Automatic power level trimming via broadcast medium

• US 10,230,265 B2
• Filed: 08/30/2013
• Issued: 03/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Signify Holding B.V. (Signify N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Philips Lighting BV (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Tolhuizen, Ludovicus Marinus Gerardus Maria, Husen, Sri Andari, Schreyer, Oliver, Zhao, Meng, Frimout, Emmanuel David Lucas Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Donovan, Lincoln D
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cheng, Diana J.
• Application Number:
  US14/429,851
• Publication Number:
  US 20150214786A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,020 Days
• Field of Search: 307 11- 44
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00004 characterised by the power network being locally controlled
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/14 The load or loads being home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/12 for adjusting voltage in ac networks by changing a characteristic of the network load
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/242 Home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/126 using wireless data transmission

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling power distribution by a control system that only requires a broadcast medium between a controller (30) and appliances or loads (20-1 to 20-n) and information about the current total power consumption of the system to precisely reach a target consumption level in a stepwise, fast converging way without “seesaw” effects and with “fair distribution” of any power reduction.

Claims

1. An apparatus for controlling power supply of a plurality of load devices, said apparatus comprising:

at least one hardware processor configured to;

determine a total power consumption of said plurality of load devices,

calculate a fraction of a difference of the total power consumption and a target value,

generate power change commands with power change information based on said calculated fraction, and at least one of the power change commands comprising a power change that is an alteration of a previous power change by said fraction, the previous power change being of a previous power change command in a stepwise procedure, and

broadcast said power change commands via a communication medium to said plurality of load devices in said stepwise procedure that is converging towards the lower value of said target value and a sum of desired power values of said plurality of load devices.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said at least one hardware processors adapted to generate said power change commands so as to reduce said total power consumption from a current value to said target value in a stepwise procedure that moves said total power consumption below said target value in an initial step and that afterwards converges towards said target value in a way that each step leads to a total power consumption that is higher than the total power consumption of the previous step.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said at least one hardware processor is adapted to generate said power change commands so as to increase said total power consumption to a higher target value in a stepwise procedure that either is converging towards said higher target value in a way that each step leads to a total power consumption that is higher than the total power consumption of the previous step, or stops if two consecutive steps lead to equal total power consumptions.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said at least one hardware processor is adapted to maintain information about said power change information and resulting total power consumption of at least two most recent steps of said stepwise procedure.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said at least one hardware processor is adapted to check if said total power consumption is close enough to said target value to fulfill a predetermined precision requirement.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said at least one hardware processor is adapted to restrict the amount of change of said power change information between two successive steps to a predetermined threshold value.

7. A power controller device comprising an apparatus according to claim 1.

8. A system comprising:

the apparatus as defined in claim 1; and

the plurality of load devices of claim 1, wherein the plurality of load devices are configured to perform said generated power change commands according to said stepwise procedure by changing power consumption of the load devices in accordance with said generated power change commands.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fraction is based on at least one of a first value that is larger than or equal to a sum of maximum power consumptions of the plurality of load devices or a second value that is based on said power change information and resulting total power consumption of at least two most recent steps of said stepwise procedure.

10. A system comprising:

the apparatus as defined in claim 9; and

the plurality of load devices of claim 9, wherein the plurality of load devices are configured to perform said generated power change commands according to said stepwise procedure by changing power consumption of the load devices in accordance with said generated power change commands.

11. A method of controlling power supply of a plurality of load devices, said method comprising the steps of:

determining a total power consumption of said plurality of load devices;

calculating a fraction of a difference of the total power consumption and a target value,

generating power change commands with power change information based on said fraction, and at least one of the power change commands comprising a power change that is an alteration of a previous power change by said fraction, the previous power change being of a previous power change command in a stepwise procedure; and

broadcasting said power change commands via a communication medium to said plurality of load devices in said stepwise procedure that is converging towards the lower value of said target value and a sum of desired power values of said plurality of load devices.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said power change commands are generated so as to reduce said total power consumption from a current value to said target value in a stepwise procedure that moves said total power consumption below said target value in an initial step and that afterwards converges towards said target value in a way that each step leads to a total power consumption that is higher than the total power consumption of the previous step.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein each step of said stepwise procedure leads to a total power consumption that is higher than the total power consumption of the previous step, or stops if two consecutive steps lead to equal total power consumptions.

14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising, in response to the receipt of said power change commands, setting a power consumption level at said plurality of load devices to a value that equals the minimum of a desired power consumption level of said load device and the maximum power consumption level of said load device reduced according to said power change information.

15. The method according to claim 11, further comprising checking if said total power consumption is close enough to said target value to fulfill a predetermined precision requirement.

16. The method according to claim 11, further comprising restricting the amount of change of said power change information between two successive steps to a predetermined threshold value.

17. Anon-transitory computer program storage medium comprising a computer readable program for controlling power supply of a plurality of load devices, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to perform the steps of claim 11.

18. The method according to claim 11, wherein the fraction is based on at least one of a first value that is larger than or equal to a sum of maximum power consumptions of the plurality of load devices or a second value that is based on said power change information and resulting total power consumption of at least two most recent steps of said stepwise procedure.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising:

performing said power change commands at said plurality of load devices according to said stepwise procedure by changing power consumption of the load devices in accordance with said generated power change commands.

20. The method according to claim 11, further comprising:

performing said generated power change commands at said plurality of load devices according to said stepwise procedure by changing power consumption of the load devices in accordance with said generated power change commands.