Energy management system and method to monitor and control multiple sub-loads
First Claim
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1. A compact power management device for simultaneously monitoring a plurality of individual energy sub-loads and controlling the plurality of sub-loads to control their overall energy consumption, comprising:
- an integrated combination monitor/controller unit, including;
a multi-circuit power monitor module for directly and simultaneously monitoring energy usage of the plurality of individual energy sub-loads to generate a plurality of measurements of energy usage comprising at least one measurement of energy usage by said plurality of energy sub-loads, anda control module integrated with and operatively coupled to the monitor module for simultaneously controlling overall and individual energy usage by the plurality of energy sub-loads in a first pre-determined manner based on the plurality of measurements of energy usage,said control module for controlling overall and individual energy usage of said plurality of energy subloads via a data link,at least one program for using said plurality of measurements of energy usage, said at least one program selected from the group consisting of firmware and software, each said at least one program downloadable via a communications network, each said at least one program locally stored on the device,each said at least one program comprising at least one pre-determined algorithm, andeach said at least one program comprising at least one member of the group consisting of at least one schedule, at least one setpoint and at least one report parameter;
said first pre-determined manner including said control module selecting and executing said at least one program,a single housing unit for housing the monitor module and the control module within 24 inches of one another, anda local display coupled to the integrated combination monitor/control unit,wherein the communications network is operatively coupled to at least one module of the group consisting of said monitor module and said control module,wherein at least one module of the group consisting of said monitor module and said control module is configured for further performing processing to accomplish at least one of the group consisting of alarm notification, exception reporting, and periodic reporting,wherein said at least one of alarm notification, exception reporting, and periodic reporting are output to at least one of the communication network and the local display;
wherein said at least one member of the group consisting of said monitor module and said control module is further configured to indirectly monitor at least one environmental variable and to generate at least one environmental measurement therefor; and
wherein said control module is further configured to control said at least one environmental variable in a second pre-determined manner that is based on the at least one environmental measurement.
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Abstract
A power management device, including: a monitor module that directly monitors energy usage of at least one energy load to generate at least one measurement of energy usage by the at least one energy load; and a control module operatively coupled to the monitor module to control energy usage by the at least one energy load in a pre-determined manner that is based on the at least one measurement of energy usage, wherein the control module controls the at least one energy load via a data link.
174 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A compact power management device for simultaneously monitoring a plurality of individual energy sub-loads and controlling the plurality of sub-loads to control their overall energy consumption, comprising:
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an integrated combination monitor/controller unit, including; a multi-circuit power monitor module for directly and simultaneously monitoring energy usage of the plurality of individual energy sub-loads to generate a plurality of measurements of energy usage comprising at least one measurement of energy usage by said plurality of energy sub-loads, and a control module integrated with and operatively coupled to the monitor module for simultaneously controlling overall and individual energy usage by the plurality of energy sub-loads in a first pre-determined manner based on the plurality of measurements of energy usage, said control module for controlling overall and individual energy usage of said plurality of energy subloads via a data link, at least one program for using said plurality of measurements of energy usage, said at least one program selected from the group consisting of firmware and software, each said at least one program downloadable via a communications network, each said at least one program locally stored on the device, each said at least one program comprising at least one pre-determined algorithm, and each said at least one program comprising at least one member of the group consisting of at least one schedule, at least one setpoint and at least one report parameter; said first pre-determined manner including said control module selecting and executing said at least one program, a single housing unit for housing the monitor module and the control module within 24 inches of one another, and a local display coupled to the integrated combination monitor/control unit, wherein the communications network is operatively coupled to at least one module of the group consisting of said monitor module and said control module, wherein at least one module of the group consisting of said monitor module and said control module is configured for further performing processing to accomplish at least one of the group consisting of alarm notification, exception reporting, and periodic reporting, wherein said at least one of alarm notification, exception reporting, and periodic reporting are output to at least one of the communication network and the local display; wherein said at least one member of the group consisting of said monitor module and said control module is further configured to indirectly monitor at least one environmental variable and to generate at least one environmental measurement therefor; and wherein said control module is further configured to control said at least one environmental variable in a second pre-determined manner that is based on the at least one environmental measurement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A compact power management device for simultaneously monitoring a plurality of individual energy sub-loads and controlling the plurality of sub-loads to control their overall energy consumption, comprising:
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an integrated combination monitor/controller unit, including; a multi-circuit power monitor module for directly and simultaneously monitoring energy usage of the plurality of individual energy sub-loads to generate a plurality of measurements of energy usage comprising at least one measurement of energy usage by said plurality of energy sub-loads, and a control module integrated with and operatively coupled to the monitor module for simultaneously controlling overall and individual energy usage by the plurality of energy sub-loads in a first pre-determined manner based on the plurality of measurements of energy usage, said control module for controlling overall and individual energy usage of said plurality of energy subloads via a data link, at least one program for using said plurality of measurements of energy usage, said at least one program selected from the group consisting of firmware and software, each said at least one program downloadable via a communications network, each said at least one program locally stored on the device, each said at least one program comprising at least one pre-determined algorithm, and each said at least one program comprising at least one member of the group consisting of at least one schedule, at least one setpoint and at least one report parameter; said first pre-determined manner including said control module selecting and executing said at least one program, a single housing unit for housing the monitor module and the control module within 24 inches of one another, and a local display coupled to the integrated combination monitor/control unit, wherein the communications network is operatively coupled to at least one module of the group consisting of said monitor module and said control module, wherein at least one module of the group consisting of said monitor module and said control module is configured for further performing processing to accomplish at least one of the group consisting of alarm notification, exception reporting, and periodic reporting, wherein said at least one of alarm notification, exception reporting, and periodic reporting are output to at least one of the communication network and the local display; wherein said monitor module is further configured to indirectly monitor at least one environmental variable and to generate at least one environmental measurement therefor; and said control module is further configured to receive the environmental measurement and to control said at least one environmental variable in a second pre-determined manner based on the at least one environmental measurement.
