Software Abstraction Layer for Energy Storage System Interoperability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems face challenges in efficiently managing energy generation and storage, particularly in providing power during peak loads, balancing grid voltage and frequency, and acting as a backup during blackouts, due to intermittent power output and reliance on the utility grid. Additionally, current systems require manual provisioning, are cumbersome to control, and face interoperability issues with vendor-specific communication protocols.
Innovation Solution
A software abstraction layer is implemented in energy generation and storage systems, allowing a site gateway to receive standardized operating parameters, translate them into vendor-specific parameters, and control physical components such as battery inverter/chargers. This enables automated provisioning, centralized management, and interoperability across different vendor-specific protocols, grouping components into logical devices for efficient control and load balancing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If manual provisioning is used for energy storage systems, then system deployment is simple, but the process is time-consuming and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs automatic provisioning where the energy storage system itself configures and provisions its components without manual intervention. The site gateway automatically discovers components, retrieves their capabilities, and configures them through standardized interfaces, eliminating the need for technician manual provisioning while reducing errors and time consumption.
2Measurement precision
If vendor-specific communication protocols are used, then component control is precise, but interoperability between different vendors becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a site gateway as an intermediary layer between the control system and vendor-specific components. The gateway translates standardized control commands into vendor-specific protocols and vice versa, enabling precise control of individual components while maintaining interoperability across different vendors through a unified standardized interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a universal standardized interface that can work with multiple vendor-specific protocols. The site gateway is designed to support various communication protocols simultaneously, allowing the same control system to manage components from different vendors without requiring vendor-specific control logic, thus achieving both precision and versatility.
3Productivity
If centralized control is implemented, then system management is efficient, but control flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is segmented into hierarchical layers: a centralized site gateway that manages overall system coordination and a distributed control capability at the component level. This allows efficient centralized management for system-wide operations while maintaining local flexibility for individual component adjustments, resolving the contradiction between centralized efficiency and operational flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A software abstraction layer for energy generation and/or storage systems. In one embodiment, a method is provided that can comprise receiving, by a site gateway, one or more standardized operating parameters for a physical component of an energy storage system, and translating, by the site gateway, the one or more standardized operating parameters into one or more vendor specific parameters, where the one or more vendor specific parameters are specific to a vendor-defined communication protocol supported by the physical component. The physical component can then be controlled using the one or more vendor specific parameters.