Communication-enabled circuit breakers for demand response

Abstract

In one aspect, a power-on state parameter controls a state to which a communication-enabled circuit breaker is to power on. An example state is a SWITCH-OPEN state in which no substantive supply of power is provided to an output terminal of the breaker. In another aspect, a controller receives an indication of a power loss event and initiates a transition of communication-enabled circuit breaker(s) to a SWITCH-OPEN state. In another aspect, a communication-enabled main circuit breaker is configured to detect an outage of power, such as grid power, on line input terminal(s) on a line side of the main circuit breaker and transition a switch to electrically isolate the line input terminal(s) from load output terminal(s) and electrically isolate a load center from the power source. The main circuit breaker can also activate a backup power supply for the load center, thereby providing automatic transfer switch functionality.

Description

COMMUNICATION-ENABLED CIRCUIT BREAKERS FOR DEMANDRESPONSEBACKGROUND

[0001] Internet-connected solutions have been developed for residential and commercial electrical systems to add functionality and conveniences, for instance monitoring and analysis of energy consumption and production, remote-initiated circuit breaker switching, and sending of energy-related notifications, as examples. Some solutions provide an interface having software and hardware components for collection of real-time energy consumption data and control of smart (i.e., communication-enabled, for instance network-connected) circuit breakers. For instance, an energy monitoring and control device can integrate with a site’s electrical system, for instance the load center (also referred to as a load panel) and components thereof of a residential building, and include inputs for communicating and interacting with various other components.SUMMARY

[0002] Many sites are connected to a public electrical grid (‘utility’) for grid power but have an alternative power source, for instance a backup power source such as a solar, battery, or generator-based source of power, that can activate during a grid power (utility) outage. During a utility outage, the alternative power source is activated to supply power for the site. Taking a basic example of a residence with a main panel / load center having a connection to the local power grid and a backup generator, the generator may be activated to turn on and supply power to the main panel if an outage of the grid power is detected. However, the available backup power provided by the generator may be less than the potential load on the main load panel. To address this situation, an automatic transfer switch (ATS) can be installed to separate some circuits in one panel from the rest of the circuits in another panel. One panel can be ‘upstream’ of the transfer switch, with the second panel containing the circuits that are to be powered when the transfer switch is active during a grid power outage. In this manner, the load on the backup power source can be controlled by placing only some circuits, for example the critical, essential, or other desirable circuits, in the second panel that receives backup power. This approach addscomplexity and cost during installation, and forces decisions to be made at the time of installation that would require an electrician to change later on if incorrect circuits were chosen at the time of initial installation.

[0003] Demand response’ in the context of this document refers to a change in power consumption through load reduction. With the implementation of communication-enabled circuit breakers and software-controlled on / off functionality, installers and users can change demand response through software / mobile application configurations. In some cases, this functionality can reduce the demand response wiring topography to a single enclosure (panel), as the software or user could set only selected / critical circuits to ‘on’ during an outage scenario.

[0004] An energy monitoring and control device provided within a communication-enabled load center having communication-enabled breakers can function to provide demand response with the loss of utility power to coordinate an appropriate demand on backup power production. This can be provided without the need for two load centers, as discussed above, and achieved using an interface that can execute demand response based on triggering events, such as physical contact open or close (usually associated with a detected power outage), scheduling, or commands.

[0005] A technical challenge is presented even in some communication-enabled breaker installations due to the potential of a high initially demand being placed on the backup power source, for instance a generator or inverter, until one or more entities, such as the energy monitoring and control device, initiates and / or performs demand response actions that reduce the draw on the backup power source by removing power to selected loads, for instance high-consuming or non-critical circuits. In an example scenario, a collection of circuits in the main load panel remain on during normal operation. In the event of a grid power outage and power transfer to a backup power source, these breakers may be in the ON state until the energy monitoring and control device (as an example) sends command(s) to those communication-enabled breakers that are to switch off during the backup power condition. However, until such loads are shed, the potential exists for high-demand and / or non-critical loads to be active (consuming power) and to consequentlyoverload the backup power source and cause a backup power source shutdown or other undesirable event.

[0006] Aspects disclosed herein provide for distinguishing certain communication-enabled breakers from others in terms of whether they are to be powered during backup power conditions. Some may be designated to receive backup power and are referred to herein as essential, critical, or desired breakers, circuits, or loads. Others may be designated to not receive backup power, and are referred to herein as non-essential or standard breakers, circuits, or loads.

[0007] As one example, aspects described herein provide a breaker power-on (alternatively referred to as ‘power-up’) state option / parameter that is used to control a state to which the communication-enabled circuit breaker is to power on from a nonenergized state. The power-on state parameter can be set to direct the communication- enabled circuit breaker to power on to any of various available states. One such state is a ‘SWITCH-OPEN’ state, which opens a connection within the breaker between the power supply and a branch circuit. For instance, the breaker has a switch coupled between a line input terminal configured to be coupled to a supply of power and a load output terminal configured to be coupled to a circuit, the switch being at least part of the breaker’s control of the conduction of a supply of power to the load output terminal. The power-on state parameter can be changed / preset by, as an example, the energy monitoring and control device. Thus, prior to a loss of power, each communication-enabled circuit breaker with this option can be programmed to restore from a loss of power to the SWITCH-OPEN state so as to prevent the breaker, and consequently the circuit and individual load(s) thereon, from being energized when the breaker powers-on from an outage situation using alternative or backup power. This state can be maintained until the demand response condition, for instance the grid outage condition and reliance on backup power, is no longer active.

[0008] In some examples, the option is provided as part of a breaker power-on state parameter that is selectable between (at least) three options: one to power on to the breaker’s last state (i.e., its power state prior to temporary loss of power to the breaker), one to power on to the SWITCH-OPEN state, and one the power on to a SWITCH-CLOSED state in which the switch is closed. Using the power-on to SWITCH-OPEN state, breakers for circuits / loads with potentially large demand canbe preprogrammed to remain in a non-tripped but SWITCH-OPEN state until commanded to turn on by the energy monitoring and control device. The power-on to SWITCH-OPEN state enables users to isolate loads within a load center, and optionally eliminate an ATS setup if desired, as described herein.

[0009] An example proposed solution has the following elements:-(i) an interface, for instance an energy monitoring and control device, that receives a demand response activation to activate a demand response, e.g., shedding of circuits / loads, and a demand response restore to restore to normal operation in which power to the shed circuits / loads is restored;-(ii) communication-enabled breakers with SWITCH-OPEN and SWITCH- CLOSED state capabilities;-(iii) the ability to set a communication-enabled breaker to restore from an outage / loss of power to the SWITCH-OPEN state; and-(iv) the ability of the interface to communicate a desired state to which the breaker should be powered-on for demand response and restoration.

[0010] Shortcomings of the prior art are overcome and additional advantages are provided through the provision of a communication-enabled circuit breaker. The communication-enabled circuit breaker includes a line input terminal configured to be coupled to a supply of power, a load output terminal configured to be coupled to a branch circuit, a switch coupled between the line input terminal and the load output terminal, the switch controlling, at least partially, conduction of the supply of power to the load output terminal, a memory, and a processing circuit in communication with the memory. The communication-enabled circuit breaker is configured to maintain a power-on state parameter to control a state to which the communication- enabled circuit breaker is to power on from a non-energized state. The power-on state parameter may be set for the communication-enabled circuit breaker to power on to a SWITCH-OPEN state in which no substantive supply of power is provided to the load output terminal. The communication-enabled circuit breaker is further configured to power-on the communication-enabled circuit breaker to the SWITCH-OPEN state based on a restore of the supply of power to the communication-enabled circuit breaker, and on the power-on state parameter being set for the communication-enabled circuit breaker to power-on to the SWITCH-OPEN state. Based on powering- on the communication-enabled circuit breaker, no substantive supply of power is provided to the load output terminal while the communication-enabled circuit breaker remains in the SWITCH-OPEN state after powering-on.

[0011] In a further embodiment, a controller is provided that includes a memory and a processing circuit in communication with the memory. The controller is configured to program a power-on state parameter of a communication-enabled circuit breaker that includes a line input terminal configured to be coupled to a supply of power, and a load output terminal configured to be coupled to a branch circuit. The communication-enabled circuit breaker is configured to use the power-on state parameter to control a state to which the communication-enabled circuit breaker is to power on from a non-energized state, where programming the power-on state parameter programs the communication-enabled circuit breaker to power on to a SWITCH-OPEN state in which a switch of the communication-enabled circuit breaker between the line input terminal and the load output terminal opens and no substantive supply of power is provided to the load output terminal.

[0012] In yet another embodiment, a controller is provided that includes a memory and a processing circuit in communication with the memory. The controller is configured to receive an indication of a power loss event in which a supply of power to a load center transitions from a first power source, as the supply of power, to a second power source as the supply of power, and initiate a transition of a communication-enabled circuit breaker installed into the load center to a SWITCHOPEN state in which a switch of the communication-enabled circuit breaker between a line input terminal of the communication-enabled circuit breaker and a load output terminal of the communication-enabled circuit breaker remains open and no supply of power is provided to the load output terminal, where the initiating includes sending a communication to the communication-enabled circuit breaker.

[0013] Additional aspects of the present disclosure are directed to systems, methods and computer program products configured to perform aspects described herein. The present summary is not intended to illustrate each aspect of, every implementation of, and / or every embodiment of the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the concepts described herein.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Aspects described herein are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed as examples in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the disclosure are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0015] FIG. 1 depicts an example communication-enabled circuit breaker and panel system to incorporate and / or use aspects described herein;

[0016] FIG. 2 depicts an example communication-enabled circuit breaker to incorporate and / or use aspects described herein;

[0017] FIG. 3 illustrates a communication-enabled circuit breaker controller to incorporate and / or use aspects described herein;

[0018] FIGS. 4A-4D depict example environments with backup power arrangements;

[0019] FIGS. 5A-5D depict example environment to incorporate and use aspects described herein;

[0020] FIG. 6 depicts an example wiring architecture of a communication-enabled electrical system to incorporate and / or use aspects described herein;

[0021] FIG. 7 depicts an example of a communication-enabled main breaker, in accordance with aspects described herein;

[0022] FIG. 8 depicts an example environment incorporating a battery storage alternative power source, to incorporate and use aspects described herein;

[0023] FIG. 9 depicts another example environment incorporating a battery storage alternative power source, to incorporate and use aspects described herein;

[0024] FIGS. 10-11 depict example environments incorporating a generator alternative power source, to incorporate and use aspects described herein; and

[0025] FIG. 12 depicts an example computing environment to incorporate and / or use aspects described herein.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] As context for aspects described herein, many countries have an electric grid infrastructure that provides a source of power, typically alternating current (“AC”) power. Residences and other buildings (‘sites’) are connected to the grid for a single or multi-phase AC source that feeds into a main circuit breaker panel (also referred to as a Toad center’, Toad panel’, ‘main panel’, or the like), and some sites have alternative sources of power, for instance alternative sources that act as backup power sources during utility grid outages. Load centers include circuit breakers that typically include one main breaker and collection of branch circuit breakers through which branch circuits are fed power.

[0027] Further details about circuit breakers, including communication-enabled circuit breakers, are now provided. Circuit breakers provide protection in electrical systems by disconnecting a load from a power supply. Disconnection might occur based on certain fault conditions, such as ground fault, arc fault, or overcurrent, as examples. In general, circuit breakers can monitor characteristics of the electrical power supplied to downstream components and optionally respond by taking or triggering actions.

[0028] A branch circuit breaker, for example, monitors characteristics of the power supplied to a branch circuit. The circuit breaker functions to automatically interrupt, open, ‘trip’, or ‘break’ the connection between the power supply and the branch circuit when fault conditions (e.g., arc faults, ground faults, and unsafe overcurrent levels) are detected on the supplied branch, e.g., automatically open a switch to disconnect the branch from the power supply when such fault conditions are detected. An operating switch associated with the circuit breaker is provided to allow for manually opening and closing contacts of the circuit breaker. The operating switch is also typically used to reset the circuit breaker after the circuit breaker has tripped due to a detected fault condition.

[0029] Remote communication with communication-enabled circuit breakers and communication-enabled breaker panels, referred to interchangeably herein as “smartcircuit breakers” and “smart breaker panels”, is possible. The remote communication may be accomplished using wired and / or wireless communication link(s). In some implementations, remote communication with the communication-enabled circuit panel and / or breaker(s) thereof is made possible through the Internet. For example, one or more devices coupled to the Internet may communicate with the communication-enabled circuit breakers / panels. In another implementation, a computing device may directly communicate (e.g., via a personal area network (PAN) or mesh network, as examples) to one or more of the communication-enabled circuit breakers / panels, thereby eliminating the necessity of communicating through a wide area network (WAN), e.g., the Internet. In some implementations, communication- enabled circuit breakers may be controlled remotely. For example, a computing device coupled to the communication-enabled circuit breakers may be used to remotely control the communication-enabled circuit breakers. In some implementations, the computing device may remotely trip or disable one or more of the communication-enabled circuit breakers. In some implementations, the computing device may remotely reset or enable one or more of the communication-enabled circuit breakers. In some examples, the computing device may remotely view and / or determine a status of the breaker. It is noted that the term “reset” may be used interchangeably with the term “set” when referring to manipulating the status of the breaker.

[0030] FIG. 1 depicts an example communication-enabled circuit breaker and panel system 100. The communication-enabled circuit breaker and panel system 100 includes a circuit breaker panel (load center) 102. The circuit breaker panel 102 may include any number of communication-enabled circuit breakers 104- n, where n is a positive integer. For example, system 100 is depicted including communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1, 104-2, 104-3, 104-4, 104-5, 104- 6, 104-7, 104-8, 104-9 and 104-10. It is noted that system 100 is depicted with communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 for purposes of clarity and not limitation. For example, system 100 can include panel 102 having any number (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, or more) of communication-enabled circuit breakers 104- n. Additionally, panel 102 may include both communication-enabled circuit breakers (e.g., 104-1 to 104-10) as well as conventional circuit breakers (those that are not communication-enabled), not shown.

[0031] Additionally, although each of the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 are labeled as breaker 104, it is to be understood that communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 are not necessarily identical. For example, communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-1 may be a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) device; communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-2 may be an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) device; communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-3 may be a conventional overcurrent circuit breaker, an overcurrent hydraulic-magnetic circuit breaker, an overcurrent thermal magnetic circuit breaker, or the like; communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-4 may include both GFCI and AFCI functionalities. Furthermore, each of the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 may be rated for a predefined trip amperage or overcurrent state, and not necessarily the same predefined trip amperage or overcurrent state.

