Power and/or energy monitor, method of using, and display device

• US 7,183,669 B2
• Filed: 02/11/2004
• Issued: 02/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Heritage Power, LLC
• Original Assignee: Heritage Power, LLC
• Inventors: Culik, Jerome S., Barnett, Allen, Schripsema, Jason, Mrohs, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Deberadinis; Robert L.
• Application Number:
  US10/776,922
• Publication Number:
  US 20050001486A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,112 Days
• Field of Search: 307/65, 307/70
• US Class Current: 307/65
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 2204/18 Remote displaying of utility meter readings
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 2204/30 Remote utility meter reading systems specially adapted for metering the generated energy or power
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 2204/45 Utility meters networked together within a single building
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/004 Remote reading of utility meters to a fixed location
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 21/06 by measuring current and voltage G01R21/08 - G01R21/133 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/06 by electronic methods
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/34 Smart metering supporting the carbon neutral operation of end-user applications in buildings
• 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

There are provided monitors which sense a magnitude of power (and/or energy) being consumed by a facility and which sense a magnitude of power (and/or energy) being produced by at least one energy-producing system. There are provided facilities comprising at least one main panel bus, at least one external power line, at least one energy-producing system, at least one critical load sub-panel bus and at least one monitor which senses a magnitude of power (and/or energy) being consumed by the facility and a magnitude of power (and/or energy) being produced by the at least one energy-producing system. There are provided methods of monitoring power (and/or energy) consumed and power (and/or energy) produced in a facility, and devices which display magnitude of power (and/or energy) being consumed and magnitude of power (and/or energy) being produced in a battery.

Claims

1. A monitor comprising:

a first sensor which senses a magnitude of power being consumed by a site facility, said site facility comprising at least one main panel bus, at least one external power line electrically connecting said at least one main panel bus to at least one external power source, at least one energy-producing system having at least one energy-producing system bus, at least one first internal power line electrically connecting said at least one main panel bus to said at least one energy-producing system bus, at least one critical load sub-panel bus, at least one second internal power line electrically connecting said at least one energy-producing system bus to said at least one critical load sub-panel bus;

said first sensor comprising at least one first sub-sensor and at least one second sub-sensor;

said first sub-sensor sensing a current passing through said at least one external power line;

said second sub-sensor sensing a net current passing through a combination comprising said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line; and

a second sensor which senses a magnitude of power being produced by said at least one energy-producing system;

said second sensor comprising at least one third sub-sensor, said third sub-sensor sensing said net current passing trough said combination comprising said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line.

2. A monitor as recited in claim 1, wherein:

said first sub-sensor comprises at least a first transformer positioned around said at least one external power line;

said second sub-sensor comprises at least a second transformer positioned around said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line; and

said third sub-sensor comprises at least a third transformer positioned around said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line.

3. A monitor as recited in claim 2, wherein:

said first transformer produces a first signal having a voltage which is proportional to said current passing through said at least one external power line;

said second transformer produces a second signal having a voltage which is proportional to said net current flowing through said combination comprising said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line; and

said third transformer produces a third signal having a voltage which is proportional to said net current flowing through said combination comprising said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line;

said monitor further comprises at least one line voltage line which carries a line voltage signal having a voltage which is proportional to a voltage flowing through said at least one external power line, said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line; and

said monitor further comprises at least one transducer, said at least one transducer comprising at least one circuit in which at least said first transformer and said second transformer are connected in series.

4. A monitor as recited in claim 1, further comprising a display device comprising at least one site facility consumption display area in which an indication of said magnitude of power being consumed by said site facility is displayed, and at least one energy-producing system production display area in which an indication of said magnitude of power being produced by said at least one energy-producing system is displayed.

5. A monitor as recited in claim 4, wherein said at least one transducer sends to said display device a first series of electronic pulses and a second series of electronic pulses, said first series of electronic pulses having a frequency which is indicative of said magnitude of power being consumed by said site facility, and said second series of electronic pulses having a frequency which is indicative of said magnitude of power being produced by said at least one energy-producing system.

6. A monitor as recited in claim 3, Thither comprising a display device comprising at least one site facility consumption display area in which an indication of energy consumed by said site facility over a period of time is displayed, and at least one energy-producing system production display area in which an indication of energy produced by said at least one energy-producing system over a period of time is displayed.

