Network Constraint Energy Management System for Electric Vehicle Depot Charging and Scheduling

Abstract

A network-constrained energy management system for electric vehicle (EV) site charging and scheduling. In one embodiment, a power schedule is received from an economic dispatch application of a charging site comprising an EV charging station and distributed energy resources. The power schedule may be simulated on a distribution network model of the charging site according to a load flow analysis to determine if any grid code violations have occurred. In response to detection of a violation, a constraint may be generated for each violating node, and the economic dispatch application may be re-run with the constraints to generate a new power schedule until no violations are detected. If all load demands cannot be met by the power schedule, the charging schedule may be adjusted to ensure that critical energy requirements are met. The final power and charging schedule may be used to schedule and control power generation and charging at the charging site.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Government license right This invention was made with government support under Contract No. DOE - OE0000896 awarded by the United States Department of Energy. The government has certain rights in this invention.

[0002] Background Field of the Invention Embodiments described herein generally relate to energy management systems, and more particularly to energy management systems that utilize network constraints for charging and power scheduling at electric vehicle (EV) depots.

Background Art

[0003] Description of Related Art As a result of the increasing use of EVs in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the deployment of EV charging stations has been increasing. An EV depot can comprise a distribution network that includes several EV charging stations, auxiliary loads, and distributed energy resources (DERs) such as energy storage. Each EV charging station comprises one or more chargers configured to supply electricity to connected electric vehicles (e.g., buses, cars, utility trucks, etc.). The distribution network can be managed by an energy management system (EMS) generally configured to reduce the cost of power consumption.

[0004] The power distribution network should maintain a certain level of voltage and current to avoid violations that can affect not only the connected loads but also the stability of the grid to which the power distribution network is connected. When distributed energy resources (DERs) are integrated into EV bases, the likelihood of violations increases. When the distributed energy resources include renewable energy resources (e.g., solar generators, wind turbines, geothermal generators, hydroelectric generators, fuel cells, etc.), since the renewable energy resources have a low unit cost, generally the EMS prioritizes utilizing the maximum power generation from the renewable energy resources.

[0005] However, as the use of renewable energy resources increases, the probability of violations such as overvoltage in the power distribution network also increases. In addition, as the EV load increases, the probability of violations such as overvoltage in the power distribution network also increases. An EMS that attempts to minimize the electrical cost in the power distribution network without considering the possibility of voltage or current violations in the power distribution network can result in penalties for violations and potentially the collapse of the power distribution network.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] Summary Accordingly, a system, method, and non - transitory computer - readable medium for preventing violations in the power distribution network of an EV base are disclosed. Embodiments can also shift the load to ensure that critical energy requirements are met.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] In one embodiment, the method comprises, for each of one or more iterations, receiving a power schedule from an economic dispatch application for a charging station comprising one or more distributed energy resources, the power schedule specifying the power to be output from the one or more distributed energy resources to serve a charging schedule for a load at the charging station; simulating the power schedule on a distribution network model of the charging station, the simulating being for determining whether at least one node in the distribution network model incurs a violation during the simulation; in response to a determination that at least one node in the distribution network model incurs a violation during the simulation, generating a constraint for at least one node in the distribution network model determined to incur the violation during the simulation; starting a re - execution of the economic dispatch application updated with the generated constraint to generate a new power schedule for a next iteration; outputting the power schedule if no node in the distribution network model is determined to incur a violation during the simulation; and using at least one hardware processor to schedule power generation by the distributed energy resources and charging of the load at the charging station based on the output power schedule. The power generation and the charging of the load may be further based on the charging schedule. The violation may be a voltage violation (e.g., over - voltage or under - voltage) or a current violation (e.g., over - current or under - current).

[0008] The method includes determining whether the output power schedule satisfies all loads within the charging schedule, adjusting the charging schedule for one or more loads based on the priority assigned to the one or more loads in response to a determination that the output power schedule does not necessarily satisfy all loads within the charging schedule, restarting the economic dispatch application using the adjusted charging schedule and subsequently at least one additional iteration, and outputting the output power schedule as the final power schedule when it is determined that the output power schedule satisfies all loads within the charging schedule, wherein scheduling the generation by distributed energy resources and the charging of loads at the charging stations is based on the final power schedule, and may further include using at least one hardware processor to perform the outputting. Changing the charging schedule may include reducing the amount of charging of at least one load having a lower priority than at least one other load. Changing the charging schedule may include shifting the time at which at least one load is charged. Changing the charging schedule for one or more loads based on the priority assigned to the one or more loads may include adjusting the amount of charge or the charging time of each of the one or more loads to prioritize critical loads over non-critical loads.

[0009] The loads at the charging stations may include electric vehicles. The one or more distributed energy resources may include one or more of a solar power generator, a wind power generator, a fuel cell, a thermal power plant, a hydroelectric power plant, a gasoline generator, or a battery.

[0010] Scheduling power generation from distributed energy resources may involve controlling at least one of the one or more distributed energy resources to output power during one or more scheduled periods and not output power outside of the one or more scheduled periods. Scheduling the charging of loads at a charging station may involve controlling at least one charging station to output power to connected loads during one or more scheduled periods and not output power outside of the one or more scheduled periods.

[0011] At least one constraint for at least one node in the distribution network may define a voltage range within which the voltage of the at least one node must be maintained over all changes in the power setpoints during a power schedule. A voltage violation may be a violation of the grid code that defines the voltage requirements that a charging station must meet.

[0012] The simulation may include a load flow analysis for the distribution network model. The power schedule may include setpoints for one or more nodes in the distribution network model, and the load flow analysis may be performed for each of the setpoints in the power schedule.

[0013] Any of the disclosed methods may be implemented individually or in any combination in executable software modules of a processor-based system, such as a server, and / or in executable instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

[0014] Brief Description of the Drawings Details of the present embodiments can be known in part by considering the accompanying drawings with respect to both their structure and operation, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] DETAILED DESCRIPTION In one embodiment, a system, method, and non - transitory computer - readable medium are disclosed for preventing violations of grid codes within the power distribution network of an EV site and optionally ensuring that critical energy requirements are met. After reading this description, those skilled in the art will be able to understand how to implement the present invention in various alternative embodiments and alternative applications. However, while various embodiments of the present invention are described herein, it is understood that these embodiments are presented for purposes of example and illustration only and are not limiting. Thus, this detailed description of the various embodiments should not be construed as limiting the scope or breadth of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

[0017] 1. SYSTEM OVERVIEW 1.1. INFRASTRUCTURE FIG. 1 shows an exemplary infrastructure in which one or more of the disclosed processes may be implemented, according to one embodiment. The infrastructure may include an energy management system (EMS) 110 (e.g., comprising one or more servers) that hosts and / or executes one or more of the various functions, processes, methods, and / or software modules described herein. The EMS 110 may comprise dedicated servers or, alternatively, may comprise a cloud instance that utilizes shared resources of one or more servers. These servers or cloud instances may be co-located and / or geographically dispersed. The EMS 110 may also include or be communicatively coupled to software 112 and / or one or more databases 114. Additionally, the EMS 110 may be communicatively coupled to one or more user systems 130 and / or EV sites 140 via one or more networks 120.