[0032] Communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 may be shaped and sized differently. For example, communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-1 may be a double pole circuit breaker having a 2-inch width (as an example); communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-2 may be a single circuit breaker having a 1-inch width (in one example); communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-2 may be a circuit breaker having a3 / 4-inch width (as an example); communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-2 may be a circuit breaker having a 1.5-inch width (as an example); etc. The width of the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104- 10 refers to the shorter side of the generally rectangular visible face of the wireless circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 once it is installed in the circuit breaker panel 102.

[0033] Each of the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 may include communication components (as explained further with reference to FIG. 2), which, in some examples, can be components for wireless communication between the breakers and other devices. Such communication components associated with each of the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 may enable the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 to communicate (e.g., send and / or receive information elements including data, indications of operating conditions, instructions, updated fault interruption instructions, or the like) using any of a variety of communication standards. For example, in the case of wireless communication, circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 can include wireless communication components arranged to communicate via a wireless communication protocol, such asBluetooth® Low Energy (BLE), thus enabling the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 to communicate using BLE communication schemes. In the case of wired communication, the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104- 1 to 104-10 can include wired communication components arranged to communicate via a wired communication protocol, e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) or Media Transmission Protocol (MTP), thus enabling the wired circuit breakers to communicate using a wired communication scheme.

[0034] The circuit breaker panel 102 further houses a circuit breaker controller 106. An example of a circuit breaker controller is an energy monitoring and control device, such as an energy monitoring and control device as discussed elsewhere herein. The circuit breaker controller 106 may include communication components (refer, for example, to FIG. 3). In an alternative embodiment, the circuit breaker controller 106 is coupled to the circuit breaker panel 102 in an external arrangement. For example, the controller 106 could be housed in a different panel than panel 102 or disposed external to the panel 102. The communication components associated with the circuit breaker controller 106 may enable the controller 106 to communicate (e.g., send and / or receive information elements including data, indications of operating conditions, instructions, updated fault interruption instructions, or the like) using any of a variety of communication standards.

[0035] In general, the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104- 10 and the wireless circuit breaker controller 106 (and particularly, the wireless communication components of these devices) can be arranged to communicate using a variety of communication technologies, which may be wireless or wired in nature. For example, the circuit breaker controller 106 can be arranged to communicate via ZigBee®, Z-Wave, Bluetooth®, Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE), 6LowPan, Thread, Cellular, SigFox®, Near-field Communication (NFC), Neul, LoRaWAN, or the like (ZIGBEE is a trademark of the Connectivity Standards Alliance of California, USA; Z-WAVE is a trademark of Z-Wave Alliance, Inc. of Delaware, USA; BLUETOOTH is a trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc. of Delaware, USA; SIGFOX is a trademark of UnaBiz Pte Ltd of Labege, France). In some implementations, the communication- enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 and the circuit breaker controller 106 may communicate via wired (as opposed to wireless) technologies. For example, thecommunication-enabled circuit breakers 104 may be communicatively coupled via a wired link to the circuit break controller 106.

[0036] The circuit breaker controller 106 may be configured to communicate via multiple communication components. For example, circuit breaker controller 106 may be configured to communicate with communication-enabled circuit breakers 104- 1 to 104-10 via BLE as described above. Additionally, the circuit breaker controller 106 can be configured to communicate (e.g., send and / or receive information elements including data, indications of operating conditions, instructions, updated fault interruption instructions, or the like) via a second wireless communication scheme or via a wired communication scheme. For example, circuit breaker controller 106 could include wireless communication components arranged to wirelessly communicate via Wi-Fi technology, thus enabling the circuit breaker controller 106 to communicate using Wi-Fi communication schemes (WI-FI is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance of California, USA). Accordingly, the circuit breaker controller 106 can communicate with devices external to the circuit breaker panel 102 via wireless channel 108, for example, using Wi-Fi communication schemes. In general, however, the circuit breaker controller 106 may be enabled to communicate with devices external to the circuit breaker panel 102 using any suitable type of communication technology, either wireless or wired (e.g., BLE, 4G, LTE, WiFi, USB, RS232, MTP, etc ).

[0037] Component(s) of circuit breaker panel 102 may communicate (e.g., wirelessly or wired) with one or more remote entities 120. For example, the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104 and / or the circuit breaker controller 106 of panel 102 may communicate wirelessly with a mobile device 110 (e.g., tablet computer, mobile phone, etc.), a computing device 112 (desktop computer, server, etc.) and / or the Internet 114 (e.g., a server device or computing device linked to the Internet). For example, the communication- enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 can communicate with the circuit breaker controller 106, which can itself wirelessly communicate with any one of remote entities 120. It is noted that remote entities 120 are depicted including mobile device 110, computing device 112, and Internet 114. However, remote entities 120 could include just a single device or entity remote to circuit breaker panel 120. The term remote entities 120 is used herein to refer to one or more devicesremote to the panel 120, such as, for example, mobile device 110, computing device 112, and Internet 114. Furthermore, although the term remote entity 120 is sometimes used herein in the plural, it is not intended to imply or denote multiple devices or multiple entities remote to panel 102 but could simply refer to a single entity remote to the system (e.g., just the Internet 114, just the mobile device 110, or the like).

[0038] In some examples, the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104- 1 to 104-10 can directly couple to remote entities 120. For example, the mobile device 110 can communicate directly (e.g., via BLE) with at least one of the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10. In addition, the circuit breaker panel 102 (e.g., via the circuit breaker controller 116) may include wireline connectivity functionality, such as an Ethernet port, to enable wireline communication with one or more remote entities. In some implementations, the communication- enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 may establish a mesh network. For example, communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-1 may share a wireless connection with a remote entity 120 with communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-2. Furthermore, in such a mesh network topology, communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-2 may share the wireless connection to the remote entity 120 with communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-3 and communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-4. Therefore, using the mesh network topology, the wireless connection to the remote entity 120 may be shared between the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104- 1 to 104-10. The mesh network may be implemented in accordance with wireless communication schemes, or standards, such as, BLE standards, Wi-Fi standards, or the like. In some examples, the mesh network can be implemented in accordance with the Bluetooth Core Specification (e.g., Bluetooth Specification Version 4.2, 5.0, or the like). In some examples, the mesh network can be implemented in accordance with a combination of the Bluetooth Core Specification (e.g., Bluetooth Specification Version 4.2, 5.0, or the like) and proprietary mesh network overlay. In some examples, multiple systems 100, or more specifically, multiple controllers 106 from different, adjacent, related, or the like panel systems 102 might be coupled via a mesh network as detailed herein. As an example, a circuit breaker controller 106 from a main panel 102 might be communicatively coupled to a circuit breakercontroller 106 of a sub-panel 102 via a mesh network provided by communication- enabled circuit breakers 104 from both the main and sub-panels 102.

[0039] As described above, the circuit breaker controller 106 may communicate, or exchange signals, including data, information, or information elements including indications of operating conditions, fault detection events, fault signatures, updated fault detection logic, or the like between communication-enabled circuit breakers 104- 1 to 104-10 and remote entities 120. Various examples of the exchange of such signals and processing performed based thereon are provided herein.

[0040] In some embodiments, a remote entity 120 (e.g., mobile device 110, computing device 112, Internet 114, or the like) may include a storage 116 configured to store a database 118. Database 118 can store accounts and profiles associated with circuit breaker panels 102 deployed at various locations. In some implementations, the profiles may indicate the location (e.g., physical address, service address, location within the building of the service address, or the like) of deployed circuit breaker panels 102. In some implementations, an account can be associated with multiple circuit breaker panels 102, each of which can be deployed at the same service address or different service addresses. In some implementations, the profiles can include indications of the number, position, type (e.g., GFCI and / or AFCI), or the like of communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 deployed in the circuit breaker panels 102. In some implementations, the profiles can include indications of the type of load or branch circuit to which the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 are attached. In examples, the type can refer to, encompass, or include an indication of whether a given load or branch circuit is essential or non- essential to facilitate aspects described herein.

[0041] In some implementations, homeowners, business entities, manufacturers and / or electricians may have access to the accounts and profiles stored in the database 118. Entities may gain access to the database 118 by way of the mobile device 110, the computing device 112 and / or the Internet 114. The accounts and profiles may be password-protected, so that only authorized users may gain access to the accounts and profiles stored in the database 118.

[0042] For example, a user may establish an account with database 118 provider (e.g., cloud data provider, manufacturer, or the like). Each such account may havepermissions or roles assigned to the account. For example, a service technician may have a role of “technician” assigned to his account and may be associated with multiple panel system 102. As such, the user can access / manage / view or otherwise manipulate data in database 118 for the multiple panel systems 102. As another example, a homeowner may associate multiple properties with his account. Thus, the homeowner can access / manage / view or otherwise manipulate data in database 118 for the panel systems 102 associated with the homeowner's properties. In some examples, a user may be assigned a role with limited access privileges, such as, for example, privileges may be limited to viewing historical data and receiving alerts only but changing settings (e.g., alert settings, upgrade breaker firmware, etc.) may be denied. For example, a landlord may establish a profile for a tenant in which a tenant might access historical data and receive alerts but not make changes to the components of the panel system.

[0043] As another example, a commercial technician or maintenance group might have an account in which locations (e.g., multiple panels systems each with multiple branch locations) are accessible to the commercial groups account. In some examples, manufactures of the communication-enabled circuit breakers and / or circuit breaker controller may establish a cloud account and may aggregate data from multiple cloud account (e.g., based on similar installed equipment, similar branch circuit types, similar loads, etc.), such aggregated data may be used by the manufacturer to improve services and / or devices as described herein, such as, for example, upgrading firmware for breakers, or the like.

[0044] Additionally, a cloud account may establish alert settings (e.g., alert location (e.g., email, text, phone call, or the like). Alerts may be triggered based on the historical data (e.g., events, electrical parameters, breaker diagnostics, breaker cycling On / Off, or the like).

[0045] The database 118 may store historical data related to the panel 102 and particularly the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 deployed in panel 102. Such historical data can be based on data or information received from communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10, such as, for example, data including indications of operating conditions of the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10. In general, the historical data may be used in deciding to:(1) update fault interrupter instructions associated with one or more communication- enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10, (2) calibrate one or more communication- enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10, (3) predict faults on branch circuits coupled to one or more wireless circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10, (4) predict failure of loads coupled to branch circuits coupled to one or more wireless circuit breakers 104- 1 to 104-10, etc. It is worth noting that database 118 can be stored in the cloud (e.g., accessible via Internet 114), on remote entity 120, on controller 106, or stored local to communication-enabled circuit breakers 104. For example, in some instances, each of communication-enabled circuit breakers 104 may include a memory arranged to “log” or capture events, electrical parameters, or other metrics as detailed herein.

[0046] As described above, communication-enabled circuit breakers 104, circuit breaker controller 106, and remote entities 120 may be arranged to communicate via either wired or wireless communication protocols and technologies. For clarity of presentation, the following examples depict and describe communication-enabled circuit breakers 104 and a circuit breaker controller 106 arranged to communicate via wireless communication protocols. As such, many of the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104 described in the following examples are referred to as “wireless circuit breakers” 104. Likewise, the circuit breaker controller 106 may be referred to as a “wireless circuit breaker controller” 106. This is not intended to be limiting and the example breakers, controller, remote entities, techniques, and systems depicted and described below can be implemented with wired communication technologies without departing from scope of the disclosure. Additionally, the wireless circuit breakers 104 and the wireless circuit breaker controller 106 are described herein to communicate via BLE for purposes of convenience and clarity of presentation. This is also not intended to be limiting.

[0047] With some implementations, access to database 118 can be facilitated and / or provided via a graphical user interface (GUI) or user interface (UI). Thus, a user can determine, via the GUI and / or UI a status of the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10, initiate tripping or setting of the communication- enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10, view a historical power consumption of the panel 102, each of the communication-enabled circuit breaker 104-1 to 104-10, or the like.

[0048] The storage 116 may be a computer readable or machine-readable storage medium may include any tangible media capable of storing electronic data, including volatile memory or non-volatile memory, removable or non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasable memory, writeable or re-writeable memory, and so forth. The storage 116 may also include computer executable instructions. Examples of computer executable instructions may include any suitable type of code, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, object-oriented code, visual code, and the like. The examples are not limited in this context. The storage 116 may be one or more memory chips capable of storing data and allowing any storage location to be directly accessed by a processor / processing circuit linked to the storage 116, such as any type or variant of Static random-access memory (SRAM), Dynamic random access memory (DRAM), Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), NAND Flash, NOR Flash and Solid State Drives (SSD). The database 118 may be stored in the one or more memory chips.

[0049] System 100 may further include auxiliary sensors 130, which may be disposed within circuit breaker panel 102 or external to circuit breaker panel 102. For example, system 100 is depicted including auxiliary sensors 130-1 and 130-2 disposed within panel 102 and auxiliary sensors 130-3 and 130-4 disposed external to panel 102. Auxiliary sensor 130 can communicatively couple to circuit breaker controller 106 via any of the wired or wireless communication schemes discussed herein. In general, auxiliary sensors 130 can be any sensor, such as, for example, a temperature sensor, a current sensor, a humidity sensor, a light sensor, a proximity sensor, a motion sensor, etc. Furthermore, auxiliary sensors 130 may correspond to Intemet-of-Things (loT) type devices or other “smart” systems. For example, an alarm system might be coupled to controller 106 and arranged to provide controller 106 with indications (e.g., via motion sensors, smart door locks, etc.) of the environment in which the system 100 is deployed. As another example, auxiliary sensor could be a GPS sensor coupled to a mobile device. The GPS sensor could provide location input to the controller 106 such that controller 106 may implement various features detailed herein based on such location input, often referred to as “geo-fencing”. As another example, auxiliary sensor 130 could be a smart thermostat coupled to a heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) system. The smart thermostat may provide an input to controller 106 and controller 106 may actuate (e.g., turn OFF,turn ON) a breaker associated with the branch circuit that feeds the HVAC system. Examples are not limited in these contexts.

[0050] It is noted that the present disclosure may be implemented with a combination of conventional circuit breakers and communication-enabled circuit breakers as described herein. Thus, for example, a conventional panel might be upgraded where conventional circuit breakers for one or more branch circuits are replaced with communication-enabled circuit breakers as detailed herein.

[0051] FIG. 2 depicts an example communication-enabled circuit breaker to incorporate and / or use aspects described herein. FIG. 2 illustrates a wireless circuit breaker 200 in accordance with an embodiment. In some examples, the wireless circuit breaker 200 can be implemented as any one of the communication-enabled circuit breakers 104-1 to 104-10 of the system 100 of FIG. 1. Generally, the wireless circuit breaker 200 may be used in a wide range of commercial, residential, and industrial circuit breaker panels. The wireless circuit breaker 200 may be configured to operate in conjunction with different electrical power distribution systems, including single-phase, split-phase, 3 -phase delta, and 3 -phase star. These systems may operate at any suitable voltage such as 120 / 240 (120 V phase-wewtra / , 240 phase- to-phase), 120 / 208, 265 / 460, 277 / 480.

