U.S. patent application number 13/042550 was filed with the patent office on 2012-03-01 for manage whole home appliances/loads to a peak energy consumption.
This patent application is currently assigned to General Electric Company. Invention is credited to MICHAEL THOMAS BEYERLE, David C. Bingham, Joseph Mark Brian, Jay Andrew Broniak.
Application Number | 20120053741 13/042550 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45698251 |
Filed Date | 2012-03-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120053741 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
BEYERLE; MICHAEL THOMAS ; et
al. |
March 1, 2012 |
MANAGE WHOLE HOME APPLIANCES/LOADS TO A PEAK ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Abstract
A household energy management method is provided comprising: a
local generator for generating local energy, wherein the local
generator is selected from the group consisting of wind, solar,
water, and fuel powered generators. The capacity of the local
generator establishes a supply limit. The method further comprises:
determining a demand schedule and a peak demand limit from a
controller; and, determining whether the demand schedule and peak
demand indicates occurrences of exceeding the supply limit. If peak
demand exceeds the supply limit, then the controller sheds the load
of one or more appliances to prohibit the peak demand from
exceeding the supply limit. Shedding load of at least one appliance
is initiated based on a predetermined hierarchy of shedding
load.
Inventors: |
BEYERLE; MICHAEL THOMAS;
(Pewee Valley, KY) ; Broniak; Jay Andrew;
(Louisville, KY) ; Brian; Joseph Mark;
(Louisville, KY) ; Bingham; David C.; (Louisville,
KY) |
Assignee: |
General Electric Company
|
Family ID: |
45698251 |
Appl. No.: |
13/042550 |
Filed: |
March 8, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
700/291 ;
700/295 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y04S 10/50 20130101;
Y04S 20/222 20130101; H02J 3/12 20130101; G06F 1/3203 20130101;
G05F 5/00 20130101; Y04S 20/242 20130101; H02J 2310/14 20200101;
Y04S 20/20 20130101; Y02B 70/3225 20130101; H02J 3/14 20130101;
G06Q 50/06 20130101; Y02B 70/30 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
700/291 ;
700/295 |
International
Class: |
G06F 1/32 20060101
G06F001/32; G06F 1/28 20060101 G06F001/28 |
Claims
1. A household energy management system and method for managing
multiple appliances, comprising: a controller for managing power
consumption of multiple appliances within a household; a utility
meter for measuring an amount of energy usage to a household, the
utility meter communicating to the controller a demand limit; a
user interface through which a user can enter a parameter of energy
usage; a local generator for generating local energy, wherein the
local generator is selected from the group consisting of wind,
solar, water, and fuel powered generators; wherein a supply limit
is established based upon the capacity of the local generator; a
communication network connecting the controller to one or more of
the utility meter, a local energy storage device, the local
generator, and/or the demand server; and, wherein the controller
controls or operates the multiple appliances based on
communications from one or more of the utility meter, the user
interface, the local generator, the local energy storage device
and/or the demand server such that the energy usage does not exceed
the supply limit of the local generator.
2. The household energy management system and method of claim 1,
wherein the controller allocates energy to the one or more
appliances based on one or more of the following: the demand limit,
a prioritization of each of the one or more appliances, an energy
need level of each of the one or more appliances, and the supply
limit.
3. The household energy management system and method of claim 1,
wherein the controller instructs one or more appliances to shed
load demand.
4. The household energy management system and method of claim 3,
wherein the one or more appliances includes one or more of
household lighting, a refrigerator, a washer, a dryer, an
oven/range, a microwave oven, a dishwasher, an HVAC system, a hot
water heater, and an electrical outlet load.
5. A household energy management method for multiple household
appliances, comprising: a local generator for generating local
energy, wherein the local generator is selected from the group
consisting of wind, solar, water, and fuel powered generators;
wherein the capacity of the local generator establishes a supply
limit; determining a demand schedule and a peak demand limit from a
controller; determining whether the demand schedule and peak demand
indicates occurrences of exceeding the supply limit; if peak demand
exceeds the supply limit, then the controller sheds the load of one
or more appliances to prohibit the peak demand from exceeding the
supply limit; and, wherein shedding load of at least one appliance
is initiated based on a predetermined hierarchy of shedding
load.
