U.S. patent application number 11/919016 was filed with the patent office on 2009-05-21 for computer implemented systems and methods for improving renewable energy systems performance guarantees.
This patent application is currently assigned to FAT SPANIEL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.. Invention is credited to Christiaan Willem Beekhuis.
Application Number | 20090132302 11/919016 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37308293 |
Filed Date | 2009-05-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090132302 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Beekhuis; Christiaan
Willem |
May 21, 2009 |
Computer implemented systems and methods for improving renewable
energy systems performance guarantees
Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for collecting, aggregating,
and analyzing data associated with the installation and deployment
of systems. Energy systems, (300) specifically renewable energy
generation systems, are used as examples. The aggregated data serve
as the basis for a variety of services that facilitate the adoption
and deployment of these systems. Services are provided that aid in
the modeling and establishment of improved System Performance
Guarantee commitments. Additionally, services are provided that
improve the system performance, improve the installation, lower the
cost, and provide monitoring and service to maintain improved
performance.
Inventors: |
Beekhuis; Christiaan Willem;
(San Jose, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MICHAELSON & ASSOCIATES
P.O. BOX 8489
RED BANK
NJ
07701-8489
US
|
Assignee: |
FAT SPANIEL TECHNOLOGIES,
INC.
San Jose
CA
|
Family ID: |
37308293 |
Appl. No.: |
11/919016 |
Filed: |
April 28, 2006 |
PCT Filed: |
April 28, 2006 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/US2006/016279 |
371 Date: |
October 22, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60676390 |
Apr 29, 2005 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/7.39 ;
700/286 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y02E 40/76 20130101;
Y04S 10/50 20130101; G06Q 10/06393 20130101; G06Q 10/10 20130101;
G06Q 10/20 20130101; G06Q 10/0637 20130101; Y04S 10/545 20130101;
G06Q 50/06 20130101; Y02E 40/70 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/7 ;
700/286 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 10/00 20060101
G06Q010/00; G06F 1/28 20060101 G06F001/28 |
Claims
1. A computer implemented method for improving a System Performance
Guarantee commitment, comprising: using a model of benchmark system
response and system performance to generate an expected result of
system performance based on said model (200); selecting a
coefficient ranging between 0 and 1 (201); calculating the System
Performance Guarantee commitment by multiplying said expected
result from said model by said coefficient (202); monitoring the
system performance and comparing said system performance to the
System Performance Guarantee commitment (204-206).
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said system comprises an energy
system.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein said system comprises an energy
usage system an energy storage system, an energy management system,
or an energy generation system.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein said energy generation system
comprises a renewable energy generation system.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein said renewable energy generation
system comprises a solar energy generation system, a wind turbine
energy generation system, a tidal energy generation system, a
geothermal energy generation system, or a waste-to-energy
system.
6. A system for improving a System Performance Guarantee
commitment, comprising: one or more Energy Systems (300); sensors
contained within said Energy Systems to monitor said Energy Systems
settings and performance attributes data; sensors associated with
said Energy Systems to measure environmental conditions data (302);
a local communications device for communicating said Energy Systems
settings and performance attributes data and said environmental
conditions data onto a network (303); a network capable of
transmitting said Energy Systems settings and performance
attributes data and said environmental conditions data (304); a
centralized database capable of receiving and storing said Energy
Systems settings and performance attributes data and said
environmental conditions data (505); a user interface for
interacting with said centralized database (306-309, 403, 408,
409); a computer readable medium containing procedures for acting
upon said Energy Systems settings and performance attributes data
and said environmental conditions data (412-417); and display
output devices for displaying the results of said procedure action
upon said Energy Systems settings and performance attributes data
and said environmental conditions data (306-310, 404, 410).
7. The system of claim 6 wherein said one or more Energy Systems
comprise at least one Energy System selected from the group
consisting of an energy usage system, an energy storage system, an
energy management system, and an energy generation system.
8. The system of claim 7 wherein said energy generation system
comprises a renewable energy generation system.
9. The system of claim 8 wherein said renewable energy generation
system comprises a solar energy generation system, a wind turbine
energy generation system, a tidal energy generation system, a
geothermal energy generation system, or a waste to energy
system.
