Lighting performance power monitoring system and method with optional integrated light control

• US 8,898,026 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2009
• Issued: 11/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gridpoint (Twenty First Century Utilities LLC)
• Original Assignee: Admmicro Properties LLC
• Inventors: Howell, Donald W., Vinson, Mark W., Blevins, Frank O., Tamagni, Armand J. Jr., Campbell, Michael L.
• Primary Examiner(s): SUGLO, JANET L
• Application Number:
  US12/512,470
• Publication Number:
  US 20090292403A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,944 Days
• Field of Search: 702/60, 700/295, 315/131, 315/312
• US Class Current: 702/60
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/2513 Arrangements for monitoring electric power systems, e.g. power lines or loads; Logging
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 21/133 by using digital technique
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/10 using digital techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/44 Testing lamps
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/10 Controlling the light source
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/165 following a pre-assigned programmed sequence; Logic control [LC]
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/17 Operational modes, e.g. switching from manual to automatic mode or prohibiting specific operations

Abstract

A light performance monitoring device and optionally integrated controller includes a monitor module that directly monitors energy usage of at least one energy load to generate at least one measurement of energy usage; a storage module stores a series of baseline values of energy usage of the energy load, a comparator module compares energy measurements made at predetermined intervals with the baseline values, and a notification module notifies a designated recipient that there is a deviation from the baseline values consistent with a burned out or non-operational light fixture, including but not limited to light bulbs or ballast devices. A control module optionally integrated with the light performance monitoring device can be operatively coupled to the monitor module to control energy usage by the at least one energy load via a data link in a predetermined manner that is based on the at least one measurement of energy usage.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring and controlling energy consumption, comprising:

a first component comprising a wide area network interface for communicating with a remote server;

a plurality of second components, each communicatively coupled with the first component, each second component comprising;

a plurality of input ports for receiving a plurality of voltage and current signals, including voltage and current signals from a single phase load and all phases of a poly-phase load,

an analog to digital converter for simultaneously sampling the received plurality of voltage and current signals from the single phase load and all phases of the poly-phase load and generating respective streams of digital values representative of the voltage and current signals of the single phase and poly-phase loads,

a processor configured for using the streams of digital values to concurrently monitor electrical energy consumption of a plurality of loads, including both the single phase load and the poly-phase load,

the configuration of the processor determined by configuration information, stored in that second component, originating from the remote server, and comprising load-definition data specifying which voltage signal(s) and current signal(s) are to be used in calculating energy consumption for each load to be monitored by that second component, wherein each of the second components is configured to transfer energy consumption data for their respectively monitored loads to the first component,

the first component further is configured to implement at least one load control algorithm, and

the first component is configured for centralized reporting of the energy consumption data from each of the second components, which can be accessed over the wide area network interface, and

the system is configured to implement a load monitoring algorithm comprising establishing a baseline load value associated with each monitored load and to indicate a fault in a circuit providing power to the monitored load if the monitored load deviates from the baseline load value by more than a threshold.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further implements remote management of the first component and the plurality of second components.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further implements alert reporting based on the transferred energy consumption data.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first component comprises input ports for receiving one or more signals indicative of at least one environmental variable, a configuration of the first component implementing the at least one load control algorithm using data for the least one environment variable as an input.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first component further locally stores information for baseline energy consumption values for one or more loads, the configuration further implementing the monitoring by periodically comparing load information with respective baseline values and indicating a fault if the comparison indicates deviation from its baseline value by more than a threshold.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first component and one of the second components form a module that implements both monitoring and control for the loads monitored by that second component.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein a baseline load value is determined at a time when a load is known to be performing at full capability.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further implements alert reporting based on the transferred energy consumption data.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the first component comprises input ports for receiving one or more signals indicative of at least one environmental variable, a configuration of the first component implementing the at least one load control algorithm using data for the least one environment variable as an input.

10. A system for monitoring and controlling energy consumption, comprising:

a first component comprising a wide area network interface for communicating with a remote server;

a second component communicatively coupled with the first component, comprising;

a plurality of input ports for receiving a plurality of voltage and current signals, including voltage and current signals from a single phase load and all phases of a poly-phase load,

an analog to digital converter for simultaneously sampling the received plurality of voltage and current signals from the single phase load and all phases of the poly-phase load and generating respective streams of digital values representative of the voltage and current signals of the single phase and poly-phase loads,

a processor configured for using the streams of digital values to concurrently monitor electrical energy consumption of a plurality of loads, including both the single phase load and the poly-phase load,

the configuration of the processor determined by configuration information, stored in the second component, originating from the remote server, and comprising load-definition data specifying which voltage signal(s) and current signal(s) are to be used in calculating energy consumption for each load to be monitored by the second component,

the second component is configured to transfer energy consumption data for the loads monitored by the second component to the first component,

the first component further is configured to implement at least one load control algorithm, and

the first component is configured for reporting the energy consumption data from the second component, which can be accessed over the wide area network interface, and

the system is configured to implement a load monitoring algorithm comprising establishing a baseline load value associated with each monitored load and to indicate a fault in a circuit providing power to the monitored load if the monitored load deviates from the baseline load value by more than a threshold.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the system further implements remote management of the first component and the second component.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the first component further locally stores information for baseline energy consumption values for one or more loads, the configuration further implementing the monitoring by periodically comparing load information with respective baseline values and indicating a fault if the comparison indicates deviation from its baseline value by more than a threshold.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the first component and the second component form a module that implements both monitoring and control for the loads monitored by the second component.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein a baseline load value is determined at a time when a load is known to be performing at full capability.