[0052] The wireless circuit breaker 200 includes multiple connections or “terminals”, for instance at least one line input terminal and at least one load output terminal. Specifically, wireless circuit breaker 200 is depicted including a line side phase connection 202, a line side neutral connection 203, a load side phase connection 204, and a load side neutral connection 205. The line side phase connection 202 and line side neutral connection 203 are coupled to a power source. The load side power phase connection 204 and load side neutral connection 205 are coupled to a load. Thus, current can enter the wireless circuit breaker 200 via the line side phase connection 202, exit the wireless circuit breaker 200 via the load side phase connection 204, return to the wireless circuit breaker 200 via load side neutral connection 205, and travel back to the power source via line side neutral connection 203. The line side phase connection 202 and neutral connection 203 may be coupled to a power source such as an electrical utility grid. The load side phase connection 204 and the load side neutral connection 205 may be coupled to a branchcircuit that may feed a load (e.g., HVAC system, refrigerator, TV, etc.). It is noted that although only one line-side phase connection and one load-side phase connection are depicted in the example of FIG. 2, circuit breakers, including communication- enabled circuit breakers, may have more than one line-side phase connection and / or more than one load-side phase connection.

[0053] The wireless circuit breaker 200 may include a power supply 207. The power supply 207 receives an input power from the line side phase connection 202 and the line side neutral connection 203. The power supply 207 converts, in some implementations, an AC voltage to a regulated DC voltage for use by some or all the electrical components associated with the wireless circuit breaker 200. To that end, the voltage provided by the power supply 207 may be uninterrupted even when the wireless circuit breaker 200 is caused to trip because of a trip incident. In some examples, the power supply 207 includes circuitry to condition the current and / or voltage supplied to the electrical components of the wireless circuit breaker 200. In some examples, power supply 207 includes a fuse, which can in some embodiments be replaceable, to protect the power supply 207 and wireless circuit breaker 200 from overcurrent conditions. In some examples, the power supply 207 itself includes a circuit breaker to protect the power supply 207 and wireless circuit breaker 200 from overcurrent conditions. In some examples, power supply 207 itself includes a circuit breaker to protect the power supply 207 and wireless circuit breaker 200 from overcurrent conditions. With some examples, power supply 207 can be arranged to compensate for various electrical conditions that may be present on the input line for the panel system 102. For example, power supply 207 could be arranged to compensate for under-voltage conditions, filter interference, or the like.

[0054] A memory 208 is disposed in the wireless circuit breaker 200. The memory 208 may comprise an article of manufacture. In some examples, the memory 208 may include any non-transitory computer readable medium or machine readable medium, such as an optical, magnetic or semiconductor storage. The memory 208 may store various types of computer executable instructions 210. The memory 208 may be coupled to a processor / processing circuit 212. The processor 212 could be any of a variety of processors, such as, for example, a central processing unit, a microprocessor, a field programmable gate array, an applicationspecific integrated circuit, or the like. The processor 212 can be arranged to execute instructions 210 to aid in performing one or more techniques described herein.

[0055] In some implementations, the memory 208 is configured to store program code, for instance instructions, and, by way of specific example, fault interrupter instructions 210-1. The processor 212 can be arranged to execute fault interrupter instructions 210-1 to aid in performing one or more techniques described herein (e.g., cause the wireless circuit breaker 200 to trip, cause the wireless circuit breaker 200 to set, wirelessly transmit data related to a trip incident (e.g., a signature of a detected fault) to a remote entity 120, or the like). Additionally, the memory 208 is configured to store power metering instructions 210-2. The processor 212 can be arranged to execute power metering instructions 210-2 to aid in performing one or more techniques described herein, such as, cause the wireless circuit breaker 200 to collect operating metrics (e.g., current measurements, voltage measurements, power measurements, or the like) and send the collected operating metrics to a remote entity 120 (e.g., directly or via controller 106, or the like).

[0056] In some examples, the wireless circuit breaker 200 could be provisioned with more than one set of fault interrupter instructions 210-1. For example, memory 208 could store different sets (or types) of fault interrupter instructions 210- 1 while processor 212 could be arranged to execute a selected one of the sets of fault interrupter instructions 210-1 depending upon certain condition(s), e.g., whether the building in which the panel is coupled is occupied, whether the building in which the panel is coupled is under constructions, a time of day, a time of year, a geographic location of the panel, or the like.

[0057] The wireless circuit breaker 200 includes a fault interrupter 214 or a “circuit interrupter” 214. In some implementations, the fault interrupter 214 is operable to interrupt faults (e.g., decouple the load side phase connection 204 from the line side phase connection 202) based in part on the fault interrupter instructions 210 stored in the memory 208. As used herein, the term “fault” could include any of a variety of conditions with which it may be desirable for the wireless circuit breaker 200 to disconnect the line side connection from the load side connection. For example, “fault” may be a fault within the breaker, a fault on the load side, a fault on the line side, or the like. As another example, “fault” may be a groundfault, an arc fault, an overcurrent fault, or the like. Examples are not limited in these contexts. The fault interrupter 214 may comprise various hardware elements. In some examples, the fault interrupter 214 includes at least a trip solenoid and / or an energy storage element to trip the trip solenoid and cause the line side connection 202 to decouple from load side connection 204. In further examples, the fault interrupter 214 can include a reset solenoid and / or energy storage element to set the breaker 200 and cause the line side connection 202 to couple to the load side connection 204.

[0058] The fault interrupter instructions 210 may be executed (e.g., by fault interrupter 214, by processor 212, or the like) to cause the trip solenoid to break current flowing from the line side phase connection 202 to the load side phase connection 204 in specific conditions or to cause the trip solenoid to restore current flowing from the line side phase connection 202 to the load side phase connection 204 in specific conditions. For example, when the current exceeds a threshold defined by the fault interrupter instructions 210. In another example, the fault interrupter 214 includes functionality, controllable by way of the fault interrupter instructions 210, to sense characteristics of a line current, for example an amount of current, a frequency of the current, high-frequency current components, dynamic distribution of the frequency components over time and within a half cycle of a power line frequency, various profiles of power line characteristics, etc. As another example, the fault interrupter 214 includes functionality, controllable by way of the fault interrupter instructions 210, to set the breaker 200, such as, upon receipt of a control signal from a remote entity 120 where the control signal includes an indication to set the breaker.

[0059] The fault interrupter 214 may be sensitive to radio frequency (RF) signals (i.e., wireless signals). Therefore, the fault interrupter 214 may be partially or completely surrounded by an RF shielding 216. The RF shielding 216 may comprise any suitable material such as ferrous material, to attenuate wireless signals. In some implementations, the RF shielding 216 shields the fault interrupter 214 from wireless signals generated by the: wireless circuit breaker 200, other wireless circuit breakers 200, wireless circuit breaker controller 106, and / or entities external of the circuit breaker panel 102.

[0060] The wireless circuit breaker 200 includes wireless communication components 218. The wireless communication components 218 enable the wireless circuit breaker 200 to communicate wirelessly using any suitable type of wireless communication technology, such as that described herein. The wireless communication components 218 may include at least a radio 226, an antenna 224, and processor 222. In general, the radio 226 can be any radio configured to communicate using a wireless transmission scheme, such as, for example, BLE. The antenna 224 can be coupled to the radio 226 and configured to emit and receive RF signals. For example, the antenna 224 can emit RF signals received from the radio 226 (or radio transceiver circuitry, which is not depicted for clarity) coupled between the radio 226 and the antenna 224. The antenna 224 could be any of a variety of antennas (or antenna arrays) having different shapes and / or configurations arranged to emit / receive RF signals on a frequency, range of frequencies, or the like. Furthermore, the antenna 224 could be internal to the housing 228 of the wireless circuit breaker 200 or external to the housing 228 or packing of the breaker 200. The processor 222 can be any of a variety of processors (e.g., application processor, baseband processors, etc.) arranged to perform at least transmission and reception of wireless signals associated with the wireless circuit breaker 200.

[0061] As described, the wireless communication components 218 receives power from the power supply 207, which is coupled to the line side phase connection. Therefore, the wireless communication components 218 enable the wireless circuit breaker 200 to communicate wirelessly even if the fault interrupter 214 interrupts current flowing between the line side phase connection 202 and the load side phase connection 204.

[0062] An indicator may be implemented on the wireless circuit breaker 200. The indicator may be any suitable type of indicator such as a visual or audible indicator including but not limited to, an LED, neon bulb, and / or piezoelectric buzzer. In the present embodiment, the indicator is a light emitting diode (LED) 220. The LED 220 may be illuminated to a predefined color, illumination pattern, and / or illumination frequency, when the wireless circuit breaker 200 is in an update mode. The update mode indicates that the wireless circuit breaker 200 is ready to receive updated fault interrupter instructions for storage in the memory 208 from a remote entity 120. In some implementations, when the wireless circuit breaker 200 is anupdate mode, the wireless circuit breaker 200 is open or tripped. In some implementations, when the wireless circuit breaker 200 is an update mode, the wireless circuit breaker 200 is unable to provide tripping functionality.

[0063] The wireless circuit breaker 200 may comprises a housing 228. The housing 228 may be a miniature circuit breaker (MCB) housing. In some implementations, the MCB housing has a width of 1 inch. It is noted that the dimensions of the breakers are given for example only. Breaker widths could be any width, e.g., ’ / ’-inch,3 / 4-inch, 1-inch, I’A-inches, 2-inches, or the like.

[0064] In some implementations, the wireless circuit breaker 200 includes a current sensor 230. In general, the current sensor 230 provides a signal that is proportional to current flowing in either the line side phase connection 202 or the load side phase connection 204. The signal generated by the current sensor 230 may be provided to the processor 212. In some implementations, the wireless circuit breaker 200 may also include a voltage sensor 232. The voltage sensor 232 can be coupled to line side phase connection 202 or the load side phase connection 204 and configured to measure a voltage applied to the line side phase connection 202 or the load side phase connection 204. The voltage sensor 232 may provide a signal representing a voltage on the line side phase connection 202 or the load side phase connection 204. The signal representing the voltage on the line side phase connection 202 or the load side phase connection 204 may be provided to the processor 212. In some implementations, the wireless circuit breaker 200 may also include a temperature sensor 234. The temperature sensor 234 may be arranged to sense an ambient air temperature proximate to the current sensor 230. Furthermore, the temperature sensor 234 may be arranged to sense a temperature of the ambient air within the housing 228. Furthermore, the temperature sensor 234 may be a combination temperature and humidity sensor arranged to further sense a humidity level within the housing 228. The temperature sensor 234 may convert the sensed temperatures and / or humidity levels to one or more signals that may be provided to the processor 212.

[0065] As described, the processor 212 can be arranged to execute power metering instructions 210-1 to aid in performing one or more techniques described herein. For example, the processor 212 can cause the wireless circuit breaker 200 tocollect signals indicative of current between the line side phase connection 202 and the load side phase connection 204. Additionally, the processor 212 can cause the wireless circuit breaker 200 to collect signals indicative of current and a voltage on the line side phase connection 202. Additionally, the processor 212 can cause the wireless circuit breaker 200 to obtain and / or calculate metering information based on the sensed current, sensed voltage, or both). Those collected current or current and voltage signals may be provided by the current sensor 230 and the voltage sensor 232, respectively. Furthermore, the processor 212 can cause the wireless circuit breaker 200 to condition the obtained or calculated metering information based on temperature and or / humidity signals obtained by the temperature sensor 234. The obtained and / or calculated metering information may include line voltage, mains frequency, phase current and / or voltage of a multiphase system, and / or power consumption. Furthermore, obtained and / or calculated metering information may include current, voltage, root mean square (RMS) current, RMS voltage, power, reactive power, active power, reactive energy, active energy, power quality, energy consumption, energy feedback to power grid, etc. With some examples, processor 212 can determine metering information at a rate of between 4 and 8 kilo Hertz (kHz).

[0066] The obtained metering information may be conveyed to the wireless circuit breaker controller 106 by way of the circuit breaker 200. As detailed, as power supply 207 may operate from the line side of breaker 200, metering information may be obtained and / or conveyed by breaker 200 even when the fault interrupter is in the tripped state. The wireless circuit breaker controller 106 may relay the obtained metering information to a remote entity 120. The obtained metering information may be stored database 118 stored on storage 116. The wireless circuit breaker controller 106, remote entity 120, and / or the wireless circuit breaker 104 may obtain the metering information using one or more calculations that use current, or voltage and current samples obtained from the line side phase connection 202 or the load side phase connection 204. Furthermore, the wireless circuit breaker controller 106, remote entity 120 and / or the wireless circuit breaker 104 may store the metering information to establish historical data that relates to the metering information and / or diagnostic information. In some examples, the historical data can be stored in database 118.

[0067] FIG. 3 illustrates a wireless circuit breaker controller 300 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. In some examples, the wireless circuit breaker controller 300 can be implemented as the circuit breaker controller 106 of the system 100 of FIG. 1. Generally, the wireless circuit breaker controller 300 may be used in a wide range of commercial, residential, and industrial power panels. In some embodiments, the wireless circuit breaker controller 300 can be implemented within a circuit breaker panel (e.g., panel 102) while in other embodiments, the wireless circuit breaker controller 300 can be implemented externally to a panel (e.g., panel 102) and coupled to wireless breakers (e.g., breakers 104-w) within the panel. In an alternative implementation, the wireless circuit breaker controller 300 can be implemented as part of a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, having hardware / software functionality to enable the mobile device to function as the described wireless circuit breaker controller 300.

[0068] A memory 302 is disposed in the wireless circuit breaker controller 300. The memory 302 is configured to store program code / instructions, for instance instructions to perform aspects described herein. Example instructions are update fault interrupter instructions 304-1. Furthermore, the memory 302 may be configured to store metering information 304-2 received from one or more wireless circuit breakers (e.g., breakers 104-w). The stored metering information 304-2 may form the basis of historical information or data associated with individual wireless circuit breakers. As detailed further herein, such historical information may be stored in database 118. The memory 302 may comprise an article of manufacture. In some examples, the memory 302 may include any non-transitory computer readable medium or machine readable medium, such as an optical, magnetic or semiconductor storage. The memory 302 may store various types of computable executable instructions, such as the update fault interrupter instructions 302.

[0069] The memory 302 may be coupled to a processor 306. Processor 306 could be any of a variety of processors, such as, for example, a central processing unit, a microprocessor, a field programmable gate array, an application specific integrated circuit, or the like. Processor 306 can be arranged to execute instructions stored in the memory 302 to aid in performing one or more techniques described herein.

