Energy Management System and Method

Abstract

The energy management system interoperates with automation systems to provide integrated control over essentially all power consuming, generating, and storing devices in a residence or other environment. The energy management system provides configurable energy management scenes in which one or more values, each representing a desired operating state, are associated with some or all of the loads in a residence, business, or other environment. Different energy management scenes can be configured for various environmental conditions, including season, day of the week, time of day, power grid conditions, battery charge state, and generator status, among others.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention generally relates to the field of power, and more specifically, to a system and method for managing power consumption in association with a home automation environment.

[0002] Background Information Power management during a power outage (blackout) of an electric utility is often fixed or unplanned and generally lacks flexibility in managing available auxiliary power for loads. Critical loads are often determined deductively and are wired to a generator without the ability to automatically or manually redistribute power to other loads when needed.

[0003] Thus, it is valuable to provide flexible power distribution to loads when the local power grid is unavailable.

[0004] Summary of the Invention According to one aspect of the present invention, an energy management system interoperates with an automation system to provide integrated control over substantially all power consuming devices, power generating devices, and power storage devices in a residence or other environment. The energy management system provides configurable energy management scenes in which one or more values, each representing a desired operating state, are associated with some or all of the loads in a residential, business, or other environment. The values associated with a given load can in fact be binary (on / off), absolute values (e.g., temperature), or relative values (e.g., 50% of maximum speed or brightness). A user or installer can configure various energy management scenes corresponding to various environmental conditions including, among others, season, day of week, time, status of the power grid (power transmission system), state of charge of the battery, and status of the generator.

[0005] According to another aspect of the present invention, critical loads (i.e., loads that should remain powered even during a power grid outage or emergency) can be assigned a ranking that reflects the relative importance of that load compared to other loads. Using this ranking, along with other criteria such as the state of the battery, the status of the generator, the ambient temperature, the time of day, and the like, the energy management system can dynamically manage the loads for the best overall effect. For example, a load such as a freezer that houses frozen food is generally assigned a high rank. Assuming there is sufficient power available from the battery or other alternative available power sources, the energy management system can be set to not supply power to low-ranked loads such as washing machines or dishwashers, while supplying power to the freezer along with other high-ranked loads (e.g., a security system).

[0006] According to another aspect of the present invention, if there is not enough power available to supply all of the highest-ranked loads, the energy management system can be set to select to drop to a subset of these loads (or even a single load). Alternatively, the energy management system can be set to conserve the available power by dynamically managing the highest-ranked loads. For example, the energy management system can be configured to supply power to the freezer intermittently, thereby conserving power while maintaining a sufficiently cold temperature to preserve the food.

[0007] According to another aspect of the present invention, once an energy management scene is configured, the value initially associated with a given load can be dynamically changed through user input. For example, an energy management scene including a variable speed ceiling fan as a load can be set with a value representing 50% of the maximum fan speed. Through a user input device such as a smartphone running an appropriate application, the user can command the energy management system to increase or decrease the speed of the ceiling fan. Similarly, the user can generally command changes to any load included in the energy management scene.

[0008] According to another aspect of the present invention, the energy management scene can be restored to its initial state before the power supply interruption of the electric utility, so that the measures can be cancelled. The most important thing is that each of the loads included in the scene returns to the essentially same operating state that existed before the activation of the scene.

[0009] The following description of the present invention refers to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

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[0011] Detailed description of exemplary embodiments FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an energy management system 100. A wide area network (WAN) 102 supports bi-directional (wired or wireless) communication with a user control device 104, an automation host 108, a dynamic load manager 110, and a panel bridge controller 120. An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) 106 supplies power to the automation host 108 and the dynamic load manager 110. Similarly, a UPS 118 supplies power to the panel bridge controller 120 and a smart energy monitor 122. Both the automation host 108 and the dynamic load manager 110 support bi-directional communication with a user control device 112.

