Demand Response Management for Battery Charging Systems

Abstract

An exemplary battery charging system utilizes demand response management to reduce energy consumption during periods of high demand. The system includes a plurality of battery chargers and a charge controller in communication with the plurality of battery chargers. The charge controller may be configured to receive from each of the plurality of battery chargers a state of charge of each of the batteries coupled to the battery charger, receive data indicative of a demand for a power source that provides power to the plurality of battery chargers, calculate a charge curtailment for one or more of the battery chargers according to the demand data, the state of charge of the batteries, and / or a priority of the batteries to meet operational needs, and transmit the charge curtailment to the one or more battery chargers.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This disclosure relates generally to managing a battery charging system, including managing charging output based on known or estimated power demand. [Background technology]

[0002] A battery charging system including multiple battery chargers, each configured to charge one or more types of batteries, may be located at a site, which may be a site where multiple rechargeable batteries are used or where multiple battery-powered devices, such as electric vehicles, are located. The site may receive power from a utility provider. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In a first aspect of the disclosure, a method of operating a battery charging system is provided. The system includes a plurality of battery chargers configured to receive power from a power source. The method includes receiving, by a charge controller in communication with the plurality of battery chargers, a respective one coupled to each of the batteries, a state of charge for each of the batteries, receiving, by the charge controller, data indicative of a demand for the power source, calculating, by the charge controller, a charge curtailment for at least one of the battery chargers according to the demand data and the states of charge of the batteries, and transmitting, by the charge controller, the charge curtailment to at least one of the battery chargers.

[0004] In an embodiment of the first aspect, the data indicative of demand for the power source is data indicative of high demand, and transmitting a charge curtailment amount by the charge controller to at least one of the battery chargers is responsive to receiving the data indicative of demand for the power source.

[0005] In an embodiment of the first aspect, receiving data indicative of demand for a power source includes receiving a transmission from an electric utility provider, the transmission including data, the data indicative of high demand.

[0006] In an embodiment of the first aspect, receiving data indicative of a demand for a power source includes receiving an indication of power usage by a site associated with a plurality of battery chargers.

[0007] In an embodiment of the first aspect, calculating a charge curtailment for at least one of the battery chargers according to the demand data and the state of charge of the batteries includes one or more of maximizing the number of fully charged batteries or prioritizing batteries with the lowest state of charge.

[0008] In an embodiment of the first aspect, the charge controller is a second charge controller, and the method further includes receiving, by the second charge controller, an indication that the first charge controller is offline, and transmitting the charge curtailment amount to at least one of the battery chargers is in response to receiving the indication that the first charge controller is offline.

[0009] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a battery charge controller including a processor and a non-transitory computer readable memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the battery charge controller to receive from each of a plurality of battery chargers a state of charge of each of the batteries coupled to the battery charger, receive data indicative of a demand for a power source that provides power to the plurality of battery chargers, calculate a charge curtailment for at least one of the battery chargers according to the demand data and the state of charge of the batteries, and transmit the charge curtailment to at least one of the battery chargers.

[0010] In an embodiment of the second aspect, the data indicative of demand for the power source is data indicative of high demand, and transmitting the charge curtailment amount to at least one of the battery chargers is responsive to receiving the data indicative of demand for the power source.

[0011] In an embodiment of the second aspect, receiving data indicative of demand for a power source includes receiving a transmission from an electric utility provider, the transmission including data, the data indicative of high demand.

[0012] In an embodiment of the second aspect, receiving data indicative of a demand for a power source includes receiving an indication of power usage by a site associated with a plurality of battery chargers.

[0013] In an embodiment of the second aspect, calculating a charge curtailment for at least one of the battery chargers according to the demand data and the state of charge of the batteries includes one or more of maximizing the number of fully charged batteries or prioritizing batteries with the lowest state of charge.

[0014] In an embodiment of the second aspect, the battery charge controller is a second charge controller, and the memory storing further instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the battery charge controller to receive an indication that the first charge controller is offline, whereby transmitting a charge curtailment amount to at least one of the battery chargers is responsive to receiving the indication that the first charge controller is offline.