[0070] The wireless circuit breaker controller 300 may include a power supply 308. The power supply 308 is to convert, in some implementations, an AC voltage to a regulated DC voltage for use by some or all the electrical components associated with the wireless circuit breaker controller 300. With some examples, power supply 308 can include multiple “hot” terminals and a neutral terminal. Thus, power supply 308 could receive power from either “hot” wire to provide redundancy. In the case of multi-phase systems, the power supply 308 could be arranged to couple to multiple phases to provide redundancy for the loss of one of phases.

[0071] The wireless circuit breaker controller 300 includes wireless communication components 310. The wireless communication components 310 enable the wireless circuit breaker controller 300 to communicate wirelessly using any suitable type of wireless communication technology (e.g., a short-range wireless / near field wireless technology, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, etc.) Therefore, the wireless communication components 310 may include at least radio 318-1, antenna 316-1, and processor 314-1. In general, the radio 318-1 can be any radio configured to communicate using a wireless transmission scheme, such as, for example, BLE. The antenna 316-1 can be coupled to radio 318-1 and configured to emit and receive RF signals. For example, the antenna 316-1 can emit RF signals received from the radio 318-1 (or a radio front, which is not depicted for clarity) coupled between the radio 318-1 and the antenna 316-1. The antenna 316-1 could be any of a variety of antennas (or antenna arrays) having different shapes and / or configurations arranged to emit / receive radio waves on a particular frequency, range of frequencies, or the like. Processor 314-1 can be any of a variety of processors (e.g., application processor, baseband processors, etc.) arranged to perform at least transmission and reception of wireless signals associated with the wireless circuit breaker controller 300. Furthermore, the antenna 316-1 could be internal to the physical housing or packaging of the breaker controller 300 or external to the physical housing or packing of the breaker controller 300.

[0072] As detailed, some embodiments provide wireless communication components 310 of wireless circuit breaker controller 300 are operable to communicate over several wireless frequencies or schemes. As such, processor 314-1, radio 318-1 and antenna 316-1 could be arranged to communicate over multiple wireless communication technologies, such as, for example, BLE and Wi-Fi. In otherexamples, wireless communication components 310 can include multiple sets of processor, radio, and antenna. For example, as depicted, components 310 further include radio 318-2, antenna 316-2 and processor 314-2. Thus, the first set of radio 318-1, antenna 316-1 and processor 314-1 can be arranged to communicate using a first wireless communication scheme, such as, BLE while the second set of radio 318-2, antenna 316-2 and processor 314-2 can be arranged to communicate using a second wireless communication scheme, such as, Wi-Fi.

[0073] The wireless circuit breaker controller 300 may further include a wireline network interface 312. The wireline network interface 312 enables the wireless circuit breaker controller 300 to be coupled via a wireline connection to various devices. For example, in some implementations, the wireless circuit breaker controller 300 is a standalone device that may be wireline connected (e.g., via Ethernet) to a remote device (e.g., Internet cloud 114) and wirelessly connected to wireless breakers (e.g., breakers 104-w) within a circuit breaker panel (e.g., panel 102). In such an example, the controller 300 could optionally omit one of the wireless communication components (e.g., wireless communication components 310 arranged to communicate via Wi-Fi, or the like). As another example, the wireless circuit breaker controller 300 could be wireless coupled to wireless circuit breakers (e.g., wireless circuit breaker 200, or the like) via wireless communication components 310 and coupled via a wired communication connection to other communication-enabled circuit breakers (not shown) via wireline network interface 312.

[0074] Some aspects described herein are incorporated into and / or used with environments having alternative power arrangements. FIGS. 4A-4D depict examples of such environments having alternative power arrangements. Alternative sources of power might be provided for backup purposes in case of a utility / grid outage, or as secondary, tertiary, etc. sources to provide power in addition to that which may be provided via a utility.

[0075] In some figures described herein, lines connecting components indicate electrical communication between the two components via wired connections and in the direction indicated by the arrows. Double arrows along a line can indicate the potential for both power charge and power discharge.

[0076] FIG. 4A depicts an example environment of an AC coupled system with a meter main. Utility service 402 feeds a meter main 404 that measures consumption of power that the meter main 404 provides to load center 406 (labeled main panel in FIG. 4A). Load center 406 feeds power to standard loads in residence / home 408. The arrangement also depicts three example possibilities for alternative sources of power as backup power sources. In a typical scenario, the arrangement includes only one backup power source, but any number could be provided as desired. The backup sources in this example include a generator 410, AC -based battery 412 with integrated inverter, and solar array 414, which all feed into an essential loads panel 430 having circuits supplying power to essential loads in the residence 408. With respect to the generator 410, an ATS 416 for automatically switching / activating the generator sits between generator 410 and panel 430 (or may be integrated into the generator itself). With respect to battery backup 412, an AC disconnect 418 for automatically switching / activating the battery sits between battery 412 and panel 430 (or may be integrated into the battery itself). With respect to solar array 414, a grid-tied inverter 422 sits between the solar array 414 and panel 430 for inverting the direct current (DC) power provided by the array 414 to AC power feeding the panel 430. On each side of the inverter 422 is a disconnect (e.g., DC disconnect 420 between the array 414 and inverter 422, and AC disconnect 424 between the inverter 422 and panel 430) for disconnecting the array 414 or panel 430, respectively, from the inverter 422. These disconnects may instead be integrated in the inverter 422 itself. An ATS or gateway 440 sits between the load center 406 and essential loads panel 430. Under normal operation, utility power from grid 402 provides power to the standard loads via load center 406, and power flows also through to essential loads panel 430 to power the essential loads as well. In the event of a utility outage, ATS 440 can be activated for a demand response in order for one (or more) of the backup power sources to provide power via panel 430 to only the essential loads of the residence 408.

[0077] FIG. 4B depicts an example environment similar to that of FIG. 4 A (and using same reference numerals to denote same components) except that the AC coupled system has an all-in-one panel 407, also referred to a combined meter / load center. The all-in-one panel 407 combines the meter main and load center to feed the standard loads of the residence 408.

[0078] FIG. 4C depicts an example arrangement similar to those of FIGS. 4A and 4B (and using same reference numerals to denote same components) except that the AC coupled system has an enclosed main breaker 405 between utility meter 403 and load center 406. Here, the main breaker 405 provides a main disconnect and protective measure for a feeder circuit to the load center 406.

[0079] FIG. 4D depicts an example environment of a DC coupled system with a meter main. FIG. 4D uses the same reference numerals as those to FIG. 4A when denoting same / similar components. Utility service 402 feeds meter main 404 that provides AC power to load center 406. Load center 406 feeds AC power to standard loads in residence / home 408. The arrangement also depicts three example DC backup sources, namely a DC generator 411, DC-based energy storage system 413 (e.g., a battery), and a photovoltaic (PV) power source 415 (e.g., solar array). A typical setup might include one of these three, though any number of these or other alternative power sources could be provided. For instance, the battery 413 could be provided along with the PV power source 415 such that the PC power source 415 charges the battery 413.

[0080] Continuing with FIG. 4D, an ATS integrated multimode inverter 423 may be provided to change DC power coming from a DC alternative power source (e.g., 411, 413, 415) to AC power for feeding essential loads panel 430 having circuits supplying power to essential loads in the residence 408. With respect to the ATS integrated multimode inverter 423, it is noted that this could be optionally provided; in some embodiments, such as ones in which a battery source is used, then an ATS may not be necessary. However, there may be a discrete controller (or one integrated with other elements) that detects a power outage and controls operation of various components of the system, if desired. A PV system disconnect 421 may sit between PV power source 415 and inverter 423 to disconnect the PV power source 415 when desired. Similarly, a disconnect 419 may sit between the energy storage system 413 and inverter 423 to disconnect the energy storage system 413 when desired. ATS 417 for automatically switching / activating the generator sits between generator 411 and inverter 423 (or may be integrated into the generator itself). Under normal operation, utility power from grid 402 provides power to the standard loads via load center 406, and power flows also through multimode inverter 423 to essential loads panel 430 to power the essential loads as well. In the event of a utility outage and a demandresponse, DC power from one (or more) of the DC alternative power sources (e.g., 411, 413, 415) is provided to inverter 423, which changes the DC power to AC power and feeds the essential loads panel 430 for powering the essential loads of residence 408. Such a utility outage may be detected by a controller (e.g., inverter 423) receiving an input from meter main 404, load center 406, or both, and communicated to the controller (e.g., inverter 423) over communication path(s) as shown. Meanwhile, interactive system disconnect 425 between inverter 423 and load center 406 disconnects the inverter from the load center 406 in order to avoid backfeeding power into load center 406 and powering the circuits of the load center 406 during the grid outage scenario.

[0081] As noted above, communication-enabled circuit breakers and softwarebased functionality can implement desired actions based on triggers, preconfigurations, and the like. Some such functionality includes demand response in desired situations, for instance outage scenarios. A controller, for instance an energy monitoring and control device, can be in wired and / or wireless communication with communication-enabled breakers that control the supply of power to various branch circuits of an environment. The energy monitoring and control device can perform processing to implement intelligence that controls power, via communication-enabled breakers, to the individual branch circuits of the environment.

[0082] As an example, communication-enabled breakers can incorporate functionality to implement a ‘remote tripped’ state in which software, for instance a mobile application, is used to ‘trip’ (open) the breaker to the tripped state. A breaker that has been tripped is to be reset to a non-tripped state in order to close the breaker’s switch and power the circuit. This might require a user to manually reset the breaker at the load center using a physical switch of the breaker. Communication-enabled breakers could additionally have functionality for remote control, specifically ‘remote ON / OFF’, which allows software to turn the breaker to an ON state or an OFF state without being ‘tripped’. One example implementation places a separate solenoid in the breaker, separate from a trip mechanism, that moves an arm to open up breaker contacts between line input(s) and load output(s) of the breaker. In this remote OFF state, the breaker is not ‘tripped’ in the sense of having opened a switch based on a fault, but nevertheless has opened a separate switch based on a remote command so that the breaker, when OFF, does not conduct power to the branch circuit. Thisenables, as one example, a user to place the breaker in the OFF state so as to safely replace a receptacle or switch on the branch circuit. In examples, in order to return to the ON state the breaker would need a command from software, for instance a remote source such as a cloud platform, or a user would need to switch off, then on, the breaker using a physical switch thereof in order to reset the breaker.

[0083] In accordance with aspects described herein, communication-enabled breakers can be explicitly designated to power-on to, and remain in, a desired state during a backup power condition. One state can be a SWITCH-OPEN state in which a switch between the line input(s) and load output(s) opens and remains open so that no substantive supply of power is provided to the load output terminal(s). Another state can be a SWITCH-CLOSED state in which the switch is closed, which could correspond to the breaker’s normal mode of operation to supply power to the circuit. Yet another state could be whichever state the communication-enabled circuit breaker was in prior to loss of the supply of power. In any case, the subject switch could be separate from a switch utilized to trip the breaker. For instance, as explained previously there could be two (or more) solenoids that can each independently interrupt conduction of power to the circuit by opening.

[0084] In examples, the power-on state designation is provided by a user and programmed via a setting (configuration, parameter, switch, or the like), for instance by the user interacting with software to provide the designation. The designation can be controlled by setting a power-on state parameter, for example. Communication- enabled breaker control may be performed based thereon by a controller in communication with the communication-enabled breakers. For instance, the controller, such as an energy monitoring and control device, can pre-program a communication-enabled breaker such that on power-on of the breaker, i.e., when power is supplied to the breaker to cause it to boot from a non-energized state, it powers on to the SWITCH-OPEN state in which no power (or very little and only initially) is provided to the load served by the breaker. In one example, the breaker is programmed as such by indicating the breaker as either essential or non-essential, referring to the circuit / loads fed by that breaker. The breaker can be programmed via the setting (configuration, parameter, switch, or the like), which may be provided to the breaker and stored in internal memory / storage of the breaker. In examples, the provision of this occurs via a controller, for instance an energy monitoring and controldevice, responsible for programming the breaker, though in other examples a user device such as a mobile device of the user communicates directly with the breaker to program the breaker in this manner.

[0085] If programmed to be non-essential (power on to the SWITCH-OPEN state), then during a backup power scenario when power is restored to the panel in which the breaker is installed, the breaker will power on to its SWITCH-OPEN state. An example of this occurrence is after an outage of grid power followed by a supply of power from an alternative power source, such as a generator. For instance, assume that the panel in which breaker is installed normally receives grid (the ‘normal’ power condition) but that the site experiences an outage scenario in which grid power goes down for some amount of time. Assume further that a generator is activated to supply backup power to the panel. The panel can distribute the backup power to the breakers to cause the breakers to power on (‘restore’). If programmed in accordance with aspects described herein, the breaker restores to the SWITCH-OPEN state in which the breaker is not tripped (e.g., physically switched off or via a remote trip) but is in a SWITCH-OPEN state such that no substantive supply of power is provided to the load output terminal while the communication-enabled circuit breaker remains in the SWITCH-OPEN state after powering-on, even if the physical switch remains closed. No substantive supply of power could result from at least two situations. One situation is where the switch that is opened remains open at least as early as the re-energization of the breaker, and it remains that way while the SWITCH-OPEN state remains active. Another situation is the case where, on re-energization, there is a relatively short amount of time - even as little as 1 millisecond (ms) - when the switch is closed and the load is supplied power. This amount of time could correspond to an amount of time it takes to open the switch, for example. In either situation, the switch will be opened at re-energization (or before) during power-on, and no supply of power is provided to the load output terminal while the communication-enabled circuit breaker remains in that state after powering-on.

[0086] By way of a specific example, assume an ATS or other control detects or is signaled to the occurrence of a utility outage. The ATS or another device can activate an alternative power source (such as a generator). This can trigger a ‘dry contact’ of an energy monitoring and control device to indicate an outage scenario during which the environment runs on the alternative power source. The energymonitoring and control device could signal devices, for instance communication- enabled breakers, of the occurrence of this outage scenario. However, in some situations the communication-enabled breaker has lost power as a result of the grid outage and does not / cannot receive such a communication before powering back on. If the breaker is configured to power on to its last state (e.g., ON), then the breaker may not be able to receive and act on that communication (e.g., to turn OFF) until some time after backup power has begun flowing through the breaker to downstream components. There is the potential that the alternative power source may already be overloaded at that point. Hence, pre-configuring the breaker to power on to the SWITCH-OPEN state on account that the breaker feeds a load that is not to be powered in outage situations, for instance it feeds a non-essential load, would thereby cause the breaker to power on to the SWITCH-OPEN state and help avoid a potential backup power overload situation.

