of the coaxial cable comprising a local coupler, wherein both ends of the coaxial cable are over-molded protection in a water meter installation. The local coupler can snap-on to a communications module and is operable across wideband RF frequencies ranging from, for example, 790MHz to 1900MHz. The antenna apparatus may also be implemented with an alternative RF coupler design, with two metal planes secured by an IP68 plastic housing with the provision of the coaxial cable to interface with a coupler and the remote antenna. The coupler can operate with low losses of less than, for example, 10 dB. In addition, the remote antenna can be installed on a water pit lid and in some cases, the coaxial cable itself can act as a remote antenna.

A measuring device for has a housing, a measuring circuit board, and a communication circuit board. The measuring circuit board has a voltage connection, a voltage divider, a CT connection for connecting an external current transformer, a measuring chip connected to the voltage divider and the CT connection for determining electrical quantities and outputting as measurement data to a first part of a plug connector. The communication circuit board is connected to a second part of the plug connector, which together with the first part connects the communication circuit board and the measuring circuit board, a data communication chip connected to the second part and electrically isolated to receive the measurement data from the measuring chip, where a galvanic isolation between the measuring chip and the data communication chip is provided on the communication circuit board, a data connection connected to the data communication chip and a user interface.

Techniques for detecting blockage of a utility meter or other networked device are described. The blockage may be natural, e.g., snow, ice, and / or biomass. The blockage (e.g., aluminum foil) may be an intentional attempt to tamper with the device. In both cases, the blockage material may interfere with radio frequency (RF) communications of the networked device with other devices on a network. For example, snow, ice, biomass, and / or aluminum foil may prevent a networked utility device (e.g., a metering device) from reporting consumption data to a data-collecting device. Blockage may be detected based at least in part on the use of optical sensors and / or RF sensors. In one example, an out-going optical signal (e.g., infrared light) may be reflected off blockage material and the reflection may be received and processed. In a further example, an in-coming RF signal may be attenuated and / or frequency-shifted thereby revealing aspects about the blockage material.

A utility sensor module includes one or more sensors, a communication link, and an electronic processor. The electronic processor is configured to broadcast an advertisement signal associated with a communication protocol for a first transmission time. The advertisement signal is configured to cause an external device to transmit a response message. The electronic processor is further configured to determine whether the response message is received within a predetermined time period, and in response to determining that the response message was not received within the predetermined time period, operating in a modified sleep mode. Operating in the modified sleep mode includes modifying the operation of the communication interface to broadcast the advertisement signal at a periodic interval, such that the advertisement signal is only broadcast at the periodic interval for a second transmission time.

Disclosed is a system and method for automated outage and workflow planning system in a distributed electrical power grid with planned de-energization of electrical equipment as opposed to responding to an unplanned power outage. An automated system provides core conflict resolution and power outage planning. The present invention automatically notifies requestors of upcoming work orders. In addition, the present invention reduces scheduling inefficiencies by requiring requestors to confirm, decline, or edit on the fly their pending work order(s). The system also determines if all the orders are not completed and places the order back on the calendar for another day.

The present disclosure is directed to an intelligent electronic device (IED) configured for use in an Internet of Things (IoT) environment. The IoT environment of the present disclosure may include one or more objects or things in addition to the IED coupled together via a network, where each device is configured for IoT communication.

A method for dismantling a measurement device, e.g. a consumption meter, comprising a first housing element and a second housing element fastened to the first housing element so as to enclose a stack of elements comprising at least: one circuit board comprising electronic components configured for performing a measurement of a physical parameter, and one or more additional components, such as a battery. The method comprises forcing (F_PM) at least one push member, such as 2-10 pins or mandrels, against a wall of the first housing element in a direction towards the second housing element, so as to penetrate through the wall of the first housing element. Further, continuing (C_F_PM) to apply a force on the at least one push member in the direction towards the second housing element, to cause the at least one push member to apply a force on an element of the stack of elements such that it causes another element of the stack of elements to separate the second housing element and the stack of elements from the first housing element. The dismantling can be performed with minimal damage on the elements inside the device, and thus the method is suitable as a first step of an effective recycling process for recycling separated elements of the measurement device.

