Collective Energy Flow Management for Fair Self-Consumption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies struggle to manage the equitable distribution of electrical energy flow between producing and consuming entities, failing to account for the specific needs and contributions of each entity in a simple and efficient manner.
Innovation Solution
An automatic management process that forecasts and adjusts the electrical energy flow based on the predicted needs of producing and consuming entities, ensuring equitable distribution and maximizing self-consumption rates through iterative consultations and residual energy calculations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If autonomous electricity production devices are installed to supply buildings with electricity, then the cost of electricity for the building is reduced, but the self-consumption rate remains low (20-30%) because excess energy is resold at low cost or requires expensive storage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple producing entities and consuming entities into a collective self-consumption system. By combining their energy flows, the system enables mutual sharing of excess production, thereby increasing the overall self-consumption rate from 20-30% to potentially much higher levels without requiring expensive storage devices for each individual entity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the self-consumption model through the virtual self-consumption model, where producing entities are grouped with consuming entities to distribute electricity production. This virtual grouping allows entities to share energy without physical interconnection, effectively copying the benefits of direct self-consumption across a broader network.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the collective self-consumption model is implemented to increase self-consumption rate, then profitability is improved, but the complexity of managing energy distribution increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a self-service mechanism where each entity autonomously determines its own production forecast and consumption forecast, and calculates its own residual production forecast. This distributed decision-making approach eliminates the need for complex centralized management, allowing the system to scale without proportionally increasing management complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent requires each entity to determine its production forecast and consumption forecast at the start of a predetermined period before actual energy exchange occurs. This preliminary action allows the system to pre-calculate residual production forecasts and establish a clear distribution plan, simplifying real-time management and reducing operational complexity.
3Reliability
If residual production forecasts are transmitted iteratively between entities, then equitable distribution is achieved, but the calculation process becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the energy distribution calculation into discrete steps: each entity determines its production forecast and consumption forecast separately, calculates its residual production forecast based on previous entities' data, and transmits this residual forecast to the next entity. This segmentation transforms a complex optimization problem into a series of simple, sequential calculations that are easy to implement and verify.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where each entity's residual production forecast becomes the input for the next entity's calculation. This iterative feedback process ensures that all entities receive a fair share of the available energy while maintaining simple local calculations. The process repeats until convergence, guaranteeing equitability without requiring complex global optimization.
Data Source
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AI summary
One aspect of the invention relates to a method for the automatic management of an electrical energy flow produced by at least a first group of producing entities and consumed by said first group of producing entities and at least a second group of consuming entities, in which each entity determines, at the beginning of a predetermined period, a production forecast and/or a consumption forecast of electrical energy, the method comprising the following operations: - determining, for each group, an order for consulting the entities of the group, - consulting all the producing entities according to the order determined previously, each producing entity calculating a residual production forecast taking into account its own production forecasts, a residual production forecast transmitted by a previous entity and, on the one hand, a consumption forecast which may be fed by the residual production forecast,and transmitting this residual production forecast to the next producing entity in the determined order; - when the production forecasts are in excess, transmit said residual production forecasts to the group of consuming entities; - consult all consuming entities in the previously determined order, each consuming entity calculating its residual consumption forecast and residual production forecast and transmitting these forecasts to the next consuming entity in the determined order; - repeat the previous steps until a predetermined convergence criterion has been reached.