U.S. patent application number 16/008778 was filed with the patent office on 2019-02-21 for system, apparatus and method for energy management, for usage by consumers of energy from electric utility service providers, and monitoring and management of same.
The applicant listed for this patent is EnergyBill.com, LLC. Invention is credited to Michael Andrew Davis, II.
Application Number | 20190056706 16/008778 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 63406431 |
Filed Date | 2019-02-21 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20190056706 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Davis, II; Michael Andrew |
February 21, 2019 |
SYSTEM, APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ENERGY MANAGEMENT, FOR USAGE BY
CONSUMERS OF ENERGY FROM ELECTRIC UTILITY SERVICE PROVIDERS, AND
MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT OF SAME
Abstract
Embodiments provide systems, apparatus and methods for energy
management.
Inventors: |
Davis, II; Michael Andrew;
(Lockhart, TX) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
EnergyBill.com, LLC |
Lockhart |
TX |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
63406431 |
Appl. No.: |
16/008778 |
Filed: |
June 14, 2018 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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14880268 |
Oct 11, 2015 |
10073426 |
|
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16008778 |
|
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62036019 |
Aug 11, 2014 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y04S 50/12 20130101;
G05B 2219/2639 20130101; G06Q 30/04 20130101; H04L 12/2825
20130101; G06N 5/025 20130101; G05B 19/042 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G05B 19/042 20060101
G05B019/042; G06N 5/02 20060101 G06N005/02; H04L 12/28 20060101
H04L012/28; G06Q 30/04 20060101 G06Q030/04 |
Claims
1. (canceled)
2. (canceled)
3. (canceled)
4. (canceled)
5. (canceled)
6. (canceled)
7. (canceled)
8. (canceled)
9. (canceled)
10. (canceled)
11. (canceled)
12. (canceled)
13. A system for controlling supply of electric utility for a
building, the system comprising: a communication module for
accomplishing bi-directional data communication over a data
communication network with an electric utility service; a processor
in combination with memory, the processor operable to: access
historical electric utility usage data of the building; access a
model of building electric utility consumption; determine a
forecast of electric utility usage for the building in relation for
the model of building electric utility consumption in relation to
the historical electric utility usage data of the building;
accessing rate plan models for an alternative electric utility
service and for the electric utility service; calculating a
projected monetary cost of electric utility service for a future
period for the alternative electric utility service and for the
electric utility service; terminating, via the communication
module, the electric utility service via data communication with
the electric utility supply on a changeover date when the projected
monetary cost of electric utility service for a future period for
the alternative electric utility service is forecast to be less
than the projected monetary cost of electric utility service for
the same future period for the electric utility service.
14. The system of claim 13, further comprising: a smart appliance
at the building, the smart appliance providing information
regarding current usage of electric utility service for the
building.
15. The system of claim 14, further comprising: the processor
operable to: predict a best path decision; determine an initial
decision consistent with the best path decision; update the
prediction to provide an updated best path model; select a next
decision consistent with the updated best path model.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119
to U.S. Provisional Patent Appl. Ser. No. 62/036,019 entitled
"METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR CONSUMERCENTRIC ENERGY MANAGEMENT" filed
in the name of Davis II et al. on Aug. 11, 2014, the entirety of
which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This disclosure generally relates to systems, apparatus and
methods for energy management. Disclosed subject matter relates to
systems, apparatus and methods for usage by consumers of energy
from electric and other utility service providers. Disclosed
subject matter relates to systems, apparatus and methods for
monitoring and management of usage by consumers of energy from
electric utility service providers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The energy industry is seeing increasing deployment of smart
devices and is being impacted by the Internet of Things (IoT),
increased energy efficiency, Distributed Energy Resources (DER),
and deregulation of the energy markets and electric utility service
providers. A number of states have either already deregulated or
are on the path to deregulating energy markets. There is need for
improved systems, apparatus and methods for energy management.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Disclosed subject matter provides improved systems,
apparatus and methods for energy management. Disclosed subject
matter provides improved systems, apparatus and methods for usage
by consumers of energy from electric utility service providers.
Disclosed subject matter provides improved systems, apparatus and
methods for monitoring and management of usage by consumers of
energy from electric utility service providers.
[0005] Disclosed subject matter improves consumer usage of energy,
such as energy from electric utility service providers. Disclosed
subject matter improves a consumer's monitoring and management of
energy usage, such as energy usage from electric utility service
providers. Disclosed subject matter may improve consumer usage of
energy, such as energy from electric utility service providers in
deregulated, regulated, and transitioning energy markets. Disclosed
subject matter may improve a consumer's monitoring and management
of energy usage, such as energy usage from electric utility service
providers in deregulated, regulated, and transitioning energy
markets. Disclosed subject matter may simplify the selecting,
managing and consuming or usage of energy by consumers from
electric utility service providers by providing independent,
simplified, favorable and unbiased processes for monitoring and
management of bills for usage or consumption of energy by consumers
from electric utility service providers. Disclosed subject matter
may, for example, bridge gaps between Local Energy Providers (LEP)
and consumers in deregulated markets. Embodiments of disclosed
subject matter may provide an improved single source for obtaining
unbiased information regarding utility usage and service providers,
including automated management of contracting with utility service
providers, billing from utility service providers, and monitoring
and management of energy usage.
[0006] Disclosed subject matter provides improved systems apparatus
and methods for usage, monitoring and management of electric energy
supplied to consumers from electric utility service providers in
deregulated, partially deregulated and regulated electric energy
markets. As used herein, "consumer" means and includes a customer,
account, energy consuming entity, or consumer of electric energy
from an electric utility service provider. As used herein,
"electric utility service provider" means and includes any provider
or third party that provides, sells, supplies, markets, sets
prices, or contracts for the providing of electric energy or
electric utility service. Embodiments may provide improved systems,
apparatus and methods for consumers having access to smart meter or
related technology infrastructure. Embodiments may provide improved
systems, apparatus and methods for electric utility service
providers to monitor and manage energy usage by consumers,
relationships with consumers, accounts of consumers, and may
provide for management to reduce energy usage, such as peak energy
usage, by each consumer, or cumulatively across a population of
consumers. Embodiments may provide improved systems, apparatus and
methods for consolidated management and monitoring of usage for all
utility services, including, e.g. electric utility service, gas
utility service, and water utility service. Embodiments may provide
improved systems, apparatus and methods for usage, monitoring and
management that is simplified and may include budgeting services.
Embodiments may provide improved systems, apparatus and methods for
usage, monitoring and management of contracts with utility service
providers, and that may enable improved aggregation across
communities and populations of consumers, improved rates, improved
rates by aggregation, and improved rate plan optimization.
Embodiments may provide improved systems, apparatus and methods for
usage, monitoring and management of Distributed Energy Resources
(DER). Embodiments may provide improved systems, apparatus and
methods for usage, monitoring and management of aggregate smart
meter data. Embodiments may make available to consumers aggregate
smart meter data, and the same may be provided in a format to
facilitate consumption planning or real-time decisions to maximize
benefit to the consumer.
[0007] Embodiments may provide improved systems, apparatus and
methods including easily installed consumer electronic devices that
may utilize, have capability and provide advanced smart, real-time,
or near real-time, power monitoring and control, and which may
provide consumers with smart, load-based consumption information
and advice, and that may provide for developing advanced usage
profiles for such consumers.
[0008] Embodiments may provide improved systems, apparatus and
methods including creating energy usage models of facilities, such
as homes, and further may provide for usage of smart
devices/appliances or IoT, trend analysis and self-performed energy
audits with respect to such models.
[0009] Embodiments may provide improved systems, apparatus and
methods for provide energy savings information and education to
consumers. Embodiments may provide improved systems, apparatus and
methods connecting consumers with 3rd party electric utility
service providers.
[0010] Embodiments may provide improved systems, apparatus and
methods including a central hub for controlling third-party Home
Area Network (HAN) devices.
