Decentralized energy demand management
First Claim
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1. A decentralized energy control and management system, comprising:
- a plurality of loads associated with a system, wherein at least one subset of the plurality of loads is a member of a class, wherein members of the class are assigned to the class based upon a requirement that all members of the class must be connected to or shed from an energy supply in unison;
a plurality of networked load controllers associated with respective loads, wherein the load controllers cooperate to determine which load should be shed when the total system demand exceeds an optimum limit; and
a master controller that polls the plurality of networked load controllers to determine which loads are not connected to a power supply and are thereby inactive, determines load priorities associated with the inactive loads, finds the highest priority load among the inactive loads;
determines whether the highest priority load is a member of a class, and connects all members of the class to which the highest priority load is a member to the power supply if connecting the entire class would not bring total system demand above an optimum level, wherein total system demand is the total energy demand for all loads connected to the energy supply.
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Abstract
A decentralized load management and control system and method are provided herein. A plurality of loads in a system are associated with a multitude of respective networked load controllers. If energy demand exceeds optimum limits in operation then the networked load controllers collaborate to determine which load(s) will be shed based on an optimization algorithm that considers, inter alia, variable load priority and business objectives. Additionally and/or alternatively, if the metered energy demand is less than optimum, the load controllers can determine which loads to reconnect again based at least upon load priority and business objectives.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A decentralized energy control and management system, comprising:
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a plurality of loads associated with a system, wherein at least one subset of the plurality of loads is a member of a class, wherein members of the class are assigned to the class based upon a requirement that all members of the class must be connected to or shed from an energy supply in unison; a plurality of networked load controllers associated with respective loads, wherein the load controllers cooperate to determine which load should be shed when the total system demand exceeds an optimum limit; and a master controller that polls the plurality of networked load controllers to determine which loads are not connected to a power supply and are thereby inactive, determines load priorities associated with the inactive loads, finds the highest priority load among the inactive loads;
determines whether the highest priority load is a member of a class, and connects all members of the class to which the highest priority load is a member to the power supply if connecting the entire class would not bring total system demand above an optimum level, wherein total system demand is the total energy demand for all loads connected to the energy supply. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A decentralized energy demand management system comprising:
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a plurality of machines; a multitude of networked load controllers associated with the plurality of machines, wherein the controllers collaborate and execute an optimization algorithm to determine how a load should be shed across the plurality of machines, wherein the load that is shed is a member of a class and all members of the class are also shed, wherein members of the class are assigned to the class based upon a requirement that all members of the class must be connected to or shed from an energy supply in unison; and a master controller that polls the plurality of networked load controllers to determine which loads are not connected to a power supply and are thereby inactive, determines load priorities associated with the inactive loads, finds the highest priority load among the inactive loads;
determines whether the highest priority load is a member of a class, and connects all members of the class to which the highest priority load is a member to the power supply if connecting the entire class would not bring total system demand above an optimum level, wherein total system demand is the total energy demand for all loads connected to the energy supply. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of shedding and connecting loads to optimize system energy consumption comprising:
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determining a maximum acceptable energy value; metering the system to determine total system demand; shedding loads according to a decision made by a plurality of networked load controllers so that the total system demand is not greater than the maximum acceptable energy value; determining if a shed load is a member of a class; shedding each member of the class if the shed load is a member, wherein members of the class are assigned to the class based upon a requirement that all members of the class must be connected to or shed from an energy supply in unison; and polling a plurality of networked load controllers associated with loads to determine which loads are not connected to a power supply and are thereby inactive; determining the load priorities associated with the inactive loads; finding the highest priority load among the inactive loads;
determining whether the highest priority load is a member of a class; andconnecting all members of the class to which the highest priority load is a member to the power supply if connecting the entire class would not bring total system demand above an optimum level, wherein total system demand is the total energy demand for all loads connected to the energy supply. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of load shedding and load connecting comprising:
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calculating a maximum acceptable energy consumption value; determining total system demand, wherein total system demand is the total energy demand for all loads connected to the energy supply; shedding particular machine loads organized under one or more classes, according to a decision by a plurality of networked load controllers associated with the machine loads based at least on a priority assigned to each machine in the system so as to bring the total system demand below the maximum acceptable energy consumption value; shedding each member of a class to which the shed particular machine load belongs, wherein members of the class are assigned to the class based upon a requirement that all members of the class must be connected to or shed from an energy supply in unison; and polling a plurality of networked load controllers associated with loads to determine which loads are not connected to a power supply and are thereby inactive; determining the load priorities associated with the inactive loads; finding the highest priority load among the inactive loads;
determining whether the highest priority load is a member of a class; andconnecting all members of the class to which the highest priority load is a member to the power supply if connecting the entire class would not bring total system demand above an optimum level, wherein total system demand is the total energy demand for all loads connected to the energy supply. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method of connecting inactive loads to a power supply comprising:
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polling a plurality of networked load controllers associated with loads to determine which loads are not connected to a power supply and are thereby inactive; determining the load priorities associated with the inactive loads; finding the highest priority load among the inactive loads;
determining whether the highest priority load is a member of a class; andconnecting all members of the class to which the highest priority load is a member to the power supply if connecting the entire class would not bring total system demand above an optimum level, wherein total system demand is the total energy demand for all loads connected to the energy supply. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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Specification