A method of pairing a metering device with a remote display module. The method comprises storing a pairing public key of an asymmetric key pair in respective memories of the metering device and remote display module; communicating to the metering device and the remote display module, a temporary public key of a temporary asymmetric key pair, the temporary public key signed using a pairing private key of the asymmetric key pair; authenticating, by the metering device and the remote display module, the temporary public key, using the stored pairing public key; communicating to the metering device and the remote display module, a pairing request signed using a temporary private key of the temporary asymmetric key pair, wherein the pairing request comprises a meter public key of a meter asymmetric key pair; authenticating, by the metering device and the remote display module, the pairing request using the authenticated temporary public key; and storing the meter public key in the remote display module.

A gas meter includes a flow rate measurer that is located at a gas passage and measures a flow rate of the gas flowing through the passage, a self-diagnoser that performs self-diagnosis, and a vibration detector that detects vibration. The gas meter also includes a calculator that calculates an earthquake index value based on the detected vibration, the earthquake index value indicating the scale of an earthquake, a blocker that switches from an open state to a closed state of the passage when the earthquake index value is not less than a predetermined value, and a restoring method determiner that, when the blocker is in the closed state, determines a restoring method of restoring the blocker from the closed state to the open state based on a result of the diagnosis by the self-diagnoser and the earthquake index value.

An infrastructure monitoring assembly includes a nozzle cap defining an internal cavity; an antenna positioned at least partially external to the internal cavity; and the antenna covered with a non-metallic material. An infrastructure monitoring assembly includes a nozzle cap defining a first end and a second end, the first end defining a threaded bore configured to mount on a nozzle of a fire hydrant; a cover coupled to the nozzle cap opposite from the first end; an enclosure positioned at least partially between the cover and the first end, the enclosure at least partially defining a cavity; a monitoring device positioned within the cavity; and an antenna positioned between the cover and the first end of the nozzle cap, the antenna connected in electrical communication with the monitoring device, the antenna covered by a non-metallic material.

Adapter arrangement (10) for mounting a readout adapter (200) on a field device (500) for reading measured values ​​from the field device (500), comprising: having a mechanical adapter (100): a base body (110) with a front (111) which, in a mounted state, faces away from the field device (500), and a rear (115) opposite the front (111) which, in the mounted state, faces the field device (500); and at least one fastening unit; wherein the mechanical adapter (100) is essentially designed as a cap with an essentially cylindrical recess on the back and has an edge region (130); wherein the at least one fastening unit is arranged in the edge region (130) of the mechanical adapter (100) and is designed to fasten the mechanical adapter (100) and / or the readout adapter (200) of the adapter arrangement (10) to the field device (500) without altering any electrical wiring of the field device (500).

A tamper detection system (510) for use in a utility meter (500) is disclosed. The system comprises at least one sensor (515, 520) configured to sense a magnetic field. The system comprises a processing circuit (525) coupled to the at least one sensor and configured to generate pulses for incrementing a pulse counter in response to a level of at least one signal from the at least one sensor being outside a first threshold range. When the processing circuit determines that the pulse counter has not incremented within the tamper detect interval, the processing circuit determines, based on the level of the at least one signal, whether the magnetic field sensed by the at least one sensor has varied by more than a second threshold range.

Signal extraction enables advanced energy analytics. Energy consumption data collected for a site by energy consumption meters is disaggregated into a plurality of granular classifications by identifying baseload candidates among the data, grouping sequences of the baseload candidates based on timestamps, and categorizing the grouped sequences as either baseload points or non-baseload points, including transition and open hours classifications. A per meter model of normal energy consumption from the energy consumption data is generated as a function of the baseload points and timestamps and the data is analyzed to identify incoherences relative to the model.

Systems and methods for charging vehicles includes at least one mobile device and a utility network management center (“NMC”). The at least one mobile device is configured as an electronic utility device and includes a network interface card (“NIC”). The at least one mobile device is also associated with a utility billing account and at least one utility commodity meter. The utility NMC is configured to communicate with the at least one mobile device and the at least one utility commodity meter over a network, locate the at least one mobile device, and monitor a state of the at least one utility commodity meter. The utility NMC is also configured to determine a usage of a commodity based on the state of the at least one utility commodity meter and bill the utility billing account associated with the mobile device for the usage of the commodity.