[0018] Network 120 may include the Internet, and EMS 110 may communicate with user system 130 and / or EV site 140 via the Internet using standard transmission protocols such as the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), HTTP Secure (HTTPS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), FTP Secure (FTPS), Secure Shell FTP (SFTP), eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), Open Field Message Bus (OpenFMB), IEEE Smart Energy Profile Application Protocol (IEEE 2030.5), as well as proprietary protocols. Although EMS 110 is shown as being connected to various systems via a single set of network 120, it should be understood that EMS 110 may be connected to various systems via different sets of one or more networks. For example, platform 110 may be connected to a subset of user system 130 and / or EV site 140 via the Internet, but may also be connected to one or more other user systems 130 and / or EV sites 140 via an intranet. Further, only a few user systems 130 and EV sites 140, one instance of software 112, and one set of database 114 are shown, but it should be understood that the infrastructure may include any number of user systems, EV sites, software instances, and databases.

[0019] The user system 130 may comprise any type of computing device capable of wired and / or wireless communication, including, but not limited to, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone or other mobile phone, a server, a game console, a television, a set-top box, an electronic kiosk, a point-of-sale management terminal, an embedded controller, a programmable logic controller (PLC), etc. However, the user system 130 generally includes a personal computer, a mobile device, or a workstation through which an agent of the operator of the EV base 140 can interact with the EMS 110. These interactions may include entering data (e.g., parameters for configuring one or more of the processes described herein) and / or receiving data (e.g., the output of one or more of the processes described herein) via a graphical user interface provided by the EMS 110 or a system between the EMS 110 and the user system 130. The graphical user interface may comprise a screen (e.g., a web page) that includes a combination of elements such as content, text, images, videos, animations, references (e.g., hyperlinks), frames, inputs (e.g., text boxes, text areas, check boxes, radio buttons, drop-down menus, buttons, forms, etc.), scripts (e.g., JavaScript), etc., including or derived from data stored in one or more databases (e.g., database 114).

[0020] EMS110 may execute software 112 that includes one or more software modules that implement one or more of the disclosed processes. Further, EMS110 may comprise, be communicatively coupled to, or otherwise be accessible to one or more databases 114 that store data input to one or more of the disclosed processes and / or data output from one or more of the disclosed processes. Any suitable database may be utilized, including but not limited to MySQL (registered trademark), Oracle (trademark), IBM (registered trademark) (trademark), Microsoft SQL (trademark), Access (trademark), PostgreSQL (trademark), etc. (including cloud-based databases, in-house databases, and unstructured databases).

[0021] 1.2. Exemplary Processing Device FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an exemplary wired or wireless system 200 that may be used in connection with various embodiments described herein. For example, system 200 may be used as one or more of the functions, processes, or methods described herein (e.g., for storing and / or executing software 112), or in conjunction therewith, and may represent components of EMS110, user system 130, EV site 140, and / or other processing devices described herein. System 200 can be a server or any conventional personal computer, or any other processor-compatible device capable of wired or wireless data communication. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, other computer systems and / or architectures may also be used.

[0022] System 200 preferably includes one or more processors 210. The processor 210 may include a central processing unit (CPU). Additional processors may be provided, such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), an auxiliary processor for managing input / output, an auxiliary processor for performing floating-point arithmetic, a dedicated microprocessor having an architecture suitable for high-speed execution of signal processing algorithms (e.g., a digital signal processor), a processor subordinate to the main processing system (e.g., a back-end processor), an additional microprocessor or controller for a dual or multi-processor system, and / or a coprocessor. Such auxiliary processors may be individual processors or may be integrated with the processor 210. Examples of processors that may be used with the system 200 include, but are not limited to, any processor available from Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, California (e.g., Pentium (trademark), Core i7 (trademark), Xeon (trademark), etc.), any processor available from Advanced Micro Devices, Incorporated (AMD), Santa Clara, California, any processor available from Apple Inc., Cupertino (e.g., A series, M series, etc.), any processor available from Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Seoul, Korea (e.g., Exynos (trademark)), and the like.

[0023] Processor 210 is preferably connected to communication bus 205. Communication bus 205 may include a data channel for facilitating information transfer between storage and other peripheral components of system 200. Further, communication bus 205 may provide a set of signals used for communication with processor 210, including a data bus, an address bus, and / or a control bus (not shown). Communication bus 205 may include any standard or non-standard bus architecture, such as, for example, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA), a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) local bus, a General-Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) as defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and published by the IEEE, such as IEEE 488, an IEEE 696 / S-100 bus architecture, etc.

[0024] System 200 preferably includes main memory 215 and may also include secondary memory 220. Main memory 215 provides storage for instructions and data for programs that are executed on processor 210, such as one or more of the functions and / or modules described herein (e.g., software 112). It should be understood that the programs stored in the memory and executed by processor 210 may be written in and / or compiled according to any suitable language, including but not limited to C / C++, Java, JavaScript, Perl, Visual Basic,.NET, etc. Main memory 215 is typically semiconductor-based memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or static random access memory (SRAM). Other semiconductor-based memory types include synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), Rambus dynamic random access memory (RDRAM), ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM (registered trademark)), etc., including read only memory (ROM).

[0025] The secondary memory 220 may optionally include an internal medium 225 and / or a removable medium 230. The removable medium 230 is read and written in any well-known manner. The removable storage medium 230 may be, for example, a magnetic tape drive, a compact disc (CD) drive, a digital versatile disc (DVD) drive, other optical drives, a flash memory drive, and the like. The secondary memory 220 is a non-transitory computer-readable medium in which computer-executable code (e.g., software 112) and / or other data are stored. The computer software or data stored in the secondary memory 220 is loaded into the main memory 215 for execution by the processor 210.

[0026] In an alternative embodiment, the secondary memory 220 may include other similar means for enabling a computer program or other data or instructions to be loaded into the system 200. Such means may include, for example, a communication interface 240 that enables software and data to be transferred from an external storage medium 245 to the system 200. Examples of the external storage medium 245 may include an external hard disk drive, an external optical drive, an external magneto-optical drive, and the like. Other examples of the secondary memory 220 may include semiconductor-based memories such as programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable read-only memory (EEPROM), and flash memory (a block-oriented memory similar to EEPROM).

[0027] As described above, system 200 may include a communication interface 240. The communication interface 240 enables the transfer of software and data between system 200 and an external device (e.g., a printer), a network, or other information sources. For example, computer software or executable code may be transferred from a network server (e.g., platform 110) to system 200 via communication interface 240. Examples of communication interface 240 include a built-in network adapter, a network interface card (NIC), a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) network card, a card bus network adapter, a wireless network adapter, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) network adapter, a modem, a wireless data card, a communication port, an infrared interface, an IEEE 1394 FireWire, and any other device capable of interfacing system 200 with a network (e.g., network 120) or another computing device.The communication interface 240 preferably implements protocol standards published in the industry such as Ethernet (registered trademark) IEEE802 standard, Fibre Channel, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), Frame Relay, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), Personal Communications Service (PCS), Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), Serial Line Internet Protocol / Point to Point Protocol (SLIP / PPP), etc., but may also implement customized or non-standard interface protocols.