[0011] Embodiments may provide improved systems, apparatus and
methods for establishing industry standards for HAN and home
automation.
[0012] In embodiments, a system may include a smart appliance for
use by a user within a household. A suitable smart appliance may
include a mechanical component for transforming the state of an
object from a first state to a second state by expending a
resource; an actuator for initiating operation of the mechanical
component; a display for displaying information to the user; and a
wireless communication module for accomplishing bi-directional data
communication over a data communication network with at least one
of a utility smart meter, a utility provider server and an energy
management cloud-based server.
[0013] In embodiments, a system may include a smart appliance as
described in the preceding paragraph, and that further includes a
logic component including a stored series of instruct ions enabling
the smart appliance to receive an input of the actuator from the
user, and responsive to the input, may retrieve historical runtime
data of the appliance and a current utility rate for the resource
used by the smart appliance. The logic component may further
determine a projected monetary cost for resources to be used by the
smart appliance during a current runtime period based on the
historical runtime data of the appliance and the current utility
rate for the resource. Such an appliance may then present projected
monetary cost for the current runtime to the user on the
display.
[0014] In various embodiments, the logic component may further
enable the smart appliance to determine a projected monetary cost
for resources to be used by the smart appliance during a future
runtime based on the historical runtime data of the appliance and a
future utility rate for the resource and present the projected
monetary cost for the future runtime to the user on the
display.
[0015] In various embodiments, the user may select a current or
future runtime based on the display of the projected monetary cost
for the current runtime and the projected monetary cost for the
future runtime.
[0016] In various embodiments, the projected monetary cost during
the current runtime and/or the projected monetary cost during the
future runtime may be further based on, or may reference, at least
one of: a current weather condition, a future weather condition, a
resource budget of the user, a projected occupancy status of the
household, and a schedule of other appliances within the household
that will be run.
[0017] In various embodiments, the historical data may be retrieved
by the wireless communication module from at least one of the smart
meter, the utility server and the energy management server.
[0018] In various embodiments, the current utility rate may be
retrieved by the wireless communication module from at least one of
the smart meter, the utility server and the energy management
server.
[0019] In various embodiments, the historical runtime data may be
determined based on a load disaggregation algorithm applied to the
resource usage by the smart appliance and other appliances within
the household.
[0020] In various embodiments, the logic component may comprise at
least one of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an
electronically erasable and programmable read only memory (EEPROM),
or a processor in conjunction with a memory for storing processing
instructions to be executed by the processor.
[0021] In various embodiments, the display may comprise at least
one of a light-emitting device (LED) and an electronic ink display
device.
[0022] In various embodiments, the smart appliance may comprise a
refrigerator, a dishwasher, a clothes washer, a clothes dryer, a
water heater, heating/ventilation/air-conditioning equipment, a
thermostats, an oven, a microwave oven, and/or lawn watering
equipment. In various embodiments, the resource used by the
appliance may be electricity, water, natural gas, heating oil, or
any other measurable resource that may be used and metered by a
utility for service to a user operating an appliance.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] The novel features believed characteristic of the disclosed
subject matter will be set forth in any claims that are set forth
hereinbelow or filed later. The disclosed subject matter itself,
however, as well as a mode of use, further objectives, and
advantages thereof, will be understood by reference to the
following detailed description of illustrative embodiments when
read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Further aspects
of the present disclosure will be appreciated upon review of the
detailed description of various embodiments, provided hereinbelow,
when taken in conjunction with the following Figures, of which:
[0024] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a resource
management system 100 including a smart appliance and network
environment in an exemplary embodiment of the disclosed subject
matter.
[0025] FIG. 2 is an illustration of an exemplary logic module of a
resource management server 110 shown generally in FIG. 1.
[0026] FIG. 3 is a system diagram showing interconnected components
of a resource management server 110 shown generally in FIG. 1.
[0027] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the operating
components of the smart appliance 102 shown generally in FIG.
1.
[0028] FIG. 5 is a simplified datagraph illustration of network
communications between a smart appliance 102 and the resource
management server 110 shown generally in FIG. 1.
[0029] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a runtime projection process 600 in
an embodiment.
[0030] FIG. 7 is an illustration of displays that may be presented
to a user of a smart appliance 102 shown generally in FIG. 1.
[0031] FIG. 8 is an illustration of a screen display of a smart
appliance in an exemplary embodiment.
[0032] FIG. 9 is an illustration of a screen display of a smart
appliance in an exemplary embodiment.
[0033] FIG. 10 is an illustration of a screen display of a smart
appliance in an exemplary embodiment.
[0034] FIG. 11 is an illustration of a screen display of a smart
appliance in an exemplary embodiment.
[0035] FIG. 12 is an illustration of a screen display of a smart
appliance in an exemplary embodiment.
[0036] FIG. 13 is an illustration of cyclical data that may be
analyzed by a resource management server as shown generally in FIG.
1.
[0037] FIG. 14 is an illustration of cyclical data that may be
analyzed by a resource management server as shown generally in FIG.
1.
[0038] FIG. 15 is an illustration of cyclical data that may be
analyzed by a resource management server as shown generally in FIG.
1.
[0039] FIG. 16 is an illustration of cyclical data that may be
analyzed by a resource management server as shown generally in FIG.
1.
[0040] FIG. 17 is an illustration of cyclical data that may be
analyzed by a resource management server as shown generally in FIG.
1.
[0041] FIG. 18 is an illustration of model calculations that may be
performed by a resource management server as shown generally in
FIG. 1 in an exemplary embodiment.
[0042] FIG. 19 is an illustration of model calculations that may be
performed by a resource management server as shown generally in
FIG. 1 in an exemplary embodiment.
[0043] FIG. 20 is an illustration of model calculations that may be
performed by a resource management server as shown generally in
FIG. 1 in an exemplary embodiment.
[0044] FIG. 21 is an illustration of model calculations that may be
performed by a resource management server as shown generally in
FIG. 1 in an exemplary embodiment.
[0045] FIG. 22 is an illustration of an exemplary graph of smart
appliance operation in accordance with outdoor temperature and
setpoint as monitored and generated by the resource management
server of FIG. 1.
[0046] FIG. 23 is a simplified schematic illustration of a resource
management system 200 in an exemplary embodiment.
[0047] FIG. 24 is an illustration of an exemplary logic module 220
of a resource management server 210 shown generally in FIG. 23.
[0048] FIG. 25 is a system diagram showing interconnected
components of a resource management system 200 shown generally in
FIG. 23.
[0049] FIG. 26 is a schematic block diagram of the operating
components of the smart appliance 202 shown generally in FIG.
23.
[0050] FIG. 27 is a simplified datagraph illustration of network
communications between a smart appliance 202 and resource
management server 210 shown generally in FIG. 23.
[0051] FIG. 28 illustrates an exemplary thermostat employing the
present disclosure.
[0052] FIG. 29 illustrates an exemplary dishwasher employing the
present disclosure.
[0053] FIG. 30 illustrates a further exemplary thermostat employing
the present disclosure.
[0054] FIG. 31 provides a visualization of a time-bounded decision
space as employed by embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0055] FIG. 32 depicts an exemplary usage process as employed by
embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0056] FIG. 33 depicts an exemplary snaphot process as employed by
embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0057] FIG. 34 depicts an exemplary cost process as employed by
embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0058] FIG. 35 depicts an exemplary decision control process as
employed by embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0059] FIG. 36-FIG. 58 illustrate exemplary outputs of embodiments
employing the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
[0060] Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which the
same reference numbers are used throughout the different figures to
designate the same components.