[0015] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a system is provided that includes a first battery charger and a charge controller in communication with a plurality of battery chargers, the plurality of battery chargers including the first battery charger. The charge controller may be configured to receive from each of the plurality of battery chargers a state of charge of each of the batteries coupled to the battery charger, receive data indicative of a demand for a power source that powers the plurality of battery chargers, calculate a charge curtailment for the first battery charger according to the demand data and the state of charge of the batteries, and transmit the charge curtailment to the first battery charger.

[0016] In an embodiment of the third aspect, the data indicative of demand for the power source is data indicative of high demand, and sending the charge curtailment amount to the first battery charger is responsive to receiving the data indicative of demand for the power source.

[0017] In an embodiment of the third aspect, receiving data indicative of demand for a power source includes receiving a transmission from an electric utility provider, the transmission including data, the data indicative of high demand.

[0018] In an embodiment of the third aspect, receiving data indicative of a demand for a power source includes receiving an indication of power usage by a site associated with a plurality of battery chargers.

[0019] In an embodiment of the third aspect, calculating the charge curtailment of the first battery charger according to the demand data and the state of charge of the batteries includes one or more of maximizing the number of fully charged batteries or prioritizing batteries with the lowest state of charge.

[0020] In an embodiment of the third aspect, the charge controller is a designated secondary charge controller, the designated secondary charge controller is further configured to determine that the designated primary charge controller is offline, and sending the charge curtailment amount to the first battery charger is responsive to determining that the designated primary charge controller is offline.

[0021] In an embodiment of the third aspect, the system further includes a plurality of battery chargers.

[0022] In an embodiment of the third aspect, the charge controller is integrated into the first battery charger. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0023] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram of an example battery charging system including demand response management. [Diagram 2]4 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of operation of the battery charging system. [Diagram 3] 4 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for calculating a respective charge curtailment for each of a plurality of battery chargers. [Figure 4] 1 is a diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a user computing environment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0024] Battery charging systems may be deployed at sites that receive power from utility providers or other sources that experience fluctuating demand. During times of planned or dynamic high demand, the power supply may be of lower quality or higher cost. Furthermore, the infrastructure of the site itself may not support a high quality power supply above a certain level of charging demand. As a result, it may be advantageous to reduce power consumption by the battery charging system during times of high demand. Furthermore, it may be advantageous to selectively reduce the power consumption of the battery charging system by adjusting on a per charger basis to achieve a charging goal of the charger system, such as maximizing the number of fully charged batteries or at least maximizing the number of batteries with a minimum charge level, as may be useful.

[0025] Known solutions for multi-charger battery charging systems lack coordinated charge curtailment per charger that enables the charging system to achieve specific charging goals.

[0026] Referring now to the drawings, where like numerals refer to like or similar features, FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example battery charging system 100 including demand response management. The system 100 includes a plurality of battery chargers 1021, 1022, . . . , 1023. N(which may be collectively referred to as chargers 102 or individually as chargers 102). Each battery charger 102 may be configured to charge one or more types of batteries. In some embodiments, each battery charger 102 may be a portable charger configured to be carried and transported by an individual. In some embodiments, each battery charger 102 may be configured to charge small electric vehicle batteries. Thus, in some embodiments, chargers 102 may be deployed at a site for charging a fleet of electric vehicles used at the site or based at the site.

[0027] The battery charger 102 may communicate with one or more of the other chargers 102, such as the lead chargers in a control group described below, via a data network 104. The data network 104 may include Ethernet, Wi-Fi, cellular data, and / or any other suitable data connection. In some embodiments, the data network 104 may include one or more peer-to-peer connections between multiple chargers 102 and / or other electronic devices. Thus, the battery charger 102 may receive data from and transmit data to one or more of the other chargers 102, such as the lead chargers, via the data network 104.

[0028] The system 100 may further include one or more data sources 106, 108 that may provide data that may be used by the one or more chargers 102 to determine an appropriate charging output (e.g., a reduction from a normal maximum charging output). The data sources 106, 108 may include a utility data source 106 and a site data source 108 in some embodiments.

[0029] The utility data source 106 may be or may include a data connection to a utility (e.g., electricity) provider and / or a utility provider's computing system. The utility data source 106 may provide data indicative of times of relatively high demand and times of relatively low demand, among other data. Demand data from the utility provider data source 106 may include, for example, the unit price of electricity for one or more time periods, the amount of expected or actual demand for a period or at a time, and / or other indications of demand. In some embodiments, the utility data source 106 may provide demand data that is broader than the site where the charger is deployed. For example, the utility data source 106 may provide data representing demand for a city, a region, a metropolitan area, etc.