[0012] An energy storage system (ESS) field controller 114 supports bi-directional communication with the automation host 108, the dynamic load manager 110, and an ESS 116. As understood by those skilled in the art, the ESS can include a control system for regulating the recharging of energy storage and the supply of energy. A breaker panel 124 is coupled to the ESS 116, one or more inverters 128, an automatic transfer switch 132, and a load 126. The breaker panel 124 supports bi-directional communication with the panel bridge controller 120 and the smart energy monitor 122. A solar cell 130 is coupled to the inverter 128. A local power grid 134 and a generator 136 are coupled to the automatic transfer switch 132. In particular, an intelligent breaker can be implemented in one or more panels such that intelligent components communicating with the bridge controller and the smart energy monitor can be located in a first panel, and a direct-acting power interrupter for stopping (interrupting) current can be located in a second panel to meet regulatory compliance.

[0013] WAN 102 can be implemented with a private wide area network, the Internet, or other networks that provide the necessary bandwidth, security, and compatibility for communication with user control devices 104 and 112. User control devices 104 and 112 can be implemented with smartphones, tablets, computers, or any number of other commercially available devices that execute a user control application (not shown) that is compatible with energy management system 100. As used herein, user control devices 104 and 112 can mean general-purpose electronic devices, each of which has a processor that executes software including a general-purpose operating system and operates on data structures maintained in a memory (e.g., persistent memory or volatile memory) having a place for storing software and data structures. In one or more embodiments, devices such as tablets (e.g., computers such as iPad (registered trademark) tablets that execute the iOS (registered trademark) operating system), and smartphones (e.g., iPhone (registered trademark) smartphones that execute the iOS (registered trademark) operating system, or Android (registered trademark) smartphones that execute the Android (registered trademark) operating system) are considered user control devices. Further, each user control device 104 and 112 can include a display screen (e.g., a touch sensor type display screen), present a user interface (UI) to the user, and execute an application (e.g., a control application) that relays control commands to automation host 108 via, for example, WAN 102. The control application can utilize a control software development kit that, among other functions, queries the configuration database of automation host 108 and provides a method (further described herein) for interacting with the scene engine of host 108.

[0014] In one embodiment, the dynamic load manager 110 and the automation host 108 are configured to manage power consumption and / or other high-level control functions in the energy management system 100. For that purpose, the dynamic load manager 110 and the automation host 108 can include a processor configured to execute software maintained in a memory (e.g., persistent memory or volatile memory) having a place for storing software and data structures to manipulate the data structures. The data structures can include a configuration database (e.g., configured as a relational database such as a structured query language database) that can utilize logical expressions to describe the configuration of the energy management system 100 and its devices and to maintain other types of information. Also, the dynamic load manager 110 and the automation host 108 can include an interface having circuits for mechanical, electrical, and signaling necessary to connect and communicate with the UPS 106, the small power grid controller 114, the user control devices 104 and 112, the panel bridge controller 120, and the smart energy monitor 122. The automation host 108 can be implemented based on a host commercially available from Savant Systems, LLC. The dynamic load manager 110 can be implemented in a manner similar to the "premises power controller" described in the incorporated U.S. Patent Application No. 15 / 706145 above. For example, although illustrated as a separate device, some or all of the functions executed by the dynamic load manager 110 can be executed by the automation host 108.

[0015] The small-scale power grid controller 114 can be implemented based on a commercially available microgrid site controller from ELM FieldSight, LLC. The ESS 116 can mean one or more commercially available large-capacity batteries (not shown) or other commercially available energy storage devices. Among several features and capacities, in particular, the dynamic load manager 110 is configured to manage the small-scale power grid controller 114 to dynamically supply power from the ESS 116 (if necessary) to components of the energy management system 100.

[0016] The panel bridge controller 120 and the smart energy monitor 122 can be implemented in a manner similar to the "gatekeeper transceiver" described in U.S. Patent Application No. 15 / 706145. The breaker panel 124 can be implemented using a combination of conventional breakers and "intelligent breakers" in a manner similar to that described in U.S. Patent Application No. 15 / 706145. In one embodiment, the panel bridge controller 120 and the smart energy monitor 122 are configured to exchange (transmit and receive) messages with the automation host 108 or other wireless devices (such as the user control device 104) via the WAN 102 to control the operation of the breakers in the breaker panel 124.