[0061] FIG. 1, illustrates an exemplary data communication network
environment 100 in which the smart appliance 102 of the present
disclosure operates. The resource management cloud-based servers
110 are the hub of the network environment 100, which enables user
106, smart appliances 102, user terminals 104, resource management
servers 110, smart meters 116, network interface servers 108 and
utility provider servers 114 to interact as described herein over a
data communication network, such as the Internet. The resource
management server(s) 110 may be one or a group of distributed or
centralized network computer servers. Such servers, like any common
personal computer, include well-known processors, electronic
memory, network communication hardware, user interfaces,
input/output devices, operating system software, and application
software suitable for accomplishing the functions described herein.
A suitable computer server may be one or more enterprise network
servers of the type commonly manufactured by CISCO, DELL and IBM.
The resource management server(s) 110 may be configured to perform
the functionalities described herein through suitable programming
in C++, PHP, JAVASCRIPT or the like, and may include a resource
management database 112 for storing the data described herein and
database management software, for example, similar to the
Structured Query Language (SQL)-type databases distributed by
ORACLE. The resource management server(s) 110 may be centrally
located or may be distributed among a variety of geographical
locations, and may cooperate to enable to social networking
functions described herein. The resource management server(s) 110
may act as a "cloud" service to a plurality of users and utility
providers.
[0062] The network environment 100 includes one or more utility
provider servers 114, which are operated by a provider of a
resource, such as an electric company or a water company. The
utility provider servers 114 may be any type of computer network
server of the type described in the preceding paragraph, that are
operative to enable data communications over a computer network,
such as the Internet. Users will typically maintain an account with
the utility provider. Such an account will be registered. In
addition to user account information, such as usage and monetary
amounts due for resource usage, the utility provider may also
provide utility pricing rates for historical, present and future
times. Such data is obtained and used by the system 100 as
described herein.
[0063] User Terminals 104 may be one or more separate consumer
computing devices that are operative to communicate data
bi-directionally with the network server (s) 110 over a computer
network, such as the Internet. The user terminals 104 may be owned
and operated by separate and distinct users. Users may be assigned
a login to access the resource management server(s) 110. When
interacting with the resource management server(s) 110 over the
Internet, a display of the user terminal 104 may be changed and
updated to enable the customer to directly interact with the
network server(s) 110 in the manners described herein.
[0064] User terminals 104 may be any suitable computing or
communication device used to accomplish the processes described
herein. They may be, for example, a personal computer, laptop
computer, notebook computer, mobile telephone, smartphone, tablet,
personal digital assistant or like device of the type commonly
manufactured by IBM CORP, DELL CORP. and APPLE CORP., and having
suitable operating system software (i.e., WINDOWS XP, WINDOWS 8,
WINDOWS 10, MAC OS X, SUN OS), application software, visual
displays, processors, electronic memory, network communication
hardware, user interfaces (such as a visible display), and other
suitable input/output devices, as are well-known and suitable for
accomplishing the functions described herein.
[0065] The network environment 100 includes one or more smart
appliances 102, the features of which will be described herein in
more detail below. The network environment 100 further includes one
or more smart meters 116 which may communicate wired or wirelessly
with the smart appliance 112 and/or network interface servers
108.
[0066] In certain embodiments, the network environment 100 is
implemented over a publicly-accessible computer network, such as
the Internet or World Wide Web, via network interface servers 108,
which may be any type of server mentioned above. The disclosure is
not limited to implementation in any specific network
configuration, and is readily contemplated to include the use of
any wireless and/or hard-wired devices operating in conjunction
with satellite, microwave, fiber optic, copper, local area networks
(LANs), wide-are networks (WANs), WIFI, IEEE 802.11-based
protocols, WIMAX and/or other network configurations. It is readily
apparent that the network environment 100 may be implemented in any
type of system comprising interconnected computers configured to
communicate data with each other using messages transmitted
electronically or via other means, without limitation.
[0067] Data may be transmitted between the computers, devices and
servers shown in FIG. 1 using any of the variety of data formats
including, but not limited to, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP),
file transfer protocol (FTP), or any other suitable data
transmission protocols. Data transmissions may also be encrypted
with any of a variety of known technologies, including secure
socket layer (SSL) topologies.
[0068] Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3, an Embodiment may include a
Snapshot Model, described in the following flowcharts, determines
the cost of an individual energy product, which can include
present-day options and future-day when combined with Present-Day
and Futures Market Modules. All these possible combinations form a
decision tree that can then be analyzed mathematically. What the
decision tree does is permute through all the available choices and
then recursively follows one choice to all potential future choices
through time. For instance, consider just month-to-month contracts
projected a year in advance. If, based on a user's geographic
location, they had access to an average of 25 month-to-month
contracts it may set n=25. Embodiments may set out depth, d, to 12.
This results in 5,200,300 unique branches in the decision tree. In
practice, branches may be composed of a mix of contracts with
varying term lengths.
[0069] Additionally, the effect of the decision tree may vary
depending on the consumer's usage profile. In terms of options the
decision tree may be the same for all consumers, based solely on
the market, however the value of each branch within the tree may
vary from consumer to consumer. The Decision Tree may generate
Outcome Profiles (OP), which may then be combined with Consumer
Usage Profiles (CUP) to yield Impact Profiles (IP) which are unique
to each consumer. The best impact profile wins. A particular impact
profile may then be directly associated with a branch in the
decision tree, which may then determine the short-term decision
that should be made for the user, among the available options
(Choose New Contract, Renew Existing Contract, Let Contract Expire,
Shutoff Service).
[0070] In real-time, the system may constantly be reevaluating the
environment, tracking the current energy market, predicting future
energy market, tracking the consumers usage patterns, weather etc.
and putting all this data into a system model which behaves as a
kind of artificial intelligence. As the data in the model changes,
it may be reconstructed, adjusting the decision tree, and regularly
generating new impact profiles for each consumer. If a new impact
profile has been detected which has a better value than the current
one in place, a decision may be executed on behalf of the user.
[0071] The decision tree is a distributed algorithm. Due to the
vast number of possible permutations the algorithm is distributed
in a custom cloud that allows for distributed parallel processing.
Branches within the tree are broken up and distributed. Machine
learning techniques are used to identify recurring patterns and
pre-filter and evaluate branches to optimize the creation of impact
profiles for consumers. Similar pattern recognition is also applied
to group similar users with each other.
[0072] FIG. 2 is a representation of a consumer module logic
component used by the resource management server of FIG. 1. The
consumer module manages consumer-related data, which includes data
provided by a user as well as data collected from third party
sources on behalf of the user. The consumer module receives or
monitors and then stores the following data for each user or
residence subscribed to the system 100: user information (name,
location, contact information, payment information), utility
information (name, utility type, utility rates), billing history
from various utilities, meter information from smart meters or the
like, usage history, registration of home automation devices,
thermostat operation and history, weather data and historical
weather information, and building history of the residence or the
like occupied by a user. This information may be gathered and
stored in various fields of the resource management database
112.
[0073] FIG. 3 is a representation of the interconnected components
of the resource management system including the resource management
server 110 of FIG. 1. As represented therein, an embodiment may
take inputs from utility servers 114, smart meters 116, smart
appliances 102 (such as a smart thermostat), and third-party
information such as weather from weather servers available over the
Internet. Such data may be stored in the database 112 for use by
the system 100. The resource management servers 110 use this
information to generate Dependent Load Representation, Weather
Dependent and Independent Load Separation, Balance Point
Determination, HVAC system modeling, other system modeling and
analysis, user budget creation, appliance and thermostat management
and presentation of information to a user on a user interface, such
as a display. Such functions and computations are discussed in more
detail with respect to FIGS. 18-21 below.
[0074] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the operating
components of an exemplary smart appliance 102 of FIG. 1. In
general, the smart appliance may be any consumer, household,
residential or consumer appliance that utilizes a resource (such as
energy or water) to change the state of an object or objects from
one state to another using various mechanical operating components
410. The smart appliance 102 may accordingly include, without
limitation, a refrigerator, a dishwasher, a clothes waster, a
clothes dryer, a water heater, heating/ventilation/air-conditioning
equipment, a thermostats, an oven, a microwave oven, and lawn
watering equipment. The smart appliance 102 may be any such
commonly used appliances that are further enhanced and improved
with the following components to enable the functionalities
described herein: a processor 402, a memory 404, a display 406, and
a communication module 408.
