Switchable Optical Site Monitoring for Adaptive Tint Fault Response
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Solution Overview
Problem
As electrically tintable windows, such as electrochromic windows, are increasingly deployed, there is a need for sophisticated control and monitoring systems to manage large installations effectively, as they generate a significant amount of data and require advanced techniques for managing performance, user preferences, and energy efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A site monitoring system that analyzes data from remote sites with switchable optical devices, identifies issues, and takes corrective actions, learns user preferences, and adapts control logic to optimize performance, energy savings, and user comfort, using a network of computers and processing devices with software and firmware to manage switchable optical devices, sensors, and controllers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If smart windows are widely deployed, then energy efficiency and user comfort are improved, but system complexity and data management burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system automatically detects performance deviations, identifies problematic devices, and generates notifications without requiring manual intervention. The system self-manages the complexity by autonomously processing data from multiple smart windows and taking corrective actions, thereby reducing the operational burden while maintaining energy efficiency benefits
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors performance data from smart windows and provides feedback through notifications when devices operate outside expected parameters. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables automatic adjustment and optimization, managing system complexity through intelligent data processing while sustaining energy efficiency improvements
2Reliability
If monitoring systems analyze all data from remote sites, then device reliability is improved, but data processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system focuses monitoring efforts on specific critical parameters and individual devices that deviate from expected performance, rather than uniformly processing all data. By applying different monitoring intensities to different devices based on their performance characteristics, the system maintains high reliability while reducing overall data processing time
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts monitoring parameters and thresholds based on device performance patterns and environmental conditions. By changing monitoring parameters adaptively, the system processes only relevant data with appropriate depth, maintaining reliability while optimizing processing time and computational resource utilization
3Productivity
If corrective actions are automatically implemented, then productivity is improved, but risk of incorrect adjustments increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements corrective actions with built-in feedback mechanisms that monitor the results of adjustments. If corrections produce unexpected outcomes or deviate from expected performance improvements, the system can detect these deviations and adjust or reverse corrections, thereby maintaining productivity while managing the risk of incorrect adjustments through continuous verification
Data Source
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AI summary
A site monitoring system may analyze information from sites to determine when a device, a sensor, a controller, or other structure associated with optically switchable devices has a problem. The system may, if appropriate, act on the problem. In certain embodiments, the system learns customer/user preferences and adapts its control logic to meet the customer's goals.