Community energy consumption management

• US 20030009265A1
• Filed: 06/03/2002
• Published: 01/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: ROKE Manor Research Limited (Chemring Group PLC)
• Original Assignee: ROKE Manor Research Limited (Chemring Group PLC)
• Inventors: Edwin, Richard
• Application Number:
  US10/159,294
• Publication Number:
  US 20030009265A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/295
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00004 characterised by the power network being locally controlled
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00016 using a wired telecommunication network or a data transmission bus
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/20 The dispersed energy generation being of renewable origin
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/24 of photovoltaic origin
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/28 The renewable source being wind energy wind motors F03D
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2300/40 wherein a plurality of decentralised, dispersed or local energy generation technologies are operated simultaneously
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/14 The load or loads being home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/0075 for providing alternative feeding paths between load and source according to economic or energy efficiency considerations, e.g. economic dispatch
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/008 involving trading of energy or energy transmission rights
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/381 Dispersed generators
• 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: Y04S 10/123 the energy generation units being or involving renewable energy sources
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/221 : General power management 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 40/124 : using wired telecommunication networks or data transmission busses
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 50/10 : Energy trading, including energy flowing from end-user application to grid

Abstract

A networked intelligent energy management system (NIEMS) provides the capability for a community NIEMS server to schedule jobs to be done in each household in a community, based on the availability, monetary cost and/or environmental cost of the energy required to complete a specific job, for example a washing cycle in a washing machine. NIEMS therefore smoothes the load placed on energy resources. In particular the system reduces the peak load on the energy supply. The system allows a community to make the best use of energy resources. The energy requirements and usage of the community can be tailored to favor usage of preferred and/or available energy resources, for instance by favoring the use of renewable or green energy resources over the use of fossil fuels.

Claims

1. An energy management system for managing energy usage in a community and determining from which of a plurality of energy resources to demand energy, the energy management system comprising:

a plurality of local service areas each having at least one energy consuming unit, each energy consuming unit operable to perform at least one task; and

a community server means, which manages the provision of energy resources across each of said local service areas within the community;

whereby said community server means is arranged to receive from each local service area task data indicative of at least one indicated task, each indicated task being associated with a corresponding one of said energy consuming units, and whereby said community server means manages the provision of energy resources in order to complete performance of said indicated tasks in said local service areas in accordance with a community energy usage strategy.

2. An energy management system in accordance with claim 1, wherein at least one of said energy consuming units is intelligent.

3. An energy management system in accordance with claims 1 or 2, wherein the community server manages the provision of energy resources by processing said task data and scheduling the times at which the or each indicated task is performed by said corresponding one of said energy consuming units.

4. An energy management system in accordance with claim 3, wherein each of the given tasks has an associated time by which the task must be performed and the community server schedules the times at which each task is performed to avoid any task being performed after the associated deadline time.

5. An energy management system in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, wherein the community server means bids for energy resources from external energy resources on behalf of the community.

6. An energy management system in accordance with claim 5, wherein the external energy resource is the National Grid.

7. A method for scheduling performance of a plurality of tasks in accordance with a community energy usage strategy, said method having the following steps:

a determining step in which resource information regarding resources available to a community is derived;

a request step in which job request information is gathered;

a decision step in which a preferred energy resource for the scheduled jobs is determined in accordance with the resource information and the job request information; and

a scheduling step in which a job schedule is generated for scheduling the requested jobs to use the resource as efficiently as possible.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising a prediction step in which prediction information regarding future availability of energy to a community is calculated and an update step in which the resource information is updated with prediction information.

9. An energy management system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.