[0028] The software and data transferred via the communication interface 240 are generally in the form of telecommunication signals 255. These signals 255 can be provided to the communication interface 240 via the communication channel 250. In one embodiment, the communication channel 250 may be a wired or wireless network (e.g., network 120), or any of a variety of other communication links. The communication channel 250 carries the signals 255 and can be implemented using a variety of wired or wireless communication means including, by way of example only, wired or cable, optical fiber, conventional telephone lines, cellular phone links, wireless data communication links, radio frequency (RF) links, or infrared links.

[0029] Computer-executable code (e.g., a computer program such as software 112) is stored in main memory 215 and / or secondary memory 220. The computer program may also be received via communication interface 240 and stored in main memory 215 and / or secondary memory 220. When such a computer program is executed, it enables system 200 to perform the various functions of the disclosed embodiments described elsewhere herein.

[0030] In this description, the term "computer-readable medium" is used to refer to any non-transitory computer-readable storage medium used to provide computer-executable code and / or other data to a system or within system 200. Examples of such media include main memory 215, secondary memory 220 (including internal memory 225, removable media 230, and external storage media 245), and any peripheral device (including a network information server or other network device) communicatively coupled to communication interface 240. These non-transitory computer-readable media are means for providing executable code, programming instructions, software, and / or other data to system 200.

[0031] In embodiments implemented using software, the software may be stored on a computer-readable medium and loaded into system 200 via removable media 230, I / O interface 235, or communication interface 240. In such embodiments, the software is loaded into system 200 in the form of an electrical communication signal 255. When the software is executed by processor 210, it preferably causes processor 210 to perform one or more of the processes and functions described elsewhere herein.

[0032] In one embodiment, the I / O interface 235 provides an interface between one or more components of the system 200 and one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of input devices include, but are not limited to, sensors, keyboards, touchscreens or other touch sensing devices, cameras, biometric devices, computer mice, trackballs, pen-based pointing devices, and the like. Examples of output devices include, but are not limited to, other processing devices, cathode ray tubes (CRTs), plasma displays, light-emitting diode (LED) displays, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), printers, vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs), surface-conduction electron-emitter displays (SEDs), field emission displays (FEDs), and the like. In some cases, the input and output devices may be combined, such as in the case of a touch panel display (e.g., a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device).

[0033] The system 200 may also include an optional wireless communication component that facilitates wireless communication via a voice network and / or a data network (e.g., in the case of the user system 130 that is a smartphone or other mobile device). The wireless communication component includes an antenna system 270, a wireless system 265, and a baseband system 260. In the system 200, radio frequency (RF) signals are wirelessly transmitted and received by the antenna system 270 under the management of the wireless system 265.

[0034] In one embodiment, the antenna system 270 may include one or more antennas and one or more multiplexers (not shown) that perform a switching function to provide a transmission signal path and a reception signal path to the antenna system 270. In the reception path, the received RF signal may be coupled from the multiplexer to a low-noise amplifier (not shown) that amplifies the received RF signal and transmits the amplified signal to the wireless system 265.

[0035] In an alternative embodiment, the wireless system 265 may include one or more radios configured to communicate via various frequencies. In one embodiment, the wireless system 265 may combine a demodulator (not shown) and a modulator (not shown) in one integrated circuit (IC). The demodulator and the modulator may be separate components. In the incoming path, the demodulator removes the RF carrier signal leaving the baseband received audio signal transmitted from the wireless system 265 to the baseband system 260.

[0036] If the received signal contains audio information, the baseband system 260 decodes the signal and converts it to an analog signal. The signal is then amplified and sent to a speaker. The baseband system 260 also receives analog audio signals from a microphone. These analog audio signals are converted to digital signals and encoded by the baseband system 260. The baseband system 260 also encodes digital signals for transmission and generates a baseband transmitted audio signal that is routed to the modulator portion of the wireless system 265. The modulator mixes the baseband transmitted audio signal with an RF carrier signal to generate an RF transmission signal that may be routed to the antenna system 270 and pass through a power amplifier (not shown). The power amplifier amplifies the RF transmission signal, routes it to the antenna system 270, and the signal is switched to the antenna port for transmission.

[0037] The baseband system 260 is also communicatively coupled to the processor 210. The processor 210 can access data storage areas 215 and 220. The processor 210 is preferably configured to execute instructions (i.e., computer programs such as the disclosed software) that can be stored in the main memory 215 or the secondary memory 220. The computer program can also be received from the baseband processor 260 and stored in the main memory 210 or the secondary memory 220, or executed upon reception. When such a computer program is executed, it enables the system 200 to perform the various functions of the disclosed embodiments.

[0038] 1.3. Exemplary EV Site FIG. 3 shows a single-line diagram of an exemplary power distribution network of an exemplary EV site 140 according to one embodiment. The EV site 140 is connected to the power grid 310 from which electricity can be purchased. The cost of purchasing electricity can vary daily (e.g., higher during the day than at night) and over several days (e.g., higher on summer days than on winter days) according to a time-of-use (ToU) rate. The ToU rate may assign peak rates, partial peak rates, and off-peak rates to various periods (e.g., each time interval of a day) and represent the electricity cost during those periods.

[0039] Furthermore, the EV site 140 includes one or more distributed energy resources, such as, for example, one or more battery energy storage (BES) systems 320 and / or one or more generators 330 shown as generators 330A and 330B. The generator 330 may include a renewable energy resource (e.g., a solar generator, a wind generator, a geothermal generator, a hydroelectric generator, a fuel cell, etc.) and / or a non-renewable energy resource (e.g., a diesel generator, a natural gas generator, etc.). For example, the generator 330A may be a solar generator including a plurality of solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity, and the generator 330B may be a diesel generator that burns diesel gasoline to generate electricity.

[0040] The EV site also includes one or more EV charging stations 340, shown as EV charging stations 340A, 340B, 340C, 340D, 340E, 340F, and 340G. It should be understood that each EV charging station 340 can be connected to electric vehicles 350, which represent loads and are shown as electric vehicles 350A, 350B, 350C, 350E, and 350F. Each EV charging station 340 is configured to be electrically connected to an electric vehicle 350 to supply electricity to one or more batteries of the electric vehicle 350. At any given time, some of the EV charging stations 340 (e.g., 340A - 350A, 340B - 350B, 340E - 350E, 340F - 350F) may be connected to electric vehicles 350, and other EV charging stations 340 (e.g., 340D and 340G) may not be connected to electric vehicles 350. One or more EV charging stations 340 may be configured to switch on or off the power supply to the connected electric vehicles 350 under the control of the EMS110 or other controller. For example, the EV charging station 340 may receive a command from a controller (e.g., EMS110) via the communication interface 240, process the command using the processor 210 and the main memory 215, and control an actuator (e.g., one or more switches) to switch the power on or off according to the processed command. It should be understood that the power distribution network of the EV site 140 may also include other types of loads besides the electric vehicles 350, such as auxiliary loads for operating various functions of the EV site 140. It should also be understood that each BES system 320 can function as both a power source (i.e., during discharge) and a load (i.e., during charging).