[0087] In some embodiments, a user uses a mobile application to select / indicate which breakers of a collection installed in a load center are to power on to the SWITCH-OPEN state. One designation scheme that may be used is ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ breakers (corresponding to respective circuits / loads), in which non- essential breakers are configured to power on to the SWITCH-OPEN state and essential breakers are configured to power on to the SWITCH-CLOSED state, or optionally to their last state (prior to loss of power). In some examples, these selections / indications are provided to a cloud-based system, for instance as configuration settings of a user account / profile associated with the user, and the cloud system sends the setting(s) to an energy monitoring and control device responsible for programming the individual communication-enabled breakers with their respective setting

[0088] FIGS. 5A-5D depict example environments to incorporate and use aspects described herein. Referring initially to FIG. 5A, utility service 502 provides AC power to load center 506 (labeled smart panel in FIG. 5A) in accordance with aspects described herein, via utility meter 503 and ATS / gateway 505. Three examples of backup sources of power are provided in this example: (i) AC based battery 512 (with ^NSih^d..hAk?lhn.that feeds panel 506 through AC disconnect 518 (which may be integrated into the battery 512 itself); (ii) generator 510 that feeds panel 506 through ATS 516 (which may be integrated into the generator 510 itself); and (iii) solar array514 which feeds DC power through disconnect 520 to inverter 522 for conversion to AC power that is fed through disconnect 524 to panel 506. Again, either or both of disconnects 520, 524 may instead be integrated in the inverter 522 itself.

[0089] The load center 506 includes communication-enabled breakers, some of which are programmed in accordance with aspects described herein to power on to the SWITCH-OPEN state. More specifically, of the collection of communication-enabled breakers in panel 506, one or more of the breakers have been preconfigured some time prior to an outage scenario to power on to the SWITCH-OPEN state when powering on during the outage scenario from backup power provided by one or more of the alternative power sources. Accordingly, panel 506 includes both breaker(s) that feed essential loads and breaker(s) that feed non-essential loads. The breaker(s) that feed non-essential loads can be preconfigured in this manner to power on / up to the SWITCH-OPEN state. The breaker(s) that feed essential loads can be configured to power on / up to the SWITCH-CLOSED state (which may be the normal ON state for the breaker) or a prior state (their state just prior to the outage scenario), as examples.

[0090] Under normal operation, utility power from grid 502 powers the non- essential and essential loads of residence 508. In the event of a utility outage, ATS 505 can be activated for a demand response to island panel 506 from grid 502. Islanding panel 506 from grid 502 therefore islands the panel and the rest of the components behind the panel from grid 502. Meanwhile, one (or more) of the backup sources 510, 512, 514 can be activated via an ATS (516 as an example) and / or other disconnect (518, 524 as examples) to provide backup power to panel 506. The utility outage causes a loss of power to the breakers, assuming that the breakers have no internal or separate battery backup and that the outage lasts long enough.

[0091] Activation and provision of backup power to panel 506 via 510, 512, 514 causes the communication-enabled breakers of the panel to power on (‘boot’). Those breakers that have been programmed to power on to the SWITCH-OPEN state (e.g., non-essential breakers) will power on to the SWITCH-OPEN state, in which the switch is opened (if not already) and remains open, and therefore no backup power now supplied to the panel 506 and these non-essential breakers is provided to their load output terminals. The circuits / loads fed from these breakers will therefore not receive backup power. Meanwhile, breakers feeding essential circuits / loads, whetherconventional breakers that remain in the ON state (closed) and / or communication- enabled breakers that are not configured to power on to the SWITCH-OPEN state (and instead power on to the SWITCH-CLOSED / ON state, for example) receive and provide backup power to their respective circuits / loads.

[0092] There are two primary situations for turning off non-critical loads. One is a seamless switchover situation described below. The other is an interrupted switchover situation described above, which occurs when power is removed long enough for the panel breakers to shut down. Some alternative power sources are known to take a few seconds to start, which is, in some environments, more than enough time for a breaker to fully lose power. In this case, breakers that are identified as non-essential are to power-on to a SWITCH-OPEN state, for instance automatically open as soon as they power on.

[0093] FIG. 5B depicts an example conceptual diagram of load shedding in an interrupted switchover situation, i.e., in which a communication-enabled circuit breaker turns off due to a loss of a supply of power and then turns on based on receiving power via an alternative (secondary) power source. Minimizing a time that a non-essential breaker remains unpowered, as well as minimizing an amount of time (if any) that it provides alternative power to the circuit it feeds (which would contribute extract load on the alternative power supply), is desired. The example of FIG. 5B is one example of a specific implementation among other, alternative embodiments, that may be used.

[0094] Based on an outage, secondary source of power 513, for instance an alternative power source, turns on communication-enabled circuit breaker 570 via a supply of power to the power supply 572 of the breaker 570. In this case, the breaker 570 is two-pole, so it includes two switches 576a, 576b. Since the breaker 570 has been programmed to be non-essential, switches 576a, 576b are to open as soon as possible (if not already opened). In one aspect, this could be effected by way of a communication received by BLE chip 574 after it is powered-on that directs the communication-enabled circuit breaker 570 to open switches 576a, 576b. There is a startup time (e.g., 11 ms here) to startup a BLE wireless communication module.Meanwhile, there is additional time needed to open the switch contacts after receiving the communication. In this example, this additional time includes a firing delay time(20 ms) for the second phase, and (i) time spent waiting to detect zero-crossings of the two phases (16 ms each) and (ii) time (17 ms) to open the contacts.

[0095] In accordance with aspects described above, a power-on state parameter of the breaker 570 may be programmed ahead of time to power-on the breaker 570 to the SWITCH-OPEN state so that switches 576a, 576b are to open as soon as possible (if not already opened) without reliance on the BLE chip 574 receiving a communication to direct the switches 576a, 576b be opened. In other words, this can eliminate the necessity for a post-restore (to alternative power) communication being received by the breaker form a controller, and therefore the time needed to power-on the communication subsystem (such as BLE ship 574) to receive such communication. It is noted that even with a pre-programmed parameter, a communication could still be provided as a redundancy. A controller providing an outage indication to an individual breaker, and the individual breaker itself, may be designed so that its Bluetooth or other communication subsystem stays alive for some amount of time even in power interruption scenarios. Therefore, as a redundancy to pre-programming breakers with a power-on state parameter, the controller could send a Bluetooth or other communication to breaker(s) on power restoration to help ensure they enter the SWITCH-OPEN state as appropriate.

[0096] Accordingly, a communication-enabled circuit breaker is provided that includes a line input terminal configured to be coupled to a supply of power, and a load output terminal configured to be coupled to a branch circuit. The branch circuit is an external circuit representing a load supplied by the breaker. The communication- enabled breaker also includes a switch coupled between the line input terminal and the load output terminal, where the switch controls, at least partially, conduction of the supply of power to the load output terminal. The switch could be any appropriate type of switch, including mechanical or solid-state switch, by way of non-limiting example. In a specific example, the switch can be used to put the breaker into a SWITCH-OPEN state that is different than a tripped state, which might be effected using a second switch, for example. In this situation, the switch partially controls conduction of supply of power to the load output terminal in that the switch can open to cut the supply of power (i.e., the switch must be closed for power to be supplied to the breaker’s load), but closure of the switch does not guarantee the flow of power since there is at least one other switch that must be closed as well.

[0097] The communication-enabled circuit breaker also includes a memory and a processing circuit in communication with the memory, and is to perform aspects described herein. For instance, it is configured to maintain a power-on state parameter to control a state to which the communication-enabled circuit breaker is to power on from a non-energized state. In examples, the power-on state parameter is set for the communication-enabled circuit breaker to power on to a SWITCH-OPEN state in which no substantive supply of power is provided to the load output terminal, and the breaker is configured to power-on the communication-enabled circuit breaker to the SWITCH-OPEN state based on (i) a restore of the supply of power to the communication-enabled circuit breaker and on (ii) the power-on state parameter being set for the communication-enabled circuit breaker to power-on to the SWITCH-OPEN state. Based on powering-on the communication-enabled circuit breaker, no substantive supply of power is provided to the load output terminal while the communication-enabled circuit breaker remains in the SWITCH-OPEN state after powering-on. It is noted that the power source that provides the restored supply of power after a loss thereof could be a source or a different source than that which provided the power prior to the loss. In other words, the power source of the supply of power prior to the power loss could be a first power source (such as grid power) and could be the same power source or could be a second (different) power source, such as an alternative power source, for the supply of power restored to the breaker. While aspects described herein provide advantages when the source of the restored supply of power is an alternative / backup power source, aspects can still apply, and advantages may be gained, regardless whether re-energization of the breaker is from the initial source or another source.

[0098] Powering-on to the SWITCH-OPEN state prevents the branch circuit from being / remaining energized while the communication-enabled circuit breaker remains in the SWITCH-OPEN state. It is noted that although no power flows to the circuit, the breaker itself still may be powered on account that it may be energized by, e.g., a backup source.

[0099] In embodiments, based on re-energization and powering-on the communication-enabled circuit breaker to the SWITCH-OPEN state, the switch is open / opened, and no supply of power is provided to the load output terminal while the communication-enabled circuit breaker remains in the SWITCH-OPEN state afterpowering-on. In examples, the switch is open and remains open at least from before or at the time of the re-energization of the breaker. In other examples, the switch is not initially open but is transitioned to being open near instantly (e.g., within 1-3 milliseconds of re-energization) as part of powering-on the breaker.

[0100] The power-on state parameter may be pre-configured / pre-set by a device, for instance a device that is remote from the breaker. In one example, the remote device is a controller coupled to a load center into which the communication-enabled circuit breaker is installed. An example such a controller is an energy monitoring and control device. In another example, the remote device is a mobile device, for instance a mobile device running an application / software, such as a mobile app, that programs the breaker directly instead of via an intervening device such as an intermediary controller.

[0101] In examples, the power-on state parameter is set based on whether the branch circuit is to be powered during a loss of power from an initial power source, as the supply of power, by an alternative power source as the supply of power. In examples, the initial power source is or includes grid / utility power as the source, and the alternative power source is or includes one or more of a battery, a battery energy storage system (BESS), a generator, or a solar power source.

[0102] In embodiments, the power-on state parameter is set based on a selected one of (at least) three options: (i) a first option to power on to the SWITCH-OPEN state, (ii) a second option to power on to a power state of the communication-enabled circuit breaker prior to loss of the supply of power, and (iii) a third option to power on to a SWITCH-CLOSED state in which the switch is closed.

[0103] In embodiments, the communication-enabled circuit breaker includes a trip mechanism for interrupting the supply of power from being provided to the load output terminal. The trip mechanism may be or include a different switch than the switch discussed above. In embodiments, the trip mechanism remains in a non-tripped state during a loss of the supply of power to the communication-enabled circuit breaker and during the restore of the supply of power to the communication-enabled circuit breaker and the powering-on of the communication-enabled circuit breaker. In this manner, a SWITCH-OPEN state can be different from a tripped state that could involve a different switch of the circuit breaker. This would enable a breaker state inwhich the breaker is ‘not tripped’ and remains that way through the power loss event and after power is restored (either from initial or alternative source), but is in the SWITCH-OPEN state.

[0104] In embodiments, the communication-enabled circuit breaker is further configured to receive, while in the SWITCH-OPEN state, a communication from a remote device to transition to a SWITCH-CLOSED state, and transition the communication-enabled circuit breaker to the SWITCH-CLOSED state in which the switch is closed to provide the supply of power to the load output terminal and power the branch circuit. For instance, in the event of a restore of an initial power source (such as grid power) to provide the supply of power to the breaker, a controller or another device could provide a communication to the breaker that directs the breaker to transition out of the SWITCH-OPEN state to the SWITCH-CLOSED state to close the subject switch and thereby provide the supply of the power to the load (assuming the breaker is not tripped or in another state that would otherwise prevent the supplied power from being provided to the load). An example situation in which the breaker is directed to transition to SWITCH-CLOSED is when, while the breaker itself receives power, is powered-on (by way of being re-energized by a backup source, for example), and remains in the SWITCH-OPEN state so as to prevent the supply of that power from powering the branch circuit, a controller or other device detects that a primary power source, such as grid power, has been restored. At that point, the breaker may be provided and receive a communication informing the breaker of the restore and / or directing the breaker to transition to its SWITCH-CLOSED state. The transition can occur seamlessly to power the branch circuit with the supply of power, the source of which now being the primary power source again.

[0105] Embodiments of aspects described herein also include a controller, such as an energy monitoring and control device as one example, having a memory and a processing circuit in communication with the memory. The controller is configured to program a power-on state parameter of a communication-enabled circuit breaker as described herein. For instance, in line with embodiments discussed herein, the communication-enabled circuit breaker can include a line input terminal configured to be coupled to a supply of power, and a load output terminal configured to be coupled to a branch circuit. The communication-enabled circuit breaker may be configured to use the power-on state parameter to control a state to which the communication-enabled circuit breaker is to power on from a non-energized state. The programming of the power-on state parameter by the controller can program the communication- enabled circuit breaker to power on to a SWITCH-OPEN state in which a switch of the communication-enabled circuit breaker between the line input terminal and the load output terminal opens / remains open and no substantive supply of power is provided to the load output terminal.

[0106] In embodiments, the controller performs the programming based on an indication that the branch circuit is not to be powered by an alternative power source, as the supply of power, during an outage scenario in which power from an initial power source, as the supply of power, is lost. The alternative power source could be or include one or more of a battery, battery energy storage system (BESS), generator, or solar power source, as examples.

[0107] In embodiments, the controller programs the power-on state parameter based on a selection between available options, for instance options that include (i) a first option to power on the communication-enabled circuit breaker to the SWITCHOPEN state, (ii) a second option to power on the communication-enabled circuit breaker to a power state of the communication-enabled circuit breaker prior to loss of the supply of power, and (iii) a third option to power on to a SWITCH-CLOSED state in which the switch is closed.

[0108] In embodiments, the controller is further configured to send, to the communication-enabled circuit breaker, while the communication-enabled circuit breaker is in the SWITCH-OPEN state, a communication to transition to a SWITCH- CLOSED state in which the switch of the communication-enabled circuit breaker is closed to provide the supply of power to the load output terminal and power the branch circuit. For instance, the controller can be configured to detect that a primary power source, such as grid power, has been restored and, at that point, provide the breaker a communication informing the breaker of the restore and / or directing the breaker to transition to its SWITCH-CLOSED state.