[0075] The processor 405 may be any type of integrated circuit
processor or microprocessor commonly used in computing
technologies, such as: an APPLE A5 processor, an INTEL CORE i7
processor, AMD's PUMA CPU, and the like. In lieu of a processor
used in conjunction with operating instructions stored in a memory,
the processor 405 may instead be implemented as an Application
Specific Integrated Circuit. (ASIC) or other single purpose
integrated circuit (IC) device.
[0076] The memory 404 may be any type of electronic memory device
including, but not limited to: random access memory (RAM) IC chips,
read-only memory (ROM) IC chips, dynamic random access memory
(DRAM) chips, static random access memory (SRAM) chips, first-in
first-out (FIFO) memory chips, erasable programmable read-only
memory (EPROM), electronically erasable programmable read-only
memory (EEPROM) chips, a hard disk drive (HDD), a compact disc, a
digital video disc (DVD), a memory stick, a cloud storage device,
and the like.
[0077] The display 406 may be any devices suitable for presenting
information visually to a user. Accordingly, the display 406 may
include an LCD or LED device or an electronic ink display of the
kind employed by AMAZON's KINDLE device. The display may also
include options for communicating with the handicapped by using
sound or tactile presentations in place of visual displays of data.
Other types of display devices may be used with the smart
appliances 102. The size and type of display may vary with the type
of smart appliance on which it is mounted.
[0078] The communications module 408 may be any type of data
communication device that may be used to transmit computer-readable
data between the smart appliance 102 and the other components of
the network environment 100. In the case where the smart appliance
102 is hard-wired to the network environment 100, the
communications module 408 may include a computer modem, such as a
digital subscriber link (DSL) modem a cable modem, or other type of
hard-wired network modem device. In the case where the smart
appliance 102 may communicate with the network environment 100
wirelessly, the communications module 408 may include a wireless
fidelity (wifi) modem, an IEEE 802.1 ix device, a BLUETOOOTH
module, a cellular communications module and the like, without
limitation. One of ordinary skill in the art will readily
appreciate that the size and type of communication module w408 will
depend on the size and type of smart appliance 102 in which it is
embedded.
[0079] Turning now to FIG. 5, an exemplary datagraph illustration
of the network communications between the smart appliance 102 and
the various components of the network environment 100 is shown.
Commencing at step 502, a user initiates operation of a smart
appliance 100. An initiating event may b a scheduled operation, or
a command to change a room temperature change, and the like. An
embodiment may offer a user defined schedule or automate a schedule
based on a desired outcome (such as a fixed budget). Responsive
thereto, the smart appliance 102 requests runtime information from
the resource management server 110 (step 504). In particular, the
smart appliance requests information on the amount and/or cost of a
resource that it consumes during the type of run cycle that the
user is requesting at a current time and based on current utility
rates. For example, the user may be initiating a wash cycle of a
dishwasher, that uses electricity and water to clean dishes placed
therein using various mechanical components. Projected Runtime may
be based on an algorithm that takes multiple historical data points
(i.e. operating conditions past/present) that contributed to
HISTORICAL RUNTIME and determines future runtimes.
[0080] In one embodiment, the smart appliance may provide the
following example request, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S)
GET message including XML-formatted data, as provided below:
TABLE-US-00001 GET /Index.html HTTP/1.1 Host: www.energybill.com
Content-Type: Application/XML Content-Length: 667 <?XML version
= "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?> <auth_request>
<timestamp>2020-12-31 23:59:59</timestamp>
<user_accounts_details> <user_account_credentials>
<user_name>Name@energybill.com</account_name>
<password>abc123</password>
</user_account_credentials> </user_accounts_details>
<EnergybillRunCycleProjection> Request Run Cycle Projections
</EnergybillRunCycleProjection> </auth_request>
[0081] In response to the request, the resource management servers
110 commences an analysis of the projected runtime costs for the
smart appliance 102 (step 506) using data on the runtime of the
appliance 102 that may be stored by one or more of the appliance
102, the resource management database 112 or the manufacturer of
the appliance 102, which may be available from a server on the
Internet. The projected runtime costs are also determined using
current utility costs for a resource used by the smart appliance.
The current and projected future utility rates may be provided by
utility provider servers 114 and stored by the resource management
server 110 in resource management database 112 continuously, on a
periodic basis, or as needed (i.e., on demand).
[0082] Next, the resource management server requests the current
runtime/utility data for the smart appliance from database 112
(step 508). In various embodiments, the request may take the form
of a SQL database query having the following exemplary form:
TABLE-US-00002 <?PHP header('Content-Type: text/plain');
mysql_connect("245.39.179.112",$DBserver,$password); // access
database 112 mysql_select_db("APPLIANCERUNTIME.SQL"); // select
database table to search $query = "SELECT appliance_id,
file_location, file_format FROM ApplianceRunTimeTemplate WHERE run
cycle_type LIKE '%' $normal wash"; $result = mysql_query($query);
// perform the search query mysql_close("APPLIANCERUNTIME.SQL"); //
close database access ?>
[0083] Next, in response to the request above, the appliance
runtime data is retrieved from database 112 (step 510). Likewise,
the current and future utility rate data for the resource used by
the appliance is retrieved (step 512). Finally, weather data and
other external data, such as occupancy, runtime of other
appliances, user's established budget and the like is retrieved
from the database 112 (step 514).
[0084] Next, the retrieve appliance runtime and utility cost data
is provided to the resource management server 110 (step 516).
Responsive thereto, the resource management server 110 calculates
current and future runtime costs for the run cycle selected by the
user (step 518). For example, a Current Cost Algorithm determines
computations of projected cost for a current run time using load
disaggregation and current utility rates. An Optimal Cost Algorithm
determines computations of projected lower costs for future runtime
based, for example, on lower rates, weather, a user's energy
budget, projected occupancy status, and schedule of other
appliances that may be run. Other manners for making these
determinations with respect to certain smart appliances are
depicted and described in more detail with respect to FIGS. 18-21
below.
[0085] Next, the resource management server 110 sends the
calculated projections to the smart appliance 102 via the network
environment 100 (step 520). Responsive to the reception of the
information, the smart appliance displays the current and future
runtime cost data to the user 106 on a display 406 of the smart
appliance 102 (step 522). The user 106 may then choose to run the
smart appliance 102 at a current or future time based on the
presented costs.
[0086] It will be readily appreciated that suitably programmed
smart appliances 102 may perform all the runtime calculations and
computations described above locally instead of relying on the
resource management server 110 to do so.
[0087] Turning now to FIG. 6, therein is depicted a flowchart of a
runtime projection process 600 performed by the smart appliance 102
of FIG. 1. First, a user requests initiation of a run cycle of an
appliance (step 602). Next, the appliance 102 retrieves historical
runtime data of the selected operating cycle (step 604). Such
retrieval may be from a local database or remotely from the
database 112 via the network environment 100. Next, the appliance
102 retrieves current and future resource pricing data from the
utility that provides the resource used by the appliance 102 (step
606). Such retrieval may be from a local database or remotely from
the utility provider server 114 or the database 112 via the network
environment 100.
[0088] Next, the appliance 102 determines and displays the
projected costs for a current runtime (step 608). Such projections
may be calculated according to FIGS. 18-21 either locally, where
the smart appliance 102 is suitably programmed or by calculations
performed remotely by the resource management server 110.
[0089] Next, the appliance 102 retrieves weather, user budget,
projected occupancy and runtimes of other appliances of the user
(step 610). The appliance may need to choose the desired future run
time to meet some other user settings, such as running the oven
before dinner or the water heater before bed, etc. The appliance
then computes projected costs for future runtimes of the requested
run cycle based on these external factors (step 612) in the manner
depicted in FIGS. 18-21.