[0041] 2. Summary of the Process Here, embodiments of a process for preventing violations in the power distribution network of an EV base and ensuring that critical energy requirements are met as needed are described in detail. It should be understood that the described process may be embodied as one or more software modules executed by one or more hardware processors (e.g., processor 210), such as software 112 executed by a processor of an EMS 110. The described process may be implemented as instructions represented in source code, object code, and / or machine code. These instructions may be executed directly by the hardware processor 210 or may be executed by a virtual machine or container operating between the object code and the hardware processor 210. Further, the disclosed software may be built on or interface with one or more existing systems.

[0042] Alternatively, the described process may be implemented as hardware components (e.g., general-purpose processors, integrated circuits (ICs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic, etc.), combinations of hardware components, or combinations of hardware and software components. To clearly illustrate the compatibility of hardware and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are generally described herein with respect to their functions. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functions in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Further, the grouping of functions within components, blocks, modules, circuits, or steps is for ease of explanation. A particular function or step can be moved from one component, block, module, circuit, or step to another without departing from the invention.

[0043] Figure 4 shows a process 400 for preventing violations in the power distribution network of an EV site and optionally ensuring that critical energy requirements are met, according to one embodiment. Process 400 may be implemented as software 112 executed by one or more processors 210 of EMS 110. Although process 400 is shown in a particular arrangement and order of sub-processes, process 400 may be implemented with fewer, more, or different sub-processes, and different arrangements and / or orders of sub-processes. For example, in an alternative embodiment that does not guarantee that critical energy requirements are met, process 400 may consist only of sub-processes 410-440 and 470 (e.g., if sub-process 470 proceeds directly from the "no" branch of sub-process 430). Further, even if sub-processes are described or illustrated in a particular order, any sub-process that does not depend on the completion of other sub-processes may be executed before, after, or in parallel with other independent sub-processes.

[0044] Process 400 may be executed continuously for each of a plurality of time periods according to a rolling time window to generate a power schedule and a charging schedule for each time period. The size of the time window may consist of any duration suitable for a particular design goal, such as 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 12 hours, 24 hours, 1 week, etc. It should be understood that each period may be a future period. In this case, process 400 may be executed such that there is little or no time between the start of the period and process 400 outputting the final power schedule for that period, or well in advance of that period (e.g., a time, day, week, etc. before the start of the time period).

[0045] In sub-process 410, economic dispatch is performed for a particular period under consideration. The economic dispatch may be implemented as a software application integrated with the software implementing other sub-processes of process 400. Alternatively, the economic dispatch may be implemented as a software application separate from the software implementing one or more other sub-processes of process 400, and provide its output (e.g., to sub-process 420) via an application programming interface (API). For example, the output of sub-process 410 may be pushed via the API of the software implementing sub-process 420, or pulled via the API of the economic dispatch application by the software implementing sub-process 420.

[0046] Economic dispatch refers to the allocation of power demand from a load (e.g., 350) to distributed energy resources (e.g., BES system 320 and / or generator 330) to achieve the most economical use of power. Typically, economic dispatch is formulated as an optimization problem aimed at minimizing the cost of purchasing power from grid 310. The basic idea is to prioritize the use of distributed energy resources with lower marginal costs over the use of distributed energy resources and grid 310 with higher marginal costs. Conventionally, economic dispatch has not considered network constraints.

[0047] In one embodiment, the economic dispatch is performed for a particular period under consideration based on a charging schedule 415 that covers at least the particular period under consideration. The charging schedule 415 includes, for each of one or more electric vehicles 350 to be charged within at least the particular period under consideration, the time at which charging of the electric vehicle 350 is scheduled to begin, the duration for which the electric vehicle 350 is scheduled to be charged, the amount of charge to be supplied to the electric vehicle 350 and / or the charge level to which the electric vehicle 350 is to be charged (e.g., having sufficient charge to complete a scheduled route), the time by which the electric vehicle 350 must be charged (e.g., to complete a route as scheduled), and the like. The charging schedule 415 can be updated periodically (e.g., every 15 minutes) to reflect the current or anticipated state of each electric vehicle 350. It should be understood that the charging schedule 415 can include the schedules for a plurality of periods to be considered (e.g., all future periods for which EV charging is scheduled), as long as it includes the schedule for the particular period under consideration.

[0048] Economic dispatch can generate a power schedule that specifies the power to be output from each of the distributed energy resources (e.g., BES system 310 and / or generator 330) at the EV site 140 during a particular period under consideration, while minimizing the electricity cost during the particular period under consideration and satisfying the load required by the electric vehicle 350 in the charging schedule 415 for the particular period under consideration. The power schedule can include, for each distributed energy resource to be used during the particular period under consideration, identification information of the distributed energy resource, the period during which the distributed energy resource is scheduled to output power (e.g., discharged from the BES system 320 or generated by the generator 330), the amount of power to be output by the distributed energy resource, and so on. During execution, economic dispatch may consider equality constraints (e.g., power balance, charging state of charge balance of electric vehicles, etc.) and inequality constraints (e.g., maintaining the load at a particular value at the point of common coupling, maintaining a threshold level of the charging state of charge of the electric vehicle 350, pre-adjusting the EV load, availability of the electric vehicle 350, etc.). Conventionally, economic dispatch has not considered network constraints such as voltage and / or current at nodes in the distribution network of the EV site 140. It should be understood that the nodes in the distribution network may be, for example, points of common coupling with the grid 310, BES system 320, generator 330, charging station 340, etc.

[0049] In sub-process 420, a load flow analysis is performed on the power schedule output by the economic dispatch executed in sub-process 410 to identify violations (such as voltage violations like overvoltage or undervoltage, current violations, etc.). The distribution network of the EV base 140 can be modeled by a distribution network model representing each node in the distribution network. The load flow analysis can simulate the power schedule on the distribution network model to determine whether any node in the distribution network generates a violation during the simulation. In particular, the load flow analysis determines the operating steady state of each node in the distribution network for a given load in the power schedule. The steady state of each node can be represented as a set of parameters such as voltage, phase angle, active power, and reactive power. The load flow analysis uses a set of simultaneous algebraic power equations for the nodes in the distribution network based on the set points of active power and reactive power to solve for one or more of these parameters (such as voltage and phase angle) at each node in the distribution network as represented by the distribution network model.

