Building management and appliance control system

• US 10,637,246 B2
• Filed: 07/10/2017
• Issued: 04/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Orison Corp., Inc.
• Original Assignee: Orison Corp., Inc.
• Inventors: Clifton, Eric Douglass
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Dinh T
• Application Number:
  US15/645,855
• Publication Number:
  US 20170310110A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,023 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G05F 1/66 Regulating electric power
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00 Circuit arrangements for providing remote indication of network conditions, e.g. an instantaneous record of the open or closed condition of each circuitbreaker in the network; Circuit arrangements for providing remote control of switching means in a power distribution network, e.g. switching in and out of current consumers by using a pulse code signal carried by the network
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00002 characterised by monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00004 characterised by the power network being locally controlled
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00034 the elements or equipment being or involving an electric power substation
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/20 The dispersed energy generation being of renewable origin
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/26 involving maximum power point tracking control for photovoltaic sources maximum power point systems in particular G05F1/67
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/28 The renewable source being wind energy wind motors F03D
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/10 The network having a local or delimited stationary reach
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/14 The load or loads being home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/54 according to a pre-established time schedule
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/64 The condition being economic, e.g. tariff based load management
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/00 Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/32 using batteries with converting means
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/38 Arrangements for parallely feeding a single network by two or more generators, converters or transformers
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/381 Dispersed generators
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0068 Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply H02J7/0013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 30/60 : Planning or developing urban green infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 10/10 : Photovoltaic [PV]
• 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: Y02E 10/56 : Power conversion systems, e.g. maximum power point trackers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/76 : Power conversion electric or electronic aspects
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 40/70 : Smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the energy generation sector
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 70/30 : Systems combining energy storage with energy generation of non-fossil origin
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 10/123 : the energy generation units being or involving renewable energy sources
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/12 : Energy storage units, uninterruptible power supply [UPS] systems or standby or emergency generators, e.g. in the last power distribution stages
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/20 : End-user application control systems
• 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 50/10 : Energy trading, including energy flowing from end-user application to grid

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to energy storage and supply management system. The system may include one or more of a control unit, which is in communication with the power grid, and an energy storage unit that stores power for use at a later time. The system may be used with traditional utility provided power as well as locally generated solar, wind, and any other types of power generation technology. In some embodiments, the energy storage unit and the control unit are housed in the same chassis. In other embodiments, the energy storage unit and the control unit are separate. In another embodiment, the energy storage unit is integrated into the chassis of an appliance itself.

Claims

1. A smart energy storage unit for receiving energy from and supplying energy to an electric grid, the smart energy storage unit comprising:

an input associated with the smart energy storage unit, for receiving AC energy from the electric grid;

a first inverter electrically coupled to the input for receiving a first amount of AC energy from the grid and converting the first amount of AC energy to a first amount of DC energy suitable for storage;

a plurality of energy storage cells electrically coupled to the first inverter for receiving the first amount of DC energy and converting the first amount of DC energy to chemical energy for storage so as to charge the smart energy storage unit, and for converting a second amount of chemical energy to a second amount of DC energy for release to the grid so as to discharge the smart energy storage unit;

a second inverter electrically coupled to the plurality of energy cells for receiving the second amount of DC energy from the plurality of energy storage cells and for converting the second amount of DC energy in to a second amount of AC energy for supply to the grid;

an output for supplying AC energy to the electric grid;

a battery management system coupled to the plurality of storage cells for directing the storing of energy in and the releasing of energy from the plurality of energy storage cells in accordance with energy management system instructions;

a first control unit coupled to the battery management system for controlling the battery management system in accordance with a first set of received instructions;

a second control unit coupled to the inverter for controlling the inverter in accordance with a second set of received instructions;

a sensor capable of being coupled to the electric grid for sensing a condition of the electric grid;

a communications module coupled to the sensor, for communicating the sensed condition to a master controller; and

a master controller coupled to the communications module and the first and second control units for generating and communicating first and second instructions to the first and second control units so as to control the receiving of energy from and the supplying of energy to the electric grid and thereby controlling the charging and discharging of the smart energy storage unit in accordance with the sensed electrical grid condition.

2. The smart energy storage unit according to claim 1, wherein the input comprises the output.

3. The smart energy storage unit according to claim 1, wherein the first inverter comprises the second inverter.

4. The smart energy storage unit according to claim 3, wherein the electric grid is one of a nano-grid, a pico-grid, and fento-grid.

5. The smart energy storage unit according to claim 4, wherein the inverter is further configured for converting the first DC energy to a second DC energy, and the output is configured for supplying DC energy to the electric grid.

6. The smart energy storage unit according to claim 5, wherein the smart energy storage unit is integrated within an electric appliance.

7. The smart energy storage unit according to claim 5, wherein the master controller includes a user interface to receive user commands to program the control unit to withdraw energy from the electric grid and to supply energy to the electric grid.

8. The smart energy storage unit according to claim 7, wherein the master controller includes a memory for storing user use commands.

9. The smart energy storage unit according to claim 8, wherein the master controller includes the communications module, and the communications module includes a communication interface for communicating with a remote server via a communications network.