[0030] In some embodiments, the site data source 108 may be or may include a computing system deployed at the same site as the charger 102 and may provide data regarding power usage by the site and / or portions of the site. For example, the site data source 108 may provide data regarding maximum power available at the site and / or data regarding actual and / or projected power consumption by the site or one or more portions of the site. Thus, the site data source 108 may provide an indication of high demand when the power consumption of the site approaches the maximum amount available at the site and / or when the power consumption of the site meets other predetermined thresholds. Conversely, the site data source 108 may provide an indication of low demand when the power consumption of the site no longer approaches the maximum amount available at the site and / or when the power consumption of the site no longer meets other predetermined thresholds.

[0031] Battery charger 1021, 1022,..., 102 N One or more of the charge controllers (sometimes simply referred to as “controllers” in this specification) 1101, 1102, . . . , 110 N(One of the controllers, 1101, is shown in an expanded view from FIG. 1.) The charging controller 110 is configured to determine the charging output of the charger 102 in which it is embedded or with which it is otherwise associated, and one or more other chargers 102. Each controller may be embodied in a processor and non-transitory computer-readable memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the controller 110 to perform one or more of the functions, methods, etc. disclosed herein.

[0032] In some embodiments, one or more of the battery chargers 102 may be grouped together in a common control group, and the chargers 102 in a given common control group may provide a coordinated charging output strategy. For example, the chargers 1021, 1022, . . . , 102 N In an embodiment where a control group includes ten chargers 102, six of the ten chargers 102 may be part of a first control group and the remaining four may be part of a second control group. The chargers within a group may cooperate to reduce the overall energy requirements of the group during times of high energy demand at the site or from a utility provider serving the site. Thus, the controller 110 may calculate individual charge curtailments for one or more chargers 102 in its control group.

[0033] In some embodiments, one charger 102 in a group of chargers 102 may be designated as the lead charger in that group. The controller 110 of the lead charger 102 may be configured to calculate a respective charge curtailment for one or more of the chargers 102 in the group and transmit the respective charge curtailment to the associated charger 102. For example, in an embodiment in which charger 1021 is designated as the lead charger in a group that includes chargers 1021, 1022, 1023 (not shown), and 1024 (not shown), the controller 1101 may calculate a respective charge curtailment for each of chargers 1021, 1022, 1023, and 1024, cause charger 1021 to implement its respective charge curtailment, and transmit the respective charge curtailment to chargers 1022, 1023, and 1024 via network 104. The lead charger may be further configured to transmit a periodic status signal to one or more of the chargers 102 in its control group. For example, in some embodiments, a lead charger may be configured to transmit a status signal (sometimes referred to herein as a "heartbeat" signal) to secondary chargers in a control group in which the lead charger is operational. The status signal, in some embodiments, may also include some or all of the status of the charging data received by the primary controller from other chargers 102 in the control group.

[0034] The charge curtailment may take the form of, for example, a percentage and / or a raw value relative to the input power and / or output power of the charger 102. Other chargers 102 in the group may be designated as follower chargers and may be configured to receive and implement the charge curtailment from the lead chargers in the group. In the above example, 1022, 1023, and 1024 may be designated as follower chargers. In some embodiments, one of the follower chargers may also be designated as a secondary controller. The controller 110 of the secondary controller may be configured to determine if the primary controller is unavailable (e.g., offline, dropped from the group, etc.) and, accordingly, operate as the primary controller.

[0035] The controller 110 may include one or more functional modules 112, 114, 116, 118 for performing functions described herein. The functional modules 112, 114, 116, 118 may be embodied in one or more of hardware and / or software.

[0036] The controller 110 may include a curtailment calculation module 112 configured to determine when one or more charge curtailments are necessary. For example, a primary controller in a control group may receive an indication that power demand is relatively high and, in response, may determine that one or more charge curtailments in the control group are necessary. The indication of relatively high power demand may be received from the utility data source 106 or the site data source 108, as described above. Additionally or alternatively, the controller 110 may receive the indication in the form of a clock module 116 of the controller 110 outputting a time at which the controller 110 is programmed to perform charge curtailment. For example, the controller 110 may be programmed to reduce energy consumption by an amount at a predetermined time and calculate a curtailment for each of the one or more chargers 102 based on the predetermined amount. The controller 110 may be further programmed to return to full power consumption by the chargers 102 at a given time or after a certain amount of time has elapsed, at which point it sends a command to each charger.