6. An appliance control method, comprising: a controller for
controlling the operation of multiple appliances in a normal mode
and a modified mode; determining whether energy demand is at or
below an energy supply limit; the supply limit is established by
the capacity of a source of local energy, wherein the local energy
source is selected from the group consisting of wind, solar, water,
and fuel generators; determining whether the energy demand
indicates occurrences of exceeding the supply limit; establishing a
hierarchy of an order and manner for the controller to disable,
suspend, reduce, or increase one or more of the appliances if the
energy demand exceeds the supply limit; and, maintaining the energy
demand in accordance with the hierarchy to keep the energy demand
below the energy supply limit.
7. The appliance control method according to claim 6, wherein the
energy supply limit varies throughout the course of a twenty four
hour period.
8. The appliance control method according to claim 6, wherein the
controller instructs one or more appliances to shed load
demand.
9. The appliance control method according to claim 6, wherein the
one or more appliances includes one or more of household lighting,
a refrigerator, a washer, a dryer, an oven/range, a microwave oven,
a dishwasher, an HVAC system, a hot water heater, and an electrical
outlet load.
10-11. (canceled)
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Many power providers are currently experiencing a shortage
of electric generating capacity due to increasing consumer demand
for electricity. More specifically, generating plants are often
unable to meet peak power demands resulting from electricity
demanded by many consumers at the same time. In addition, consumers
are looking for ways to manage energy demands to minimize
dependence on energy supplied from a utility (i.e. the `electrical
grid`).
[0002] In order to reduce high peak power demand, many power
providers have instituted time of use metering and rates which
include higher rates for energy usage during on-peak times and
lower rates for energy usage during off-peak times. As a result,
consumers are provided with an incentive to use electricity at
off-peak times rather than on-peak times, look for other `local`
energy sources for supplemental generation of energy, and/or
establish a "do not exceed" whole home energy consumption
level.
[0003] Presently, to take advantage of the lower cost of
electricity during off-peak times, a user must manually operate
appliances or other electronic devices during the off-peak times.
This is undesirable because a consumer may not always be present in
the home, or awake, to operate the appliance during off-peak hours.
This is also undesirable because the consumer is required to
manually track the current time to determine what hours are
off-peak and on-peak. Therefore, there is a need to provide a
system that facilitates operating appliances during off-peak hours
in order to reduce consumer's electric bills and to reduce the load
on generating plants during on-peak hours. Additionally, there is a
need to provide a system that (in combination with the
aforementioned) incorporates a method for enlisting the generation
of energy at a `local` source that can be used to supplement or
replace energy generation from a utility or electrical grid. A cost
and amount of energy generation from the `local` source can be
compared against the cost and amount of energy supplied from a
utility, wherein a shifting of demand from one to the other can be
initiated based on predetermined criteria.
SUMMARY
[0004] In one aspect of the invention, a household energy
management system and method is provided for managing multiple
appliances, comprising: a controller for managing power consumption
of multiple appliances within a household; a utility meter for
measuring an amount of energy usage to a household, the utility
meter communicating to the controller a demand limit; a user
interface through which a user can enter a parameter of energy
usage; and, a local generator for generating local energy, wherein
the local generator is selected from the group consisting of wind,
solar, water, and fuel powered generators. The capacity of the
local generator establishes a supply limit. The management system
further comprises a communication network connecting the controller
to one or more of the utility meter, the local energy storage
device, and/or the demand server. The controller controls or
operates the multiple appliances based on communications from one
or more of the utility meter, the user interface, the local
generator, the local storage device and/or the demand server such
that the energy usage does not exceed the supply limit of the local
generator.