[0109] Various aspects described above are presented by way of example in the context of an interrupted switchover scenario, in which a power outage of an initial power source, such as grid power, results in the communication-enabled breakers (and potentially other connected component(s) like an energy monitoring and controldevice) powering / shutting down before backup power takes over to supply power again to those components. However, in some situations there is a seamless switchover to backup power from utility power, in which the backup power takes over quickly enough that the communication-enabled breaker(s) (and other connected component(s) if present) do not shut down. When the switchover happens so quickly that the breakers do not reset, they do not undergo a power-on sequence. They instead remain in an on state during the switchover and thereafter unless prompted to enter a different state. Therefore, in accordance with aspects described herein, when a controller such as an energy monitoring and control device receives a signal that utility power is lost, it sends a communication, for example a wireless communication such as a Bluetooth communication message, to installed communication-enabled breaker(s). This triggers non-essential breaker(s) to switch to a SWITCH-OPEN state. By way of a specific example, an energy monitoring and control device could receive a contact closure signal from the backup power source indicating that the backup source has taken over for the main / primary source (e.g., utility power). Then, information in the form of a communication could be sent to all breakers or to just some (e.g., the non-essential) breakers. Any breaker that is identified as non-essential, a designation that can be stored in a parameter on the breaker, can then transition itself into another state, the SWITCH-OPEN state. In this regard, the communication could indicate an outage has occurred and this could be interpreted by any breaker that is identified as non-essential (based, for example, on a pre-configuration or designation stored in a parameter on the breaker) as an indication to transition into the SWITCH-OPEN state. Alternatively, the communication could be a communication / command that authoritatively directs the non-essential breaker(s) to transition into the SWITCH-OPEN state. In this latter scenario, the breaker(s) would not necessarily need to be preconfigured with a non-essential indication, as the energy monitoring and control device could maintain a list of the non-essential breakers and instruct those breakers to enter the SWITCH-OPEN state, for example.

[0110] Thus, in these embodiments, a switchover from a first power source, such as utility power, to a second power source, such as backup power, is a triggering event for one or more communication-enabled breaker(s) to transition into a SWITCHOPEN state. An indication of the power source switchover and / or an indication to transition to SWITCH-OPEN could be provided to the communication-enabledbreakers. This could be provided directly from a backup power source, ATS, or other component in the power supply path to the breaker, or from another device such as an energy monitoring and control device. In any case, the indication can indicate that a power transfer has occurred and / or that the communication-enabled breaker is to switch to its SWITCH-OPEN state. In some embodiments, a decision is made by each breaker to transition based on (i) the breaker receiving the indication of the power transfer and (ii) the breaker having been preconfigured with an indication of its non- essential characteristic that is already stored as a setting on the breaker when the indication is received.

[0111] FIG. 5C depicts an example conceptual diagram of load shedding in an seamless switchover situation, i.e., in which an alternative power supply takes over so quickly that the communication-enabled circuit breaker does not shut down. Here too, minimizing an amount of time (if any) that a non-essential breaker provides alternative power to the circuit it feeds (which would contribute extract load on the alternative power supply), is desired.

[0112] Referring to FIG. 5C, a supply of power to communication-enabled circuit breaker 570 transitions from a first power source to an alternative (secondary) power source 513. This causes a contact closure from the secondary source 513 indicating to controller 580 via BLE chip 582 that the secondary source has taken over for a main supply. This in turns initiates sending of a communication to breaker(s), for instance to BLE chip 574 of breaker 570. The communication could be broadcast, or otherwise provided to one or more breakers. These could be targeted to non-essential breaker(s), or targeted to the breakers more generally, in which case a breaker that is non- essential could interpret the communication (based on a stored parameter for example) as an indication that it should transition to SWITCH-OPEN state. Here, the communication is provided to breaker 570, which initiates a transition to SWITCHOPEN. An example amount of time from the start of the event to the receipt of this message by breaker 570 is 150 ms. At this point, there is time needed to open the contacts of switches 576a, 576b after receipt of this communication, in this example the additional time being a firing delay time (20 ms) for the second phase, and (i) time spent waiting to detect zero-crossings of the two phases (16 ms each) and (ii) time (17 ms) to open the contacts.

[0113] Thus, in an example seamless switchover scenario, a power loss event is a trigger for notifying a controller (or the breaker(s) directly) that the event occurs. In some examples, a parameter is held in the non-essential breaker(s) indicating their non-essential characteristic, and a notification of the power loss event / operation on alternative power causes the non-essential breaker(s) to transition to their SWITCHOOPEN state.

[0114] Accordingly, a controller may be provided that includes a memory and a processing circuit in communication with the memory. The controller is configured to receive an indication of a power loss event in which a supply of power to a load center transitions from a first power source to a second power source. The indication could be received by the controller from any source configured to provide such an indication. Examples include, but are not limited to, an ATS, a communication- enabled main circuit breaker as described herein, or a provider of the first power source (such as a utility power company).

[0115] In any case, the controller is also configured to initiate a transition of a communication-enabled circuit breaker installed into the load center to a SWITCHOPEN state in which a switch of the communication-enabled circuit breaker between a line input terminal of the communication-enabled circuit breaker and a load output terminal of the communication-enabled circuit breaker remains open and no supply of power is provided to the load output terminal. The initiating can include sending a communication to the communication-enabled circuit breaker. In examples, the communication is a wireless communication that is sent to the communication- enabled circuit breaker. In examples, the communication (whether sent wirelessly or by a wired communication link) is sent to a plurality of communication-enabled circuit breakers installed in the load center.

[0116] The content of the communication could include any desired information to initiate the transition. In one example, the communication could authoritatively direct the communication-enabled circuit breaker to initiate the transition. In another example, the communication informs the communication-enabled circuit breaker of the power loss event and the circuit breaker is configured to interpret that information to determine that it is to transition into the SWITCH-OPEN state. For example, the breaker could be configured to use the information received as part of thecommunication in conjunction with a parameter that the breaker has saved and that indicates the breaker is to go into the SWITCH-OPEN state during a power loss event to determine to transition to the SWITCH-OPEN state.

[0117] In embodiments, the controller sends the communication to the communication-enabled circuit breaker based on an indication that a branch circuit fed by the communication-enabled circuit breaker is not to be powered by the second power source. The second power source can include one or more of a battery, battery energy storage system (BESS), generator, or solar power source, as examples. In this manner, the controller could maintain and / or be provided an indication that the breaker is non-essential and, on that basis, communicate the indication of a power loss event to the breaker upon loss of power from the first power source.

[0118] Regardless whether the breaker enters the SWITCH-OPEN state based on an interrupted switchover or seamless switchover (or by way of another event), the non-essential loads can again be powered when main / primary power is restored. FIG. 5D depicts an example conceptual diagram of this. The controller 580 determines using the contact closure input from secondary source 513 or an ATS, as examples, that power from the initial power source (e.g., grid, main, primary, etc.) is restored, then notifies communication-enabled circuit breaker(s) by way of broadcast or individual communications, for example. Here, controller 580 sends a communication to breaker 570 that is received via BLE chip 574. This may be communicated using the same general communication channel / link as was used in FIG. 5C for the seamless SWITCH-OPEN.

[0119] In a specific example, program logic on the breaker 570 can determine that the load shedding event has ended (e.g., by way of the indication received from the controller 580 or another device), and the breaker can then transition out of the SWITCH-OPEN state (into a SWITCH-CLOSED state, for instance) if it transitioned into the SWITCH-OPEN state previously as a result of the outage. Breaker(s) that did not transition on account of the outage, started in an off state, or turned off for another reason after power was lost, can remain in their current state until a user intervenes, if desired.

[0120] Referring back to FIG. 5A, the ATS / gateway 505 sits between the communication-enabled load center 506 and the utility meter, and serves a function ofisolating the load center 506 and downstream components, including the alternative power sources, from the utility grid 502. An automatic transfer switch is often a standalone switching product provided in its own separate enclosure, and serves a function of connecting and disconnecting the grid power connection based on the presence of grid power. Thus, the switch disconnects downstream components from the grid if no grid power is present, and connects the downstream components to the grid if grid power is present. The ATS is usually a necessary component for alternating current production when grid power is not present; when an ATS detects a loss of grid power, it can use a set of contacts to activate an alternative power source, for instance to start a backup generator.

[0121] In accordance with additional aspects provided herein, ATS functionality could be integrated directly into a main breaker of a load center, the main breaker being a breaker that sits between (i) a supply of power sourced from the grid and (ii) the individual breakers for the branch circuits fed by the panel. Advantageously, if a main breaker of a load center were able to open a switch (i.e., transition to a SWITCH-OPEN state) with the loss of grid power to electrically isolate its connection(s) to grid power from its connection(s) to the branch circuit breakers of the load center, activate an alternative power source, and remain in the SWITCHOPEN state until grid power is restored, this would eliminate cost and physical space when installing a generator or battery storage. In other words, moving ATS functionality to the main breaker eliminates the need for a separate ATS, which costs money and consumes wall space. Additionally, this reduces complexity of the infrastructure because this component does not need to be involved.

[0122] In the context of FIG. 5 A, ATS functionality moved into a communication-enabled main breaker of load center 506 could be used to isolate the load center 506 from the grid 502. Backup power, for instance power that is backfed into the load center 506 from any of the battery 512, generator 510 or solar source 514 (in the example of FIG. 5 A), can power desired circuit(s) of the communication- enabled panel 506, and the main breaker being in the SWITCH-OPEN state can isolate the load center 506 from the grid 502 so that this backup power does not flow onto the grid. In other words, the main breaker in this setup can be a main disconnect and therefore serve as a replacement for an isolation switch, e.g., the ATS / gateway 505 of FIG. 5 A. In this manner, the main breaker itself can substitute for, or serve thefunction as, a standalone interruption device between the load center 506 and the grid 502.

[0123] FIG. 6 depicts an example wiring architecture of a communication-enabled electrical system to incorporate and / or use aspects described herein. Traditional wiring places the ATS 605 between the utility meter 603 fed by utility service 602, the alternative power source 630, for instance a generator or battery storage, and the load center 606, specifically a main breaker (not depicted) of the load center 606. Also included with the load center 606 is a communication-enabled energy monitoring and control device 640 providing various functionality as desired and described herein. In this configuration, device 640 relies on a loop 632 input to determine if power being provided to the load center 606 is from the grid or from an alternative power source, such as generator / battery 630. The communication path 632 could be a wired or wireless communication path, for instance a communication path based on Bluetooth technology.

[0124] ATS solutions are expected to have high, e.g., 99.99%, reliability. In some situations, transfers could happen so quickly that the breakers do not become deenergized and turn off as a result of the loss and transfer of power. In these situations, it might be difficult to achieve such reliability if relying on communications from an ATS to a control device / controller, and then from the control device / controller to communication-enabled breakers. Such communication could be, for example, Bluetooth communication to communicate an outage scenario to inform communication-enabled breakers to transition into another state. Consider an example scenario in which an outage is detected by the ATS 605, and a signal is sent by the ATS 605 over loop path 632 to the energy monitoring and control device 640, which then sends a communication to communication-enabled circuit breakers of the panel 606 to take an action such as to switch off or open a switch. If the communication between the ATS 605 and the energy monitoring and control device 640 and / or between the energy monitoring and control device 640 and one or more of the non- essential breakers is delayed, interfered with, or otherwise not received in time for the non-essential breaker(s) to disconnect their non-essential load(s) before the alternative power source 630 is applied to the panel 606, then the non-essential load(s) could be powered, even if just temporarily, leading to a potential overload or other problems.

[0125] FIG. 7 depicts an example of a communication-enabled main circuit breaker, in accordance with aspects described herein. Breaker 700 is a two-pole main breaker with two circuit breaker lugs 702, 704, each with a lug wire screw for connecting to and retaining a respective main wire (one for each pole) of the load panel. These two main wires provide power to the panel though a Tine side’ of the main breaker. The main breaker is intended to couple to two main bus bars of a load panel and supply power via a Toad side’ of the breaker to the two main bus bars. Branch circuit breakers of the load panel couple to these bus bars and provide power to the individual branch circuits of the site. Also provided on breaker 700 are a main switch 706 to open and close a contact to selectively connect and disconnect the supply of power through the breaker to the bus bars, and contacts 708 for activating an alternative power source in accordance with aspects described herein and as explained in further detail below.

[0126] The communication-enabled main circuit breaker can have an added feature to close a switch and open the switch based on commands / communications from another device, for instance an energy monitoring and control device and / or a mobile device of a user. In some examples, the main circuit breaker can connect and communicate with an energy monitoring and control device in a same or similar manner as an energy monitoring and control device connects and communicates with communication-enabled branch circuit breakers of the load panel for individual circuits fed from the load panel, as described above.

[0127] In one aspect, main circuit breaker 700 can receive power from either its line side or its load side for operating its smart electronics (control and processing circuit(s), for example). The ability for the breaker to be powered from either side would enable the breaker to operate during a grid outage in order to monitor grid input and communicate with other devices, for instance communication-enabled breakers, even when the main circuit breaker is tripped, and regardless of the position of the main switch and the status of grid power input on the line side. In a grid outage scenario or if the main breaker is tripped, powering the electronics of the main breaker may be desired in order to communicate statuses to other devices, activate a backup power source, and perform other activities. Thus, the ability for the main breaker to be powered through the line side or alternatively the load side would enable the electronics of the main circuit breaker to continue to function during a grid outageto, for instance, detect a grid outage, trip (open a switch) automatically to disconnect the grid supply to the main panel bus(es) and island itself from the grid so that the backup power does not supply power back onto the grid, provide a signal to the backup power source to turn on or off, and perform any other desired functions.

[0128] Thus, in a normal operating state when grid power is provided, the main breaker can be powered by the grid power supplied via the line side (at least one line input) of the breaker. In some arrangements, the alternative power source is fed into the load center also through the line side of the main breaker, and so the main breaker can be powered also via its line side during grid outage (backup power) situations in such arrangement. In other arrangements, power is back-fed into the load center through a branch circuit breaker (at one example), in which case the main breaker can be powered via its load side (at least one line input) by the backup power provided on the bus(es).

[0129] In an example embodiment, the main breaker is powered from grid power and the backup power source is prevented from activating while the main breaker is powered from grid power. On a loss of grid power, the main breaker can react quickly to disconnect itself from the grid by opening contact(s), and activate the backup power source. The backup power source then begins supplying power to the panel either through the line side of the main breaker or the load side of the main breaker via another component of the panel. Either way, the main breaker becomes powered by the backup power via its line or load side, as the case may be, to power the control circuit and / or other electronics of the main breaker. When grid power is restored, the main breaker can restore itself to change back to grid-provided power on the line side.

