COMFORT-DRIVEN OPTIMIZATION OF ELECTRIC GRID UTILIZATION

• US 20150094968A1
• Filed: 12/08/2014
• Published: 04/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Distributed Energy Management Inc.
• Original Assignee: Distributed Energy Management Inc.
• Inventors: Jia, Jimmy, Crabtree, Jason
• Granted Patent: US 9,134,353 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/60
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 21/133 by using digital technique
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/0073 for providing alternative feeding paths between load and source when the main path fails, e.g. transformers, busbars
• 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: Y02P 90/90 Financial instruments for climate change mitigation, e.g. environmental taxes, subsidies or financing
• 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

Abstract

A system for electric grid utilization and optimization comprising a communications interface executing on a network-connected server and adapted to receive information from a plurality of iNodes, the plurality of iNodes comprising a source iNode, a sink iNode, a plurality of transmission or distribution iNodes, an event database coupled to the communications interface and adapted to receive events from a plurality of iNodes via the communications interface, a modeling server coupled to the communications interface, and a statistics server coupled to the event database and the modeling server, wherein the modeling server, receives a request to establish an allocation of at least one of transmission losses, distribution losses, and ancillary services to a specific sink iNode, computes at least one virtual path for electricity flow between a source iNode and the specific sink iNode, the computed path being determined based on optimization of perceived comfort of users in affected areas.

Claims

1. A system for electric grid utilization and optimization, comprising:

a communications interface comprising program code stored in a memory and executing on a network-connected server computer and adapted to receive information from a plurality of iNodes, the plurality of iNodes comprising a source iNode, a sink iNode, and a plurality of transmission or distribution iNodes;

an event database computer coupled to the communications interface comprising program code stored in a memory and adapted to receive events from a plurality of iNodes via the communications interface;

a modeling server computer coupled to the communications interface and comprising program code stored in a memory and adapted to receive a request to establish an allocation of at least one of transmission losses, distribution losses, and ancillary services to a specific sink iNode and compute at least one virtual path for flow of electricity between a source iNode and the specific sink iNode, and further wherein the modeling server further computes, for each transmission or distribution iNode included in the computed virtual path, at least one energy loss and allocates a portion thereof to the specific sink iNode; and

a statistics server computer coupled to the event database and the modeling server, comprising program code stored in a memory and adapted to calculate a plurality of statistic from received information from connected iNodes.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the communications interface is further adapted to interact with at least a control device connected to at least a sink iNode.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the control device operates program code stored in a memory and adapted to configure the behavior of a connected sink iNode.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the communications interface interacts with the control device for the purpose of optimizing perceived comfort of a plurality of affected users.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the affected users comprise at least a plurality of inhabitants of a building.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the perceived comfort of the plurality of affected users is determined based at least in part on stored events in the event database.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the perceived comfort of the plurality of affected users is determined based at least in part on the statistics calculated by the statistics server.

8. A method of utilizing an electric grid, comprising the steps of:

Receiving, at a network-connected modeling server computer, a request to establish an allocation of at least one of transmission losses, distribution losses, and ancillary services to a specific sink iNode;

computing at least a virtual energy flow path between a source iNode and the specific sink iNode;

computing at least one energy loss for each transmission or distribution iNode included in the computed virtual path; and

allocating a portion of each computed energy loss to the specific sink iNode.