[0017] The UPSs 106 and 118, the inverter 128, the solar cell 130, the automatic transfer switch 132, and the generator 136 can each be implemented with commercially available equipment from a variety of sources. In one embodiment, the inverter 128 can be configured to convert DC to AC and can include an internal disconnect that functions to isolate the solar cell 130 when power is interrupted. Alternatively, a separate disconnect or an AC coupler bus (not shown) can be provided between the inverter 128 and the breaker panel 124. The automatic transfer switch 132 is configured to enable the generator 136 and / or the local power grid 134 to supply power to the load 126 via the breaker panel 124. The load 126 means the power consumption load of a residence or other environment (e.g., devices, electrical appliances, and the like). The local power grid 134 means the local power transmission grid operated by a utility.

[0018] Generally, the energy management system 100 operates to manage substantially all power-consuming devices (e.g., load 126), power generation devices (e.g., solar panel 130, local power distribution network 134, generator 136), and power storage devices (e.g., ESS 116) in a residence or other environment. To facilitate such management, the software executed by the automation host 108 of the energy management system 100 creates and provides configurable energy management scenes that specify desired operating states for one or more loads, as further described herein, and includes a scene engine 506 (FIG. 5) that cooperates with a service request handler 502 and a configuration database 508. As an example, an energy management scene may be embodied as a macro or computing instruction configured to control a group of services or devices in a predetermined manner. In one or more embodiments, an energy management scene may be maintained as a data structure organized as a scene object used by the scene engine 506 executing on the energy management system. Each energy management scene may be defined by capturing the current operating state of a service or device (e.g., using a capture command) to construct a set of current system states that are created (e.g., using a create command) and organized as individual scene objects persistently stored in the configuration database.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a method for configuring an energy management scene 200 for execution by an energy management system 100. At 202, the configuration of the energy management scene begins, for example, by creating a scene object for the energy management scene. Next, at step 204, a name is associated with a load that will be included in the scene object for the energy management scene. In one embodiment, the association of attributes (e.g., name, importance ranking, indicator, setpoint, load group, load icon, automation service) with the load can be effected by storing the attribute in the scene object for processing according to the energy management scene. This is followed by step 206, where at least one value is associated with the load named at step 204. The value represents the desired operating state of the associated load within the scene object of the energy management scene. Thus, the value can in fact be a binary variable (e.g., on / off), an absolute value (e.g., temperature), or a relative value (e.g., 50% of maximum speed or brightness).

[0020] Next, at step 208, an importance ranking is associated with the load named at step 204. Generally, the higher the importance ranking, the higher the priority, and the load will be placed in a state where there is insufficient power to supply or fully supply power to all the loads included in the energy management scene. This is followed by step 210, where at step 210, an indicator and a setpoint can be associated with the load named at step 204. The indicator indicates whether the load is a candidate for temporarily stopping power, and if so, the setpoint can be used as a criterion for determining how often to supply power to the load. Examples of loads that are candidates for temporarily stopping power are refrigerators, freezers, water pumps, water heaters, pool pumps, and pool heaters.

[0021] Next, in step 212, the load named in step 204 can be associated with a load group (e.g., lighting, HVAC). In step 214, the load named in step 204 can be associated with a load icon. The load group and icon provide better convenience and usability from the perspective of the display and general operation of the user interface.

[0022] In step 216, the load named in step 204 can be associated with one or more automation services controlled by the automation host 108 (FIG. 1). Such an association can be used to notify the automation host 108 whether a given load is in the operating state necessary to support a particular automation service. For example, if turning on a particular TV is requested by an automation service, the association in step 216 can notify the automation host 108 whether the power output (power outlet) connected to the TV is energized.

[0023] Next, in step 220, a determination is made as to whether there is another load to include in the scene object of the energy management scene. If so, the method returns to step 204. If not, the configuration of the energy management scene is completed in step 222.