[0037] The controller 110 may further include a user interface module 114 configured to output data for a user interface, such as a graphical user interface. In some embodiments, the user interface may be provided on a display of the charger 102. Additionally or alternatively, the user interface may be provided on a computer, mobile device, or other computing device in communication with the controller 110. For example, such an interface may be in a dedicated application or may be provided in a web browser.

[0038] The controller's user interface module 114 may be configured to provide the user with one or more charge curtailment trigger options and may receive a user selection of one or more of the triggers. The trigger may be or may include a communication from a utility provider (e.g., utility data source 106) that energy demand is high, a communication from a local monitoring system (e.g., site data source 108) that energy demand is high at the location, a clock-based predetermined trigger (e.g., from clock module 116), or other trigger. After receiving user input regarding a particular trigger, the curtailment calculation module 112 may receive the trigger, calculate respective charge curtailments to one or more chargers 102, and automatically send instructions including such charge curtailments (or cause such curtailments to be performed, if the curtailment calculation module 112 calculates charge curtailments for its own charger 102).

[0039] The user interface module 114 may be further configured to provide the user with one or more charger designation and grouping options and to receive user input regarding charger designation and grouping. For example, the user interface module 114 may receive a user designation that the charger 102 is a primary or secondary controller in a control group. The user interface module 114 may further receive user input defining the control group to which the charger 102 belongs. Thus, the controller 110 may receive user input defining the control group, after which the controller 110 issues charge curtailment commands to other chargers 102 in the group and / or receives charge curtailment commands from the primary or secondary controllers in the group. In some embodiments, a single controller 110 may accept user definition of the control group and may transmit the group definition instructions to the remaining chargers 102 in the group. In other embodiments, a charger 102 may accept user input only regarding its own group membership, such that the user enters group membership individually for each charger 102 in the group.

[0040] The controller 110 may further include a timer module 118. A controller 110 designated as a secondary controller may utilize the timer module 118 to measure the amount of time since the most recent communication from the primary controller. For example, the designated secondary controller may receive a periodic heartbeat signal from the primary controller. When the amount of time exceeds a predetermined threshold, the controller 110 may conclude that the primary controller is unavailable, and the secondary controller may operate as the primary controller for the group until the original location controller issues a command. The secondary controller may continue to listen to the heartbeat signal even after taking over as the primary controller. When a heartbeat from the designated primary controller is again received by the secondary controller, the secondary controller may cease operating as the primary controller.

[0041] Once a control group is defined, each charger 102 in the control group may transmit its state of charge to a primary controller in the group. In some embodiments, the primary controller may receive the state of charge data and retransmit the received state of charge data to a secondary controller to enable the secondary controller to act as the primary controller if the designated primary controller becomes unavailable. Alternatively, each charger 102 in the control group may also transmit its state of charge to a secondary controller in the group. For example, in some embodiments, each charger 102 may transmit its state of charge periodically. In other embodiments, each charger 102 may transmit its state of charge in response to a query from a primary or secondary controller. The state of charge may indicate one or more of the percentage status (e.g., 10% full, 25% full, etc.) of each of the batteries electrically coupled to the charger 102, an estimated time to complete charging or to reach a particular charge percentage of the batteries, an amount of energy required to complete charging, or other information regarding the current energy in the batteries or the amount of energy required to charge the batteries.

[0042] Each charger 102 in a control group may be configured to receive charge curtailment commands from a reed controller in the control group and to implement each received charge curtailment. That is, the chargers 102 may charge their associated batteries in accordance with the received charge curtailment commands by charging the associated batteries at less than the charger's full output power. In doing so, each charger may improve the ability of the control group to collectively achieve charging goals under high demand conditions that require reduced power consumption.

[0043] 2 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of operation 200 of a battery charging system. The method 200 may be performed by the controller 110 of the battery charger 102 in some embodiments.