[0050] In subprocess 430, process 400 determines whether the load flow analysis applied in subprocess 420 detected a violation. For example, an overvoltage violation may occur if the node's steady-state voltage exceeds a predetermined threshold. Similarly, an undervoltage violation may occur if the node's steady-state voltage is below a predetermined threshold. Violations of other parameters, such as current, may be detected similarly (e.g., using predefined thresholds). These predetermined thresholds may be defined by a grid code, such as the IEEE 1547 Standard for the Interconnection and Interoperation of Distributed Energy Resources with Associated Electric Power Systems. IEEE 1547 defines the operating region for its Abnormal Operation Performance Category III continuous voltage operation as having a lower limit of 0.88 per unit and an upper limit of 1.1 per unit. Thus, if IEEE 1547 is used for the grid code, a voltage above 1.1 per unit would be determined as an overvoltage violation, and a voltage below 0.88 per unit would be determined as an undervoltage violation. If a violation is detected (i.e., "Yes" in sub-process 430), process 400 proceeds to sub-process 440. On the other hand, if a violation is not detected (i.e., "No" in sub-process 430), process 400 proceeds to sub-process 450.

[0051] In subprocess 440, constraints are generated for each violation detected by the load flow analysis in subprocess 420 and added to the new run of economic dispatch in subprocess 410. In particular, each constraint may be formulated using a sensitivity analysis of the control variables (e.g., active and reactive power setpoints) of the node where the respective violation was detected. The sensitivity analysis determines the sensitivity factors S of parameters such as voltage or current to a change Δu in the active and reactive power setpoints of the distributed energy resource at the violating node i. u Pi Consider S for the violation node i. u Pi can be calculated by load flow analysis. In the solution to economic dispatch, the voltage at the violation node i is P i iniWhen expressed as such, the constraint on the violating node i can be expressed as follows.

[0052]

Number

[0053] Here, P i min is the minimum allowable value of the parameter P (e.g., voltage or current defined by the grid code) at the violating node i, and P i max is the maximum allowable value of the parameter P (e.g., voltage or current defined by the grid code) at the violating node i, and n is the number of setpoint changes. Such constraints may be generated for one or more of the nodes where violations are detected (e.g., voltage violations such as overvoltage or undervoltage, current violations such as overcurrent or undervoltage, etc.).

[0054] When constraints are generated in sub - process 420 for all violations detected by load flow analysis in sub - process 440, the generated constraints are added to the economic dispatch, and the economic dispatch is executed again in other iterations of sub - process 410 while being constrained by the generated constraints. For example, in order to avoid the detected overvoltage violation, if a constraint is added to prevent the voltage at a specific node i from exceeding P i max the economic dispatch must generate a solution (i.e., power schedule) where the voltage at node i does not exceed P i max Similarly, in order to avoid the detected undervoltage violation, if a constraint is added to prevent the voltage at a specific node i from falling below P i min the economic dispatch must generate a solution (i.e., power schedule) where the voltage at node i is P i min or higher. Similarly, in order to avoid the detected overcurrent violation, if a constraint is added to prevent the current at a specific node i from exceeding P i maxWhen a constraint is added to prevent exceeding, the economic dispatch must generate a solution (i.e., a power schedule) in which the current at node i does not exceed P i max Similarly, when a constraint is added to prevent the current at a particular node i from falling below P to avoid detected undercurrent violations, the economic dispatch must generate a solution (i.e., a power schedule) in which the current at node i is at least P i min When a constraint is added to prevent the current at node i from falling below P i min The economic dispatch must generate a solution (i.e., a power schedule) in which the current at node i is at least P

[0055] It should be understood that the constraints generated in sub-process 440 may be accumulated over each iteration of sub-process 440, and each iteration of the economic dispatch in sub-process 410 is constrained by all of the constraints generated by all of the previous and current iterations of sub-process 440 for the current period under consideration. An instance of process 400 may include one or any other non-zero number of iterations of sub-processes 410 - 430, and zero, one, or any other number of iterations of sub-process 440

[0056] In sub-process 450, when a power schedule is output by the economic dispatch executed in sub-process 410 where no violation is detected in the load flow analysis of sub-process 420, process 400 determines whether the power schedule satisfies all the load demands (e.g., electric vehicle 350 connected to charging station 340) within the charging schedule 415. In other words, process 400 determines whether it was necessary to reduce or curtail the load to avoid the detected violation. The load demand is satisfied if the power generation in the power schedule is sufficient to supply all the power required by that load during the current period under consideration. Conversely, the load demand is not satisfied if the power generation in the power schedule is not sufficient to supply all the power required by that load during the current period under consideration. In the case of electric vehicle 350, the load demand of electric vehicle 350 is satisfied if the power generation is sufficient to charge the electric vehicle 350 to the required charge level (e.g., the charge level required for electric vehicle 350 to complete the scheduled route). It should be understood that the required charge level for electric vehicle 350 may or may not be the full capacity of the electric vehicle's battery. If the power schedule does not satisfy all the load demands (i.e., "No" in sub-process 450), process 400 proceeds to sub-process 460. On the other hand, if the power schedule satisfies all the load demands (i.e., "Yes" in sub-process 450), process 400 proceeds to sub-process 470.

[0057] In sub-process 460, the charging schedule 415 can be adjusted based on the priority assigned to the load. For example, each electric vehicle 350 may be assigned a priority indicating the importance of the electric vehicle 350 and / or the flexibility of the schedule of the electric vehicle 350, and a higher priority may be assigned to a more important / flexible electric vehicle 350 than to an electric vehicle 350 that is less important / flexible. The priority can be implemented according to any scale that provides an appropriate solution for distinguishing electric vehicles 350 (e.g., numerically on a scale such as binary numbers for critical and non-critical classes, 1-5, or 1-10) in any way (e.g., as weights used in modeling). The priority of a given electric vehicle 350 can be determined manually or automatically based on various factors including the purpose of the electric vehicle (e.g., an emergency vehicle may be prioritized over a non-emergency vehicle), the route (e.g., an electric vehicle 350 having a more important or longer route may be prioritized over an electric vehicle 350 having a less important or shorter route), the schedule (e.g., an electric vehicle 350 that has to depart from the EV base 140 earlier, or has a less flexible schedule, may be prioritized over an electric vehicle 350 that can depart from the EV base 140 later, or has a more flexible schedule), the charging level (e.g., an electric vehicle 350 having a lower charging level may be prioritized over an electric vehicle 350 having a higher charging level), etc. In any case, the amount of available power generated according to the power schedule supplied to a more important electric vehicle 350 may be increased at the expense of the amount of available power supplied to a less important electric vehicle 350, and the more important electric vehicle 350 receives an amount of power that meets its load demand or a greater proportion of its load demand, while a less important electric vehicle 350 receives no power or an amount of power that meets a smaller proportion of its load demand. Therefore, it should be understood that the adjustment of the charging schedule 415 may include reducing the amount of charge for unimportant loads.Additionally or alternatively, the adjustment to the charging schedule 415 may include shifting the charging time for the load from a first time to a second time that is earlier or later than the first time. The second time to which the charging time of the load is shifted may be within a particular period under consideration or outside of a particular period under consideration (e.g., within a period before or after that represented in the charging schedule 415 but outside the current scope of the rolling time window).