10. The system of claim 9 wherein said procedures comprise:
procedures for modeling benchmark system response and system
performance to generate an expected result of system performance;
and procedures for calculating the System Performance Guarantee
commitment by multiplying said expected result from said model by a
coefficient between 0 and 1.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] In general, the present invention relates to computer
implemented systems and methods for providing services to a network
of customers, more specifically to services enabled by methods
comprising the collection, aggregation, and analysis of data in a
central database from a plurality of systems that are not otherwise
associated with one another to provide performance metrics and most
particularly to the establishment and improvement of various
performance metrics related to the execution of customer activities
and the initiation of specific actions related to performance in
comparison with such metrics. More specifically, the present
invention relates to computer implemented services enabled by
systems and methods comprising the collection, aggregation, and
analysis of data related to the installation and operation of
renewable energy systems comprising solar energy, wind turbine
energy, tidal energy, geothermal energy, and the like, or to
distributed energy generation systems comprising waste-to-energy
generation systems, fuel cells, microturbines, diesel generators,
and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] There is increased interest in the development and
deployment of renewable energy systems comprising solar energy,
wind turbine energy, tidal energy, geothermal energy, and the like,
or to distributed energy generation systems comprising
waste-to-energy generation systems, fuel cells, microturbines,
diesel generators, and the like. This interest is being driven by a
number of factors including a limited supply of fossil fuels,
increased pollution from the acquisition and use of fossil fuels,
global warming considerations, rising costs of fossil fuels, the
loss of natural lands due to the construction of fossil fuel power
plants, continued utility grid degradation and blackouts,
unpredictable energy prices, the need for local power generation in
disaster recovery situations, the need to move away from
centralized power plants to distributed energy systems for homeland
security, and the like. Advancements in the development of
renewable energy and distributed energy generation technologies
have overcome earlier impediments such as poor efficiency,
installation difficulty, high cost, high maintenance, and the like
and are presently offering increasingly attractive alternatives to
fossil fuel power systems in the generation and delivery of
electric power.
[0003] One of the issues faced by the renewable energy and
distributed energy generation industries is that the adoption and
deployment of such systems is often sporadic and not well
coordinated. The decision to invest in and install a renewable
energy or distributed energy generation system is typically made at
the individual entity level rather than as a planned activity for
an entire community. For economy of language, in this context, an
"entity" may comprise an individual, a company, an office building,
a shopping mall, a shopping center, a sports complex, or other such
organization, business, or group investing collectively in a source
of energy. Consequently, the renewable energy and distributed
energy generation industries often lack the coordinated, integrated
infrastructure that is typically common in other industries. The
lack of infrastructure inhibits the adoption and installation of
new renewable energy and distributed energy generation systems and
does not allow these industries to gain advantages due to
cooperation or economies of scale to lower costs, increase
acceptance and deployment, and attract additional investment
capital.
[0004] Accordingly, there is a need for further developments in
methods and systems to facilitate the connection and cooperation of
the wide variety of entities and individual implementations of
renewable energy or distributed energy generation systems to
improve efficiencies, lower costs, facilitate new services,
facilitate management and improvement of the energy production and
distribution system as a whole, facilitate and improve training and
education, facilitate energy commerce, and the like. In particular,
there is a need for improved systems and methods to improve the
guarantees made to End Users or other Customers based on aggregated
data from a plurality of previously installed systems.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] Advancements in the development of renewable energy and
distributed energy generation systems have overcome, to a large
extent, earlier impediments such as poor efficiency, installation
difficulty, high cost, high maintenance, and the like.
Specifically, advancements in the technology associated with the
capture and conversion of solar energy into useable electricity has
led to an increased adoption and deployment rate of solar energy
generation systems. However, the infrastructure associated with
collecting and analyzing data associated with the distribution
infrastructure, system performance, system response, system
efficiency, costs, savings associated with the system, and the like
has not grown at the same pace as the implementation of solar
energy generation systems. Systems and methods for the collection,
aggregation, and analyzing of this data and providing services
based on the results of the analysis have been developed as part of
some embodiments of the present invention.
