System and method for verifying an energy generation source

• US 10,690,707 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2018
• Issued: 06/23/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: de Hoog, Julian, Karunamoorthy, Dileban, Kolluri, Ramachandra Rao, Vishwanath, Arun
• Primary Examiner(s): McAndrew, Christopher P
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ferdous, Zannatul
• Application Number:
  US16/176,695
• Publication Number:
  US 20200132737A1
• Time in Patent Office: 601 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/2513 Arrangements for monitoring electric power systems, e.g. power lines or loads; Logging
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/061 Details of electronic electricity meters
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00009 using pulsed signals
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/20 The dispersed energy generation being of renewable origin
• 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: Y02E 40/70 Smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the energy generation sector
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/00 Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 10/123 the energy generation units being or involving renewable energy sources
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/121 using the power network as support for the transmission

Abstract

A system for verifying an energy generation source, includes a key forming device that forms a key in a DC voltage signal generated by the energy generation source, and a verifying device that verifies the energy generation source based on the key in the DC voltage signal.

Claims

1. A system for verifying an energy generation source, comprising:

a key forming device that forms a key comprising an OFF pattern in a DC voltage signal generated by the energy generation source; and

a verifying device that verifies the energy generation source based on the key in the DC voltage signal.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the energy generation source comprises a renewable energy generation source that generates the DC voltage signal.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the key forming device comprises a switch that adjusts a voltage of the DC voltage signal, and the verifying device comprises an energy meter which measures an amount of energy generated by the DC voltage signal.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the switch switches OFF the DC voltage signal so that the key comprises the OFF pattern in the DC voltage signal.

5. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

an analytics module that analyzes the DC voltage signal to further verify the energy generation source.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the analytics module analyzes the DC voltage signal by at least one of:

analyzing a timing of generated energy measured by the energy meter;

analyzing a maximum value of the generated energy measured by the energy meter;

analyzing a minimum value of the generated energy measured by the energy meter;

analyzing a total amount of the generated energy measured by the energy meter over a period of time;

analyzing the generated energy measured by the energy meter based on weather; and

analyzing the generated energy measured by the energy meter based on system specifications for the energy generation source.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a generation accreditation authority that remunerates the energy generation source based on data from the energy meter.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the energy meter is located at a location of a consumer, and the analytics module is located in one of the energy meter and the generation accreditation authority.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the generation accreditation authority maintains a key database associating the key with the energy generation source.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the generation accreditation authority updates the key and transmits the updated key to the energy generation source and to the energy meter via a secure, bidirectional communication line.

11. A method of verifying an energy generation source, comprising:

forming a key comprising an OFF pattern in a DC voltage signal generated by the energy generation source; and

verifying the energy generation source based on the key in the DC voltage signal.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the energy generation source comprises a renewable energy generation source that generates the DC voltage signal.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the forming of the key is performed by a switch that adjusts a voltage of the DC voltage signal, and the verifying of the energy generation source is performed by a verifying device that includes an energy meter which measures an amount of energy generated by the DC voltage signal.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the switch switches OFF the DC voltage signal so that the key comprises the OFF pattern in the DC voltage signal.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

analyzing the DC voltage signal to further verify the energy generation source.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the verifying of the energy generation source is performed by an energy meter which measures an amount of generated energy, and the analyzing of the DC voltage signal comprises at least one of:

analyzing a timing of generated energy measured by the energy meter;

analyzing a maximum value of the generated energy measured by the energy meter;

analyzing a minimum value of the generated energy measured by the energy meter;

analyzing a total amount of the generated energy measured by the energy meter over a period of time;

analyzing the generated energy measured by the energy meter based on weather; and

analyzing the generated energy measured by the energy meter based on system specifications for the energy generation source.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

remunerating the energy generation source based on data from the energy meter.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the energy meter is located at a location of a consumer, and an analytics module is located in one of the energy meter and a generation accreditation authority.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein a generation accreditation authority maintains a key database associating the key with the energy generation source, and

wherein the generation accreditation authority updates the key and transmits the updated key to the energy generation source and to the energy meter via a secure, bidirectional communication line.

20. A computer program product for verifying an energy generation source, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform:

forming a key comprising an OFF pattern in a DC voltage signal generated by the energy generation source; and

verifying the energy generation source based on the key in the DC voltage signal.