[0024] Using method 200, a wide variety of energy management scenes can be configured to handle various situations. For a typical environment, there are four energy management scenes that can generally handle most environmental conditions, namely, "Standard", "Economy", "Critical Load", and "Island". As the name implies, the "Standard" energy management scene can be active when power is readily available from the local power grid and people are in a residence or other environment and no emergency is detected. Generally, when the "Standard" scene is active, the load is not dynamically managed by the energy management system 100.

[0025] The heating and cooling costs can be reduced by using the time-of-use pricing (e.g., peak price vs. off-peak price) used by most power companies. In the "savings" energy management scenario, the energy management system 100 can use the power from the ESS 116 to supply the load during peak prices according to the state of the ESS 116 (e.g., the state of the battery). Conversely, the local power grid 134 can be used to supply power to the load (and charge the battery of the ESS 116) during off-peak prices.

[0026] When the local power grid 134 (Fig. 1) is out of power (down), the energy management scenario of "critical loads" may be appropriate. In this scenario, only the loads with the highest criticality ranking (i.e., the designated loads) are supplied with power using the available power from the ESS 116, the solar panel 130, and the generator 136. Such loads can generally include security systems, refrigerators and freezers, and minimal lighting for safety. Other loads with a lower criticality ranking (i.e., non-designated loads) are disconnected and not supplied with power by the operation of the intelligent breaker in the breaker panel 124. Various energy management scenarios for "critical loads" can be configured for different seasons or other changing conditions.

[0027] The "island" energy management scenario is appropriate when the user voluntarily disconnects from the local power grid 134 while continuously supplying power to all loads using only the power from the ESS 116, the solar panel 130, and the generator 136.

[0028] Figure 3A shows a screen display 300 of a user interface for controlling the energy management system 100. The screen display 300 can be displayed, for example, on the touch sensor type displays of the user control devices 104, 112 (FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 3A, the power grid availability status 302 provides a visual indication that the local power grid 134 is available for supplying power. Further, the power grid connection status 308 provides a visual indication that there is an automatic transfer switch 132 at a position where the local power grid 134 is connected to the breaker panel 124 and then supplies power to the load 126. The user can activate a previously configured "standard" energy management scene by pressing the button 304. Alternatively, the user can activate a previously configured "saving" energy management scene by pressing the button 306. As a further alternative, the user can activate a previously configured "island" energy management scene by pressing the button 310.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 3B, after pressing the button 310, the screen display 320 indicates that the "island" energy management scene is active, and the power grid connection status 312 provides a visual indication that the breaker panel 124 is currently disconnected from the local power grid 134 (even though the local power grid 134 is available according to the power grid availability status 302).

[0030] Figure 3C shows a screen display 322 where the power grid availability status 302 indicates that the local power grid 134 is not available. The user can activate a previously configured "critical load" energy management scene by pressing the button 314. The generator status 316 indicates that the generator 136 (FIG. 1) is off. The battery state of charge (SOC) indicator 318 indicates the remaining battery level and an estimate of the time of power remaining at the current load level.

[0031] Figure 4 shows a method 400 of the energy management system 100 in response to a power outage (function stop, failure) of the power grid. The power outage of the power grid is shown as a triggering event in FIG. 4, but it should be understood that the energy management system 100 can generally respond flexibly during runtime to other power grid-related events or other events (e.g., changes in operating states) that can be detected by the system 100 or other devices communicating with the system 100. In step 402, the energy management system 100 determines that the local power grid 134 is available and is connected to the breaker panel 124 through the automatic transfer switch 132. Next, in step 404, an inspection is performed to determine whether the local power grid 134 has stopped functioning and is down. If so, the method 400 proceeds to step 406, where a determination is made as to whether a change in the configuration of the energy management system 100 is appropriate. If a configuration change should not be made, the method 400 proceeds to step 408, where a screen display similar to the screen display 322 of FIG. 3C is displayed on the user control devices 104, 112. If a configuration change should be made, the method 400 proceeds to step 430, which will be described later.