Apparatus (1) for measuring a fluid (30), in particular of the type suitable for measuring the flow of fluid (30), such as for example a gas or a liquid, which passes through and / or circulates in said apparatus (1), comprising: - a containment casing (7) provided with an opening for the inlet (3) of the fluid inside it and an opening for the outlet (5) of the fluid, - a measuring device (2) which is housed inside said casing (7) and which comprises at least one sensor for detecting a corresponding quantity of the fluid flow (30) that passes through and / or circulates in said apparatus (1), - at least two wireless communication modules (8, 10) which are configured for transmitting and / or receiving data on frequencies or frequency bands that are different between said two modules, - a control unit which is electronically connected and / or integrated in said at least two wireless communication modules (8, 10) and which is configured to command the use of said at least two wireless communication modules (8, 10) for data transmission to the outside of said device (1) and / or to receive data from the outside of said device (1) and also to control the passage from the use of a module (8, 10) to the use of another module (10, 8) for transmitting data to the outside of said device (1) and / or for receiving data from the outside of said device (1), and characterized in that the control unit is configured in order to implement a control and / or management strategy (S1) of said two communication modules (8, 10) which includes: - a first condition in which only one of the two communication modules (8, 10) is activated and / or used for transmission and / or reception, thus the data being transmitted and / or received by only one of said two communication modules (8, 10), - a second condition in which, simultaneously or in sequence, both communication modules (8, 10), with which the device 1 is equipped, are activated and / or used for the transmission and / or reception of the same data, - and by the fact that said control unit is configured to operate in said second condition only to send and / or receive data, preferably predefined data and set as high priority data.

Systems and methods for metering consumption of a resource include: a sensor comprising a display and configured to: sense a consumption of the resource; display said consumption on the display; and convert said consumption into digital sensor data; an imaging device configured to capture images of the display of the sensor; and a communications interface configured to transmit the digital sensor data and data describing one or more of the images of the display to a remote server.

According to an embodiment, disclosed is a system comprising an energy management module, electrically coupled to a utility meter, energy consuming devices and energy producing devices, comprising, a communication module configured to receive input energy data from utility meter, and energy information of energy consuming devices and energy producing devices; a processor storing instructions in a non-transitory memory that, when executed, cause the processor to: determine energy consumption data of the devices; identify a first device based on a first set of predefined priority values which requires energy; identify a second device based on a second set of predefined priority values which has excess energy; establish a connection and control energy transfer from the second device to the first device based on the energy consumption data and the input energy data to enable smart scheduling and power optimization among the energy consuming devices and the energy producing devices.

The systems and methods herein described isolating a circuit breaker panel for a building from a grid circuit during an event disrupting the grid circuit. In one aspect, a interrupt switch system comprises a housing configured to mate with an electric meter socket on a first side and an electric meter on a second side, the housing comprising power inputs from grid power and power outputs to a circuit breaker panel and an interrupt circuit disposed within the housing and configured to interrupt a flow of electricity from the power inputs to the power outputs.

A system for discovering the topology and phases of a power distribution system is provided. For example, a group of meters connected to the power distribution system can process sensor data acquired at the meters and generate descriptors based on the processed data, sending the descriptors to a headend system. The headend system can, after receiving descriptors from the individual meters in the system, group the meters to generate groups by applying a clustering algorithm to the descriptors of these meters. The headend system can also compare the current group with past groups to determine the confidence level of the current group, and assign segment identifiers or phase identifiers, or both, to one or more meters based on the confidence level.

A smart meter gateway (1) is provided with a mobile radio module (9) which is configured to forward measurement data to an authorized recipient (15) via a mobile radio network (14), and with a processor (3) which interacts with a main memory (4) and / or a flash memory (5) to, on the one hand, run metering software (19) on an operating system (18), with which metering software the measurement data is read out and encrypted and transferred to the mobile radio module (9) for forwarding to the authorized recipient (15), and, on the other hand, to process different profiles and the functions defined therein, wherein the mobile radio module (9) further comprises an embedded system (11) which is configured or can be configured to operate a network management client (12), wherein the mobile radio module (9) additionally comprises a certificate memory (13) which is configured such that it can only be written to,if the processor processes a separate network management profile, wherein the writing is carried out via hardware signals and / or telegrams initiated by the processor (3), and a method for the subsequent activation of a network management functionality of such a smart meter gateway (1), in which the processor (3) processes a separate network management profile for setting up and / or activating the network management functionality, wherein certificates are stored in the certificate memory (13).

To simplify the installation of smart panels, a smart panel adapter is provided. The adapter connects to the meter socket in place of the electrical meter. The smart panel adapter also has a power connection to the smart panel in order to route electrical power to the panel. In this way, the smart panel may be easily installed in the electrical distribution system at the site.