[0005] In yet another aspect of the invention, a household energy
management method for multiple household appliances, comprising: a
local generator for generating local energy, wherein the local
generator is selected from the group consisting of wind, solar,
water, and fuel powered generators. The capacity of the local
generator establishes a supply limit. The method further comprises:
determining a demand schedule and a peak demand limit from a
controller; and, determining whether the demand schedule and peak
demand indicates occurrences of exceeding the supply limit. If peak
demand exceeds the supply limit, then the controller sheds the load
of one or more appliances to prohibit the peak demand from
exceeding the supply limit. Shedding load of at least one appliance
is initiated based on a predetermined hierarchy of shedding
load.
[0006] In yet still another aspect of the invention, an appliance
control method is provided, comprising: a controller for
controlling the operation of multiple appliances in a normal mode
and a modified mode; and, determining whether energy demand is at
or below an energy supply limit. The supply limit is established by
the capacity of the local energy generator which is selected from
the group consisting of wind, solar, water, and fuel powered
generators. The method further comprises determining whether the
energy demand indicates occurrences of exceeding the supply limit;
establishing a hierarchy of an order and manner for the controller
to disable, suspend, reduce, or increase one or more of the
appliances if the energy demand exceeds the supply limit; and,
maintaining the energy demand in accordance with the hierarchy to
keep the energy demand below the energy supply limit.
[0007] In still another aspect of the invention, a household energy
management system and method for managing multiple appliances is
provided comprising: a controller for managing power consumption of
multiple appliances within a household; a utility meter for
measuring an amount of energy usage to a household, the utility
meter communicating to the controller a demand limit; and, a user
interface through which a user can enter a parameter of energy
usage. The controller establishes a demand limit. A communication
network connects the controller to the utility meter and/or the
demand server. The controller controls or operates the multiple
appliances based on communications from one or more of the utility
meter, the user interface, and/or the demand server such that the
energy usage does not exceed the established demand limit.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a home energy manager; and,
[0009] FIG. 2 is a diagram displaying energy demand wherein a whole
home consumption can be maintained at or below a specified
value.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] The present disclosure is an energy management system that
may be used with an appliance, and/or a household of appliances,
energized by a local energy generator that supplements the energy
supplied by the utility, in order to reduce household electricity
costs and also to reduce the load on generating plants during all
hours of electricity usage. The energy management system is
applicable to, and can be used in conjunction with, any and all
types of household appliance(s)/device(s) such as a dryer, a
washing machine, a dishwasher, an oven, a refrigerator, HVAC
etc.
[0011] In one embodiment, the energy management system may include
a user interface, a time keeping mechanism, and a mode selecting
device. The user interface may be any type of interface such as a
touch screen, knobs, sliders, buttons, speech recognition, etc, to
allow a user to input a schedule of on-peak times or schedules and
off-peak times or schedules for each day of the week. The schedule
of on-peak times and off-peak times for a household may typically
be obtained from a generating plant or power utility that services
the household. The schedule may be obtained from published tables
made available to the public or other means such as billing
statements. If the schedule of times changes, the user may use the
user interface to alter and update the schedule that was previously
entered.
[0012] The terms on-peak and off-peak, as used herein are meant to
encompass time periods that an energy supplier has designated as
referring to periods of high energy demand or cost and periods of
low energy demand or cost, respectively. It may be that in some
situations, multiple levels are designated by the energy supplier
and thus on-peak is meant to refer to those periods where the
energy demand or cost is greater than some other period, with the
other period being referred to as off-peak. In any given situation,
on-peak may not be the highest level of cost or energy demand and
off-peak may not be the lowest level of cost or energy demand.
[0013] The energy management system can also include a time keeping
mechanism (not shown) that provides information to the appliance
and user regarding the current time of the day. In one embodiment,
the time keeping mechanism also includes a calendar function to
provide information regarding the day of the week and the current
date. The current time and date may be input or adjusted by the
user via controls on the time keeping mechanism.