[0032] Next, in step 410, through a screen prompt, the user is asked whether to activate the energy management scene of "critical loads". If not, the method 400 proceeds to step 412, where the energy management system 100 remains in the state of the "standard" energy management scene. If so, the method 400 proceeds to step 430, which will be described later.

[0033] In step 414, it is determined whether the battery SOC is less than 20%. If not, method 400 loops back to step 412. If so, method 400 proceeds to step 416, where the screen prompt notifies the user that, in the absence of an override, the energy management system 100 will shortly activate the energy management scenario for "critical loads" to conserve the remaining battery power. If a user override is made, method 400 loops back to step 412 to continue supplying power to all loads.

[0034] If there is no user override in step 416, method 400 proceeds to step 430 to activate the energy management scenario for "critical loads". Next, in step 432, it is determined whether the user has requested to turn a load off or on. If not, method 400 loops back to step 430. If so, method 400 proceeds to step 434, where it is determined whether the load requested by the user exceeds the energy balance. If so, in step 440, the user's request is rejected. If not, in step 436, it is determined whether the requested load has changed its state within a predetermined past time period. If so, in step 440, the user's request is rejected. If not, the user's request is granted in step 438.

[0035] Returning to step 404, if it is determined that the local power grid 134 is down, method 400 proceeds to step 418, where it is determined whether the user has pressed a button (i.e., button 310, FIG. 3A) to select the "island" energy management scenario. If not, method 400 loops back to step 402. If so, method 400 proceeds to step 420, where a screen display similar to screen display 320 of FIG. 3B is presented on user control devices 104, 112. Next, at step 422, it is determined whether the local power grid 134 is still unavailable. If so, method 400 loops back to step 406. If not, method 400 proceeds to step 424 to determine whether the user has pressed a button (i.e., button 310, FIG. 3A) to deactivate the "island" energy management scenario. If so, method 400 loops back to step 402. If not, method 400 proceeds to step 426 to determine whether the battery SOC is less than 20%. If not, method 400 loops back to step 420. If so, method 400 loops back to step 402.

[0036] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a method for changing the operating state of a load by changing values associated with the load of an energy management scenario. Service requests 500 related to a load that is part of an energy management scenario are generally generated by user input to user control devices 104, 112 (FIG. 1). Service requests 500 can request any of a variety of possible actions, including, among others, changing the temperature of a thermostat or the brightness of a lamp.

[0037] Service request 500 is received by the service request handler 502 of the automation host 108, and the automation host 108 recognizes that the service request is related to the load of the energy management scene. Accordingly, the service request handler 502 issues a request 504 addressed to the scene engine 506 to execute a specific energy management scene. Next, the scene engine 506 fetches the scene object of the energy management scene related to the service request 500 from the configuration database 508 in which the scene objects are pre-stored. Next, the scene engine 506 fetches the current system state 510 including the current operating state of each load that is part of the scene object of the energy management scene being executed by the scene engine 506.

[0038] Based on the current system state 510 (in fact, for loads having related values that are relative values), or the values associated with the service request 500 (in fact, for loads having related values that are absolute values), when transmitted to and processed by the service request handler 502, the scene engine 506 generates one or more service requests 512 that will effect the change in the operating state of the load intended by the user. For example, assume that the user inputs a new desired temperature (i.e., a new absolute value associated with the smart thermostat) associated with the service request 500 through the user control devices 104, 112. The service request 512 generated in response to the service request 500 directly or indirectly commands the smart thermostat to set to the new desired temperature.