[0090] Next, the appliance 102 determines whether any projected
future runtime costs are lower than the projected cost for a
current runtime (step 614). If so, the process 600 continues to
step 616 below. Otherwise, the process 600 continues from step 614
to step 620, described later below.
[0091] At step 616, the appliance 102 displays the lower cost for a
future runtime to the user 106 on a display 406 (see, e.g., FIG.
7). The user 106 may then select a current or future runtime (step
618). Next, the appliance 102 runs in accordance with user
selection of a run cycle (step 620).
[0092] Finally, the actual runtime data and resource usage of the
appliance is monitored during the run cycle in order to update
models of appliance resource usage for making better future
projections (step 622). This instance of the process 600 then
terminates.
[0093] FIG. 7 is an illustration of the displays of information
that are presented to a user of the smart appliance 102, as
described herein.
[0094] FIGS. 8-12 are illustrations of further screen displays that
maybe presented to a user by the smart appliance 102 or a user
terminal 104. In FIG. 8, therein is depicted a screen display of a
resource usage projections determined for a user, which may be
accessed via user terminal 104. As shown therein, the user may be
presented with current resource usage, historical resource usage
and a projection of total, monthly costs for the resource based on
such usage, as determined by the resource management server
110.
[0095] FIG. 9 shows an exemplary appliance interface screen display
that may be presented to a user on user terminal 104, where the
smart appliance 102 is a smart thermostat. Accordingly, the user
may be presented with the current temperature setting, the current
temperature readings and historical or projected future
temperatures. Options for changing thermostat setpoints may also be
presented.
[0096] FIG. 10 shows an exemplary resource budget screen that may
be presented to a user 106 on the user terminal 104. The display
may include a monthly budget established by the user, and a current
cost of the resource actually incurred for the month. The user 106
may thus monitor resource usage over the course of a month (or
other selected, time period) in a manner that is readily intuitive
to most users.
[0097] FIG. 11 shows an exemplary resource usage interface screen
display that may be presented to a user on user terminal 104 by
system over the network environment 100. This is a proof of a user
interface screen for consumer usage information. On this screen the
user is able to see the trend of all their historical and current
usage, with weather dependent and independent loads separated.
Comparisons may then be made between window in time and another.
With the current billing information consumption data is presented
to the user in terms of cost. Based on all the historical data,
projections are made for future usage patterns, shown in orange in
the proof. Current data being measured in real-time from each data
source is then used to predict what future usage patterns may be,
and what the cost of those predicted patterns are. Based on
historical trends, and feedback from the user, a budget is
automatically created for the user 106, helping them to monitor
their daily, weekly, and monthly consumption and make effective and
practice pattern changes to work towards saving energy and
money.
[0098] FIG. 12 shows an exemplary thermostat forecast screen
display that may be presented to a user on user terminal 104 by an
embodiment over the network environment 100.
[0099] FIGS. 13-17 are illustrations of cyclical data analyzed by
the resource management server of FIG. 1 to determine operation of
the smart appliance. FIG. 13 shows the cyclical variation of annual
outdoor temperatures measured for a geographic location of the user
106. FIG. 14 shows the cyclical variation of daily temperature
measured for a geographic location of the user 106. FIG. 15 shows a
combination of the data from FIGS. 13 and 14, in which an annual
profile of oscillating daily temperatures is measured throughout
the year. FIG. 16 shows how the temperature variations in FIGS.
13-15 affect a user's load profile on a monthly basis with respect
to resource usage. For example, the HVAC system usage may vary over
the course of a year in accordance with daily and annual
temperature oscillations.
[0100] FIG. 17 shows interval data of resource usage as may be
monitored by smart meters 116. With resolution of, say, fifteen
minutes, an embodiment may be able to identify weather dependent
and independent loads. The weather independent load, in turn, is a
good estimate of internal heat gain (IHG) as used in later
calculations described below.
[0101] Continuous monitoring of such data allows models to be built
of resource usage based on weather. Load disaggregation for
identifying the contributions of individual appliances 102, as well
as determination of other weather-dependent and independent
variables are performed according to the calculations depicted in
FIGS. 18-21.
[0102] Turning now to FIGS. 18-21, therein are illustrations of
model calculations used by the resource management server 110 of
FIG. 1, in order to, for example, to determine runtime operation
and costs of a smart appliance 102. FIG. 18 shows a formula and
data variables used to calculate the Weather-dependent load
disaggregation of a user's household. FIG. 19 shows the formula and
variables used to make a Balance Point Determination for the user's
residence. FIG. 20 shows a method for determining Balance Point
Depression (BPD) for a user's residence based on collected data.
FIG. 21 shows a formula for projecting the runtime of an appliance
based on the constants determined from the calculations of FIGS.
18-20.
[0103] FIG. 22 is an illustration of an exemplary graph of smart
appliance operation in accordance with outdoor temperature and
setpoint as monitored and generated by the resource management
server of FIG. 1. This information may be presented to a user 106
system 100 on a display of the user terminal 104. As shown therein,
setpoint temperature and current temperature may be displayed
against the on/off operating runtime cycle of an appliance, in this
case HVAC components. Similar information may likewise be presented
for other appliances 102, such as electrical usage in
kilowatt-hours (kWh) of a clothes dryer over time. Similar data and
modeling maybe performed for each resource-utilizing appliance
having weather-dependent and/or weather-independent variables.
[0104] Referring to FIG. 31, in an embodiment, a method 660 may
include decision modeling such as by providing a mathematical
decision model, such as a decision graph as shown, comprised of
nodes and arcs that can then be analyzed mathematically. The
decision graph shown in FIG. 31 is an exemplary visual
representation of a mathematical decision model on a partial, very
small scale. This graph represents timebounded decisions over a
space that is 12 time unit lengths deep. In our case time units are
in months and start from the present day at node 1 and look forward
a year into the future. Arcs represent the fixed termlength of a
retail energy contract, representing a single 1 month, 2 month, 3
month, 6 month, 9 month, and 12 month contract between nodes in
this graph. These timebounded decisions then form into various
paths. For example a consumer could follow a path that looks like
1119 or 1313313 or 66, or 12, choosing different contracts
throughout the 1 year period. For this particular graph, there are
1059 different paths that can be chosen from a relatively small
number of total market choices. In the real world where a consumer
can have many hundreds of present day choices this can result in a
total decision space that is very large. For instance, consider
just month-to-month contracts projected a year in advance. If,
based on a user's geographic location, they had access to an
average of 25 month-to-month contracts we could set n=25. We would
set our depth, d, to 12. This results in 5,200,300 unique paths in
the decision graph. But, in practice the numbers are many orders of
magnitude larger than this. There are actually many thousands of
choices, arcs will be composed of a mix of contracts with varying
term lengths, not just month to month, and many markets offer term
lengths as long as 36 or 60 months which can result in very deep
models to consider their value.
[0105] In an embodiment shown generally in FIG. 32, method 700 may
provide deciding or determining for a consumer a prediction of a
best path and an initial decision consistent with completing the
predicted best path. Method 700 may include determining cost of an
individual energy product including consideration of both
present-day options and future-day opt ions. It will be understood
that, in an embodiment, present-day options may be provided by
reference to historical market data of the retail energy market to
provide a model and output prediction of an energy market, such as
a retail energy market. It will be under-stood that, in an
embodiment, present-day options may be provided by reference to
historical market data of the retail energy market in combination,
considered, weighted, or adjusted with, reference to weather data
to provide a model and output prediction of an energy market, such
as a retail energy market. It will be understood, further, that in
an embodiment, present-day options may be determined by reference
to historical market data of the retail energy market in
combination, considered, weighted, or adjusted with, reference to
third-party models and predictions to provide a model and output
prediction of an energy market, such as a retail energy market.