7. A monitor as recited in claim 6, wherein said at least one transducer sends to said display device a first series of electronic pulses and a second series of electronic pulses, a quantity of pulses in said first series of electronic pulses over a period of time being indicative of a quantity of energy consumed by said site facility over said period of time, and a quantity of pulses in said second series of electronic pulses over said period of time being indicative of a quantity of energy produced by said at least one energy-producing system in said period of time.

8. A monitor as recited in claim 3, further comprising a display device comprising at least one site facility consumption display area and at least one energy-producing system production display area,

said display device further comprising a first switch which, when pressed, toggles between a setting where an indication of said magnitude of power being consumed by said site facility is displayed in said site facility consumption display area and a setting where an indication of energy consumed by said site facility over a period of time is displayed in said site facility consumption display area;

and

said display device further comprising a second switch which, when pressed, toggles between a setting where an indication of said magnitude of power being produced by said energy-producing system is displayed in said energy-producing system production display area and a setting where an indication of energy produced by said energy-producing system over a period of lime is displayed in said energy-producing system production display area.

9. A monitor as recited in claim 1, further comprising a display device comprising at least one site facility consumption display area in which an indication of energy consumed by said site facility over a period of time is displayed, and at least one energy-producing system production display area in which an indication of energy produced by said at least one energy-producing system over a period of time is displayed.

10. A monitor as recited in claim 1, further comprising a display device comprising at least one site facility consumption display area and at least one energy-producing system production display area,

said display device further comprising a first switch which, when pressed, toggles between a setting where an indication of said magnitude of power being consumed by said site facility is displayed in said site facility consumption display area and a setting where an indication of energy consumed by said site facility over a period of time is displayed in said site facility consumption display area;

and

said display device further comprising a second switch which, when pressed, toggles between a setting where an indication of said magnitude of power being produced by said energy-producing system is displayed in said energy-producing system production display area and a setting where an indication of energy produced by said energy-producing system over a period of time is displayed in said energy-producing system production display area.

11. A monitor as recited in claim 1, further comprising at least a second external power line and at least a second main panel bus,

said second external power line electrically connecting said second main panel bus to at least one external power source;

said first sensor comprising at least one fourth sub-sensor, said at least one fourth sub-sensor sensing a current passing through said second external power line,

said fourth sub-sensor comprising a fourth transformer positioned around said second external power line,

said monitor further comprising at least a second energy-producing system, at least a second critical load sub-panel bus, at least one third internal power line, and at least one fourth internal power line,

said third internal power line electrically connecting said second main panel bus to said second energy-producing system bus, said at least one fourth internal power line electrically connecting said second energy-producing system bus to said second critical load sub-panel bus.

12. A monitor as recited in claim 11, wherein:

said first sensor further comprises at least one fourth sub-sensor and at least one fifth sub-sensor, said at least one fourth sub-sensor sensing current passing through said second external power line, said at least one fifth sub-sensor sensing current passing through a combination comprising said at least one third internal power line and said at least one fourth internal power line;

said second sensor further comprises at least one sixth sub-sensor, said at least one sixth sub-sensor sensing current passing through said combination comprising said at least one third internal power line and said at least one fourth internal power line.

13. A monitor as recited in claim 12, wherein:

said first sub-sensor comprises at least a first transformer positioned around said at least one external power line;

said second sub-sensor comprises at least a second transformer positioned around said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line;

said third sub-sensor comprises at least a third transformer positioned around said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line;

said fourth sub-sensor comprises at least a fourth transformer positioned around said second external power line;

said fifth sub-sensor comprises at least a fifth transformer positioned around said at least one third internal power line and said at least one fourth internal power line;

said sixth sub-sensor comprises at least a sixth transformer positioned around said at least one third internal power line and said at least one fourth internal power line.