[0058] When the charging schedule 415 is adjusted in sub - process 460, the economic dispatch is run again in other iterations of sub - process 410 with the adjusted charging schedule 415. It should be understood that this execution of the economic dispatch may be constrained by any constraints previously generated in any iteration of sub - process 440 for the particular period under consideration. It should also be understood that the adjusted charging schedule 415 may result in additional violations detected in sub - processes 420 and 430 and may be addressed in additional iterations of sub - process 440.

[0059] In sub - process 470, when a power schedule is generated by the economic dispatch in sub - process 410, does not generate any violations detected by the load flow analysis in sub - process 420, and satisfies all the loads in sub - process 450, the power schedule is output as the final power schedule used to schedule the power output by distributed energy resources (e.g., BEM system 320, generator 330, etc.) within the EV site 140 during a particular period under consideration. Additionally, the charging schedule 415 may be used to schedule various loads (e.g., electric vehicle 350) within the particular period under consideration.

[0060] The final power schedule, which is the output in sub - process 470, may be used to notify control decisions during the particular period considered during the iteration of process 400. It should be understood that other iterations of process 400 may be executed for the next time period encompassed by the rolling time window to generate, among other things, the final power schedule for that time period.

[0061] In one embodiment, this final power schedule is used by the EMS 110 or other systems to generate control commands for one or more BES systems 320, generators 330, charging stations 340, and / or other electrical components of the EV site 140. Specifically, the EMS 110 may generate control commands and transmit the control commands to the relevant electrical components within the EV site 140 via the network 120, and then the EV site 140 may execute the received control commands. For example, the EMS 110 may control distributed energy resources (such as BES systems 320, generators 330, etc.) by transmitting control commands to the distributed energy resources to generate and / or output power during one or more scheduled periods and not output power outside of one or more scheduled periods. As another example, the EMS 110 may control the charging station 340 by transmitting control commands to the charging station 340 to output power to the connected electric vehicle 350 during one or more scheduled periods and not output power outside of one or more scheduled periods.

[0062] 3. Exemplary Use Cases Here, an exemplary use case of process 400 is described for illustrative purposes and not for limitation. In the example, EV site 140 includes a bus depot for charging electric buses as electric vehicles 350 within a fleet of an urban mass transit system. The active and reactive power setpoints of the distributed energy resources (e.g., BES system 320, generator 330, etc.) and the charging station 340 can be scheduled at one-hour intervals (e.g., process 400 may be repeatedly executed over a period within a one-hour rolling time window). The generator 330 is assumed to be a solar power generator. Each electric bus has a route that it must follow according to a route schedule. Thus, each electric bus must be charged to at least a sufficient level to complete its scheduled route and must leave the EV site 140 by a specific time in order to follow the route schedule.

[0063] In the first use case, it is assumed that there are no restrictions related to the amount of electric power that can be purchased from the grid 310. The economic dispatch in the first iteration of the sub-process 410 maximizes the power generation by the solar generator in order to minimize the amount of electricity that has to be purchased from the grid 310. As a result, during the day (e.g., in the afternoon) when the cost of purchasing sunlight and electricity is at its maximum, the cost of purchasing electricity generally becomes low (e.g., potentially negative when the operator of the grid 310 purchases surplus power from the EV site 140). However, if the power schedule output by the economic dispatch after the first iteration of the sub-process 410 were to be used, the EV site 140 might violate the relevant grid code (e.g., due to overvoltage or undervoltage conditions). Therefore, the power schedule may be changed by one or more iterations of the loop formed by the sub-processes 420 - 430 - 440 - 410, restricting the economic dispatch until no violation is detected by the load flow analysis in the sub-process 420. As a result, the overall power purchase cost of the changed power schedule may increase, especially during time intervals when the sunlight and power purchase costs are at their maximum, because the utilization of the solar generator is reduced to avoid violations. However, although it is more costly in the short term, the changed power schedule is improved compared to the original power schedule in order to avoid violations that may be more costly in the long term. It should be understood that other types of distributed energy resources, or similar situations resulting from an increase in the EV load, can be similarly addressed by the process 400.

[0064] In a second use case, the amount of power available for purchase from the grid 310 can be reduced. This can be due to demand response by the operator of the grid 310, a grid 310 outage, islanding operation, grid code violations, cyberattacks, natural disasters, peak load shaving, etc. In such situations, the operator prioritizes minimizing the overall load on the grid 310. In these cases, the EV site 140 must cooperate with the grid 310 by reducing its power consumption at the point of common coupling with the grid 310. This reduction in power consumption may mean that not all loads can be met by the power schedule (i.e., "No" in sub-process 450). Thus, the charging schedule 415, and thus the power schedule, can be changed by one or more iterations of sub-processes 460 - 410 - 420 - 430 - 450 (potentially by one or more iterations of the inner loop formed by sub-processes 410 - 420 - 430 - 440). The changed charging and power schedules may result in higher power purchase costs and / or some electric buses (e.g., non-critical buses) being only partially charged or not charged at all before leaving the EV site 140. As described elsewhere in this specification, each electric bus may be ranked according to a priority representing the importance of the electric bus and / or the flexibility of the electric bus schedule. This ranking may be performed manually (e.g., by the operator of the EV site 140) or automatically.

[0065] Regardless of the specific scenario, the disclosed embodiments utilize load flow analysis (e.g., sub - process 420) to detect violations of grid codes in the generation schedule output by economic dispatch (e.g., sub - process 410), integrate the constraints for those violations into the economic dispatch, and generate a generation schedule that does not violate the grid codes. Further, the disclosed embodiments may utilize the priorities assigned to electric vehicles 350 to shift the load to ensure that the critical load is met without violating the grid codes and that all electric vehicles 350 leave the EV depot 140 at least at the target state of charge (e.g., required to satisfy the scheduled route). Thus, the disclosed embodiments improve the overall performance of the distribution network within the EV depot 140 while maximizing the economic benefits for the operator of the EV depot 140.

[0066] The disclosed embodiments have been mainly described with respect to the control of power generation and charging within the EV depot 140, but the disclosed embodiments may also be applicable to other uses. For example, the same method can be used to plan research and customer demonstrations. Further, the same method can be used by power companies to manage circuit segments of a medium - voltage distribution system.

[0067] Furthermore, it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments may be applicable to systems of two or more EV bases 140. In particular, a single EMS 110 may manage the power and charging schedules of multiple EV bases 140. In this case, the power schedule may include power generation in distributed energy resources across multiple EV bases 140, and the charging schedule 415 may include EV charging at charging stations 340 across multiple EV bases 140. Further, when an electric vehicle 350 can be easily charged at two or more different EV bases 140, in order to avoid load reduction, the load may be moved (e.g., in sub-process 460) between EV bases 140 (e.g., from a first EV base 140 to a second EV base 140). Similarly, in order to avoid violations and to accommodate adjustments to the charging schedule 415 (e.g., in sub-process 460), power generation may be shifted by economic distribution (e.g., in sub-process 410) between EV bases 140 (e.g., from a first EV base 140 to a second EV base 140).