[0106] Referring to FIG. 32, it will be understood that in an
embodiment, method 700 may include a model and output prediction of
an energy market such as a retail energy market. It will be
understood that a model may work in part by disaggregating
individual energy products within the market and utilizing machine
learning techniques to forecasting similar but fictitious versions
of those products at some time in the future, such as at monthly
intervals, based on influencing conditions such as weather, the
economy, and other market factors that can have an influence on
energy price. The model may provide a probability distribution for
different types of energy products. Type variations include things
such as retail energy contracts of varying term lengths and
distinct rate formulas which taken on different shapes such as flat
fixed rate, linear vs nonlinear, timevarying vs. usage-varying,
etc, as well as other differences that can and do exist between
energy products in in a competitive retail marketplace. For
example, the model may predict the likelihood of seeing a retail
electric plan with a 3 month term at $0.05/kWh nine months from
now, or a similar plan with a 6 month term at $0.045 and a base
charge of $12,99/month. The output of the model may provide a
distribution of all such potential energy product variations in the
future, yielding as a combined space of both presentday and
future-day predicted retail choices.
[0107] Referring to FIG. 35, in an embodiment, a method 1000 may
include analyzing a decision model, such as a decision graph, to
identify a best decision path and at least one best initial or
short-term decision consistent with the identified best decision
path. As shown in FIG. 35, it will be understood that analyzing may
be achieved by processing a decision model with a suitable
combinatorial optimization decision processing algorithm such as,
for example, a singleshortest path (SSP) or kshortest path
algorithm (KSP). Due to the large decision space, such decision
processing algorithms may be engineered to run both parallel in
high performance computing (HPC) environments such as CUDA by
Nvidia, as well as distributed in a cloud of interconnected
servers. Additionally, the effect of the decision graph will vary
depending on the consumer's usage profile. In terms of options the
decision graph will be the same for all consumers, based solely on
the market, however the value or cost of each arc within the graph
will vary from consumer to consumer. It will be understood that a
system may include a decision module that may generate a final
graph that is weighted unique to each consumer. This final graph
may then be searched for the topK paths in the graph, which are
further processed to yield a final prediction of a single best
path. This is a best path that takes into account the usage profile
of the user, utility rate structure, monthly bill and budget, smart
appliance schedule and setting preferences, as well as other
influencing factors like weather and a dynamic energy market.
Ultimately the decision may include a comparison between a
present-day and future-day state, for which can then be determined
the shortterm decision that should be made for the user, among the
available options. Choices may include, for example, an initial or
short-term decision of entering a new (different) contract,
renewing an existing contract, allowing a contract to expire, or
shutting off service.
[0108] Referring to FIGS. 33 and 34, in an embodiment, a method 800
may include repeatedly updating and re-determining or
reconstructing a decision model. It will be understood that such
reconstructing may be continuous or substantially continuous.
Method 800 may include reevaluating the environment, tracking the
current energy market, predicting future energy market, tracking
the consumers usage patterns, smart appliance settings and
schedule, weather etc. and putting all this data into a system
model which behaves as a kind of artificial intelligence. As the
data in the model changes, it will be reconstructed, adjusting the
decision graph, and find a new best path to compare the present
state. If a best path has been detected which has a better value or
cost than the current one in place, a decision will be executed on
behalf of the user.
[0109] Referring to FIG. 27, in embodiments, a method may include
controlling a smart appliance according to a budget. It will be
understood that such controlling may be similar to selecting a
contract as elsewhere described herein. A decision model or
decision graph may be generated, based on relevant criteria. The
time scale for controlling a smart appliance may be in minutes or
seconds, and a timebounded decision may include, for example,
running a smart appliance for some operation cycle or a combination
of operation cycles. Like a deregulated contract, this arc in the
network will have a cost associated with it. By traversing the
potential control choices for the appliance (like a thermostat), in
an embodiments budgetary goals and environmental preferences and
constraints may be maximized or facilitated by following a
particular control path for the smart appliance. The
decision/control module includes aspects of both decision
identification for contract selection and control of smart
appliances.
[0110] It will be understood that, in embodiments, a smart
appliance may run irrespective of the user monitoring events, and
may self report. Third party events, such as weather change, may
cause changes, and analytics may be performed. Analytics modules
may include, for example and in part, Usage Module, Cost Module,
and Decision/Control Module. It will be understood that when
analytics are performed, each time they are updated, a simple model
is generated and is provided to the smart appliance. In an
embodiment, final cost may be reported by model running locally on
a smart appliance. This may prevent the smart appliance from having
to constantly go back and forth to the server. Data exchanges may
occur only when necessary, or according to schedule, and may allow
cost to be reported instantaneously to the user without the delay
of waiting on analytics to calculate. In an embodiment, accordingly
cost may be precalculated. So locally on the smart appliance a
relatively simple model, like a simple formula, may be processed
with basic variables such as device settings (wash cycle or
whatever) to provide cost. In an embodiment, cost might be
reported, in various ways such as, cost for a single cycle or
aggregate cost for a day for maintaining a particular temperature
setpoint. Depending on the type of smart appliance, cost may be
reported in a variety of ways for meaningfulness.
[0111] In an embodiment, a runtime model may include a formula, an
automated rate sheet or menu updated menu wherein prices change. A
smart appliance may utilize or may be controlled according to such
a runtime model, which is executed locally on the device/appliance,
to present a cost to the user. Such a model may be produced from
all the complex analytics that may result in a formula which may be
performed on the smart appliance. From time to time, as events
happen (weather, market, other appliance in the home, new usage
data from the smart meter, etc., and whatever), the backend system
will detect some new information that warrants we rerun our various
analytics models, Usage, Cost, and so on. After this happens, a new
runtime model would be generated, and then that, would get pushed
down to the appliance if/when data connectivity is available. IoT
devices often have spotty connections, and they likely sit behind
routers and firewalls. So rather than the server pushing down to
the appliance, in an embodiment, a smart appliance may periodically
checks for a new runtime model. In an embodiment, a smart appliance
may pushes update up to the server for runtime history. But, this
may be performed separately, or alone, or on periodically such as
hourly.
[0112] In an embodiment, a smart appliance may interact with other
3rd party devices while offline. For example, in an embodiment, a
smart appliance may interact with other smart appliances or devices
for improving reporting accuracy, such as while offline or between
updating of runtime models from the server. This may occur, for
example, where highly unpredictable consumer usage or weather
patterns are presented or encountered, or where internet
communications are down so as to prevent updating of the runtime
model and system for a long period. and the system couldn't
update.
[0113] In addition to the foregoing solutions, an embodiment may
also offer the following functionalities:
[0114] An embodiment in contrast to providing a cost for running an
appliance, may provide an incentive for not using the appliance,
not using energy, or supplying energy back to the grid by the
appliance. An embodiment may employ a combination of cost and
incentives. Incentives may include for example: cash rebates.
[0115] An embodiment may facilitate a social network for energy
consumers, allowing energy consumers to compare themselves with
others in their area and connect online. Users may be able to share
their energy consumption stats, as well as savings stats when
changes in usage patterns are detected to create a. "crowd-saving"
effect. Users may then connect with each other to share and discuss
what they did to save energy and reduce their bills, offer or ask
for advice, etc. An embodiment may also embed into and interface
with existing social networking sites like FACEBOOK and
GOOGLE+.
[0116] An embodiment may be a cloud-based software system for
performing whole-building residential and commercial energy audits
using mobile devices. This software is based on an existing desktop
software technology that was widely used by and sold to utility
companies and regarded as superior to and a replacement for the
Department of Energy's DOE-2 simulations, as used in the past. The
improved system offered may allow residential consumers to manually
or automatically self-perform energy audits of their home with ease
using their user terminals and mobile devices.