[0044] Method 200 may include two alternative controller designation branches. In a first branch, method 200 may include receiving an assignment as a primary controller at block 202. The assignment may be input by a user in some embodiments. The user input may be direct to the controller in some embodiments, or may be received from another controller after user input to the controller in other embodiments.

[0045] In the second branch, the method 200 may include receiving an assignment as a secondary controller at block 204. The assignment may be input by a user in some embodiments. The user input may be direct to the controller in some embodiments, or may be received from another controller after user input to that controller in other embodiments.

[0046] In the second branch, the method 200 may further include determining that the primary controller is unavailable at block 206. The determination may include, for example, measuring the lapse of time since a most recent communication from the primary controller and concluding that the primary controller is unavailable in response to the lapsed time exceeding a predetermined threshold.

[0047] Method 200 may further include receiving a state of charge from one or more battery chargers at block 208. In some embodiments, block 208 may include receiving a respective state of charge from each battery charger in a control group that includes the controller that executes method 200.

[0048] Method 200 may further include receiving data indicative of high demand for a source of power to the controller executing method 200, at block 210. The data indicative of high demand may include a transmission from a utility provider, a transmission from a site monitoring system, or a transmission from a clock module of the controller itself. The data indicative of demand may indicate that demand is relatively high.

[0049] Method 200 may further include calculating, at block 212, a charge curtailment amount for at least one battery charger according to the state of charge received at block 208 and according to the demand data. In some embodiments, method 300 may be deployed at block 212.

[0050] Method 200 may further include transmitting each charge curtailment to an associated charger at block 214. Thus, at block 214, the controller may transmit a first charge curtailment to a first charger in the group, a second charge curtailment to a second charger in the group, and so on. charging The reduction amount, etc. may be transmitted.

[0051] It should be noted that portions of method 200 may, in some embodiments, be performed in an order different than that depicted in FIG. 2 and described above. For example, in some embodiments, block 210 may be performed before block 208. Additionally, one or more aspects of method 200 may be repeated periodically. For example, a controller performing method 200 may periodically receive a state of charge from chargers in its control group (block 208). Additionally, the controller may periodically receive data indicative of demand (block 210) and may perform block 212 in response to one or both of an updated state of charge or an updated indication of demand.

[0052] The method 200 may further include receiving data indicative of low demand for the power source at block 216. The data received at block 216 may be from the same source as the data indicative of high demand at block 210 or from another source. Thus, the data indicative of low demand may include a transmission from a utility provider, a transmission from a site monitoring system, or data from a clock module of the controller itself.

[0053] Method 200 may further include, at block 218, transmitting an end of charge curtailment to at least one battery charger for which a charge curtailment was transmitted at block 214. In some embodiments, block 218 may include transmitting an end of charge curtailment in response to receiving data indicating a low demand for a power source at block 216. In some embodiments, block 218 may include transmitting an end of charge curtailment to each charger for which a non-zero charge curtailment amount was transmitted at block 214.

[0054] Both the charge curtailment transmitted at block 214 and the termination of charge curtailment transmitted at block 218 may be received and implemented by the battery charger to which the transmission is directed. Thus, as a result of method 200, one or more chargers in a control group may implement a coordinated charge curtailment strategy under the direction of the primary lead charger or secondary lead charger executing the method to achieve battery charging goals under high demand power consumption reduction scenarios.

[0055] 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example method 300 for calculating a respective charge curtailment amount for each of a plurality of battery chargers. As described above, method 300 may be deployed in block 212 of method 200 of FIG.

[0056] The method 300 may include determining a total curtailment for a group of chargers at block 302. The total curtailment may be calculated according to data included in the data indicative of demand for the power source, such as a degree or amount of demand or a degree or amount of curtailment required.

[0057] The method may further include, at block 304, determining a respective priority for one or more of the chargers in the charger group. In some embodiments, the priority may be determined according to a charging goal of the group and according to the state of charge of the chargers in the group. For example, if the charger group goal is to maximize the number of fully charged batteries, the controller may assign a high priority to chargers with a state of charge of 80% and a low priority to all remaining chargers in the group. In another example, if the charger group goal is to maximize the number of chargers with a minimum charge level that is useful (e.g., 50%), the controller may assign a high priority to each charger with a state of charge below the minimum charge level and a low priority to each charger with a state of charge above the minimum charge level. That is, in such an example, the controller may prioritize batteries with the lowest state of charge.

