Smart Electrical Drop Wire-Forms and Electrical Power Management System
Disclosed is a power management system utilizing “smart” wire-devices installable in the “drop-grid” or “micro-grid” at a premise, such as a business or residence. The “smart” wire-device includes a management node integrated into a typical electrical power outlet, circuit breaker or switch as would be found in such premises, and is installable in the power line in a manner similar to existing wire-devices. The “smart” wire-device requires no special skill to install The present wire-device is “smart” in that the node has a detector circuit that senses the electrical characteristic(s) of the power line at the point at which it is installed. The node's communication circuit communicates with one or more spatially separated remote controller devices. The node operates a remotely controllable maker/breaker means in response to received instructions to alter the condition of the electrical power output of the “smart” wire-device.
The present application claims the benefit of prior co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/567,721 filed 25 September to which the present application is a US Divisional application, and which prior application in turn claimed the benefit of prior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/508,569 filed 24 Jul. 2009; Ser. No. 12/251,449 filed 14 Oct. 2008; 61/181,292 filed 27 May 2009; 61/100,258 filed 25 Sep. 2008; and International Patent Application serial number PCT/US08/79895 filed 14 Oct. 2008, and which prior applications are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is in the field of devices for measuring and testing of one or more electric properties, e.g., kilowatt hour demand/usage (Class 324) of a wire device. Specifically, the present invention relates to electrical usage measurement devices that sense electricity, per se, and signal the result of the measurement for exhibiting and/or processing (Subclass 76.11), and condition responsive control of the wire device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe motivation to improve usage efficiency has long existed in the electrical power field. Growing energy demand, escalating energy costs and a heightened awareness of both energy security and climate change have long driven interest in the field to improved energy efficiency as mechanism for mitigating the impact of the power industry on sustainability and the environment. In view of this, the utility industry has been motivated to develop and implement comprehensive energy efficiency systems that allow them to monitor a power grid's component devices in real-time (visibility) and to remotely control/manage (i.e., alter or redirect the power going to) those devices in real-time. Further, the visibility and control must include a substantial degree of “granularity,” meaning that individual load components of the grid are visible to and controllable by the power management system. However, the electrical power distribution grids of electrical utility providers are not the only points at which meaningful electrical energy efficiencies need to be accomplished. It would be beneficial to the field if small electrical power consumers were similarly able to accomplish electrical usage efficiencies in the consumer's own premises power grid: the “micro-grid” represented by the consumer's premises (e.g., residence or place of business).
To accomplish a comprehensive, premises based energy efficiency program, it is necessary for the devices on premises power grid (the electrical wiring system on the drop-side of the utility provider's power metering device) to have real-time visibility and remote management capability for the small consumer analogous to the capacity the devices on a utility's distribution grid provide to the utility provider. In large industrial and commercial facilities, such visibility and control are often accomplish using very expensive proprietary hardware and software components not available to residential and small business consumers.
For premises, especially of residential and small business consumers, it would be beneficial if there were alternatives available in the way of off-the-shelf components and systems useful for accomplishing improved energy usage efficiencies, which components and systems do not require an inordinate amount of skill to install. The components of such a system as much as possible should resemble in structure and function, the existing components in the consumer's premises power grid. In other words, the new devices should be adapted to be readily retrofit into a premise' existing electrical lines to replace existing electrical appliance wiring devices. Additionally, the components should not require skill to install that is beyond that of ordinary electrician installer, and once installed should be unobtrusive in the environment of the premises. Further, the overall system and the remote system controller should be easy to understand, to implement and to operate—i.e., user friendly for the consumer.
Recently, products have been developed which attempt to address at least in part some of the aforementioned needs. Examples include: the “Kill-a-Watt” of P3 Industries (NY, N.Y.; www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-CE.html), the “WattsUp” of Electronic Educational Devices (Denver, Colo.; www.wattsupmeters.com/secure/products.php), as well as the power plug and power strip device of U.S. Pat. No. 7,099,785. Although, these devices may be useful for their intended purpose, to visually monitor the electrical energy consumption of an individual appliance, these and similar devices do not enable the user to remotely (at a distance) monitor the device in a manner analogous to how a power company remotely monitors multiple devices. More importantly, these and similar devices do not enable the user to remotely control the device in a manner analogous to how a power company remotely controls devices on its power grid. Therefore, these types of device cannot accomplish the real-time visibility and remote management capability for the consumer, analogous to that which a utility has over the devices on its distribution grid.