[0014] Utility companies are starting to develop sliding rate
scales based upon time of use for power consumption. A home that
can manage a response to a different rate schedule will have an
advantage in the marketplace. A time of day (TOD) import to the
appliances will allow the unit to run at times, on more occasions,
and/or during more periods when utility rates are low or off-peak.
The time of day input can be manually entered or automatically
received by the appliances (an example of automatic updating would
be using a radio wave or radio clock to sync to an atomic clock
signal). The time of day feature or off-peak manager can
effectively save the consumer money by running the appliances
according to a pre-determined schedule, i.e. predominantly, when
the rates are lower. Additionally, a home that can maintain a
predetermined and consistent energy demand on the utility will also
have an advantage in the marketplace. In this manner, the home can
maintain a "do not exceed" energy demand level which results in a
predetermined demand on the utility that does not contribute to the
peak demand periods. To be described in more detail hereinafter,
the energy management system can also provide a local energy source
to substitute, apportion, or supplement energy generation for whole
home consumption.
[0015] In addition to the aforementioned, the mode selecting device
allows the user to select an energy management mode. The mode
selecting device may be a single button such that the energy
management mode is selected when the button is depressed.
Alternatively, the mode selecting device may also be two separate
buttons, a switch, a touch panel, or any other type of device that
allows for selection of the energy management mode. Although the
control panel, the user interface, the time keeping mechanism and
the mode selecting device (not illustrated) can be four separate
elements, each of these elements, or any combination thereof, may
alternatively be incorporated into a single interface or display to
provide for ease of use.
[0016] The present disclosure utilizes a series of algorithms in a
home energy manager or controller 20 to control and adjust home
energy demand in order to keep the total home energy consumption
below a user defined value. It is to be appreciated that the user
defined value can correspond to the energy supply capacity of a
local energy source (i.e. resident generator, solar, wind, et al.)
or can correspond to a predetermined limit value. In this manner,
the algorithm may enable the appliances to only consume what is
being generated from the local energy source so as to eliminate or
minimize the energy demand on the utility. Alternatively, the
demand on the utility can be controlled or maintained, within
certain predefined levels.
[0017] The present disclosure provides a system and method for
coordinating a suite of demand response appliances that are capable
of responding to incoming signals that calls for a "load shedding
or load control" event. In addition to the appliances that are
demand response ready, the home energy manager system can provide
feedback to the user regarding the performance of the appliances
through home usage data. The user will be able to monitor and/or
modify the appliance responses as well as get real time feedback as
to the energy consumption of the appliances. For electrical
devices, the system controller is configured to characterize the
power consumption of the appliances at any given point using
appliance data from current transducers, shunts, meter pinging, or
lookup tables.
[0018] Referring to FIG. 1, the present disclosure provides a
system 10 and method of providing information to the system
controller, (HEM) 20 from a local energy generator (via generator
usage data 32) wherein the HEM 20 can control (i.e. load control
33) the generator to optimize the overall energy usage. The
generator 24 can be used in several ways to optimize the energy
usage within a home 22. For example, the generator 24 can be
automatically started and the home 22 can be taken off the utility
grid using switch circuits. For example, a switch circuit can be
used as an isolation circuit in order to isolate the energy demand
to the local energy generator during specific grid loading or price
points, or for a majority of the time. In another embodiment, a
method is provided for managing energy usage of a plurality of
appliances wherein managing energy can include managing the energy
consumption of the plurality of appliances in order to not exceed
the capacity of the local energy generator 24 (i.e. load control
the appliances 31). The method can comprise receiving an energy
output supply level and scheduling and/or load shaving the
plurality of appliances such that the demand does not exceed the
energy output supply level.
[0019] As described above, the control algorithm allows the HEM 20
to adjust appliance and non-smart appliance associated electrical
outlet load behavior in order to keep the total home energy
consumption below a user defined value. This feature can be used in
conjunction with, for example, a home solar or wind generation
system so that the home only consumes what is being generated from
the solar/wind system and thus, is not purchasing electricity from
the utility (i.e. grid).