[0006] In some embodiments of the present invention, the data
collection systems and methods cited above may use a local
communications device installed at the site of the renewable energy
generation or distributed energy generation system to collect data
on the system comprising system ID, location, performance,
calibration, ambient conditions, efficiency, temperature, wind
speed, wind direction, solar irradiance, energy generation, device
status flags, and the like. Typical data collection systems
comprise embedded sensors, external sensors, embedded computers,
and the like. Typical local communications devices comprise modems,
routers, switches, embedded computers, wireless transmitters, and
the like. The data may be transmitted via a wireless or hardwired
network or other communication means to a secure, central database
where the data is aggregated with data from other systems and
analyzed to provide value added services to the members of the
renewable energy or distributed energy generation supply chain.
Examples of suitable networks comprise the Internet, a Local Area
Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a wireless network,
cellular networks (e.g., GSM, GPRS, etc.), combinations thereof,
and the like. Various embodiments of the present invention include
security features such that proprietary or business-sensitive data
is not accessible among different business entities, thereby
providing all entities access to aggregated information while
compromising the security of none.
[0007] Various embodiments of the present invention relate
generally to systems and methods that utilize the secure, centrally
collected, aggregated, and analyzed data to provide a number of
beneficial services. The services may be desirable and useful to
many "Supply Chain Entities" within the renewable energy or
distributed energy generation system supply chain. For economy of
language, we use the term, Supply Chain Entity or Entities to refer
to one or more of the "Installation Technician", the "Value Added
Reseller (VAR)", the "System Integrator", the "Original Equipment
Manufacturer (OEM)" component supplier, the "local energy utility",
various local government agencies, the Project Financier or
Investor, the Distributed Utility provider, among others. These
labels have been used for convenience in the context of the present
teaching. It will be clear to those skilled in the art that those
entities or parties that provide similar functions and services
within the supply chain may use a wide variety of names and labels.
These labels do not limit the scope of the present invention in any
way.
[0008] In some embodiments of the present invention, the aggregated
data may be used to offer services to the System Integrators that
improve the offer of System Performance Guarantee commitments. The
services may utilize a model of benchmark system performance
established by the System Integrators or established from
aggregated data based on system configuration details comprising
OEM sub-modules, installation region, system orientation, system
tilt angle, expected shading, system tracking features, system
tracking capabilities, date, historical data, and the like.
Typically, the System Integrators may select a coefficient between
0 and 1 to serve as a safety factor and calculates the System
Performance Guarantee commitment as the multiplication of the model
result and the coefficient. New system performance data may be
collected and aggregated into the database and the System
Performance Guarantee commitment may continue to improve over time
as the benchmark system performance improves. The System
Integrators may enjoy the benefits of improved performance
guarantee accuracy, competitive differentiation by offering a
higher performance guarantee, increased market share, increased End
User satisfaction, and the like.
[0009] In some embodiments of the present invention, the aggregated
data may be used to offer services to the other Supply Chain
Entities that improve the offer of other kinds of System
Performance Guarantee commitments. Examples of other kinds of
System Performance Guarantee commitments comprise system
installation costs, service warranties, OEM manufacturer parts
warranties, and the like. The services may utilize a model of
benchmark system performance established by the Supply Chain
Entities or established from aggregated data based on system
configuration details comprising OEM sub-modules, installation
region, system orientation, system tilt angle, expected shading,
system tracking features, system tracking capabilities, date,
historical data, and the like. Typically, the Supply Chain Entities
may select a coefficient between 0 and 1 to serve as a safety
factor and calculates the System Performance Guarantee commitment
as the multiplication of the model result and the coefficient. New
system performance data may be collected and aggregated into the
database and the System Performance Guarantee commitment may
continue to improve over time as the benchmark system performance
improves. The Supply Chain Entities may enjoy the benefits of
improved performance guarantee accuracy, competitive
differentiation by offering a higher performance guarantee,
increased market share, increased End User satisfaction, and the
like.
[0010] The methods of some embodiments of the present invention may
be implemented on a plurality of systems. The systems may comprise
one or more energy systems, sensors contained within the energy
systems to monitor various settings and performance attributes of
the energy systems, sensors associated with the energy systems to
measure various environmental conditions, a communications device
for managing two-way communications between the sensors, the energy
systems, and a network, a network for transmitting the data to a
centralized database, a centralized database for receiving and
storing data from a plurality of systems, user interfaces for
interacting with the centralized database, procedures for acting
upon the data, and a plurality of output means for displaying the
results of the procedure treatments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] Other aspects, embodiments and advantages of the invention
may become apparent upon reading of the detailed description of the
invention and the appended claims provided below, and upon
reference to the drawings in which:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a portion of a
typical renewable energy or distributed energy generation system
supply chain.