A smart meter gateway (1) is provided with a mobile radio module (9) that is configured to forward measurement data to an authorized recipient via a mobile radio network (14), and with a processor (3) that interacts with a main memory (4) and / or a flash memory (5) to run application software for SMGWs (19) on an operating system (18), with which application software measurement data is read out and encrypted and transferred to the mobile radio module (9) for forwarding to the authorized recipient, wherein the mobile radio module (9) further comprises an embedded system (11) configured to operate a network management client (12) that communicates with a network management server (17) via the mobile radio network (14), in which an additional security module (13) is directly connected to the mobile radio module (9), with which the network management client (12) interacts,to communicate with the network management server (17) in an encrypted manner and a method for operating such a smart meter gateway (1).,

To provide a gas meter capable of streamlining recovery work while ensuring the safety of the entire gas infrastructure including gas meters, and a gas shutoff reset determination system.SOLUTION: The gas meter includes: a flow rate measurement unit that is provided in a flow channel through which gas supplied to a gas appliance installed in a consumer's house flows, and measures a flow rate of the gas flowing through the flow channel; a self-diagnosis unit that performs self-diagnosis; a vibration detection unit that detects vibrations; a calculation unit that calculates earthquake index values that indicate the magnitude of earthquakes based on the vibration detected by the vibration detection unit; a shutoff unit that is switched from an open state in which gas can flow through the flow channel to a closed state in which the flow of the gas in the flow channel is shut off when the earthquake index value is equal to or higher than a predetermined value; and a reset method determination unit that determines a resetting method from the closed state to the open state of the shutoff unit based on a diagnosis result by the self-diagnosis unit and the earthquake index value when the shutoff unit becomes the closed state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1A

The AC line voltage detection circuit includes an AC sense circuit, a power supply control circuit, and a power supply hold up circuit. The AC sense circuit is configured to generate a signal to the processor and the power supply control circuit upon detecting the absence of AC line voltage. The power supply control circuit is configured to generate a control signal to a power supply that provides power to the processor to shut down the power supply. The processor is configured to generate a signal to the power supply control circuit and to generate a signal to a power supply hold up circuit configured to prevent shutdown of the power supply. The power supply hold up circuit signal overrides the AC sense circuit signal. The processor is further configured to generate a subsequent signal to the power supply hold up circuit to allow shutdown of the power supply.

The disclosure notably relates to a computer-implemented method of machine-learning for non-intrusive monitoring of energy consumption of households with respect to a plurality of appliance classes. The method comprises obtaining a Temporal Attention Bottleneck VAE architecture for a neural network, and training the neural network. The bidirectional variational auto-encoder architecture includes a temporal attention layer. The neural network is configured to take as an input a signal representing an aggregate electrical load of a household over time, and to output a plurality of signals each representing an electrical load of a respective appliance class over time.

An endpoint device in a distribution network comprises an application installed on the endpoint device for providing a service to an end consumer or to a utility provider; and a database for storing data; and an application data management module for supplying data to the application.

A system for separating electrical data from multiple distributed energy resource (DER) devices on a site. The system includes a multiport electric meter having a grid port configured for connecting the multiport electric meter to a power grid, and at least one DER circuit port configured for connecting the multiport electric meter to a circuit having two or more DER devices on it. The system also includes a data collector configured to collect data from multiple data channels, at least one of which includes an electrical data channel and at least one which includes a non-electric data channel, corresponding to one of the multiple DER circuit ports. The system further includes a processor configured to input the data collected from the multiple data channels into a classifier to classify the sampled electrical data into one or more classes, and to estimate the electricity usage and / or generated values ​​of one or more of the DER devices based on the classification output by the classifier.

Method for operating a communication system (1) in which data is sent and / or received by a communication participant, wherein the communication participant a communication device (5) for sending and / or receiving the data, a microprocessor (6) and a power supply (7), wherein the power supply (7) supplies the microprocessor (6) and / or the communication device (5) with power for their operation, the power supply (7) has an electrical quantity whose value changes from an initial value (AW) as the microprocessor (6) and / or the communication device (5) are supplied with power, the microprocessor (6) encodes the data before sending and / or decodes it after receiving, and the coding or decoding takes place via a computing cycle, characterized in that the calculation cycle is interrupted and continued again if the electrical quantity changes during the calculation cycle, preferably at any point, the coding and / or decoding during the calculation cycle is carried out separately in individual coding phases (KP1-KPn) in which the value of the electrical quantity changes, between and / or within the coding phases (KP1-KPn) regeneration phases are provided for at least partial regeneration of the electrical quantity, and the duration of a regeneration phase is such that the value of the electrical quantity changes towards and / or reaches the initial value (AW) during the regeneration phase.