[0117] An embodiment may serve as a kind of ANGIE'S LIST for
energy-related service providers with some additional caveats that
are patent-pending. An embodiment may allow providers to be listed
by area and reviewed by users. If energy saving services are
provided, such as HVAC replacement, additional insulation,
installation of DER or appliance upgrades, an embodiment may track
the before/after energy consumption for this user based on the date
of service and use this data to additionally rate the service for
its measured effectiveness. An internal rating system may be
applied based on the effect of the service to the consumer's energy
bill. Highly effective services may be given priority ranking in
the system and recommended to other users.
[0118] In conjunction with all other services provided, various
informational areas may be maintained to aggregate and offer energy
education to the public ranging from general to advanced-level.
Educational programs may also be offered to increase public
awareness and promote the services to the general public and
through public schools.
[0119] Energy product choices vary by geographic location and time.
At any given point in time, day-to-day, month-to-month, the number
of options may change, and this is usually counted in the dozens to
hundreds for a consumer. As of now, just in the Texas electrical
power market there are over 1,500 different product choices. A
consumer who resides in zip code 77486 has access to about 200 of
those.
[0120] The best, lowest-cost, choice is not a simple matter but
requires time-varying analysis which takes into account the
consumer's usage patterns, market predictions, and the impact of
present-day choices on future-day choice options. This can be
thought of as a kind of "butterfly effect," where the small
variance in initial conditions may have a dramatic effect on the
outcome further down the timeline. In order to make the best choice
today, the long-term impact of each choice must be considered. What
seems like a good choice today may be a very bad choice in the
long-run.
[0121] For instance, a user today may have the option of signing up
for a month-to-month, 3 month, 6 month, 12 month, 24 month, or 36
month energy contract. And the rate ($/kWh) for each varies by
usage patterns month-to-month (as described previous). Based on
usage patterns alone it may be more cost effective for a consumer
to alternate between various short-term contracts. This is
complicated even further however by the impact of present-day
choice on future choice options.
[0122] If a user were to sign a long-term contract in the summer
this is very likely a bad choice. While the contract being chosen
may seem like the best rate today, the rate is likely very high
because it's during peak-load market conditions. Rather than
choosing the long-term contract now, it may be more cost-effective
long-term to choose a shorter term contract now, which may have a
higher rate, and then plan on choosing a longer-term plan next
month or a few months later after electrical load on the grid eases
and market prices drop. Long-term choices may also bring early
termination fees and other considerations which impact future
options.
[0123] Determining the best choice requires modeling a series of
choices back to back. For instance, if the consumer goes
month-to-month, what may their product choices be one month from
now when that one month term expires? Depending on the depth of
projection (e.g., one month vs. thirty-six months in the future)
models may use a mix of actual versus predicted data.
[0124] For reasons of cost and in-house technical ability,
utilities companies and city and state governments have been unable
to provide advanced technology services to energy consumers.
Minimum services are provided for things such as account
management, energy management or budgeting, Distributed Energy
Resource (DER) management and utility and bill payment, which are
sometimes unreliable and usually lacking in advanced features that
would be useful to consumers for energy management. Utility
companies in regulated markets know that customers have no choice
in their provider, so they have little incentive to improve the
array of services customers have access to. Even in deregulated
markets, it is not necessarily in the monetary interest of the
utility companies to help customers save energy, resources and
money. There is little direct-cost benefit for the utility
companies to invest in energy savings programs other than what is
required by governing entities. Embodiments of the disclosure
provide unique hardware and software products that may fill this
gap in the market and empower consumers to capitalize on real-time
or future energy consumption decisions or opportunities.
[0125] Deregulated utility market consumers are left to their own
devices to determine which energy contract to choose among a pool,
which may include potentially hundreds of different contracts
offered by a growing multitude of different providers, varying by
the particular market. The decision of which contract to choose,
whether they should renew or extend, or switch contracts or
providers, and when, is very difficult. The variable factors that
go into optimizing their rate plan opportunities is comparable with
trading stocks on the stock market, requiring an advanced
understanding of the energy market and the energy consumption
characteristics of the residence.
[0126] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution
including an automated professional evaluation of available energy
rate plans and renewal of deregulated energy products to save users
money by maintaining energy bills below the average for their
respective markets. Embodiments may automatically trend and
evaluates the energy market, matches energy consumers with the best
provider and available rate plan based on the characteristics of
their residence, their personal usage profile and market history
and projections, and then sign consumers up, execute contracts, and
facilitate account management. The savings may be measured by
monitoring the energy usage characteristics of the user's residence
and retail price paid per energy unit versus the average retail
price paid for that energy product in that market (a trailing
twelve month, TTM). The TTM data and retail/wholesale market
projections is compiled from various national data sources (e.g.,
Energy Information Administration (EIA), Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC), Department of Energy (DOE), etc.) and real-time
energy pricing from regional energy authorities (i.e., Texas
Electric, ERCOT, and the like).
[0127] An embodiment may utilize historical meter data a model or
profile of a consumer's usage pattern of the resource. An
embodiment may utilize this data along with TTM data and other
predictive indicators to determine the most informed decision on
behalf of users for rate plan optimization, so as to maintain
below-average energy bills when compared to average/mean/median
users in their market.
[0128] As another problem in the current marketplace, customers are
burdened with having to learn how to use a new web site every time
they change energy providers, which may be quite frequently, often
several times per year in deregulated markets. They may also have
to maintain multiple accounts at once, such as for water,
electricity, and gas utilities. An embodiment may provide one
account to manage all utility bills. Users may have a single sign
in (SSO) account that they may log into in order to manage
electric, natural gas, water contracts, bills, payments and
history. Users may access and manage all of their accounts through
one central service. Historical account data may be preserved even
as providers change, archiving all data indefinitely and making it
accessible to appropriate users. While this service is primary
targeted for deregulated markets where service changes are more
frequent, it may also be available to regulated and mixed markets.
Multiple users may also be able to access a shared account, such a
multiple people in a single household or residence. Shared account
access may empower other stakeholders in a shared accountability
and/or energy monitoring role.
[0129] Another problem in some deregulated energy markets occurs
when users switch providers, wherein access to all historical usage
information is typically lost to the user after the change. This
also occurs in regulated markets when customers move and change
residences. Also in both deregulated and regulated markets, the
level of data users are provided access varies by the specific
utility, but is typically lacking in comparison to the level of
historical analysis. An embodiment may include long-term archiving
of historical billing (monthly costs), users actual retail price
per energy unit (by month and year), historical average retail
prices paid in the market and monthly savings (comparison of price
paid versus average retail market price). This service may also be
available to regulated customers whose providers may not offer such
a service, and who also may want to maintain historical data
between residences after moving or want to benchmark long term
energy efficiency changes at their residence.
[0130] There is currently no way to aggregate usage data across
multiple providers in deregulated markets. As users change
providers, access to historical data is lost, and data cannot be
trended across multiple providers. Also, even in regulated markets,
historical data is often archived for only limited periods of time,
and a user's ability to access that data is highly limited and
usually not particularly useful to the customer. An embodiment, may
gather historical monthly energy usage from past and present
monthly bills, which may be archived and continuously compared for
both deregulated and regulated users. This information can be used
to identify usage trends and create monthly and annual usage
profiles, which may aid in deregulated contract decisions, usage
and cost projects, and also energy audits for savings analysis.
Advanced tools may be provided which allow consumers to view and
analyze their usage trends, viewing data in graph and spreadsheet
form, and perform relevant math functions such as estimate future
bills based on historical trends.
[0131] According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA),
in 2012, five hundred and thirty-three electric utilities had over
forty-three million advanced "smart" metering infrastructure (AMI)
installations. Smart meters allow usage data to be accessed
remotely and upon request by the utility owning them. As another
problem in the current marketplace, though, many customers have
smart meters that are installed at a residence to monitor usage of
a resource, but most users either do not have access to smart meter
data or don't know how to access it. The information gap to gain
access to it is too large for most people, or the data isn't
available in a format that is friendly or useful to the consumer.
Even in those rare instances where smart meter data is accessible
by users, its usefulness is limited to the experience of the person
accessing it. Average consumers do not typically understand the
meanings of kilowatt-hours and are thus unable to understand and
make use of the smart meter data.