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16. A device comprising:
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a multi-circuit power monitor configured to indirectly monitor at least one environmental variable and to generate at least one environmental measurement therefor comprising; a. a first plurality of sensors for directly measuring a plurality of energy sub-loads, b. a monitor module operatively coupled to the first plurality of sensors to directly monitor energy usage of the plurality of energy sub-loads and generate at least one measurement of energy usage by each sub-load of said plurality of energy sub-loads; a control module operatively coupled to the monitor module to control energy usage by the plurality of energy sub-loads according to a first pre-determined manner based on each at least one measurement of energy usage, the control module for controlling said plurality of energy sub-loads via a data link; and the control module configured to control said at least one environmental variable in a second pre-determined manner that is based on the at least one environmental measurement, a persistent store operatively coupled to said control module; at least one first program selected from the group consisting of firmware and software, as the first pre-determined manner; a microprocessor operatively coupled to said control module and said persistent store to perform at least one of member of the group consisting of (1) storage of the at least one measurement of energy usage in the persistent store and (2) execution of the at least one first program, wherein said at least one program is stored in at least one member of the group consisting of the persistent store and the microprocessor, and a second plurality of sensors each operatively coupled via a first external device interface to said monitor module, for sensing the at least one measurement of energy usage of each energy sub-load of the plurality of energy sub-loads. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A compact power management device for simultaneously monitoring a plurality of individual energy sub-loads and controlling the plurality of sub-loads to control their overall energy consumption, comprising:
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an integrated combination monitor/controller unit, including; a multi-circuit power monitor module for directly and simultaneously monitoring energy usage of the plurality of individual energy sub-loads to generate a plurality of measurements of energy usage comprising at least one measurement of energy usage by said plurality of energy sub-loads, and a control module integrated with and operatively coupled to the monitor module for simultaneously controlling overall and individual energy usage by the plurality of energy sub-loads in a first pre-determined manner based on the plurality of measurements of energy usage, said control module for controlling overall and individual energy usage of said plurality of energy subloads via a data link, at least one program for using said plurality of measurements of energy usage, said at least one program selected from the group consisting of firmware and software, each said at least one program downloadable via a communications network, each said at least one program locally stored on the device, said first pre-determined manner including said control module selecting and executing said at least one program, and a single housing unit for housing the monitor module and the control module within 24 inches of one another, wherein the device is configured as a single board including said modules that are housed within the single housing unit.