[0039] The foregoing description is directed to particular embodiments of the invention. However, as will be apparent, other variations and modifications can be made to the described embodiments with the attainment of some or all of their advantages. For example, it is expressly contemplated that the teachings of the invention can be realized as software, hardware, firmware, or combinations thereof, including a computer-readable medium having program instructions executed by a computer. Accordingly, this description should be construed as illustrative only and not as limiting the scope of the invention in any other respect. Thus, the purpose of the claims is to cover all such variations and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a building energy management system, comprising: In response to a power outage in a local power grid, when the configuration of the building energy management system has not been changed from a standard configuration to a critical configuration, displaying to a user the remaining time during which the energy storage system of the building energy management system can supply power to the current load of the building; When the configuration of the building energy management system is changed from the standard configuration to the critical configuration, when approving the building energy management system to turn on a load requested by a user, updating in an interactive manner the display of the remaining time during which the energy storage system of the building energy management system can supply power to the current load of the building; The approval for turning on each load is rejected when one or more of (i) an individual load exceeds the energy balance and (ii) an individual load has changed its state within a predetermined past time period.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising displaying to the user that the configuration is changed from the standard configuration to the critical configuration without an override in response to less than 20% of the capacity of the energy storage system.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising turning off unassigned loads in response to no override by the user.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein turning on the unassigned load is prevented by the user.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising supplying power from the energy storage system to one or more loads of the building during the peak price of the local power grid in response to changing the configuration to energy conservation when the local power grid is available. **Claim 6**: The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein one or more loads of the building are managed according to an importance ranking. **Claim 7** The one or more loads of the building that are managed according to the importance ranking are further comprising intermittently supplying power to a first load of the one or more loads of the building that is managed according to the importance ranking based on a set point associated with the first load of the one or more loads of the building. The method according to claim 6. **Claim 8**: The method according to claim 7, further comprising associating the automation service with the first load to notify the building energy management system whether the first load is in an operating state to support the automation service. **Claim 9** The automation service controls a power output that supplies power to the first load. The method according to claim 8. **Claim 10**: The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the power supplied to the loads of the building is controlled by an intelligent breaker that communicates with the building energy management system. **Claim 11** A system comprising a building energy management system having a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to change the configuration of the building energy management system from a standard configuration to a critical configuration in response to a power outage in the local power distribution network, display to the user the remaining time that the energy storage system of the building energy management system can supply power to the current load of the building, and update in an interactive manner the display of the remaining time that the energy storage system of the building energy management system can supply power to the current load of the building when the building energy management system approves turning on a load requested by the user. A system in which approval to turn on each of the loads is rejected when one or more of (i) an individual load exceeds the energy balance and (ii) an individual load has changed state within a predetermined past time period.

12. The processor of the building energy management system is further configured to communicate with a user control device to display the remaining time that the energy storage system of the building energy management system can supply power to the current load of the building, the system according to claim 11.

13. The processor of the building energy management system is further configured to turn off unassigned loads in response to a change from the standard configuration to the critical configuration, the system according to claim 12.

14. The processor of the building energy management system is further configured to prevent an unassigned load from being turned on by a user, the system according to claim 13.

15. The processor of the building energy management system is further configured to manage one or more loads of the building according to a priority ranking, the system according to any one of claims 11 to 14.

16. The processor of the building energy management system configured to manage one or more loads of the building according to a priority ranking, is further configured to intermittently supply power to a first load managed according to the priority ranking based on a set point associated with the first load of one or more loads of the building, the system according to claim 15.

17. The processor of the building energy management system, The system according to claim 16, further configured to associate an automation service with the first load in order to notify the building energy management system whether the first load is in an operating state to support the automation service.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the automation service controls a power output that supplies power to the first load.

19. The power supplied to one or more loads of the building is controlled by an intelligent breaker that communicates with the building energy management system, the system according to claim 11.

20. A persistent computer-readable media system having program instructions, the program instructions being In response to a power outage in the local power distribution network, when the configuration of the building energy management system has not been changed from the standard configuration to the critical configuration, display to the user the remaining time that the energy storage system of the building energy management system can supply power to the current load of the building, When the configuration of the building energy management system is changed from the standard configuration to the critical configuration, when the building energy management system approves turning on a load requested by the user, update in an interactive manner the display of the remaining time that the energy storage system of the building energy management system can supply power to the current load of the building, configured to Approval to turn on each load is rejected when one or more of (i) the individual load exceeds the energy balance and (ii) the individual load has changed state within a predetermined past time period, a persistent computer-readable media system.

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