Other products developed in the field for residential-type premises are useful for monitoring the “overall” energy usage of a premises or the “overall” energy usage of a single circuit breaker. However, these devices do not enable granular visibility and control of all or a substantial portion of individual loads on a premise' grid—it is not the individual load component or appliance that is monitored, only the usage of the line. The individual load components on the line are not visible. Therefore, these devices and the systems using them cannot provide the degree of granular visibility to residential user necessary to accomplish energy usage efficiencies analogous to that which a utility has over its distribution grid. Examples of this limited type of device are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 7,043,380 to Rodenberg et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 7,263,450 to Hunter.
Rodenberg discloses a distribution panel circuit breaker monitoring device wherein the overall power usage of the drop-side of the breaker is monitored, but which cannot monitor the usage of the individual appliances on the drop. Therefore, the Rodenberg device fails to provide the granular visibility analogous to a utility provider's efficiency system. Hunter discloses an optical automatic meter reader, a data collector and a computer. The meter reader attaches outside of an existing utility meter and senses power usage, and the data collector stores power usage data obtained via the meter communicates the data to the computer for viewing by the user. The computer provides a centralized object through which the user views power consumption. The Hunter device and system only monitors overall power usage of the drop-side of the utility service meter. It cannot monitor the usage of the individual appliances on the drop. Therefore, the Hunter device also fails to provide the granular visibility analogous to a utility provider's efficiency system.
However, it would be beneficial if a system were available to a consumer micro-grid that provided visibility and control of energy usage across the micro-grid, without needing to utilize bespoke form-factors and configurations that do not accommodate simple retrofit, and that do not require custom wiring and installation. It would be further useful to have available such devices as would allow the consumer's micro-grid to interface with a local (“on the micro-grid”) power source, such as a battery bank or photo-voltaic array.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is a premises based electricity power usage management system utilizing “Smart Wire-Devices” (SWD). The management system integrates one or more smart wire-form device circuits to enable the measurement of electrical power usage data (of a wire-form electrical load interface such as a wall outlet, light switch, circuit breaker, etc.), and to transmit the data to a signal processor distally separated from the wire-form device circuits. The smart wire-device is a remotely controllable, condition sensing wire-device installable on the drop-side of the electric power line, i.e., the micro-grid of a premises. The smart wire-device measures an electrical property of the electric power line, such as: line current; line voltage; line frequency; electrical ground condition; wattage; line power factor; line electrical noise; and line impedance.
The condition sensing wire-device comprises a current-carrying electrical appliance wiring-device form component and a management node. The current-carrying electrical appliance wiring-device has a locally controlled maker/breaker means for opening and closing the electric power line to provide power to the appliance connected to it. The current-carrying electrical appliance wiring-device typically is in a form similar to a wall outlet, a surface-mount electrical switch (e.g., a wall switch) and/or an electrical circuit breaker.
The management node includes a control mechanism, a sensing circuit, and a communications circuit. The control mechanism has a remotely controllable maker/breaker means - separate from the locally controlled maker/breaker means of the electrical wiring-device. The remotely controllable maker/breaker means of the management node controls the condition of the node's control mechanism in response to an internal device signal from the communications circuit. The sensing circuit is in electrical communication with the electric power line and the control mechanism. The sensing circuit measures one or more electrical properties of the electrical line, and as a result of the measuring and the sensing, it generates an internal device signal and sends the signal to the communications circuit. The communications circuit is adapted to receive, process and route the signals it receives from the sensing circuit (and other sources), and to transmit external output to a spatially separated, remote signal processing device via an I/O interface port, and to receive external input signals via the I/O port.
The management node is physically integrated with the electrical appliance wiring-device to provide the condition sensing wire-device of the present invention in a unitary form.