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20. A compact power management device for simultaneously monitoring a plurality of individual energy sub-loads and controlling the plurality of sub-loads to control their overall energy consumption, comprising:
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an integrated combination monitor/controller unit, including; a multi-circuit power monitor module for directly and simultaneously monitoring energy usage of the plurality of individual energy sub-loads to generate a plurality of measurements of energy usage comprising at least one measurement of energy usage by said plurality of energy sub-loads, and a control module integrated with and operatively coupled to the monitor module for simultaneously controlling overall and individual energy usage by the plurality of energy sub-loads in a first pre-determined manner based on the plurality of measurements of energy usage, said control module for controlling overall and individual energy usage of said plurality of energy subloads via a data link, at least one program for using said plurality of measurements of energy usage, said at least one program selected from the group consisting of firmware and software, each said at least one program downloadable via a communications network, each said at least one program locally stored on the device, each said at least one program comprising at least one pre-determined algorithm, and each said at least one program comprising at least one member of the group consisting of at least one schedule at least one setpoint and at least one report parameter; said first pre-determined manner including said control module selecting and executing said at least one program, a single housing unit for housing the monitor module and the control module within 24 inches of one another and a voltage monitoring interface operatively coupled to at least one member of the group consisting of said monitor module and said control module, wherein said voltage monitoring interface provides a three-phase interface to a power line supplying power to each of the individual energy sub-loads of the plurality of energy sub-loads being monitored by the device. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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23. A compact power management device for simultaneously monitoring a plurality of individual energy sub-loads and controlling the plurality of sub-loads to control their overall energy consumption, comprising:
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an integrated combination monitor/controller unit, including; a multi-circuit power monitor module for directly and simultaneously monitoring energy usage of the plurality of individual energy sub-loads to generate a plurality of measurements of energy usage comprising at least one measurement of energy usage by said plurality of energy sub-loads, and a control module integrated with and operatively coupled to the monitor module for simultaneously controlling overall and individual energy usage by the plurality of energy sub-loads in a first pre-determined manner based on the plurality of measurements of energy usage, said control module for controlling overall and individual energy usage of said plurality of energy subloads via a data link, at least one program for using said plurality of measurements of energy usage, said at least one program selected from the group consisting of firmware and software, each said at least one program downloadable via a communications network, each said at least one program locally stored on the device, said first pre-determined manner including said control module selecting and executing said at least one program, a single housing unit for housing the monitor module and the control module within 24 inches of one another, and wherein said at least one program selected from the group consisting of software and firmware provides at least one embedded control algorithm selected from the group consisting of peak electrical demand control, solar calculation, power calculation from waveform samples, instantaneous power measurement from energy pulses, wherein said peak electrical demand control algorithm includes at least one algorithm selected from the group consisting of evening light load demand control and roof top unit (RTU) multiplexing demand control.
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24. A compact power management device for simultaneously monitoring a plurality of individual energy sub-loads and controlling the plurality of sub-loads to control their overall energy consumption, comprising:
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an integrated combination monitor/controller unit, including; a multi-circuit power monitor module for directly and simultaneously monitoring energy usage of the plurality of individual energy sub-loads to generate a plurality of measurements of energy usage comprising at least one measurement of energy usage by said plurality of energy sub-loads, and a control module integrated with and operatively coupled to the monitor module for simultaneously controlling overall and individual energy usage by the plurality of energy sub-loads in a first pre-determined manner based on the plurality of measurements of energy usage, said control module for controlling overall and individual energy usage of said plurality of energy subloads via a data link, at least one program for using said plurality of measurements of energy usage, said at least one program selected from the group consisting of firmware and software, each said at least one program downloadable via a communications network, each said at least one program locally stored on the device, said first pre-determined manner including said control module selecting and executing said at least one program, a single housing unit for housing the monitor module and the control module within 24 inches of one another, and wherein said at least one program selected from the group consisting of software and firmware provides at least one embedded control algorithm for generating e-mail reports. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A compact power management device for simultaneously monitoring a plurality of individual energy sub-loads and controlling the plurality of sub-loads to control their overall energy consumption, comprising:
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an integrated combination monitor/controller unit, including; a multi-circuit power monitor module for directly and simultaneously monitoring energy usage of the plurality of individual energy sub-loads to generate a plurality of measurements of energy usage comprising at least one measurement of energy usage by said plurality of energy sub-loads, and a control module integrated with and operatively coupled to the monitor module for simultaneously controlling overall and individual energy usage by the plurality of energy sub-loads in a first pre-determined manner based on the plurality of measurements of energy usage, said control module for controlling overall and individual energy usage of said plurality of energy subloads via a data link, at least one program for using said plurality of measurements of energy usage, said at least one program selected from the group consisting of firmware and software, each said at least one program downloadable via a communications network, each said at least one program locally stored on the device, said first pre-determined manner including said control module selecting and executing said at least one program, a single housing unit for housing the monitor module and the control module within 24 inches of one another, and wherein the communications network further comprises an e-mail client, wherein the e-mail client further comprises functions for sending at least one of alarm notification, exception reporting and periodic reporting.
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45. A compact power management device for simultaneously monitoring a plurality of individual energy sub-loads and controlling the plurality of sub-loads to control their overall energy consumption, comprising:
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an integrated combination monitor/controller unit, including; a multi-circuit power monitor module for directly and simultaneously monitoring energy usage of the plurality of individual energy sub-loads to generate a plurality of measurements of energy usage comprising at least one measurement of energy usage by said plurality of energy sub-loads, and a control module integrated with and operatively coupled to the monitor module for simultaneously controlling overall and individual energy usage by the plurality of energy sub-loads in a first pre-determined manner based on the plurality of measurements of energy usage, said control module for controlling overall and individual energy usage of said plurality of energy subloads via a data link, at least one program for using said plurality of measurements of energy usage, said at least one program selected from the group consisting of firmware and software, each said at least one program downloadable via a communications network, each said at least one program locally stored on the device, said first pre-determined manner including said control module selecting and executing said at least one program, a single housing unit for housing the monitor module and the control module within 24 inches of one another, and wherein the communications network further comprises an e-mail client, wherein the e-mail client further comprises functions for receiving at least one of at least one schedule, at least one setpoint, and at least one reporting parameter.
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Specification