[0130] In some embodiments, the main breaker includes a battery, capacitor, or other source of power that enables the main breaker’s electronics to continue to operate for a duration of time that is sufficient to span the time between (i) a loss of grid power and (ii) a supply of backup power to power the main breaker. In some examples, the main breaker is provided a power source, such as an internal battery, capacitor, or the like, to power the electronics for enough time to notify other device(s) (e.g., communication-enabled breaker(s)) after grid power goes down. In examples, this may be between about one and four seconds, and, more specifically may be about two seconds. This can provide time for internal power monitoring of themain breaker to (i) detect a power source outage, and then react to (ii) transition switch(es) between the line input terminal(s) and the load output terminal(s) to electrically isolate the line input terminals(s) from the load output terminal(s) and (iii) activate the backup power source and / or broadcast an outage indication to breakers or other devices, as examples.

[0131] On the generator or other alternative power source, contacts controlling power on / activation of the alternative source can follow the on / off state of the main breaker. The main breaker could detect a grid outage and respond by placing itself into a SWITCH-OPEN state in which is disconnects from the grid, meaning it opens switch(es) between line input terminal(s) connected to the grid and its load output terminal(s). This action could activate the alternative power source, for instance by changing a state (i.e., open or closed) of contacts that control activation of the alternative power source.

[0132] The ATS functionality within the main breaker to detect grid power status, disconnect the load center from the grid, and activate alternative power source(s) can be setup and provided independent of any energy monitoring and control device that may be present in the installation. That is, the main breaker with ATS functionality could operate as described without a separate energy monitoring and control device, or with one. In addition, if communication-enabled breakers are present, the main breaker could be configured with hardware and software that enables it to communicate directly with communication-enabled breakers, rather than relying on or communicating via / using a separate energy monitoring and control device.

[0133] An example main breaker as described above could provide other functionality based on triggering rules, for example. The main breaker could have a built-in clock, timer, or other triggering function to enable scheduled and / or triggered connects and disconnects to and from grid power. An example use case of this scheduled disconnection from the grid is for power management during construction or other on-site activity. For instance, a disconnect could be triggered when power production from an alternative power source, for instance a solar array, is enough to serve the entire load on the load center. The main breaker could detect that this local power production by the alternative power source is sufficient for the existing load, and disconnect the panel from the grid power.

[0134] FIG. 8 depicts an example environment incorporating a battery storage alternative power source, to incorporate and use aspects described herein. Here, the load center 806 incorporates a communication-enabled main breaker 840 with ATS functionality in accordance with aspects described herein. The load center 806 may be fed power by utility service 802 via utility meter 803 and by the battery storage alternative power source 830. In this example, the battery storage 830 backfeeds power into the load center 806 through a breaker (other than the main breaker) of the panel, though in an alternative arrangement the battery storage 830 sits between the utility and the load center, and powers the panel through an input side of the main breaker, as does the grid power. The latter scenario may be more realistic or typical than the former scenario. In some scenarios, both grid power and battery power could connect to different line-side input(s) of the main breaker, which would enable provision of a toggle of the breaker to toggle between grid supply and the alternative supply as desired. The electrical communication path 831 is provided with arrows in both directions indicating the potential for the battery storage 830 to charge or discharge, for instance depending on the state of grid power. In embodiments, a controller of the battery storage 830 determines whether the battery is charging or producing. The battery storage 830 could charge from the panel (as here), though in other embodiments the battery storage 830 could additionally or alternatively charge from another source, such as a solar panel (photovoltaic device). If the battery storage 830 is producing with grid power, the power is AC Coupled and does not produce an electrical risk. If grid power is not present, then the photovoltaic (PV) power source is not producing since the PV is coupled to the AC grid. The storage can run in two modes: AC coupled and AC grid disconnected. If in the AC coupled mode, then there is no isolation. If AC is disconnected, then isolation is required.

[0135] In an example of FIG. 8, battery storage 830 may be wired to a double pole breaker in the panel 806 sized to battery storage 830 consumption / output, rather than coming in through the main breaker. This may be used in small enough systems, for instance ones in which no circuits need to be shed on account that the battery storage 830 can supply sufficient power for all of the circuits of the panel 806. Since it might be desired to island the main to avoid backfeeding backup power into the grid, the communication-enabled main breaker 840 can sense a situation of no grid power and trip in order to disconnect the panel from the grid power. In someexamples where a communication-enabled energy monitoring and control device (not pictured) and communication-enabled breakers are provided, then a contact of the communication-enabled energy monitoring and control device could trip to cause non-essential breakers to enter the SWITCH-OPEN state as described herein. When the communication-enabled main breaker 840 senses grid power, the main breaker 840 can transition back to reliance on grid power. Though it is possible to use communication-enabled branch circuit breakers in this environment as described, it is advantageous to use a communication-enabled main breaker 840 even in situations where the branch circuit breakers are not communication-enabled, since even in these situations the communication-enabled main breaker 840 can act as an isolation switch as described above to island the panel 806 from the grid.

[0136] FIG. 9 depicts another example environment incorporating a battery storage alternative power source, to incorporate and use aspects described herein. Here, load center 906 is fed by utility service 902 and incorporates a communication- enabled main breaker 940 with ATS functionality in accordance with aspects described herein. Main breaker 940 can operate similar to the main breaker of FIG. 8. The load center 906 can feed one or more branch circuits. Additionally included is a main lug panel 907 (or other type of subpanel) that can feed other branch circuits. Similar to the situation of FIG. 8, in FIG. 9 the battery storage 930 may be wired to a double pole breaker in the panel 906 sized to battery storage 930 consumption / output (rather than coming in through the main breaker 940), and power the main lug panel 907 in an outage scenario. Additionally, in embodiments, a controller of the battery storage 930 determines whether the battery is charging or producing. The battery storage 930 could charge from the panel (as here), though in other embodiments the battery storage 930 could additionally or alternatively charge from another source, such as a solar panel. If the battery storage 930 is producing with grid power, the power is AC Coupled and does not produce an electrical risk.

[0137] Since the communication-enabled main breaker 940 can incorporate ATS functionality as described herein and it might be desired to island the main to avoid backfeeding backup power into the grid, the communication-enabled main breaker 940 can sense a situation of no grid power and open switch(es) in order to disconnect the panel from the grid power. In some examples where a communication-enabled energy monitoring and control device (not pictured) and communication-enabledbreakers were provided, then a contact of the communication-enabled energy monitoring and control device could trip to cause non-essential breakers to turn off. When the communication-enabled main breaker 940 senses grid power, the breaker 940 can turn on. Though it is possible to use communication-enabled branch circuit breakers in this environment as described, it is advantageous to use a communication- enabled main breaker 940 even in situations where the branch circuit breakers are not communication-connected, as the communication-enabled main breaker 940 can act as an isolation switch as described above to island the panel 906 from the grid.

[0138] FIG. 10 depicts an example environment incorporating a generator alternative power source, to incorporate and use aspects described herein. The load center 1006 incorporates a communication-enabled main breaker 1040 with ATS functionality and contacts 1008 for activating an alternative power source, in accordance with aspects described herein. The load center 1006 is fed power by utility service 1002 via utility meter 1003. The load center 1006 is also fed power by a generator alternative power source 1030 that is wired to a double pole breaker of the load center 1006 and sized to the generator output. A generator contactor 1050 is wired between the communication-enabled main breaker 1040, generator 1030, and load center 1006. The generator contactor 1050 has starter contacts 1034 to control startup of the generator via the generator’s starter 1032.

[0139] Generators are often setup to exercise occasionally, usually on a time cycle such as once per month. However, it may be desired that the generator never produce power when grid power is present, as the generated alternating current would not be coupled and could cause damage. Thus, the generator contactor 1050 can close its starter contacts 1034 to activate the starter 1032 only if grid power is removed from the generator screw terminals. That is, utility power has to be disconnected before the generator can activate and start.

[0140] The communication-enabled main breaker 1040 can act as a transfer switch in this environment. When grid power is lost, the communication-enabled main breaker 1040 can close / open contacts 1008 to trigger, over generator start loop / line 1036, the generator contactor 1050 to close its starter contacts 1034. Closure of contacts 1034 initiates the generator starter 1032 to start the generator 1030 to backfeed power into the load center 1006.

[0141] FIG. 11 depicts another example environment incorporating a generator alternative power source, to incorporate and use aspects described herein. Load center 1106 is fed by utility service 1102 and incorporates a communication-enabled main breaker 1140 with ATS functionality and contacts 1108 for activating an alternative power source, in accordance with aspects described herein. The load center 1106 can feed one or more branch circuits. Additionally included is a main lug panel 1107 (or other type of subpanel) that can feed other branch circuits. The load center 1106 is also fed power by a generator alternative power source 1130 that is wired to a double pole breaker of the load center 1106 and sized to the generator output. A generator contactor 1150 is wired between the communication-enabled main breaker 1140, generator 1130, and load center 1106. The generator contactor 1150 has starter contacts 1134 to control startup of the generator via the generator’s starter 1132. As with the case of FIG. 10, the generator contactor 1150 can close its starter contacts 1134 to activate the starter 1132 only if grid power is removed from the generator screw terminals. Additionally, the communication-enabled main breaker 1140 can act as a transfer switch in this environment. When grid power is lost, the communication- enabled main breaker 1140 can close / open contacts 1108 to trigger, over generator start loop / line 1136, the generator contactor 1150 to close its starter contacts 1134. Closure of contacts 1134 initiates the generator starter 1132 to start the generator 1130 to backfeed power into the load center 1106, which can supply power to main lug panel 1107 (assuming a breaker in load center 1106 remains switched on to feed power to main lug panel 1107).

[0142] Accordingly, a communication-enabled main circuit breaker for a load center is provided. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker can include at least one line input terminal configured to couple to a supply of power (e.g., in many situations there are two phase terminals and one neutral terminal provided), and at least one load output terminal configured to couple to bus bars of the load center and feed the supply of power to a plurality of branch circuits via a plurality of branch circuit breakers installed in the load center. The main circuit breaker can additionally include a switch coupled between the at least one line input terminal and the at least one load output terminal, the switch configured to selectively electrically isolate the at least one line input terminal from the at least one load output terminal. The isolation can prevent backfed power that reaches the load side of the main breaker fromreaching the line side and undesirably putting power back to the initial power source, for instance the grid.

[0143] The main circuit breaker also includes memory and a control circuit having a processing circuit in communication with the memory and a component configured to actuate the switch. Collectively these form electronics of the breaker that are powered to control main circuit breaker operation, even in an isolation scenario. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker is configured to detect an outage of power provided from a power source, for instance grid power, as the supply of power, to the at least one line input terminal, and, based on detecting the outage of power, transition the switch. Transitioning the switch electrically isolates the at least one line input terminal from the at least one load output terminal and electrically isolates the load center from the power source experiencing the outage. The transitioning transitions the switch from one state to another state, for instance a closed state to an open state, as examples. In some examples, the main circuit breaker detects the outage directly, i.e., by way of monitoring it undertakes, though in other examples it detects the outage based on receiving a communication or other indication from another (external) device.

[0144] In embodiments, the power source is, or includes, one (a first) power source, and the communication-enabled main circuit breaker is further configured to activate another (a second) power source, and the communication-enabled main circuit breaker remains, during the outage of power from the first power source, in a SWITCH-OPEN state in which the switch remains open or transitioned as a result of the transitioning. In embodiments, the second power source incudes one or more of a battery, battery energy storage system (BESS), generator, or solar power source. In embodiments, the first power source is supplied by a utility.

[0145] In embodiments, the switch is a first switch, and the communication- enabled main circuit breaker further includes contacts and a second switch, the second switch being electrically coupled between the contacts, where activating the second power source includes closing the second switch. The closing the second switch electrically couples the contacts, which signals activation of the second power source to a control device controlling operation of the second power source. In this manner, the communication-enabled main circuit breaker can activate a backup power sourceon detecting the outage. In embodiments, the first switch includes a mechanical switch or a solid-state switch, and the second switch includes a mechanical switch or a solid-state switch.

[0146] In embodiments, the communication-enabled main circuit breaker is further configured to selectively obtain power though either of the at least one line input terminal or the at least one load output terminal, and use the obtained power to power the control circuit. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker may be further configured to electrically isolate the control circuit from the other of the at least one line input terminal and the at least one load output terminal, (i.e., isolate the control circuit from whichever of the line side or load side through which power is received, to providing an interlock to avoid powering from both sides at once).

[0147] In embodiments, during the outage of power from the power source, as a first power source, the selectively obtaining includes obtaining the power for the control circuit through the load side from another (a second) power source through a load output terminal of the at least one load output terminal. In other words, during a grid outage condition, the breaker can receive backfed backup power via its load side to operate during the outage condition.

[0148] In embodiments, the communication-enabled main circuit further comprises a source of power to power the at least one control circuit upon the outage for a range of time, the range comprising at least 1.0 to 4.0 seconds, to perform the opening and the activating. This enables the main circuit breaker to remain powered for enough time to, for example, detect the outage condition and transition the switch.

[0149] In embodiments, the communication-enabled main circuit breaker is further configured to detect restoration of the power from the power source, and transition the communication-enabled main circuit breaker back to a SWITCH- CLOSED state, enabling conduction of power from the power source to the at least one load output terminal. For instance, the switch is transitioned-back (e.g., closed).

[0150] In embodiments, the communication-enabled main circuit breaker integrates with other communication-enabled devices, for instance branch circuit breakers and / or an energy monitoring and control device. For instance, the communication-enabled main circuit breaker may be further configured to send acommunication to (i) (i) one or more of the plurality of branch circuit breakers, wherein the communication informs the branch circuit breaker of the outage or indicates to the branch circuit breaker to transition to a SWITCH-OPEN state; or, and / or (ii) a control device configured to control one or more of the plurality of branch circuit breakers, wherein the communication informs the control device of the outage.

[0151] Processes described herein may be performed singly or collectively by one or more devices, for instance one or more circuit breakers, controllers, energy monitoring or control devices, computer systems, or a combination of the foregoing. Other examples are possible. The device may be based on one or more of various system architectures and / or instruction set architectures.

[0152] An example device may include one or more processor(s), for instance central processing unit(s) (CPUs). A processor can include functional components used in the execution of instructions, such as functional components to fetch program instructions from locations such as cache or main memory, decode program instructions, and execute program instructions, access memory for instruction execution, and write results of the executed instructions. A processor can also include register(s) to be used by one or more of the functional components. The device can also include memory, input / output (VO) devices, and VO interfaces, which may be coupled to processor(s) and each other via one or more buses and / or other connections. Bus connections represent one or more of any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures include the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), the Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), the Enhanced ISA (EISA), the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI).

[0153] Memory can be or include main or system memory (e.g. Random Access Memory) used in the execution of program instructions, storage device(s) such as hard drive(s), flash media, or optical media as examples, and / or cache memory, as examples. Memory can include, for instance, a cache, such as a shared cache, which may be coupled to local caches (examples include LI cache, L2 cache, etc.) ofprocessor(s). Additionally, memory may be or include at least one computer program product having a set (e.g., at least one) of program modules, instructions, code or the like that is / are configured to carry out functions of embodiments described herein when executed by one or more processors.