[0068] The following aspects refer to particular embodiments of the present disclosure. 1. For each of one or more iterations, receiving a power schedule from an economic distribution application for a charging base comprising one or more distributed energy resources, the power schedule specifying the power to be output from the one or more distributed energy resources to service a charging schedule for a load at the charging base; simulating the power schedule on a distribution network model of the charging base, the simulating for determining whether at least one node in the distribution network model generates a violation during the simulation; in response to a determination that at least one node in the distribution network model generates a violation during the simulation, generating a constraint for at least one node in the distribution network model determined to generate a violation during the simulation; To generate a new power schedule for the next iteration, start the re - execution of the economic dispatch application updated with the generated constraints, and if none of the nodes in the distribution network model are determined to have violations during the simulation, output the power schedule, and Based on the output power schedule, schedule the power generation by distributed energy resources and the charging of loads at charging bases using at least one hardware processor to perform A method including.

[0069] 2. Determine whether the output power schedule satisfies all the loads in the charging schedule, and In response to the determination that the output power schedule does not necessarily satisfy all the loads in the charging schedule, Adjust the charging schedule for one or more loads based on the priorities assigned to the one or more loads, and Start the re - execution of the economic dispatch application and subsequently at least one additional iteration using the adjusted charging schedule, and If it is determined that the output power schedule satisfies all the loads in the charging schedule, output the output power schedule as the final power schedule, and schedule the power generation by distributed energy resources and the charging of loads at charging bases based on the final power schedule, using at least one hardware processor to perform The method according to aspect 1, further including.

[0070] 3. Changing the charging schedule includes reducing the amount of charging of at least one load having a lower priority than at least one other load, the method according to aspect 2.

[0071] 4. A method according to aspect 2, wherein changing the charging schedule includes shifting the time during which at least one load is charged.

[0072] 5. A method according to aspect 2, wherein changing the charging schedule for one or more loads based on the priority assigned to the one or more loads includes adjusting the charge amount or charging time of each of the one or more loads to prioritize critical loads over non-critical loads.

[0073] 6. A method according to aspect 1, wherein the load at the charging station includes an electric vehicle. 7. A method according to aspect 1, wherein the one or more distributed energy resources include one or more of a solar power generator, a wind power generator, a fuel cell, a thermal power plant, a hydroelectric power plant, a gasoline generator, or a battery.

[0074] 8. A method according to aspect 1, wherein scheduling power generation by the distributed energy resources includes controlling at least one of the one or more distributed energy resources to output power during one or more scheduled periods and not to output power outside the one or more scheduled periods.

[0075] 9. A method according to aspect 1, wherein scheduling the charging of the load at the charging station includes controlling at least one charging station to output power to the connected load during one or more scheduled periods and not to output power outside the one or more scheduled periods.

[0076] 10. A method according to aspect 1, wherein at least one constraint for at least one node in the power distribution network defines a voltage range within which the voltage of the at least one node must be maintained over all changes in the power setpoint during the power schedule.

[0077] 11. The method according to aspect 1, wherein the violation is a violation of the grid code that defines the requirements that the charging station must meet.

[0078] 12. The method according to aspect 1, wherein the simulation includes a load flow analysis for the distribution network model.

[0079] 13. The method according to aspect 12, wherein the power schedule includes set points for one or more nodes in the distribution network model, and the load flow analysis is performed for each of the set points in the power schedule.

[0080] 14. The method according to aspect 1, wherein the charging of the power generation and the load is further based on a charging schedule.

[0081] 15. The method according to aspect 1, wherein the violation includes a voltage violation or a current violation. 16. An energy management system comprising at least one hardware processor and software wherein the software, when executed by the at least one hardware processor, for each of one or more iterations, receiving a power schedule from an economic dispatch application for a charging station having one or more distributed energy resources, the power schedule specifying the power to be output from the one or more distributed energy resources to serve a charging schedule for a load at the charging station; simulating the power schedule on a distribution network model of the charging station, the simulation being performed to determine whether at least one node in the distribution network model causes a violation during the simulation; in response to a determination that at least one node in the distribution network model causes a violation during the simulation, Generating constraints for at least one node in the power distribution network model determined to have a violation during simulation; Starting a re - execution of the economic dispatch application updated with the generated constraints to generate a new power schedule for the next iteration; If none of the nodes in the power distribution network model are determined to have a violation during simulation, outputting the power schedule; Scheduling power generation by distributed energy resources and charging of loads at charging bases based on the output power schedule; An energy management system configured to perform the above.

[0082] When the software is executed by at least one hardware processor, Determining whether the output power schedule satisfies all loads in the charging schedule; In response to the determination that the output power schedule does not necessarily satisfy all loads in the charging schedule, Adjusting the charging schedule for one or more loads based on the priorities assigned to the one or more loads; Starting a re - execution of the economic dispatch application and subsequently at least one additional iteration using the adjusted charging schedule; If it is determined that the output power schedule satisfies all loads in the charging schedule, outputting the output power schedule as the final power schedule, and scheduling power generation by distributed energy resources and charging of loads at charging bases based on the final power schedule; The energy management system according to aspect 16, further configured to perform the above.

[0083] 18. The load at the charging station includes electric vehicles, and one or more distributed energy resources include one or more of solar power generators, wind turbines, fuel cells, thermal power plants, hydroelectric power plants, gasoline generators, or batteries, in the energy management system according to aspect 16.

[0084] 19. Scheduling power generation by distributed energy resources includes controlling at least one of one or more distributed energy resources to output power during one or more scheduled periods and not to output power outside of one or more scheduled periods. Scheduling the charging of the load at the charging station includes controlling at least one charging station to output power to the connected load during one or more scheduled periods and not to output power outside of one or more scheduled periods, in the energy management system according to aspect 16.

[0085] 20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to, For each of one or more iterations, Receive a power schedule from an economic dispatch application for a charging station having one or more distributed energy resources, the power schedule specifying the power to be output from one or more distributed energy resources to provide service to a charging schedule for a load at the charging station, the receiving; Simulate the power schedule on a distribution network model of the charging station, the simulating to determine whether at least one node in the distribution network model causes a violation during the simulation; In response to a determination that at least one node in the distribution network model causes a violation during the simulation, Generating constraints for at least one node in the power distribution network model determined to have violated during simulation; Initiating a re - execution of the economic dispatch application updated with the generated constraints to generate a new power schedule for the next iteration; If no node in the power distribution network model is determined to have violated during simulation, outputting the power schedule; Scheduling power generation by distributed energy resources and charging of loads at charging stations based on the output power schedule A non - transitory computer - readable medium causing the above to be performed.

[0086] The foregoing description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles described herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Thus, it is to be understood that the description and drawings presented herein represent the presently preferred embodiments of the present invention and, accordingly, represent the broadest subject matter contemplated by the present invention. It is further understood that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments that may become apparent to those skilled in the art and, therefore, the scope of the present invention is not limited.

