Method and system for managing power demand of a plurality of charging stations sharing the same portion of an electrical network

• US 10,197,976 B2
• Filed: 11/17/2014
• Issued: 02/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AddÉnergie Technologies Inc.
• Original Assignee: AddÉnergie Technologies Inc.
• Inventors: Mailloux, Daniel, Tremblay, Louis, Garneau, Andre
• Primary Examiner(s): Borroto, Alfonso Perez
• Assistant Examiner(s): Yeshaw, Esayas
• Application Number:
  US14/543,149
• Publication Number:
  US 20150346697A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,541 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/72 Charging station selection relying on external data
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/31 Charging columns specially adapted for electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/63 in response to network capacity
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/665 Methods related to measuring, billing or payment
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/67 Controlling two or more charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/68 Off-site monitoring or control, e.g. remote control
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 11/01 electric
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/48 for electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/52 The controlling of the operation of the load not being the total disconnection of the load, i.e. entering a degraded mode or in current limitation
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/144 Demand-response operation of the power transmission or distribution network
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/322 the battery being on-board an electric or hybrid vehicle, e.g. vehicle to grid arrangements [V2G], power aggregation, use of the battery for network load balancing, coordinated or cooperative battery charging
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007 Regulation of charging or discharging current or voltage
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/00 Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/167 : Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for supporting the interoperability of electric or hybrid vehicles, i.e. smartgrids as interface for battery charging of electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 10/126 : the energy generation units being or involving electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV], i.e. power aggregation of EV or HEV, vehicle to grid arrangements [V2G]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 : Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 30/12 : Remote or cooperative charging
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 30/14 : Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing

Abstract

A method and system are disclosed for managing power demand of a plurality of charging stations sharing the same portion of an electrical network, the method comprising obtaining an indication of a maximum value of power allowed at the portion of the electrical network; obtaining an indication of a current power consumed at the portion of the electrical network; managing a charging configuration of the plurality of charging stations to ensure that the current power consumed at the portion of the electrical network stays lower than the maximum value of power demand allowed.

Claims

1. A method for managing power demand of a plurality of charging stations sharing a same portion of an electrical network, the method comprising:

obtaining, by a controller, an indication of a maximum value of power demand allowed at the portion of the electrical network;

obtaining, by the controller, from a current measuring unit, an indication of a current measured value of power consumed at a circuit breaker supplying power to the portion of the electrical network;

managing, by the controller, a charging configuration of the plurality of charging stations to ensure that the current measured value of power consumed at the portion of the electrical network stays lower than the maximum value of power demand allowed;

obtaining, by the controller, a priority list that changes over time;

wherein managing the charging configuration of the plurality of charging stations comprises determining the charging configuration using the priority list and the indication of the maximum value of power demand allowed at the portion of the electrical network and the indication of the current measured value of power consumed at the portion of the electrical network; and

providing, by the controller, the charging configuration, wherein providing the charging configuration comprises providing a signal to each charging station, the signal corresponding to a determined value of a corresponding power to deliver for each charging station i, the corresponding power to deliver being equal to

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the obtaining, by the controller, the indication of the maximum value of power allowed at the portion of the electrical network comprises:

sending, by the controller, a request to a remote management unit for obtaining an indication of the maximum value of power demand allowed for the plurality of charging stations; and

obtaining, by the controller, from the remote management unit the indication of the maximum value of power demand allowed for the plurality of charging stations.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the obtaining, by the controller, of the indication of the maximum value of power demand allowed at the portion of the electrical network comprises accessing, by the controller, a memory unit and obtaining the indication of the maximum value of power demand from the memory unit.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the indication of the maximum value of power demand is stored in the memory unit by a remote processing unit.

5. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the indication of the maximum value of power demand stored in the memory unit changes over time.

6. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the indication of the current measured value of power consumed at the circuit breaker supplying power to the portion of the electrical network is obtained from the memory unit.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the indication of the current measured value of power consumed at the circuit breaker supplying power to the portion of the electrical network is obtained at a given frequency.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the priority list is established using a plurality of parameters.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the plurality of parameters is selected from a group comprising at least one of a user profile, a time of the day and a number of users connected.

10. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the indication of the maximum value of power demand stored in the memory unit is constant over time.

11. A controller for managing power demand of a plurality of charging stations sharing a same portion of an electrical network, the controller comprising:

a charging station communication port operatively connected to a plurality of charging stations;

a memory unit for storing an indication of maximum value of power demand allowed and a charging station configuration;

a processing unit operatively connected to the charging station communication port and to the memory unit, the processing unit for managing the charging station configuration of the plurality of charging stations to ensure that a current measured value of power consumed at a circuit breaker supplying power to the portion of the electrical network stays lower than the maximum value of power demand allowed;

wherein the processing unit is configured to obtain a priority list that changes over time;

wherein the processing unit is configured to manage the charging configuration of the plurality of charging stations comprising determining the charging configuration using the priority list and the indication of the maximum value of power demand allowed at the portion of the electrical network and the indication of the current measured value of power consumed at the portion of the electrical network; and

wherein the processing unit is configured to provide the charging configuration, wherein providing the charging configuration comprises providing a signal to each charging station, the signal corresponding to a determined value of a corresponding power to deliver for each charging station i, the corresponding power to deliver being equal to

12. The controller as claimed in claim 11, wherein the memory unit further comprises an indication of the current measured value of power consumed at the portion of the electrical network.

13. The controller as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a data providing unit communication port connected to the processing unit;

the data providing unit communication port for obtaining the current measured value of power consumed from a remote processing unit and for storing the current measured value of power consumed at the portion of the electrical network in said memory unit.

14. The controller as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a remote management unit communication port connected to the processing unit;

the remote management unit communication port for obtaining the indication of a maximum value of power demand allowed from a remote management unit and for storing the indication of the maximum value of power demand allowed in said memory unit.

15. The controller as claimed in claim 12, wherein the charging station configuration comprises a set of parameters characterizing each of the plurality of charging stations.

16. The controller as claimed in claim 15, wherein the set of parameters comprises a list of corresponding electrical power supplied to each charging station of the plurality of charging stations.