Dynamic Energy Storage Capacity Control for Outage Resilience
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current backup power systems face challenges in maintaining continuity of electrical service during outages, particularly in ensuring minimum duration requirements and optimizing energy storage and usage to reduce operational costs, while considering regulatory mandates, environmental factors, and varying power demands.
Innovation Solution
A dynamic energy storage system that adjusts its capacity based on consumption rates, usage patterns, and forecasted outages, utilizing adaptive statistical models to optimize energy storage and distribution, allowing for energy arbitrage by charging during off-peak hours and discharging during peak hours to maintain a power reserve and reduce energy costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If energy storage capacity is increased to meet minimum backup time requirements, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the minimum capacity threshold based on forecasted outage probability and duration. During high-risk periods, the system maintains higher energy reserves to ensure reliability, while during low-risk periods, it reduces reserves to lower complexity and cost. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to meet reliability requirements only when necessary.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of minimum capacity from a fixed value to a variable threshold determined by statistical forecasts. The controller adjusts the capacity threshold based on predicted outage characteristics, allowing the system to optimize between reliability and complexity by only maintaining high capacity when forecasted conditions warrant it.
2Loss of energy
If energy is stored during off-peak hours and discharged during peak hours for cost optimization, then operational cost is reduced, but energy storage capacity requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically determines the optimal capacity threshold based on real-time factors including forecasted outages, current state of charge, and energy pricing signals. This allows the system to engage in energy arbitrage (storing during off-peak, discharging during peak) only when economically beneficial, rather than maintaining fixed capacity for all scenarios.
Solution Approach 2:
The energy storage system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides backup power for reliability, enables energy arbitrage for cost reduction, and maintains statistical uptime levels. The controller integrates these competing objectives into a unified decision-making framework that determines charging and discharging actions based on current conditions.
3Productivity
If statistical models are used to forecast outages and optimize capacity, then productivity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback loops where the controller continuously monitors actual outage events, compares them to forecasted statistics, and updates the minimum capacity threshold accordingly. This feedback mechanism allows the system to learn from past performance and improve its energy utilization efficiency while maintaining a manageable control structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller performs preliminary calculations of minimum capacity thresholds based on forecasted outage statistics before outages occur. This allows the system to proactively optimize energy storage levels rather than reacting to outages in real-time, improving productivity while keeping the control logic relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes an energy storage system capable of receiving electrical energy from an energy source and can supply electrical energy to a first load during a first period and to the first load during a second period. The first load differs in usage rate from the first period relative to the second period. A system controller maintains the energy storage system such that the energy storage system maintains a first amount of stored electrical energy during a first mode, and a second amount of electrical energy during a second mode. The system controller maintains the energy storage system in the first mode during a first portion of the first period, and in the second mode during a second portion of the first period.