[0013] FIG. 2 is a flow chart of steps in some embodiments of the
present invention.
[0014] FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a system pertaining
to some embodiments of the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative computer system pertaining to
various embodiments of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] In general, various embodiments of the present invention
relate to systems and methods that utilize secure, centrally
collected, aggregated, and analyzed data to provide a number of
beneficial services. The services may be desirable and useful to
many Supply Chain Entities within the renewable energy or
distributed energy generation system supply chain.
[0017] In some embodiments of the present invention, the systems
and methods provide services to the various Supply Chain Entities
in the renewable energy or distributed energy generation system
supply chain. As an illustration, consider the supply chain
structure illustrated in FIG. 1 wherein, large national Systems
Integrators, 101, market and sell the renewable energy or
distributed energy generation systems to End Users, 104. Typically,
the System Integrators may design and oversee the installation and
commissioning of the renewable energy or distributed energy
generation systems. The System Integrators may contract with VARs,
102, who are local to the End Users and who may perform services
comprising installation, service, upgrades, retrofits, and the like
on behalf of the System Integrators. Furthermore, the VARs may
employ a plurality of Installation Technicians, 103, who may
perform services comprising installation, service, upgrades,
retrofits, and the like on behalf of the VARs. OEM component
suppliers, 100, may supply components to the System Integrators,
101, or the VARs, 102. These labels have been used for convenience
in the context of the present teaching. It will be clear to those
skilled in the art that those entities or parties that provide
similar functions and services within the supply chain may use a
wide variety of names and labels. These labels do not limit the
scope of the present invention in any way.
[0018] In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the
systems and methods may be applied to a solar energy generation
system. However, the solar energy example does not limit the scope
of the present invention in any way. The systems and methods
described herein may be applied to any general system.
Specifically, the systems and methods described herein may be
applied to any general energy system such as an energy consumption
system, an energy generation system, an energy storage system,
combinations thereof, and the like. More specifically, the systems
and methods described herein may be applied to any renewable energy
generation comprising solar energy, wind turbine energy, tidal
energy, geothermal energy, and the like, or distributed energy
generation technology comprising waste-to-energy generation
technologies, fuel cells, microturbines, diesel generators, and the
like or any combination thereof. In the context of the present
teaching, a system comprising more than one type of system as
listed above will be designated a "hybrid" system.
[0019] Typically, the solar energy system may be installed by an
Installation Technician following an established installation
checklist. The system may be connected to a central database via a
network. Examples of suitable networks comprise the Internet, a
Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a wireless
network, cellular networks (e.g., GSM, GPRS, etc.), combinations
thereof, and the like. In this exemplary embodiment, System
Identification Data are collected at the point of sale by the
System Integrator or the VAR, said System Identification Data
comprising, End User identification, system warranty information,
system performance guarantee commitment information, expected
system power output, and the like. The System Identification Data
are static in time meaning that they may not generally change once
established. The System Identification Data may be entered into the
central database and serve as a unique identifier for the system.
System Configuration Data are collected during the manufacture and
testing of the system, said System Configuration Data comprising,
system configuration with OEM component identification, system
wiring details, system tracking features, system tracking
capabilities and the like. The System Configuration Data are
generally static in time meaning that they may not generally change
once established. However, the System Configuration Data may change
during periods of service, upgrades, or enhancements to the system.