Another advantage of the present invention is accomplished in the situation where the premises micro-grid includes a local source or store of electrical power, such as a local photo-voltaic array or a battery bank. Local, on-site generation of electricity, via solar photo-voltaics (PV's), wind, hydroelectric, etc. is an increasingly important source of power for most electrical power distribution systems. The ability to monitor and control these methods of local generation is necessary in order to maximize the effectiveness of the system. Locally generated electricity often is provided as DC power (e.g., from a battery or a PV source). In these cases, a DC-AC inverter is required to convert the DC power to AC power typically used on a premises micro-grid. A “smart” inverter embodying the management node of the present invention provides a solution for monitoring, and control of a local DC power source. By measuring the electrical characteristics (power, voltage, current, phase, frequency, power factor, etc.) at both the input and output of the inverter, measurements for the power generated, power supplied, and inverter efficiency and phase-locking can be provided. Control at the inverter location provides the ability to electrically disconnect, shunt, or otherwise limit/vary the amount of electrical power supplied.
Additionally, the ability to communicate with the inverter allows the inverter to be networked into the present power management system. The management node of the smart inverter provides the ability to communicate with the present power management system via the described I/O methods. The smart inverter management node can also communicate directly with the inverter's internal circuitry via an integral serial connection. This provides the inverter with the ability to communicate to the user data in addition to data from the sensors 46a, 46b; additional data such as: inverter circuitry state, inverter health, and diagnostic data related to the inverter circuitry.
Furthermore, it is an advantage of the present system to provide a means accomplishing the reverse operation of the inverter: i.e., a rectifying device which converts the AC power of the micro-grid to DC power for use or storage locally. This is accomplishable by substituting a rectifying device for or adding a rectifying device to the inverter element 22 in
Referring now to the drawings, the details of preferred embodiments of the present invention are graphically and schematically illustrated. Like elements in the drawings are represented by like numbers, and any similar elements are represented by like numbers with a different lower case letter suffix.
Referring now to
A current-carrying electrical appliance wiring-form 20 is a means for regulating the flow of electricity through the electric power line 16 at the point at which it is installed in the line 16. Examples of such prior art wire-form are set forth in the 2007 NAICS table of industry definitions as a class 335931 Current-Carrying Wiring Device. In a prior art wiring form, this regulation typically consists of simply opening and/or closing the electric power line 16 at the point of installation in response to a manual operation, such as operating a wall switch or connecting a power cord to an electrical outlet.
The management node 40 is an electronic device that comprises at least a sensing circuit 44 and a communications circuit 42. In a preferred embodiment, the management node 40 has a unique identifier (“ID”) linked to it. The unique ID can be assigned during the production process, or can be assigned later (either manually or dynamically). The unique identifier allows the system to identify individual nodes 40 on a network of nodes 45 (see
The management node 40 feature of the Smart Wire-Device 10 is not to be confused with a “load-shedding” device. Load-shedding is defined as: cutting off the electric current on certain lines when the demand becomes greater than the supply. See: wordnetweb.princeton.edu. The purpose of a load-shedding device is to automatically shut-off the attached appliance when (a) a preset level of electricity consumption is reached or (b) at a scheduled time. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 7,043,380. In contrast, in a preferred embodiment the present management node 40 provides more granular control of the attached appliance by enabling the user to communicate with it to accomplish a repertoire of control features (such as varying the power, the duty cycle or the operational state of the attached appliance) in addition to merely shutting off power to the appliance.
In practice, the management node 40 is physically integrated with the electrical appliance wiring-form 20 to provide the Smart Wire-Device 10 of the present invention as a single unit. It is intended that the integrated unit generally resembles the prior wire-form it replaces in both its appearance and how it is installed in a premises electrical power line 16. In other words, the present Smart Wire Device 10 outwardly resembles a prior wire-form in looks and in the manner by which it is installed in a premises electrical power line 16. However, the Smart Wire-Device 10 substantially differs from the prior wire-forms it replaces in its internal structure and the scope of its operation, its utility and its functions.
