System And Method For Using Data Centers As Virtual Power Plants

• US 20130035795A1
• Filed: 08/02/2012
• Published: 02/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Power Assure, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Power Assure, Inc.
• Inventors: Pfeiffer, Clemens, Maltbaek, Peter, Kulali, Emre
• Application Number:
  US13/565,724
• Publication Number:
  US 20130035795A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/276
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/14 The load or loads being home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/16 The load or loads being an Information and Communication Technology [ICT] facility
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/64 The condition being economic, e.g. tariff based load management
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/008 involving trading of energy or energy transmission rights
• 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 20/00 Management or operation of end-user stationary applications or the last stages of power distribution; Controlling, monitoring or operating thereof
• 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

A system and method for using a data center as a virtual power plant are described. The data can be used to reduce energy consumption using pre-cooling and absorb excess energy generation.

Claims

1. A data center system, comprising:

a set of infrastructure that controls an environment of the data center;

a data center building automation system that controls the set of infrastructure; and

a data center energy management unit, connected to the data center building automation system, that determines a timing of an energy management event of the data center based on one or more grid energy parameters so that the data center is a virtual power plant.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the data center energy management event is a pre-cooling of the data center and the one or more grid energy parameters are one or more cooling parameters so that the data center stores energy due to the pre-cooling and reduces energy consumption during a peak time.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the energy management event is an energy absorption by the data center so that the data center absorbs excess grid energy.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more grid energy parameters is one of an energy rate, a cost to pre-cool, a demand response request, a weather forecast, an energy price prediction, a wholesale electricity market and a local energy service provider energy trading purpose.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the data center energy management unit uses a forecast to determine an estimated power consumption of the set of infrastructure that defines an energy demand of the data center, a cooling requirement of the data center and a pre-cooling adjustment for a set period of power consumption reduction at a later time.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the data center building automation system pre-cools the data center system based on the timing determination by the grid energy management unit.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the data center energy management unit automatically determines a timing of a pre-cooling of the data center system based on one or more pre-cooling parameters so that the data center system stores energy due to the pre-cooling.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the determined timing is a lower temperature of the data center system during a low energy price time.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the set of infrastructure further comprises a cooler and wherein the data center building automation system pre-cools the data center system by operating the cooler during the determined timing.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the determined timing is a lower temperature of the data center system during a low energy price time.

11. The system of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of racks of equipment that are housed in the data center system.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the data center building automation system pre-cools the data center system by one of limiting a maximum power consumed by the plurality of racks of equipment, scheduling operating hours of the plurality of racks of equipment, distributing an application load on the data center system to a different data center system during the determined timing, cooling a liquid, cooling a metallic enclosure on the plurality of racks of equipment and using an underground liquid storage system.

13. A method for power grid energy management using a data center system having a set of infrastructure that controls an environment of the data center and a data center building automation system that controls the set of infrastructure, the method comprising:

determining, using a data center energy management unit connected to the data center building automation system, a timing of a grid energy management event of the data center based on one or more grid energy parameters; and

performing, using the data center building automation system, the grid energy management event of the data center so that the data center is a virtual power plant.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the grid energy management event is a pre-cooling of the data center and the one or more grid energy parameters are one or more cooling parameters so that the data center stores energy due to the pre-cooling and reduces energy consumption during a peak time.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the grid energy management event is an energy absorption by the data center so that the data center absorbs excess grid energy.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more grid energy parameters is one of an energy rate, a cost to pre-cool, a demand response request, a weather forecast, an energy price prediction, a wholesale electricity market and a local energy service provider for energy trading purposes

17. The method of claim 13 further comprising using, by the data center energy management unit, a forecast to determine an estimated power consumption of the set of infrastructure that defines an energy demand of the data center, a cooling requirement of the data center and a pre-cooling adjustment for a set period of power consumption reduction at a later time.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein performing the grid energy management event further comprises pre-cooling the data center system based on the timing determination by the data center energy management unit.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the timing of the grid energy management event further comprises automatically determining a timing of a pre-cooling of the data center method based on one or more pre-cooling parameters so that the data center method stores energy due to the pre-cooling.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the determined timing is a lower temperature of the data center method during a low energy price time.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the determined timing is a lower temperature of the data center method during a low energy price time.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the data center building automation method pre-cools the data center method by one of limiting a maximum power consumed by the plurality of racks of equipment, scheduling operating hours of the plurality of racks of equipment, distributing an application load on the data center method to a different data center method during the determined timing, cooling a liquid, cooling a metallic enclosure on the plurality of racks of equipment and using an underground liquid storage method.

23. A method for determining a data center rating, the method comprising:

collecting, by a data center energy management unit, data about a series of tests in which the data center is cooled by one degree and then allowed to return to a normal operating temperature; and

generating a reference table for the data center based on the data from the series of tests.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising determining an additional cost of cooling for the data center and a time for the data center to return to the normal temperature.