[0154] Memory can store program s / software, for instance an operating system and other computer programs, such as one or more computer programs / applications that execute to perform aspects described herein. Specifically, programs / applications can include computer readable program instructions that may be configured to carry out functions of embodiments of aspects described herein.

[0155] Examples of VO devices include but are not limited to microphones, speakers, Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, cameras, lights, accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, sensor devices configured to sense light, proximity, heart rate, body and / or ambient temperature, blood pressure, and / or skin resistance, and activity monitors. An VO device may be incorporated into the device, though in some embodiments an VO device may be regarded as an external device coupled to the device through one or more VO interfaces.

[0156] The device may communicate with one or more external devices via one or more VO interfaces. Example external devices include a keyboard, a pointing device, a display, and / or any other devices that enable a user to interact with the device. Other example external devices include any device that enables the device to communicate with one or more other devices or peripheral devices. A network interface / adapter is an example VO interface that enables the device to communicate with one or more networks, such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and / or a public network (e.g., the Internet), providing communication with other computing devices or systems, storage devices, or the like. Ethernet-based (such as Wi-Fi) interfaces and Bluetooth® adapters are just examples of the currently available types of network adapters used in computer systems (BLUETOOTH is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc., Kirkland, Washington, U.S.A.).

[0157] The communication between VO interfaces and external devices can occur across wired and / or wireless communications link(s), such as Ethernet-based wired or wireless connections. Example wireless connections include cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, proximity -based, near-field, or other types of wireless connections. Moregenerally, communications link(s) may be any appropriate wireless and / or wired communication link(s) for communicating data.

[0158] Particular external device(s) may include one or more data storage devices, which may store one or more programs, one or more computer readable program instructions, and / or data, etc. The device may include and / or be coupled to and in communication with (e.g. as an external device of the device) removable / non- removable, volatile / non-volatile storage media. For example, it may include and / or be coupled to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (typically called a "hard drive"), a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk (e.g., a "floppy disk"), and / or an optical disk drive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile optical disk, such as a CD-ROM, DVD- ROM or other optical media.

[0159] The device may be operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. The device may take any of various forms, well-known examples of which include, but are not limited to, personal computer (PC) system(s), server computer system(s), such as messaging server(s), thin client(s), thick client(s), workstation(s), laptop(s), handheld device(s), mobile device(s) / computer(s) such as smartphone(s), tablet(s), and wearable device(s), multiprocessor system(s), microprocessor-based system(s), telephony device(s), network appliance(s) (such as edge appliance(s)), virtualization device(s), storage controller(s), set top box(es), programmable consumer electronic(s), network PC(s), minicomputer system(s), mainframe computer system(s), controller(s), communication-enabled circuit breaker(s), and distributed cloud computing environment(s) that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

[0160] FIG. 12 depicts an example such device in an environment to incorporate and / or use aspects described herein. As shown, device 1200 includes processor(s) 1202, memory 1204 having an operating system 1205 and program(s) 1206 (collectively control logic), VO devices 1208, and I / O interfaces 1210 that interface with external devices 1212 across communication path(s) 1210.

[0161] Aspects of the present invention may be a system, a method, and / or a computer program product, any of which may be configured to perform or facilitate aspects described herein.

[0162] In some embodiments, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product, which may be embodied as computer readable medium(s). A computer readable medium may be a tangible storage device / medium having computer readable program code / instructions stored thereon. Example computer readable medium(s) include, but are not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, or semiconductor storage devices or systems, or any combination of the foregoing. Example embodiments of a computer readable medium include a hard drive or other mass-storage device, an electrical connection having wires, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable-programmable read-only memory such as EPROM or flash memory, an optical fiber, a portable computer disk / diskette, such as a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any combination of the foregoing. The computer readable medium may be readable by a processor, processing unit, or the like, to obtain data (e.g. instructions) from the medium for execution. In a particular example, a computer program product is or includes one or more computer readable media that includes / stores computer readable program code to provide and facilitate one or more aspects described herein.

[0163] As noted, program instruction contained or stored in / on a computer readable medium can be obtained and executed by any of various suitable components such as a processor of a computer system to cause the computer system to behave and function in a particular manner. Such program instructions for carrying out operations to perform, achieve, or facilitate aspects described herein may be written in, or compiled from code written in, any desired programming language. In some embodiments, such programming language includes object-oriented and / or procedural programming languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, etc.

[0164] Program code can include one or more program instructions obtained for execution by one or more processors. Computer program instructions may be provided to one or more processors of, e.g., one or more computer systems, to produce a machine, such that the program instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, perform, achieve, or facilitate aspects of the present invention, such as actions or functions described in flowcharts and / or block diagrams described herein. Thus, each block, or combinations of blocks, of the flowchart illustrationsand / or block diagrams depicted and described herein can be implemented, in some embodiments, by computer program instructions.

[0165] Although various embodiments are described above, these are only examples.

[0166] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and / or “comprising”, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and / or groups thereof.

[0167] The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below, if any, are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of one or more embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain various aspects and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A communication-enabled circuit breaker comprising: a line input terminal configured to be coupled to a supply of power; a load output terminal configured to be coupled to a branch circuit; a switch coupled between the line input terminal and the load output terminal, the switch controlling, at least partially, conduction of the supply of power to the load output terminal; a memory; and a processing circuit in communication with the memory, wherein the communication-enabled circuit breaker is configured to: maintain a power-on state parameter to control a state to which the communication-enabled circuit breaker is to power on from a nonenergized state, the power-on state parameter being set for the communication-enabled circuit breaker to power on to a SWITCHOPEN state in which no substantive supply of power is provided to the load output terminal; and power-on the communication-enabled circuit breaker to the SWITCH-OPEN state based on: a restore of the supply of power to the communication- enabled circuit breaker; and the power-on state parameter being set for the communication-enabled circuit breaker to power-on to the SWITCH-OPEN state, wherein based on powering-on the communication-enabled circuit breaker, no substantive supply of power is provided to the load output terminal while the communication-enabled circuit breaker remains in the SWITCH-OPEN state after powering-on.

2. The communication-enabled circuit breaker of claim 1, wherein powering-on to the SWITCH-OPEN state prevents the branch circuit from beingenergized while the communication-enabled circuit breaker remains in the SWITCHOPEN state.

3. The communication-enabled circuit breaker of claim 1, wherein based on powering-on the communication-enabled circuit breaker to the SWITCH-OPEN state, the switch is open and no supply of power is provided to the load output terminal while the communication-enabled circuit breaker remains in the SWITCHOPEN state after powering-on.

4. The communication-enabled circuit breaker of claim 1, wherein the power-on state parameter is pre-configured by a remote device.

5. The communication-enabled circuit breaker of claim 4, wherein the remote device is a controller coupled to a load center into which the communication- enabled circuit breaker is installed.

6. The communication-enabled circuit breaker of claim 4, wherein the remote device is a mobile device.

7. The communication-enabled circuit breaker of claim 1, wherein the power-on state parameter is set based on whether the branch circuit is to be powered during a loss of power from an initial power source, as the supply of power, by an alternative power source as the supply of power.

8. The communication-enabled circuit breaker of claim 7, wherein the alternative power source comprises one or more of a battery, a battery energy storage system (BESS), a generator, or a solar power source.

9. The communication-enabled circuit breaker of claim 1, wherein the power-on state parameter is set based on a selected one of three options, the three options comprising: (i) a first option to power on to the SWITCH-OPEN state, (ii) a second option to power on to a power state of the communication-enabled circuit breaker prior to loss of the supply of power, and (iii) a third option to power on to a SWITCH-CLOSED state in which the switch is closed.

10. The communication-enabled circuit breaker of claim 1, further comprising a trip mechanism configured to interrupt the supply of power from being provided to the load output terminal, wherein the trip mechanism remains in a nontripped state during a loss of the supply of power to the communication-enabled circuit breaker and during the restore of the supply of power to the communication-enabled circuit breaker and the powering-on of the communication-enabled circuit breaker.

11. The communication-enabled circuit breaker of claim 1, wherein the communication-enabled circuit breaker is further configured to: receive, while in the SWITCH-OPEN state, a communication from a remote device to transition to a SWITCH-CLOSED state; and transition the communication-enabled circuit breaker to the SWITCH- CLOSED state in which the switch is closed to provide the supply of power to the load output terminal and power the branch circuit.

12. The communication-enabled circuit breaker of claim 1, wherein the switch coupled between the line input terminal and the load output terminal comprises a mechanical switch or a solid-state switch.

13. A controller comprising: a memory; and a processing circuit in communication with the memory, wherein the controller is configured to: program a power-on state parameter of a communication- enabled circuit breaker, the communication-enabled circuit breaker comprising a line input terminal configured to be coupled to a supply of power, and a load output terminal configured to be coupled to a branch circuit, and the communication-enabled circuit breaker configured to use the power-on state parameter to control a state to which the communication-enabled circuit breaker is to power on from a non-energized state, wherein the programming the power-on state parameter programs the communication-enabled circuit breaker to power on to a SWITCH-OPEN state in which a switch of the communication-enabled circuit breaker between the line input terminal and the load output terminal opens and no substantive supply of power is provided to the load output terminal.

14. The controller of claim 13, wherein the controller performs the programming based on an indication that the branch circuit is not to be powered by analternative power source, as the supply of power, during an outage scenario in which power from an initial power source, as the supply of power, is lost.

15. The controller of claim 14, wherein the alternative power source comprises one or more of a battery, a battery energy storage system (BESS), a generator, or a solar power source.

16. The controller of claim 13, wherein the controller programs the power- on state parameter based on a selection between (i) a first option to power on the communication-enabled circuit breaker to the SWITCH-OPEN state, (ii) a second option to power on the communication-enabled circuit breaker to a power state of the communication-enabled circuit breaker prior to loss of the supply of power, and (iii) a third option to power on to a SWITCH-CLOSED state in which the switch is closed.

17. The controller of claim 13, wherein the controller is further configured to send, to the communication-enabled circuit breaker, while the communication- enabled circuit breaker is in the SWITCH-OPEN state, a communication to transition to a SWITCH-CLOSED state in which the switch of the communication-enabled circuit breaker is closed to provide the supply of power to the load output terminal and power the branch circuit.

18. A controller comprising: a memory; and a processing circuit in communication with the memory, wherein the controller is configured to: receive an indication of a power loss event in which a supply of power to a load center transitions from a first power source, as the supply of power, to a second power source as the supply of power; and initiate a transition of a communication-enabled circuit breaker installed into the load center to a SWITCH-OPEN state in which a switch of the communication-enabled circuit breaker between a line input terminal of the communication-enabled circuit breaker and a load output terminal of the communication-enabled circuit breaker remains open and no supply of power is provided to the load output terminal, the initiating comprising sending a communication to the communication-enabled circuit breaker.

19. The controller of claim 18, wherein the communication is a wireless communication sent to the communication-enabled circuit breaker.

20. The controller of claim 18, wherein the communication is sent to a plurality of communication-enabled circuit breakers installed in the load center.

21. The controller of claim 18, wherein the communication informs the communication-enabled circuit breaker of the power loss event.

22. The controller of claim 18, wherein the communication is sent to the communication-enabled circuit breaker based on an indication that a branch circuit fed by the communication-enabled circuit breaker is not to be powered by the second power source.

23. The controller of claim 22, wherein the second power source comprises one or more of a battery, a battery energy storage system (BESS), a generator, or a solar power source.

24. A communication-enabled main circuit breaker for a load center, the communication-enabled main circuit breaker comprising: at least one line input terminal configured to couple to a supply of power; at least one load output terminal configured to couple to bus bars of the load center and feed the supply of power to a plurality of branch circuits via a plurality of branch circuit breakers installed in the load center; a switch coupled between the at least one line input terminal and the at least one load output terminal, the switch configured to selectively electrically isolate the at least one line input terminal from the at least one load output terminal; a memory; and a control circuit comprising a processing circuit in communication with the memory and a component configured to actuate the switch, wherein the communication-enabled main circuit breaker is configured to: detect an outage of power provided from a power source, as the supply of power, to the at least one line input terminal; andbased on detecting the outage of power, transition the switch, wherein the transitioning the switch electrically isolates the at least one line input terminal from the at least one load output terminal and electrically isolates the load center from the power source.

25. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker of claim 24, wherein the power source is a first power source and wherein the communication-enabled main circuit breaker is further configured to activate a second power source, wherein the communication-enabled main circuit breaker remains, during the outage of power from the first power source, in a SWITCH-OPEN state in which the switch remains open.

26. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker of claim 25, wherein the second power source comprises one or more of a battery, a battery energy storage system (BESS), a generator, or a solar power source.

27. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker of claim 26, wherein the first power source is supplied by a utility.

28. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker of claim 25, wherein the switch is a first switch, and wherein the communication-enabled main circuit breaker further comprises contacts and a second switch, the second switch being electrically coupled between the contacts, wherein activating the second power source comprises closing the second switch, the closing the second switch electrically coupling the contacts, and wherein the electrically coupling the contacts signals activation of the second power source to a control device controlling operation of the second power source.

29. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker of claim 28, wherein the first switch comprises a mechanical switch or a solid-state switch, and the second switch comprises a mechanical switch or a solid-state switch.

30. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker of claim 24, wherein the communication-enabled main circuit breaker is further configured to: selectively obtain power though either of the at least one line input terminal or the at least one load output terminal; and use the obtained power to power the control circuit.

31. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker of claim 30, wherein the communication-enabled main circuit breaker is further configured to: electrically isolate the control circuit from the other of the at least one line input terminal and the at least one load output terminal.

32. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker of claim 30, wherein, during the outage of power from the power source, as a first power source, the selectively obtaining comprises obtaining the power from a second power source through a load output terminal of the at least one load output terminal.

33. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker of claim 24, further comprising a source of power to power the at least one control circuit upon the outage for a range of time, the range comprising at least 1.0 to 4.0 seconds, to perform the opening and the activating.

34. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker of claim 24, wherein the communication-enabled main circuit breaker is further configured to: detect restoration of the power from the power source; and transition the communication-enabled main circuit breaker back to enabling conduction of power from the power source to the at least one load output terminal.

35. The communication-enabled main circuit breaker of claim 24, wherein the communication-enabled main circuit breaker is further configured to send a communication to one or more of:(i) one or more of the plurality of branch circuit breakers, wherein the communication informs the branch circuit breaker of the outage or indicates to the branch circuit breaker to transition to a SWITCH-OPEN state; or(ii) a control device configured to control one or more of the plurality of branch circuit breakers, wherein the communication informs the control device of the outage.

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