Energy Systems And Energy Supply Methods

• US 20130147272A1
• Filed: 06/13/2012
• Published: 06/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Enel X North America, Inc. (ENEL SPA)
• Original Assignee: Demand Energy Networks, Inc. (ENEL SPA)
• Inventors: Johnson, Shane, Coxon, Allan, Walker, Ian
• Granted Patent: US 9,525,285 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 307/29
• 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 3/36 Arrangements for transfer of electric power between ac networks via a high-tension dc link
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/381 Dispersed generators
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 4/00 Circuit arrangements for mains or distribution networks not specified as ac or dc
• 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: H02J 7/34 Parallel operation in networks using both storage and other dc sources, e.g. providing buffering H02J7/14 takes precedence
• 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 60/60 Arrangements for transfer of electric power between AC networks or generators via a high voltage DC link [HVCD]

Abstract

Energy systems and energy supply methods are described. In one aspect, an energy system includes a bus system configured to conduct electrical energy, a plurality of input adapters electrically coupled with the bus system and configured to electrically couple with a plurality of respective source entities which are individually configured to provide electrical energy, a plurality of output adapters electrically coupled with the bus system and configured to electrically couple with a plurality of respective consuming entities which are individually configured to consume electrical energy, and control circuitry configured to control individual ones of the input adapters to provide electrical energy from respective ones of the source entities to the bus system and to control individual ones of the output adapters to provide electrical energy from the bus system to respective ones of the consuming entities.

Claims

1. An energy system comprising:

a bus system configured to conduct electrical energy;

a plurality of input adapters electrically coupled with the bus system and configured to electrically couple with a plurality of respective source entities which are individually configured to provide electrical energy;

a plurality of output adapters electrically coupled with the bus system and configured to electrically couple with a plurality of respective consuming entities which are individually configured to consume electrical energy; and

control circuitry configured to control individual ones of the input adapters to provide electrical energy from respective ones of the source entities to the bus system and to control individual ones of the output adapters to provide electrical energy from the bus system to respective ones of the consuming entities.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein one of the output adapters is configured to couple with a grid system, and the control circuitry is configured to determine a first amount of electrical energy to be provided to the consuming entities which are coupled with the output adapters, and to control provision of a second amount of electrical energy to the grid system when a third amount of electrical energy is received from the source entities which is greater than the first amount.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein one of the output adapters is configured to provide electrical energy to one of the consuming entities which is a primary load, at least one of the source entities provides variable amounts of electrical energy at different moments in time, and wherein the one of the output adapters provides the electrical energy to meet demands of the primary load during the different moments in time.

4. The system of claim 3 further comprising a storage system configured to store electrical energy, and wherein the electrical energy of the storage system is provided to the one of the output adapters at one of the different moments in time.

5. The system of claim 3 wherein electrical energy from a plurality of the input adapters is provided to the one of the output adapters at the different moments in time.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein one of the input adapters is configured to couple with a grid system and the control circuitry is configured to control provision of electrical energy which was received from the grid system to one of the output adapters as a result of a request to consume electrical energy from the grid system.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the control circuitry is configured to select one of the input adapters to supply electrical energy from a respective one of the source entities to the bus system and to select at least one of the output adapters to provide electrical energy from the bus system to a respective one of the consuming entities according to a plurality of rules.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the rules prioritize the source entities according to an order which specifies that the one of the input adapters is selected to supply electrical energy from the respective one of the source entities before another of the input adapters is selected to supply electrical energy from another of the source entities.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein one of the output adapters is configured to provide electrical energy to one of the consuming entities which is a primary load, and the control circuitry is configured to assign the one of the output adapters as the highest priority to receive electrical energy from the bus system before others of the output adapters.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the input adapters are configured to convert electrical energy supplied from the source entities into a format of electrical energy upon the bus system and the output adapters are configured to convert the electrical energy upon the bus system into different formats corresponding to respective ones of the consuming entities.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the bus system comprises a meshed switch configured to selectively provide electrical energy from any of the input adapters to any of the output adapters.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the bus system comprises a meshed switch configured to isolate a first power connection from a first of the input adapters to a first of the output adapters from a second power connection from a second of the input adapters to a second of the output adapters.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the input adapters is bi-directional and may provide electrical energy from the bus system to one of the source entities coupled with the at least one of the input adapters, and wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine an amount of electrical energy to be provided by the at least one of the input adapters to the one of the source entities.

14. An energy system comprising:

storage system configured to store electrical energy;

a plurality of input adapters configured to electrically couple with a plurality of respective source entities which are individually configured to provide electrical energy;

a plurality of output adapters configured to electrically couple with a plurality of respective consuming entities which are individually configured to consume electrical energy; and

a bus system electrically-coupled with the storage system and configured to supply electrical energy from different ones of the input adapters to the storage system to charge the storage system at a plurality of moments in time and to discharge electrical energy from the storage system to different ones of the output adapters at a plurality of moments in time.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein one of the input adapters is configured to electrically couple with one of the source entities which is a grid system, and further comprising control circuitry configured to access price information regarding electrical energy from the grid system, and wherein the control circuitry is configured to use the price information to control storage of electrical energy from the grid system at a first moment in time and to use the price information to control discharging of electrical energy from the storage system to the grid system at a second moment in time.

16. The system of claim 14 further comprising an energy conversion system comprising a plurality of induction generators which are mechanically coupled with one another via a shaft, and wherein the energy conversion system is electrically coupled with one of the input and output adapters and configured to one of provide electrical energy to the one of the input and output adapters or receive electrical energy from the one of the input and output adapters.

17. The system of claim 14 further comprising control circuitry configured to determine a first amount of electrical energy to be provided to the consuming entities which are coupled with the output adapters, to control provision of a second amount of electrical energy to the storage system when a third amount of electrical energy is received from the source entities which is greater than the first amount, and to control selective discharge of electrical energy from the storage system to the bus system.

18. The system of claim 14 wherein the storage system comprises a plurality of energy storage devices, and the bus system is configured to simultaneously provide charging electrical energy to at least one of the energy storage devices and to discharge electrical energy from another of the energy storage devices.

19. An energy supply method comprising:

monitoring an amount of electrical energy consumed by a primary load which is coupled with an energy system;

using the monitoring, first configuring the energy system to supply electrical energy from a first source to the primary load at a first moment in time;

after the first configuring, first supplying the electrical energy from the first source to the primary load;

using the monitoring, second configuring the energy system to supply electrical energy from a second source to the primary load at a second moment in time; and

after the second configuring, second supplying the electrical energy from the second source to the primary load.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the second configuring and the second supplying comprise configuring and supplying as a result of the monitoring detecting that the amount of electrical energy consumed by the primary load exceeds a threshold.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein the primary load is associated with a customer of a grid system, the first source is the grid system, and the second source is associated with the customer.

22. The method of claim 19 wherein the first and second configurings comprise configuring to implement load following of the consumption of the electrical energy by the primary load.