[0058] Method 300 may further include, at block 306, determining a charge curtailment for one or more chargers in the charger group according to the total curtailment (e.g., the total curtailment calculated at block 302) and the priority of each of the chargers in the group. For example, in some embodiments, block 306 may include calculating a non-zero charge curtailment for the lower priority chargers and a zero charge curtailment for the higher priority chargers. Each non-zero charge curtailment may be calculated for each lower priority charger, so that collectively, their charge curtailments are equal to or greater than the overall required curtailment. In some embodiments, each charge curtailment for a lower priority charger may be the same as each of the other charge curtailments for each of the other lower priority chargers. In other embodiments, the same charge curtailment may be applied to the additional lower priority chargers.

[0059] In some embodiments, blocks 304, 306 may be repeated periodically during periods of high demand. For example, blocks 304, 306 may be executed in response to a battery being removed from a charger or a battery being inserted into a charger. In another example, blocks 304, 306 may be executed in response to a battery's state of charge satisfying a charging goal such that its priority should change. In another example, blocks 304, 306 may be executed in response to a charger being added to or removed from a group via a user input to a user interface of the charge controller, or by a charger being unplugged or otherwise disabled.

[0060] 4 is a diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a user computing environment including a general-purpose computing system environment 400, such as a desktop computer, laptop, smartphone, tablet, or any other such device capable of executing instructions, such as instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Additionally, while described and illustrated in the context of a single computing system 400, those skilled in the art will also appreciate that various tasks described hereinafter may be performed in a distributed environment having multiple computing systems 400 linked via a local or wide area network, where executable instructions may be associated with and / or executed by one or more of the multiple computing systems 400.

[0061] In its most basic configuration, the computing system environment 400 typically includes at least one processing unit 401 and at least one memory 404, which may be linked via a bus. Depending on the exact configuration and type of computing system environment, the memory 404 may be volatile (e.g., RAM 410), non-volatile (e.g., ROM 408, flash memory, etc.), or some combination of the two. The computing system environment 400 may have additional features and / or functionality. For example, the computing system environment 400 may also include additional storage (removable and / or non-removable), including, but not limited to, magnetic or optical disks, tape drives, and / or flash drives. Such additional memory devices may be made accessible to the computing system environment 400, for example, by a hard disk drive interface 412, a magnetic disk drive interface 414, and / or an optical disk drive interface 416. As will be appreciated, these devices are each linked to the system bus 406 and enable reading from and writing to the hard disk 418, the removable magnetic disk 420, and / or the removable optical disk 422, such as a CD / DVD ROM or other optical media. The drive interfaces and their associated computer-readable media enable non-volatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for the computing system environment 400. Those skilled in the art will further recognize that other types of computer-readable media capable of storing data may be used for this same purpose.Examples of such media devices include, but are not limited to, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memory, nano drives, memory sticks, other read / write and read-only memory, and / or any other method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Any such computer storage media may be part of the computing system environment 400.

[0062] A number of program modules may be stored in one or more of the memory / media devices. For example, a basic input / output system (BIOS) 424, which helps transfer information between elements in the computing system environment 400, such as during startup, may be stored in the ROM 408. Similarly, the RAM 410, the hard drive 418, and / or the peripheral memory devices may be used to store computer-executable instructions, including an operating system 426, one or more application programs 428 (which may include, for example, one or more functions of the charging controller 1110 or its functional modules 112, 114, 116, 118 of FIG. 1), other program modules 430, and / or program data 432. Still further, computer-executable instructions may be downloaded to the computing environment 400 as needed, for example, via a network connection.

[0063] An end user may enter commands and information into the computing system environment 400 through input devices such as a keyboard 434 and / or a pointing device 436. Although not shown, other input devices may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, scanner, etc. These and other input devices are typically connected to the processing unit 402 by a peripheral interface 438 coupled to the bus 406. The input devices may be connected to the processor 402 directly or indirectly through an interface such as, for example, a parallel port, game port, Firewire, or universal serial bus (USB). For viewing information from the computing system environment 400, a monitor 440 or other type of display device may also be connected to the bus 406 through an interface, for example, a video adapter 442. In addition to the monitor 440, the computing system environment 400 may also include other peripheral output devices, not shown, such as speakers and printers.