14. A monitor as recited in claim 13, wherein:

said first transformer produces a first signal having a voltage which is proportional to said current passing through said at least one external power line;

said second transformer produces a second signal having a voltage which is proportional to said net current flowing through said combination comprising said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line;

said third transformer produces a third signal having a voltage which is proportional to said net current flowing through said combination comprising said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line;

said fourth transformer produces a fourth signal having a voltage which is proportional to said current passing through said second external power line;

said fifth transformer produces a fifth signal having a voltage which is proportional to said net current flowing through said combination comprising said at least one third internal power line and said at least one fourth internal power line; and

said sixth transformer produces a sixth signal having a voltage which is proportional to said net current flowing through said combination comprising said at least one third internal power line and said at least one fourth internal power line;

said monitor further comprises at least one line voltage line which carries a line voltage signal having a voltage which is proportional to a voltage flowing through at least one line selected from the group consisting of said at least one external power line, said at least one first internal power line, said at least one second internal power line, said second external power line, said at least one third internal power line and said at least one fourth internal power line; and

said monitor further comprises at least one transducer, said at least one transducer comprising at least a first circuit in which at least said first transformer, said second transformer, said fourth transformer and said fifth transformer are connected in series and a second circuit in which at least said third transformer and said sixth transformer are connected in series.

15. A facility comprising:

at least one main panel bus;

at least one external power line electrically connecting said at least one main panel bus to at least one external power source;

at least one energy-producing system having at least one energy-producing system bus;

at least one first internal power line electrically connecting said at least one main panel bus to said at least one energy-producing system bus;

at least one critical load sub-panel bus;

at least one second internal power line electrically connecting said at least one energy-producing system bus to said at least one critical load sub-panel bus;

a first sensor which senses a magnitude of power being consumed by said facility; and

a second sensor which senses a magnitude of power being produced by said at least one energy-producing system,

said first sensor comprising at least one first sub-sensor and at least one second sub-sensor;

said first sub-sensor sensing a current passing through said at least one external power line;

said second sub-sensor sensing a net current passing through a combination comprising said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line;

said second sensor comprising at least one third sub-sensor, said third sub-sensor sensing said net current passing through said combination comprising said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line.

16. A method of sensing power in a site facility, comprising:

sensing a magnitude of power being consumed by a site facility by;

sensing current passing through at least one external power line, said at least one external power line electrically connecting at least one main panel bus to at least one external power source, and

sensing net current passing through a combination comprising at least one first internal power line and at least one second internal power line, said at least one first internal power line electrically connecting said at least one main panel bus to at least one energy-producing system bus, said at least one second internal power line electric ally connecting said at least one energy-producing system bus to at least one critical load sub-panel bus; and

sensing a magnitude of power being produced by said at least one energy-producing system by;

sensing said net current passing through said combination comprising said at least one first internal power line and said at least one second internal power line.

17. A display device comprising:

at least one site facility consumption display area;

at least one energy-producing system production display area; and

a first switch which, when pressed, toggles between a setting where an indication of a magnitude of power being consumed by a site facility is displayed in said site facility consumption display area and a setting where an indication of energy consumed by said site facility over a period of time is displayed in said site facility consumption display area; and

a second switch which, when pressed, toggles between a setting where an indication of a magnitude of power being produced by said energy-producing system is displayed in said energy-producing system production display area and a setting where an indication of energy produced by said energy-producing system over a period of rime is displayed in said energy-producing system production display area.

18. A monitor comprising:

a first sensor which senses a magnitude of a first net current passing through at least a first power line and which generates a first signal having a voltage which is proportional to said first net current;

a second sensor which senses a magnitude of a second net current passing through at least a second power line and which generates a second signal having a voltage which is proportional to said second net current; and

a transducer comprising at least one circuit in which said first sensor and said second sensor are connected in series.

19. A monitor comprising:

a first sensor which senses a magnitude of power being consumed by a site facility, said site facility comprising at least one main panel bus, at least one external power line electrically connecting said at least one main panel bus to at least one external power source, at least one energy-producing system having at least one energy-producing system bus, at least one first internal power line electrically connecting said at least one main panel bus to said at least one energy-producing system bus;

said first sensor comprising at least one first sub-sensor and at least one second sub-sensor;

said first sub-sensor sensing a current passing through said at least one external power line;

said second sub-sensor sensing a current passing through said at least one first internal power line; and

a second sensor which senses a magnitude of power being produced by said at least one energy-producing system;

said second sensor comprising at least one third sub-sensor, said third sub-sensor sensing said current passing through said at least one first internal power line.