[0132] An embodiment may aggregate data at regular intervals and
log it with the user's account. Smart meter data is retrieved at
the meter's available capacity, such as fifteen-minute intervals,
thereby allowing quarter-hour, hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly
profiles to be created. Such detailed usage profiles may aid in
creating models to be used in deregulated contract decisions and
facilitate off-peak billing options. These models also accommodate
more advanced energy audits and personal energy analysis and
education, allowing for analysis based on hourly and daily usage
rather than just monthly. The data may instantly be pulled into web
and mobile tools that allow customers to analyze it, using it to
better understand their bill, energy usage characteristics, and how
to save resources and money on their utility bill. An embodiment
may employ tools to allow users to study the impact of specific
loads in their home, such as contributed by an HVAC component or
other appliance.
[0133] An embodiment may allow users to track their energy usage in
real-ti me and project their end-of-month bill based on usage
patterns. Users may be able to set budget limits and then be guided
to tailor their consumption so that they don't exceed that budget.
Smart devices, IoT and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) can also
be interfaced with and automatically controlled to manage the
budget for all utility bills and to maximize the overall benefit of
the user.
[0134] Another problem in the current marketplace is that an
increasingly large number of homes are equipped with "smart"
thermostats and other home automation devices, but these devices
are not typically well utilized and tend to just be expensive
gadgets with excessive scheduling capabilities, offering
capabilities that are ultimately unused. Smart thermostats, other
smart devices (IoT), and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) need to
be utilized in the context of overall energy bill management.
[0135] Responsive to this issue, an embodiment's software may
remotely monitor and control smart thermostats such as NEST,
ECOBEE, and HONEYWELL WIFI ST, as well as other home automation
devices currently planned for the market. Comparable with smart
meters, smart thermostat data may be polled at regular intervals
and logged, allowing for historical trends. In areas where smart
meter data is available this may be an especially powerful
combination, allowing HVAC operational parameters and use patterns
to be correlated with overall energy consumption. Consumers may
then be able to set specific parameters limiting their total energy
consumption, and an embodiment may be empowered to regulate HVAC
use in order to maintain a specific energy bill. A consumer may for
instance set a budget of $200 for their monthly bill, and an
embodiment may then regulate the temperature in the home and
schedule other appliance usage as necessary to not exceed this
bill.
[0136] Another common problem in the current marketplace is that
there is not currently any industry-wide standardization for home
or building automation systems. In order to provide automation and
control capabilities, device and appliance manufacturers are forced
to venture into territory that they frankly have no expertise in.
Companies with expertise in designing and manufacturing home
appliances, like air conditioners and clothes washers, are
typically not experts in software and the web, which is necessary
for home automation networks. Because of this most appliances with
home automation end up offering limited functionality in comparison
to its potential. For home automation and control to be truly
useful, it needs to be combined with resource/energy bill
information, such as consumption data from smart meters, billing
information from utilities, individual usage profiles, generation
rates, transmission rates, weather forecasts, market forecasts,
etc. A home automation device by itself is really just a gizmo, and
only becomes powerful when it is employed within the context of
total resource management.
[0137] Additionally, device makers are currently all acting
independent of one another, and this creates a burden which is
simply unfeasible. Makers end up reinventing the wheel with each
device that they engineer, resulting in lower quality products and
substantially increasing their own engineering costs, and
ultimately, the costs to their consumers. From the consumer's
perspective things get even worse. Each competitive device may have
its own unique software system for controlling it. So users then
have to keep track of differing software functionality and
operation. Currently there is no way to centralize all home
automation and resource management into one central software
system.
[0138] To address these issues, an embodiment of the present
disclosure may support all existing and future Home Area Network
(HAN) or other Home Automation devices. Through use of the present
disclosure, users may be able to register devices and control them
through the system. Embodiments may serve as a "virtual" operating
system that allows users to easily control all the smart devices in
their home through one centralized system. These devices can then
be used in the context of their whole energy bill and as a
Distributed Energy Resource (DER).
[0139] An embodiment may also provide a marketplace to help promote
third-party home automation and control devices. An embodiment may
let users review devices and, in conjunction with their metering
data, may measure the effectiveness of those devices and be able to
rank them internally.
[0140] Presently, there is not currently any technology that allows
consumers to separate loads and correlate this with billing data,
allowing consumers to understand their usage patterns and
ultimately the associated cost of use. Consumers are not empowered
with the ability to understand the cost of energy use before they
use it and only see the results of their energy consumption on the
energy bill. The inability to monitor individual loads and
associate a value makes it difficult for energy consumers to
intelligently save money or effectively conserve energy for a
maximum benefit for both the user and the energy market. Companies
who are currently working on load disaggregation and other
real-time metering devices lack standardization, access to utility
and billing data, and the ability to perform energy analysis on
metered data. There is a lot that can be done with metering data
beyond simply identifying loads. By itself load disaggregation is
not particularly useful to consumers, and the technology is
inherently limited in its accuracy.
[0141] Load disaggregation is where electrical loads are
disaggregated, or separated, individually on a particular circuit
from a single measurement point. For example, a smart electric
meter can monitor the power consumption for an entire house. An
electrical load is anything that draws power, such as an air
conditioner or dish washer, television, or cell phone charger.
Through a variety of mathematical methods, discussed below, and
depending on the resolution of the metering data, individual loads
of various separate appliances within a residence can be readily
identified. Similar methods of load disaggregation can be used for
other types of resources such as gas usage and water usage.
[0142] By separating loads utilizing load disaggregation
algorithms, an embodiment may then monitor and profile the power
consumed by each appliance. For instance, an embodiment may tell
the consumer what percentage of their overall energy bill is
contributed by the HVAC versus the clothes washer. Consumers would
be able to see exactly how much their clothes washer costs to run,
to the penny, and not just over an extended period of time, but
down to the cost of an individual cycle of clothes. Consumers may
also see how much it costs every time they open the refrigerator
door. This may empower consumers to make energy use decisions in
advance, for example, whether it's worth it to wait to wash the
dishes until the whole dishwasher is full rather than doing a half
load, or whether it's worth it to set the temperature at 72 degrees
in the middle of the summer instead of 74. The impact of such
decisions may be presented to consumers in real time. Customers may
be able to make informed decisions and choose what they are buying
or selling in advance. Utility bills may be presented in
receipt-style like a grocery bill, separating each electric load
and the associated cost. Disaggregation of energy data may also
allow for very advanced systems modeling, which would also be
useful for troubleshooting or new appliance recommendations. For
example, determining whether an HVAC is operating at decreased
deficiency and should be serviced or replaced altogether, or
whether there is a toilet continuously running water and needs to
be repaired. Real-time energy data can be combined with our
calculation engine for automated energy analysis. Based on the
consumer's home usage profile, embodiments may automatically
simulate their entire home and project how much they would save if
they switched to a different model appliance and what the real
projected payback period would be using real utility rates and
energy use characteristics.
[0143] An embodiment may utilize Circuit Signal Acquisition Meter
(SAM), which allows for load disaggregation. Circuit SAM was
developed as an electronic device that energy consumers may
self-install on their homes or commercial facilities, allowing them
to identify and separate electronic loads. Circuit SAM is a
non-intrusive, load-monitoring (NILM) device that is operated by
using multi-dimensional signal processing to analyze the energy
consumed by a home or facility. Loads are separated through
harmonics on the power curve. Loads generate electrical signatures
that can be identified through pattern recognition, i.e., power
consumption fingerprints.
[0144] Although the best methodologies have been particularly
described in the foregoing disclosure, it is to be understood, that
such descriptions have been provided for purposes of illustration
only, and that other variations both in form and in detail can be
made thereupon by those skilled in the art without departing from
the spirit and scope thereof, which is defined first and foremost
by the appended claims.
* * * * *
References