The System Configuration Data may be entered into the central
database and associated with the unique System Identification Data
previously entered. System Installation Data are collected at the
time of installation, said System Installation Data comprising, VAR
identity, Installation Technician identity, installation region,
system orientation, system tilt angle, expected shading, time to
complete the system installation, number of errors during the
system installation, an End User satisfaction index (EUSI),
firmware revision, system parameter settings, and the like. In the
context of the present teaching, "expected shading" may be
associated with the area and time that the system is covered by
shadows due to neighboring trees, building, structures, etc. It may
be expressed in units of % coverage per hour for each time period
of interest comprising months, seasons, years, billing periods, and
the like. This quantity may be useful in estimating the performance
of the system. The System Installation Data are static in time
meaning that they may not generally change once established. The
System Installation Data may be entered into the central database
and associated with the unique System Identification Data
previously entered. System Performance Data and ambient condition
data are collected and continuously at a predefined interval after
start-up of the system, said System Performance Data comprising,
system response, system performance, ambient temperature, solar
irradiance, conversion efficiency, current tilt angle, system
energy output, current firmware revision, current system parameter
settings, device fault and error codes, power, voltage, cumulative
energy generated, and the like. The System Performance Data change
with time and are entered into the central database as a time
series with associated date and time stamps. The temporal System
Performance Data are associated with the unique System
Identification Data previously entered. The data correlated to the
installation region may be aggregated to several levels of
granularity, said levels comprising country, time zone, state or
province, county, postal code, Global Positioning System (GPS)
coordinates, and the like. Additionally, System History Data may be
associated with each unique System Identification Data record. The
System History Data captures changes in the System Configuration
Data over time. Examples of System History Data comprise
time-to-first-service-call, details of the service calls, steps
taken to resolve the issues in the service calls, upgrades to the
system configuration, new firmware revisions, new parameter
settings, and the like. Entries in the System History Data
typically contain date and time stamps so that changes may be
tracked over the life of the system.
[0020] In some embodiments of the present invention, the systems
and methods may be applied to a solar energy generation system as
an example. Services may be provided to the System Integrators to
improve the offer of System Performance Guarantee commitments. The
services may utilize a model of benchmark system performance
established by the System Integrators. The System Integrators may
typically have a model that has been developed over time for use in
their engineering design groups that they prefer. Alternatively,
the services may utilize a model established from aggregated data
from the centralized database based on system configuration details
comprising OEM sub-modules installation region, system orientation,
system tilt angle, system tracking features, system tracking
capabilities, date, historical data, and the like. The services may
use historical weather data from the centralized database as well
as archived weather data to estimate the performance for the
modeled system for all seasons of the year using Typical
Meteorological Year (TMY) values for factors such as solar
irradiance, number of rainy days, periods of low light, and the
like. This a particularly advantageous aspect of some embodiments
of the present invention because the system response and system
performance may vary during the different seasons of the year due
to differences in solar irradiance, temperature, number of cloudy
days, typical cloud cover types and the like. The services allow
the System Integrators to account for this variation in determining
the System Performance Guarantee commitments.
[0021] Typically, the System Integrators may select a safety factor
comprising a coefficient between 0 and 1. The System Performance
Guarantee commitment to the End User for system response and system
performance may be calculated by the multiplication of the result
of the model and the coefficient. After the system is installed,
calibrated, and begins operation, the system performance may be
compared to the modeled performance to verify conformance. As
mentioned previously, the variations due to weather and the
different seasons may be included. The services may aggregate and
normalize the system performance data for a plurality of systems.
If the performance of the aggregation is consistently better than
the model, the model may be enhanced or coefficient increased so
that the System Integrators may improve their System Performance
Guarantee commitments with confidence and achieve greater market
share.
[0022] In some embodiments of the present invention, the aggregated
data may be used to offer services to the other Supply Chain
Entities that improve the offer of other kinds System Performance
Guarantee commitments. Examples of other kinds of System
Performance Guarantee commitments comprise system installation
costs, service warranties, OEM manufacturer parts warranties, and
the like. The services may utilize a model of benchmark system
performance established by the Supply Chain Entities or established
from aggregated data based on system configuration details
comprising OEM sub-modules, installation region, system
orientation, system tilt angle, expected shading, system tracking
features, system tracking capabilities, date, historical data, and
the like. Typically, the Supply Chain Entities may select a
coefficient between 0 and 1 to serve as a safety factor and
calculates the System Performance Guarantee commitment as the
multiplication of the model result and the coefficient. The Supply
Chain Entities may now accomplish this with confidence since the
benchmarks may be established from a large database of actual
values. New system performance data may be collected and aggregated
into the database and the System Performance Guarantee commitment
may continue to improve over time as the benchmark system
performance improves. The Supply Chain Entities may enjoy the
benefits of improved performance guarantee accuracy, competitive
differentiation by offering a higher performance guarantee,
increased market share, increased End User satisfaction, and the
like.