In an additional preferred embodiment illustrated in
The communications circuit 42 of the management node 40 is adapted to communicate an output signal via a hard-wire I/O interface 50 and/or via a wireless I/O interface 52. Hard-wire and wireless interfaces are known to the ordinary skilled artisan and include hard-wired interfaces such as PLC, USB, Ethernet, etc., and wireless interfaces such as Zigbee, WIFI, radio, etc. However, in the preferred embodiment of the communications circuit 42 exemplified in
In an alternative preferred embodiment shown in
a hard drive; or some other form of memory. As shown in
The electrical appliance wiring-form 20 is a consumer-appliance electrical circuit maker/breaker 24 for connecting an electrical consumer appliance to an electrical power line 16 on the premises (see
The sensing circuit 44 of the management node 40 includes one or more line sensors 46 adapted to enable the sensing circuit 44 to detect and/or measure one or more electrical properties of the electric power line 16 at the point at which the Smart Wire-Device 10 is installed. Relative to the wiring-form 20, a line sensor 46 of the sensing circuit 44 can be placed in either the line-side 16a or the drop-side of the electrical power line 16, as selectable by the ordinary skilled artisan. An appropriate electrical property of the power line 16 to be measured is selectable by one of ordinary skill in the art. Such electrical properties include: line current; line voltage; line frequency; electrical ground condition; wattage; line power factor; line electrical noise; and line impedance. Additionally, the sensor circuit has utility in aiding the communication circuit's “self-healing” (see below) capability. For example, the sensor circuit 44 may detect electrical characteristics of the AC power line 16 that are satisfactory for power line communications (PLC), or that are unsatisfactory and PLC should be avoided, as determined by software instruction associated with the processing circuit 60. As an aside, it is to be understood that the processor 60 and the memory 62 features of the present invention have appropriate associates instruction sets (software and/or firmware) to enable the invention to accomplish its intended purpose.
Additionally, in the embodiment exemplified in
Another featured that enhances the benefits of certain embodiments of the present Smart Wire-Device 10 of the present invention is a manual override mechanism 80 (see
A further featured that enhances the benefits of certain embodiments of the present invention is the sensor circuit 42 being adaptable to aid the control mechanism and associated circuitry 70 in accomplishing certain functions. For example, as shown in
In practicing the present Electrical Power Management System, a smart wire-device 10 including a management node 40 is installed at any point along a power line 16a-e of the micro-grid 1 between (or within) a load appliance 120, 220a-c and the electrical power source (e.g. the utility meter 610b). This will provide the end user with a multitude of options for measuring and controlling electrical energy usage across the entire premises micro-grid 1, from the highest level down to a very granular level. For example, to manage and control the electrical energy usage of a typical plug-in type load appliance, such as a television or desk lamp, the load appliance may be plugged into a smart wire-device 10 configured as a standard wall-outlet 110a. Similarly, the load appliance may be plugged directly into a smart wire-device 10 configured as a multi-plug/power-strip device 110b. Additionally, a management node 40 may be integrated directly into the load appliance itself 120. Management of non-pluggable loads, such as built-in lighting and large appliances like washing machines, clothes dryers, etc, may be managed by management nodes 40 integrated into switches, dimmers, or similar wiring-devices 130; by management nodes 40 integrated into circuit breakers 100b, or by management nodes 40 integrated directly into the load appliance itself 120. It can be seen that many possible configurations are possible.
While the previous scenario describes receiving a packet on one interface, and forwarding the packet out a different interface, a similar behavior may occur on a single interface, wherein a management node has the effect of repeating and/or amplifying a communications signal. For example, interference could exists on the power line 760, such that the communications from “Node 1” 310 is severely attenuated, though not be completely blocked. In this case, “Node 3” 312 can accept the original data packet from “Node 1” 310 via the PLC com link 50c, and repeatedly send the packet via the PLC com link 760 to “Node 5” 314 until successful reception of the packet is acknowledged. Similarly, using Zigbee instead of PLC, this behavior can be shown between “Nodes 1” 310, “Node 2” 311, and “Node 6” 315. If a signal on the Zigbee wireless com link 52a is strong enough to reach from “Node 1” 310 to “Node 2” 311, but not to “Node 6” 315, then “Node 2” 311 can act as a repeater, resending over ZigBee com link 52c to establish successful communications between “Node 1” 310 and “Node 6” 315.
The System provides for the ability for any Management Node to be aware of the state of any other Node over the network, and thus an awareness of the overall state of the Network can be established. For example, if “Node 1” 310 has established successful communications via the ZigBee com link 52a with “Node 2” 311, and “Node 2” 311 subsequently goes “off-line” (e.g., experiences a software fault, loses power, is physically removed from the Network, or is otherwise unable to participate on the Network), then “Node 1” 310 is unable to communicate with Management “Node 2” 311. “Node 1” 310 is able to communicate this event to the remaining Nodes on the Network, which in turn may select alternate communications paths to accommodate the outage of “Node 2” 311. As an example of this, if “Node 4” 313 attempts to communicate with “Node 1” 310, it must do so via “Node 3” 312, as the path through “Node 2” 311 has been lost. However, having been informed of the outage in advance by “Node 1” 310, no time is wasted waiting for communication attempts via a path through “Node 2” 311 to time-out before trying an alternate com link.
In addition to the multiple-media mesh network functionality described, the present system provides for multiple options for interoperability with other networks, for example, a typical computer-based network, such as a Local Area Network (“LAN”) 500 or the Internet 510. Looking again to
Now consider a packet from the bridging device node 308 destined for a remote, Internet-enabled computer 165. The bridging management node 308 can establish a connection to the Internet 510 using Ethernet or Wifi 400 via the
LAN/WLAN 500, which in turn has an internet interface 420, and then to the remote computer 165 through the Internet 510. Optionally, the bridging management node 308 can establish a connection 440 to the local PC 160, which in turn connects to the LAN/WLAN 410, 500, which is similarly linked to the remote computer 165 via the Internet 510.
Communication with the Utility Service 610 may also be established to/from the bridging management node 310 via the Internet 510, proxied by an Internet based server 165 or by way of the utility meter 610b. The bridging Management Node 308 can, for example, communicate directly with an enabled utility meter 610b via a HAN interface 430, which is then in turn linked to the
Utility Service 610 by way of their communication network 610a. Optionally, the utility meter 610b can have a connection 460 to the LAN/WLAN 500 or directly 450 to the PC 160, in which cases communications to/from the bridging management node 308 may be established as previously described. It should be understood that, though in the above examples of bridging communications between the mesh Network 45 and other networks or devices is done by a bridging device node 308, the bridging service may be accomplished by any device capable of bridging communications between the described mesh Network 45 and at least one other network.
Further, by forming a mesh type network, wherein each management node 308, 311-315 has a communication pathway to each other management node 308, 311-315, and each management node 308, 311-315 is capable of storing, forwarding, relaying, and/or repeating communications data, multiple pathways are available for the data communications. This further enables the system to overcome issues such as interference or attenuation by selecting alternate communications pathways. Additionally, whereas the Network 45 may be distributed in nature, the present system does not rely on any single management node 311-315 for normal operations. As such, the present system can accommodate and recover from individual management nodes 311-315 ceasing to participate on the Network 45. Similarly, the present system can accommodate the addition and dynamic integration of new management nodes 311-315 to the existing Network 45. It should be noted that it is not required that this communications bridge be comprised of a management node 40, per se.
Looking now to
A further feature of the present system addresses the issue that a modern premises micro-grid power management 800 system is not fully complete without the capability to include a “smart” inverter as a component of the system. A smart or condition responsive inverter allows the system's premises micro-grid 1 to have a local alternative power source feeding electricity into the system's micro-grid 1, which is responsive to the user's system - unlike the utility service provider 610 on the line side 610a of the utility meter 610b in
inverter circuitry state, inverter health, and diagnostic data related to the inverter circuitry. Further, via either or both of the bidirectional communication interfaces 50, 52, the smart inverter 10a can communicate with other smart devices 10 of the present system.
It should be noted that the inverter 22 in
While the above description contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as exemplifications of one or another preferred embodiment thereof Many other variations are possible, which would be obvious to one skilled in the art. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined by the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents, and not just by the embodiments.
Claims
1. An electrical power management system for managing electrical power usage on a micro-power grid (1) of a consumer's premises, the management system comprising:
- an electricity metering device (610b) feeding power into a distribution panel (200) of the micro-power grid (1);
- the distribution panel (200), having a main circuit breaker (100a) and at least one distribution circuit breaker (100b) connected to at least one drop power line (16) to feed electrical power throughout the micro-grid (1);
- at least one remotely controllable, condition sensing wire-device (10) disposed in the at least one drop power line (16) between the distribution panel (200) and a load appliance (120, 220) installed on the power line (16); and
- a signal processing unit (100) in signal communication with the at least one remotely controllable, condition sensing wire-device (10), the signal processing unit (100) in a communications network with the at least one remotely controllable, condition sensing wire-device (10), and adapted to provide electrical power usage management of the micro-power grid (1) and adapted to overcome breaks in the communications network.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 13, 2012
Publication Date: Jan 3, 2013
Inventors: Gilbert J. Masters (Belmont, CA), Marcos B. Pernia (San Mateo, CA)
Application Number: 13/549,365
International Classification: G06F 1/26 (20060101);