[0064] The computing system environment 400 may also utilize logical connections to one or more computing system environments. Communications between the computing system environment 400 and a remote computing system environment may be exchanged through additional processing devices, such as a network router 442 that participates in network routing. Communications with the network router 442 may be performed through a network interface component 444. Thus, it will be appreciated that within such a networked environment, e.g., the Internet, the World Wide Web, a LAN, or other similar types of wired or wireless networks, program modules depicted relative to the computing system environment 400, or portions thereof, may be stored in memory storage devices of the computing system environment 400.

[0065] The computing system environment 400 may also include positioning hardware 446 for determining a location of the computing system environment 400. In an embodiment, the positioning hardware 446 may include, by way of example only, a GPS antenna, an RFID chip or reader, a Wi-Fi antenna, or other computing hardware that may be used to capture or transmit signals that may be used to determine the location of the computing system environment 400.

[0066] Computing environment 400, or portions thereof, may, in embodiments, include one or more components of system 100 of FIG.

[0067] Although the present disclosure has been described with respect to specific embodiments, it will be understood that the claims are not limited to these embodiments unless expressly set forth in the claims. On the contrary, the present disclosure is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents that are included within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the detailed description of the present disclosure, numerous specific details are described in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that systems and methods consistent with the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0068] Some of the detailed descriptions of this disclosure are presented in terms of procedures, logic blocks, processes, and other symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer or digital system memory. These descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. A procedure, logic block, process, or the like, is herein, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps or instructions leading to a desired result. These steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, but not necessarily, these physical manipulations take the form of electrical or magnetic data capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated in a computer system or similar electronic computing device. For convenience, and with reference to common usage, such data will be referred to as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like in connection with the various embodiments presently disclosed. It should be noted, however, that these terms should be interpreted as referring to physical operations and quantities and are merely convenient labels that should be further interpreted in light of common terminology used in the art. Unless otherwise indicated, and as will be apparent from the discussion herein, throughout the discussion of the present embodiments, discussions utilizing terms such as "determine," "output," "transmit," "record," "locate," "store," "display," "receive," "recognize," "utilize," "generate," "provide," "access," "verify," "notify," "deliver," and the like refer to the operations and processes of a computer system or similar electronic computing system that manipulates and transforms data. Data is represented as physical (electronic) quantities in the registers and memory of the computer system, and is transformed to other data that are similarly represented as physical quantities in the memory or registers of the computer system or other such information storage, transmission, or display devices, as described herein or otherwise understood by those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. 1. A method of operating a battery charging system having a plurality of battery chargers configured to receive power from a power source, comprising: receiving, by a charge controller in communication with the plurality of battery chargers respectively associated with each of the batteries, a respective state of charge for each of the batteries; receiving, by the charge controller, data indicative of a demand for the power source; calculating, by the charge controller, a charge curtailment for at least one of the battery chargers according to the demand data and the state of charge of the battery; transmitting, by the charge controller, the charge curtailment amount to the at least one of the battery chargers; having the charge controller being a charge controller of one battery charger designated as a lead charger from among the plurality of battery chargers, or, if the lead charger charge controller is unavailable, a charge controller of another battery charger designated from among the remaining battery chargers from the plurality of battery chargers; the charge controller of the other battery charger determining, based on receiving a status signal from the lead charger, that the charge controller of the lead charger is unavailable; method.

2. the data indicative of demand for the power source is data indicative of high demand, transmitting the charge curtailment by the charge controller to the at least one of the battery chargers in response to receiving the data indicative of the demand on the power source. The method of claim 1.

3. receiving the data indicative of demand for the power source includes receiving a transmission from an electric utility provider, the transmission including the data, the data indicating high demand. The method of claim 1.

4. receiving the data indicative of a demand for the power source includes receiving an indication of power usage by a site associated with the plurality of battery chargers. The method of claim 1.

5. Calculating a charge curtailment for at least one of the battery chargers according to the demand data and the state of charge of the battery includes: determining a total curtailment of the plurality of battery chargers based on the demand data; assigning respective priorities to the plurality of battery chargers based on the state of charge of each of the batteries according to a goal of maximizing the number of fully charged batteries or prioritizing batteries with the lowest state of charge; calculating a charge curtailment for the at least one of the battery chargers based on the total curtailment and the respective priority of the plurality of battery chargers; Including, The method of claim 1.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the status signal includes receiving an indication that a charge controller of the lead charger is offline. The method of claim 1.