[0023] In some embodiments of the present invention, the methods
and procedures for using a model of benchmark system response and
system performance to generate an expected result of system
performance, selecting a coefficient between 0 and 1, calculating a
guarantee by multiplying the model result by the coefficient, and
monitoring the system performance and comparing it to the guarantee
may follow the steps, 200-206, as outlined in FIG. 2. These
exemplary steps are not meant to limit the scope of the present
invention.
[0024] Through the services provided, the data may be manipulated
and parsed by the various System Integrators subject to various
security measures as discussed below. A plurality of standard
procedures exists to aid in the manipulation of the data. Examples
of suitable procedures comprise methods for calculating typical
statistical values such as mean, median, average, standard
deviation, maximum value, minimum value, variance, and the like.
These procedures are listed as illustrations only and do not limit
the scope of the present invention in any way. Alternatively, the
System Integrators may develop and generate a custom procedure to
extract and manipulate the data for their specific purpose.
[0025] The systems and methods may include a number of security
measures to protect the intellectual property and confidential
information for the various Supply Chain Entities of the renewable
energy system supply chain. The security measures comprise software
passwords, tokens, smart cards, biometric identification means, and
the like. The security measures ensure that any specific System
Integrator, VAR, or OEM manufacturer is only allowed access to the
detailed data generated by systems under their specific
responsibility. However, the System Integrators, VARs, or OEM
manufacturers may request results based on the analysis of the
aggregated data across the database so that they may compare their
data to the larger population of systems.
[0026] The database may contain data from systems installed
worldwide by a large number of Supply Chain Entities. The different
pattern fill of the circles representing systems, 300, illustrated
in FIG. 3 is meant to convey that these systems are associated with
different Supply Chain Entities. Comparisons and analyses may be
completed by aggregating data from systems with similar features
comprising System Integrator ID, VAR ID, Installation Technician
ID, expected system power output, system configuration with OEM
component identification, system wiring details, system tracking
features, system tracking capabilities, expected shading,
installation region, system orientation, system tilt angle,
firmware revision, system parameter settings, system response,
system performance, ambient temperature, solar irradiance,
conversion efficiency, current tilt angle, system energy output,
device fault and error codes, power, voltage, cumulative energy
generated, and the like. Advantageously, the database enables the
Supply Chain Entities to compare detailed data across systems under
their responsibility or to compare their data to benchmark or
aggregated data across the entire database. For example, a System
Integrator may compare detailed data for his systems installed
across a large region such as North America. Alternatively, the
same System Integrator may compare data for one or more of his
systems with benchmark or aggregated data for systems installed in
a completely different region such as Europe.
[0027] Referring now to FIG. 3, the methods of some embodiments of
the present invention may be implemented on a plurality of systems.
The systems may comprise one or more energy systems, 300, sensors
contained within the energy system to monitor various settings and
performance attributes of the energy system, sensors associated
with the energy system to measure various environmental conditions,
302, a local communications device for managing two-way
communications between the sensors, the energy systems, and a
network, 303, a network for transmitting the data to a centralized
database, 304, a centralized database for receiving and storing
data from the plurality of systems, 305, user interfaces for
interacting with the centralized database, 306-309, procedures for
acting upon the data, and a plurality of output devices for
displaying the results of the procedure action, 306-310.