[0020] In addition to the above, control of the total home energy
consumption can also be applied to those home energy management
systems that receive demand response (pricing and load control)
events from a utility 21. The HEM can manage the whole home
consumption to a user defined or "do not exceed" value for each
demand response event.
[0021] The HEM 20 can communicate wirelessly with a smart meter or
other ESI (Energy Services Interface), all networked appliances,
and programmable load switches (a 120V or 240V outlet that contains
line interrupt switch(es) that can be turned on or off by means of
a wireless signal). The HEM 20 receives current power consumption
information from each of these networked devices and thus can
calculate the entire home's energy consumption 34 as well as the
breakdown by appliance/load (FIG. 2).
[0022] Within the graphical user interface (GUI) of the HEM, exists
an option screen for managing to a peak load (not shown). This
screen contains a field for entering the max kW value, i.e. `do not
exceed` energy demand or limit value 35, to keep the home's energy
demand at or below said value 35. Below that field exists a list of
all networked devices where the homeowner can set a hierarchy for
the order in which the HEM is to disable, suspend, or reduce the
devices' functions (these options are based on appliance/load). The
user can also disable this option for a particular networked
device.
[0023] Once the load limiting or demand response mode is enabled,
the HEM will then monitor the home consumption and adjust the
network devices (per the hierarchy list) in order to keep the home
under the "do not exceed" value. A communication network can
connect the controller to one or more of the utility meter, a local
energy storage device (i.e. battery storage device), the local
energy generator, and/or a demand server. The controller controls
or operates the multiple appliances based on communications from
one or more of the utility meter, the user interface, the local
energy generator, the local energy storage device and/or the demand
server such that the energy usage does not exceed the supply limit
of the local generator.
[0024] An example of a load limiting algorithm is described below.
The user can set the maximum kW value (i.e. a `do not exceed` total
energy demand) to 4 kW (for example). One exemplary hierarchy table
can be set as follows: first--dryer; second--refrigerator;
third--pool pump; fourth--washer; fifth--dishwasher;
sixth--basement electrical outlet; do not modify--range; and, do
not modify--living room electrical outlet. If and when the home
begins to consume more than 4 kW of total energy, the HEM will
first pause the dryer and then perform a check on the total energy
demand. If the energy demand is still above the maximum kW value,
the HEM will step down through the list of loads as follows:
secondly set back the refrigerator setpoints; thirdly stop the pool
pump; fourthly pause the washer; etc., until the home's total kW
energy demand is below 4 kW. Once the energy demand drops back
below 4 kW (with a certain amount of margin), the HEM can begin to
re-enable each of the devices on the hierarchy list.
[0025] Energy consumption rates can be monitored on a real time
basis to determine the load on the local energy generator or
utility. The HEM system can make suggestions as to which loads to
curtail, per the hierarchy, and then recalculate the consumption
rates based on the new and modified load. The HEM can present the
user with information showing the consumption rates and the
prioritization of the devices in the order of the established
hierarchy. The system can continually and automatically control
loads 31, 33 to prevent exceeding the energy demands on the local
energy generator or utility using a priority curtailment scheme.
Likewise, the system 10 could predict when the energy demand will
exceed the local energy generator supply output. The system 10 can
provide this information to the user which would then allow the
user to modify the load control 33 to conserve energy and make
suggestions to the user to modify or curtail appliance loads to
minimize the energy demands. Either the HEM or a smart appliance
could look at commands to other devices and respond to those.
[0026] The aforementioned algorithm takes the low-level details of
home energy management out of the consumer's hands. If the consumer
wants to only run their home off a generation system (such as solar
or wind) this algorithm will manage loads ensuring the entire house
is run off the generation source instead of purchasing electricity
from the utility. This in turn saves the consumer money and also
helps reduce the peak load on the electrical grid.
[0027] While various embodiments of the application have been
described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the
art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible
that are within the scope of this invention. Accordingly, the
invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached
claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *