Load Management System for Grid Ancillary Services
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for balancing electrical grid supply and demand are slow, expensive, and result in increased pollution, as they rely on adjusting power generation rather than distributing energy use among multiple loads over time.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that determine a desired power draw for controllable loads connected to an electrical grid and transmit instructions through a communication network to adjust their power usage, allowing for rapid compensation of supply and demand fluctuations by controlling loads such as batteries, hot water heaters, and refrigeration compressors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If power generation is adjusted to balance supply and demand, then grid stability is maintained, but response time is slow and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of adjusting power generation to match load demand, the invention inverts the approach by adjusting controllable loads to match available power supply. The load management system receives power fluctuation signals and actively modifies consumer power consumption patterns, reversing the traditional supply-side control paradigm to achieve faster grid stabilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables loads to self-regulate their power consumption based on received control signals. Controllable loads automatically adjust their operation within acceptable ranges without requiring manual intervention or complex centralized control, allowing the grid to self-balance through distributed load modulation.
2Reliability
If power generation is adjusted to balance supply and demand, then grid stability is maintained, but operational costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention shifts control from the expensive generation side to the consumption side. By managing controllable loads directly through the load management system, the need for expensive generation adjustments and ancillary services is reduced, lowering operational costs while maintaining grid stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of controllable loads dynamically based on grid conditions. Loads are modulated within acceptable operating ranges defined by parameter thresholds, allowing cost-effective adjustment of power consumption patterns to match supply availability without compromising load functionality.
3Reliability
If traditional methods are used to balance supply and demand, then grid stability is maintained, but environmental pollution increases
Solution Approach 1:
Distributed load management systems enable consumer-side power adjustment without requiring additional generation infrastructure or pollution-intensive peaker plants. The system autonomously balances supply and demand through intelligent load control, eliminating the need for fossil-fuel-based emergency generation.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes determining a desired power draw for a plurality of loads connected to an electrical grid, each of the plurality of loads connected to the electrical grid through a load supply control and being able to obtain a desired amount of energy from the grid in a desired time period, and transmitting a plurality of instructions through a communication network to a plurality of load supply controls to cause at least some of the loads in the plurality of loads to receive power from the electrical grid at different rates than other loads of the plurality of loads such that the desired power draw is obtained and such that each load of the plurality of loads receives its corresponding desired amount of energy in the desired time period.