[0028] Continuing to refer to FIG. 3, in some exemplary embodiments
comprising solar energy generation systems, the sensors contained
within the system may monitor various settings and performance
attributes comprising, system response, system performance,
conversion efficiency, current tilt angle, system energy output,
current firmware revision, current system parameter settings,
device fault and error codes, power, voltage, cumulative energy
generated, and the like. Sensors associated with the system, 302,
may measure various environmental conditions comprising ambient
temperature, solar irradiance, and the like. The data may be
communicated onto a network, 304, by a local communications device,
303. Examples of suitable networks comprise the Internet, a Local
Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a wireless network,
cellular networks (e.g., GSM, GPRS, etc.), combinations thereof,
and the like. The data may be received and stored on a centralized
database, 305. The data in the centralized database may be accessed
by a plurality of user interfaces comprising computer terminals,
307, personal computers (PCs), 306, personal digital assistants
(PDAs), 308, cellular phones, 309, interactive displays, and the
like. This allows the user to be located remotely from the
centralized database. As mentioned previously, the centralized
database contains a variety of security features to prevent
sensitive detailed data from being viewed or accessed by users
without the proper security clearance. Procedures may be used to
act on the data to generate results of various inquires. The
procedures may be part of a standard set of calculations or may be
developed and generated by the user. The results of the action by
the procedures may be displayed to the user on a number of output
means. Examples of suitable output means comprise computer
terminals, 307, personal computers (PCs), 306, printers, 310, LED
displays, personal digital assistants (PDAs), 308, cellular phones,
309, interactive displays, and the like.
[0029] FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative computer system pertaining to
various embodiments of the present invention. In some embodiments,
the computer system comprises a server 401, display, 402, one or
more input interfaces, 403, communications interface, 406, and one
or more output interfaces, 404, all conventionally coupled by one
or more buses, 405. The server, 401, comprises one or more
processors (not shown) and one or more memory modules, 412. The
input interfaces, 403, may comprise a keyboard, 408, and a mouse,
409. The output interface, 404, may comprise a printer, 410. The
communications interface, 406, is a network interface that allows
the computer system to communicate via a wireless or hardwired
network, 407, as previously described. The communications
interface, 407, may be coupled to a transmission medium, 411, such
as a network transmission line, for example, twisted pair, coaxial
cable, fiber optic cable, and the like. In another embodiment, the
communications interface, 411, provides a wireless interface, that
is, the communication interface, 411 uses a wireless transmission
medium. Examples of other devices that may be used to access the
computer system via communications interface, 406, comprise cell
phones, PDAs, personal computers, and the like (not shown).
[0030] The memory modules, 412, generally comprises different
modalities, illustratively semiconductor memory, such as random
access memory (RAM), and disk drives as well as others. In various
embodiments, the memory modules, 412, store an operating system,
413, collected and aggregated data, 414, instructions, 415,
applications, 416, and procedures, 417.
[0031] In various embodiments, the specific software instructions,
data structures and data that implement various embodiments of the
present invention are typically incorporated in the server, 401.
Generally, an embodiment of the present invention is tangibly
embodied in a computer readable medium, for example, the memory and
is comprised of instructions, applications, and procedures which,
when executed by the processor, causes the computer system to
utilize the present invention, for example, the collection,
aggregation, and analysis of data, using the aggregated data to
improve committed guarantees, displaying the results of the
analyses, and the like. The memory may store the software
instructions, data structures, and data for any of the operating
system, the data collection application, the data aggregation
application, the data analysis procedures, and the like in
semiconductor memory, in disk memory, or a combination thereof.
[0032] The operating system may be implemented by any conventional
operating system comprising Windows.RTM. (Registered trademark of
Microsoft Corporation), Unix.RTM. (Registered trademark of the Open
Group in the United States and other countries), Mac OS.RTM.
(Registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.), Linux.RTM.
(Registered trademark of Linus Torvalds), as well as others not
explicitly listed herein.
[0033] In various embodiments, the present invention may be
implemented as a method, system, or article of manufacture using
standard programming and/or engineering techniques to produce
software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. The term
"article of manufacture" (or alternatively, "computer program
product") as used herein is intended to encompass a computer
program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier or
media. In addition, the software in which various embodiments are
implemented may be accessible through the transmission medium, for
example, from a server over the network. The article of manufacture
in which the code is implemented also encompasses transmission
media, such as the network transmission line and wireless
transmission media. Thus the article of manufacture also comprises
the medium in which the code is embedded. Those skilled in the art
will recognize that many modifications may be made to this
configuration without departing from the scope of the present
invention.
[0034] The exemplary computer system illustrated in FIG. 4 is not
intended to limit the present invention. Other alternative hardware
environments may be used without departing from the scope of the
present invention.
[0035] The foregoing descriptions of exemplary embodiments of the
present invention have been presented for the purpose of
illustration and description. They are not intended to be
exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise forms
disclosed, and obviously many modifications, embodiments, and
variations are possible in light of the above teaching.
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