[0087] Combinations described in this specification such as "at least one of A, B, or C", "one or more of A, B, or C", "at least one of A, B, and C", "one or more of A, B, and C", and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof" include any combination of A, B, and / or C and may include multiple A's, multiple B's, or multiple C's. Specifically, combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C", "one or more of A, B, or C", "at least one of A, B, and C", "one or more of A, B, and C", and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof" may be A only, B only, C only, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, and any such combination may include one or more members of its components A, B, and / or C. For example, the combination of A and B may include one A and multiple B's, multiple A's and one B, or multiple A's and multiple B's.

Claims

Claim 1 For each of one or more iterations, receiving a power schedule from an economic dispatch application for a charging station having one or more distributed energy resources, the power schedule specifying the power to be output from the one or more distributed energy resources to service a charging schedule for a load at the charging station; simulating the power schedule on a distribution network model of the charging station, the simulation including determining whether at least one node in the distribution network model causes a violation during the simulation; in response to a determination that at least one node in the distribution network model causes a violation during the simulation, generating a constraint for the at least one node in the distribution network model determined to cause a violation during the simulation; initiating a re - execution of the economic dispatch application updated with the generated constraint to generate a new power schedule for a next iteration; if it is determined that no node in the distribution network model causes a violation during the simulation, outputting the power schedule; scheduling power generation by the distributed energy resources and charging of loads at the charging station based on the output power schedule; using at least one hardware processor to perform the above, wherein the method further includes: determining whether the output power schedule satisfies all loads in the charging schedule; in response to a determination that the output power schedule does not satisfy all loads in the charging schedule, adjusting the charging schedule for one or more loads based on priorities assigned to the one or more loads; initiating a re - execution of the economic dispatch application using the adjusted charging schedule, followed by at least one additional iteration. When it is determined that the output power schedule satisfies all the loads within the charging schedule, outputting the output power schedule as the final power schedule, wherein the scheduling of power generation by the distributed energy resources and charging of loads at the charging station is based on the final power schedule, and outputting using the at least one hardware processor to perform A method further comprising.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein changing the charging schedule includes reducing the amount of charging of at least one load having a lower priority than at least one other load.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein changing the charging schedule includes shifting the time at which at least one load is charged.

4. Changing the charging schedule for one or more loads based on the priority assigned to the one or more loads includes adjusting the charging amount or charging time of each of the one or more loads to prioritize critical loads over non-critical loads. The method according to claim 1.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the load at the charging station includes an electric vehicle.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more distributed energy resources include one or more of a solar power generator, a wind power generator, a fuel cell, a thermal power plant, a hydroelectric power plant, a gasoline generator, or a battery.

7. Scheduling power generation by the distributed energy resources includes controlling at least one of the one or more distributed energy resources to output power during one or more scheduled periods and not output power outside the one or more scheduled periods. The method according to claim 1.

8. Scheduling charging of loads at the charging station includes controlling at least one charging station to output power to connected loads during one or more scheduled periods and not output power outside the one or more scheduled periods. The method according to claim 1.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one constraint for at least one node in the power distribution network defines a voltage range in which the voltage of the at least one node must be maintained over all changes in the power setpoints during the power schedule.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the violation is a violation of a grid code that defines requirements that the charging station must meet.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the simulation includes a load flow analysis for the power distribution network model.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the power schedule includes setpoints for one or more nodes in the power distribution network model, and the load flow analysis is performed for each of the setpoints in the power schedule.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the charging of the power generation and load is further based on the charging schedule.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the violation includes a voltage violation or a current violation.

15. An energy management system comprising at least one hardware processor and software wherein the software, when executed by the at least one hardware processor, for each of one or more iterations, receiving a power schedule from an economic dispatch application for a charging station comprising one or more distributed energy resources, the power schedule specifying the power to be output from the one or more distributed energy resources to service a charging schedule for a load at the charging station; simulating the power schedule on a power distribution network model of the charging station, the simulation being performed to determine whether at least one node in the power distribution network model generates a violation during the simulation; in response to a determination that at least one node in the power distribution network model generates a violation during the simulation, generating a constraint for the at least one node in the power distribution network model determined to generate a violation during the simulation; To generate a new power schedule for the next iteration, start the re - execution of the economic dispatch application updated with the generated constraints, If it is determined that no node in the distribution network model violates during the simulation, output the power schedule, Based on the output power schedule, schedule the power generation by the distributed energy resources and the charging of the loads at the charging stations configured to perform, When the software is executed by the at least one hardware processor, Determine whether the output power schedule satisfies all the loads in the charging schedule, In response to the determination that the output power schedule does not satisfy all the loads in the charging schedule, Adjust the charging schedule for one or more loads based on the priorities assigned to the one or more loads, Start the re - execution of the economic dispatch application and subsequently at least one additional iteration using the adjusted charging schedule, If it is determined that the output power schedule satisfies all the loads in the charging schedule, output the output power schedule as the final power schedule, and the scheduling of the power generation by the distributed energy resources and the charging of the loads at the charging stations is based on the final power schedule and output An energy management system further configured to perform.

16. The load at the charging station includes an electric vehicle, and the one or more distributed energy resources include one or more of a solar power generator, a wind power generator, a fuel cell, a thermal power plant, a hydroelectric power plant, a gasoline generator, or a battery. The energy management system according to claim 15.

17. Scheduling the power generation by the distributed energy resources includes controlling at least one of the one or more distributed energy resources to output power during one or more scheduled periods and not output power outside the one or more scheduled periods, Scheduling the charging of loads at the charging base includes controlling at least one charging station to output power to loads connected during one or more scheduled periods and not to output power outside the one or more scheduled periods. The energy management system according to claim 15.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to For each of one or more iterations, Receiving a power schedule from an economic dispatch application for a charging base having one or more distributed energy resources, the power schedule specifying the power to be output from the one or more distributed energy resources to provide service to a charging schedule for loads at the charging base. Receiving, Simulating the power schedule on a distribution network model of the charging base, simulating to determine whether at least one node in the distribution network model generates a violation during the simulation. In response to a determination that at least one node in the distribution network model generates a violation during the simulation, Generating constraints for the at least one node in the distribution network model determined to generate a violation during the simulation. Initiating a re-execution of the economic dispatch application updated with the generated constraints to generate a new power schedule for the next iteration. If it is determined that no node in the distribution network model generates a violation during the simulation, outputting the power schedule. Scheduling power generation by the distributed energy resources and charging of loads at the charging base based on the output power schedule To perform, The instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to Determining whether the output power schedule satisfies all loads in the charging schedule. In response to a determination that the output power schedule does not satisfy all loads in the charging schedule, Adjusting the charging schedule for one or more loads based on the priorities assigned to the one or more loads; Initiating a re - execution of the economic dispatch application using the adjusted charging schedule and subsequently at least one additional iteration; When it is determined that the output power schedule satisfies all loads within the charging schedule, outputting the output power schedule as a final power schedule, wherein the scheduling of power generation by the distributed energy resources and charging of loads at the charging stations is based on the final power schedule; A non - transitory computer - readable medium that further causes the above to be performed.

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