7. A battery charge controller having a processor and a non-transitory computer readable memory storing instructions, The instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the battery charge controller to: receiving from each of a plurality of battery chargers a state of charge for each of the batteries coupled to the battery charger; receiving data indicative of a demand for a power source to power the plurality of battery chargers; calculating a charge curtailment for at least one of the battery chargers according to the demand data and the state of charge of the battery; transmitting the charge curtailment amount to the at least one of the battery chargers; the battery charge controller being a charge controller of one of the plurality of battery chargers designated as a lead charger, or, if the lead charger charge controller is unavailable, a charge controller of another of the remaining battery chargers of the plurality of battery chargers designated; the charge controller of the other battery charger determining, based on receiving a status signal from the lead charger, that the charge controller of the lead charger is unavailable; Battery charge controller.

8. the data indicative of demand for the power source is data indicative of high demand, transmitting the charge curtailment to the at least one of the battery chargers is responsive to receiving the data indicative of the demand for the power source.

8. The battery charge controller of claim 7.

9. receiving the data indicative of demand for the power source includes receiving a transmission from an electric utility provider, the transmission including the data, the data indicating high demand.

8. The battery charge controller of claim 7.

10. receiving the data indicative of a demand for the power source includes receiving an indication of power usage by a site associated with the plurality of battery chargers.

8. The battery charge controller of claim 7.

11. Calculating a charge curtailment for at least one of the battery chargers according to the demand data and the state of charge of the battery includes: determining a total curtailment of the plurality of battery chargers based on the demand data; assigning respective priorities to the plurality of battery chargers based on the state of charge of each of the batteries according to a goal of maximizing the number of fully charged batteries or prioritizing batteries with the lowest state of charge; calculating a charge curtailment for the at least one of the battery chargers based on the total curtailment and the respective priority of the plurality of battery chargers; Including, 8. The battery charge controller of claim 7.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the status signal includes receiving an indication that a charge controller of the lead charger is offline.

8. The battery charge controller of claim 7.

13. A first battery charger; A charge controller that communicates with multiple battery chargers having the plurality of battery chargers includes the first battery charger; The charge controller includes: receiving from each of the plurality of battery chargers a state of charge for each of the batteries coupled to the battery charger; receiving data indicative of a demand for a power source to power the plurality of battery chargers; calculating a charge reduction for the first battery charger according to the demand data and the state of charge of the battery; Transmitting the charge reduction amount to the first battery charger It is configured as follows: the charge controller being a charge controller for one of the plurality of battery chargers designated as a lead charger, or, if the lead charger charge controller is unavailable, a charge controller for another of the remaining battery chargers of the plurality of battery chargers; the charge controller of the other battery charger determining, based on receiving a status signal from the lead charger, that the charge controller of the lead charger is unavailable; system.

14. the data indicative of demand for the power source is data indicative of high demand, transmitting the charge curtailment to the first battery charger is in response to receiving the data indicative of the demand on the power source. The system of claim 13.

15. receiving the data indicative of demand for the power source includes receiving a transmission from an electric utility provider, the transmission including the data, the data indicating high demand. The system of claim 13.

16. receiving the data indicative of a demand for the power source includes receiving an indication of power usage by a site associated with the plurality of battery chargers. The system of claim 13.

17. Calculating a charge curtailment of the first battery charger according to the demand data and the state of charge of the battery, determining a total curtailment of the plurality of battery chargers based on the demand data; assigning respective priorities to the plurality of battery chargers based on the state of charge of each of the batteries according to a goal of maximizing the number of fully charged batteries or prioritizing batteries with the lowest state of charge; calculating a charge reduction for the first battery charger based on the total reduction and the respective priorities of the plurality of battery chargers; Including, The system of claim 13.

18. The charge controller of the other battery charger determining, based on receiving a status signal from the lead charger, that the charge controller of the lead charger is unavailable includes determining that the charge controller of the lead charger is offline. The system of claim 13.

19. the plurality of battery chargers; The system of claim 13.

20. The charge controller is incorporated into the first battery charger, which is the lead charger or the other one of the battery chargers. The system of claim 13.

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