System and method for monitoring and estimating energy resource consumption

• US 20080224892A1
• Filed: 07/26/2007
• Published: 09/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Itron Networked Solutions, Inc. (Itron, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: I-Conserve, LLC
• Inventors: Boyle, Patrick J., Bogolea, Bradley D., Shindyapin, Andrei V.
• Granted Patent: US 7,541,941 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/870.3
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 2204/18 Remote displaying of utility meter readings
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/004 Remote reading of utility meters to a fixed location
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/063 related to remote communication
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/10 using digital techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• 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 20/30 Smart metering, e.g. specially adapted for remote reading

Abstract

The present invention discloses a system for monitoring and estimating the consumption of energy resources in real-time. The system includes an interactive user module, a measuring unit and a wireless network. The measuring unit is interfaced to a utility meter. Optionally, the measuring unit can also function as a stand alone device. The measuring unit is further connected to the interactive user module via the wireless network. The system monitors energy resource consumption such as electricity, gas or water consumption in real-time, generates and displays graphs of energy resource consumption over user selected time periods and enables communication with at least one utility company. The system increases the users'"'"' awareness of their energy consumption and aids users in dynamic or deregulated pricing environments to shed load when the energy resource is most expensive. With knowledge of their energy use, the users can take proactive steps to control their energy consumption and save money. A method of estimating the energy resource consumption over a period of time is also provided.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring the consumption of at least one energy resource, the system comprising:

a) a measuring unit;

b) a wireless network; and

c) a user module connected to the measuring unit via the wireless network.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the energy resource comprises electricity, water and gas.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the measuring unit is interfaced to a utility meter.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the utility meter is an electricity meter.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the utility meter is a water meter.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the utility meter is a gas meter.

7. The system of claim 3, wherein the utility meter is a SMART utility meter.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the SMART utility meter is integrated into the measuring unit.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the measuring unit is capable of interfacing with the SMART utility meter.

10. The measuring unit of claim 9, wherein interfacing with the SMART utility meter is performed by at least one approach selected from a group consisting of:

Communications Over Power Line (COPL), RS 232 and USB.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the measuring unit is capable of analyzing the load signature of at least one electrical device.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless network comprises of ZigBee, IEEE 802.15.4, Bluetooth or WiFi.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the measuring unit further comprises:

(a) a first communication module;

(b) at least one current transformer and

(c) at least one flow meter.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the first communication module is capable of data communications with an information gateway.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the first communication module is capable of data communications with at least one demand response technology.

16. The first communication module of claim 15, wherein the demand response technology is selected from a group consisting of:

Open Way, AMR, AMI, OpenAMI, OpenHAN, SmartGrid and IP based networks.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the data received by the first communication module comprises of energy prices, energy supply quality, billing information, energy security information, user alerts and marketing information.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module is capable of generating and displaying a graph of energy resource consumption with respect to time over an elapsed time period.

19. The user module of claim 18, wherein the graph of energy resource consumption with respect to time is selected from a group consisting of:

energy resource consumption per hour, energy resource consumption per day, energy resource consumption per week, energy resource consumption per month and energy resource consumption per year.

20. The user module of claim 19, wherein the elapsed time period comprises of last hour, last day, last week, last month or last year.

21. The user module of claim 18, wherein the time period for the graph of energy resource consumption is selected by the user.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module is capable of generating and displaying the average energy resource consumption with respect to time.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module is capable of generating and displaying the cost of energy resource consumption with respect to time.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the cost of energy resource consumption is displayed in a local currency.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module is capable of generating an estimated cost of energy resource consumption with respect to time.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the estimated cost of energy resource consumption with respect to time is generated using a consumption estimation algorithm.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module is capable of generating and displaying the instantaneous rate of energy resource consumption with respect to time.

28. The user module of claim 27, wherein the instantaneous rate of energy resource consumption is displayed in a standard measurement unit.

29. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module is capable of sensing and displaying at least one parameter selected from a group consisting of:

temperature, humidity, remaining battery life, time, date, communication status, and signal strength.

30. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module is capable of storing the user data.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the user data comprises of user preferences, energy prices, system settings, historical usage information, saved user configuration, user authentication information and energy security information.

32. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module is capable of storing the amount of renewable energy purchased by the user.

33. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module is capable of storing the amount of renewable energy generated by the user.

34. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module is capable of storing the number of carbon offsets purchased by the user.

35. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module further comprises an alarm feature.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the alarm feature gets activated when at least one of the following conditions is met:

energy resource consumption limit, gas emission limit, credit limit and energy resource supply limit.

37. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module is capable of entering into a programmable sleep mode.

38. The user module of claim 37, wherein the sleep mode is controlled by a proximity sensor.

39. The user module of claim 38, wherein the proximity sensor is selected from a group consisting of:

infrared sensor, infrared transmitter-receiver set and capacitive coupling.

40. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module is further capable of generating an energy profile of the user.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the energy profile is generated from the user'"'"'s specific utility, the user'"'"'s energy resource consumption pattern, the amount of renewable energy utilized by the user and the number of carbon offsets purchased by the user.

42. The system of claim 40 in which the energy profile includes information such as emissions from energy generated and consumed, other resources consumed, user consumption information, and the costs associated with each.

43. The system of claim 1, wherein the user module is capable of upgrades by at least one of the following interfaces:

serial cable, USB, FireWire and wireless bootloader program.

44. The user module of claim 1, further comprising:

(a) a display module;

(b) a sensor module;

(c) a processing unit;

(d) a control module;

(e) a second communication module and

(f) a power source.

45. The user module of claim 44, wherein the display module is capable of displaying real-time energy resource consumption.

46. The user module of claim 45, wherein the display module is selected from a group consisting of:

Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display, Electronic Ink (E-Ink) display, Caloric Display and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD).

47. The user module of claim 44, wherein the sensor module further comprises at least one of:

(a) temperature sensor;

(b) light sensor;

(c) humidity sensor and

(d) motion sensor.

48. The user module of claim 44, wherein the processing unit further comprises of a memory module.

49. The user module of claim 44, wherein the memory module is a flash memory.

50. The user module of claim 44, wherein the processing unit further comprises of a clock circuitry.

51. The user module of claim 44, wherein the control module further comprises of a plurality of buttons.

52. The user module of claim 44, wherein the second communication module is capable of communicating with the first communication module via the wireless network.

53. The user module of claim 44, wherein the second communication module is capable of communicating data with an information gateway.

54. The user module of claim 44, wherein the second communication module is capable of communicating data with at least one demand response technology.

55. The user module of claim 54, wherein the demand response technology is selected from a group consisting of:

Open Way, AMR, AMI, OpenAMI, OpenHAN, SmartGrid and IP based networks.

56. The user module of claim 44, wherein the data received by the second communication module comprises of energy prices, energy supply quality, billing information, energy security information, user alerts and marketing information.

57. The user module of claim 44, wherein the second communication module is a ZigBee communication module.

58. The user module of claim 44, wherein the display module is capable of automatic optimization of the brightness and contrast of the display.

59. The user module of claim 58, wherein the automatic optimization is provided by a light sensor.

60. The user module of claim 44, wherein the power source comprises of at least one AC to DC transformer.

61. The user module of claim 44, wherein the power source comprises of at least one rechargeable battery.

62. The user module of claim 44, wherein the power source comprises of at least one capacitor.

63. The user module of claim 44, wherein the power source comprises of harvested energy.

64. The user module of claim 63, wherein the harvested energy is selected from a group consisting of:

solar, vibration and acoustical energy.

65. A method of estimating the consumption of at least one energy resource, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining the energy resource consumed over an elapsed time period A;

(b) obtaining the average percentage of energy resource consumed over the elapsed time period A;

(c) obtaining the average percentage of energy resource consumed in remaining time period B;

(d) multiplying the average percentage of energy resource consumed in remaining time period B with the energy resource consumed over the elapsed time period A

(e) dividing the result obtained in step (d) with the average percentage of energy resource consumed over the elapsed time period A and

(f) adding the result obtained in step (e) with the energy resource consumed over the elapsed time period A.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein the elapsed time period A is obtained from a measuring unit.

67. The method of claim 65, wherein the remaining time period B is obtained from a measuring unit.

68. The method of claim 65, wherein the elapsed time period A and the remaining time period B are differentiated into normal days and special days.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein the normal days comprise of weekdays and workdays.

70. The method of claim 68, wherein the special days comprise of weekends, holidays and days off from work.

71. The method of claim 68, wherein the differentiation into normal days and special days is provided by a motion sensor.