Consumer directed energy management systems and methods

• US 9,722,813 B2
• Filed: 09/08/2009
• Issued: 08/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uplight, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Tendrill Networks Incorporated (Uplight, Inc.)
• Inventors: Premus, Rebecca F., Ruth, Michael K., Stimmel, Carol L., Tuck, Adrian C., Wheeler, Andrew J., Benes, Charles R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lo, Kenneth M
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHANG, SUNRAY
• Application Number:
  US12/555,751
• Publication Number:
  US 20100070101A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,884 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2639 Energy management, use maximum of cheap power, keep peak load low
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2818 from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators

Abstract

Methods and systems for providing consumer directed energy management are described. Consumer defined triggers provide consumers and utilities with the ability to control residential energy usage, by managing manage multiple residential load control elements. A user interface is provided separately from the load control elements to allow the consumer to define his or her schedule and preferences for the purposes of controlling the multiple load control elements. In addition, settings on load control elements can be automatically adjusted based on information about consumer schedules and preferences obtained from other sources. In some embodiments, a utility interface allows utilities to implement improved energy load control. When a utility expects to implement a load control event, the utility can monitor consumer schedules and/or preferences, in order to achieve the desired energy reduction while reducing the impact on participating consumers'"'"' comfort.

Claims

1. A system for providing consumer directed energy management, wherein the system comprises:

a consumer preferences database configured to;

for each consumer of a plurality of consumers having a residential energy network, receive, from the consumer,

information associated with the consumer'"'"'s preferences regarding one or more energy consuming devices in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network,

wherein the consumer preferences database is connected to the consumer residential energy networks via at least one network connection,

such that a plurality of preferences of consumers are stored remote from the residential energy networks; and

an energy management processor configured to;

receive the stored information from the consumer preferences database,

receive trigger data from a plurality of trigger data sources, and

in response to receiving the trigger data from the plurality of trigger data sources, for each of the plurality of consumers,

examine the received information to determine whether any actions are to be taken in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network, and

in response to determining that at least one action is to be taken in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network, transmit, to the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network, control instructions for taking the at least one action in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network,

wherein a first consumer'"'"'s preferences comprise;

a first trigger,

a first trigger level, and

a first action,

wherein the first action is taken in response to the first trigger level being reached,

wherein the first trigger specifies a first type of energy source,

wherein the first trigger level is a first percentage of energy provided by the first type of energy source exceeding a preset limit,

wherein the first action is to send one or more control instructions to at least one of the energy consuming devices in the first consumer'"'"'s residential energy network to limit demand on the first type of energy source so that the system is configured to limit demand on the first type of energy source in response to determining that the first percentage of energy provided by the first type of energy source exceeds the preset limit, and

wherein the first consumer'"'"'s residential energy network receives energy from multiple types of energy sources.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a user interface by which the plurality of consumers can define the consumer preferences.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the user interface is a web based user interface.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the user interface is a device based user interface.

5. The system of claim 2 wherein the user interface is a mobile device based user interface.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the first trigger further comprises the first consumer'"'"'s schedule or a criticality event defined by a utility.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the energy management processor further receives trigger data from one or more data sources, and wherein the first action is determined based on the received information associated with the first consumer'"'"'s preferences and the received trigger data.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a utility energy reduction processor that;

obtains the first consumer'"'"'s preferences from the consumer preferences database, and

provides energy reduction data to the energy management processor, wherein the energy reduction data indicates a reduction in energy associated with a criticality event, and wherein the energy reduction data is determined based on the first consumer'"'"'s preferences.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one consumer'"'"'s residential energy network is configured according to a ZigBee Smart Energy protocol.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein a second trigger is a criticality event defined by a utility.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the first type of energy source is wind so that the first action is taken in response to determining that a percentage of energy provided by wind energy sources exceeds the preset limit.

12. A computer-readable medium, that is not a propagating signal, storing instructions that, if executed by an energy management processor, cause the energy management processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a consumer preferences database, consumer preference information for each of a plurality of consumers;

receiving trigger data from a plurality of trigger data sources; and

in response to receiving the trigger data from the plurality of trigger data sources,

for each of the plurality of consumers,

examining the received consumer preference information to determine whether any actions are to be taken in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network based on at least one change in the trigger data, and

in response to determining that at least one action is to be taken in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network based on the at least one change in the trigger data,

communicating, to the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network via a network connection, the at least one change in the trigger data, and

communicating, to the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network via the network connection, control instructions for taking the at least one action,

wherein a first consumer'"'"'s preferences include a first trigger, a first trigger level, and a first action,

wherein the first action is taken in response to the first trigger level being reached, and

wherein the at least one change in the trigger data comprise at least one of;

a change in a first percentage of energy provided by a first type of energy source that exceeds a preset limit, or

a change in a second percentage of energy provided by a second type of energy source,

wherein the first action is to send one or more control instructions to at least one energy consuming device in the first consumer'"'"'s residential energy network to limit demand on the first or second type of energy source so that the system is configured to limit demand on the first or second type of energy source in response to determining that the first or second percentage of energy provided by the first or second type of energy source exceeds at least one preset limit, and

wherein the residential energy network of the first consumer receives energy from multiple types of energy sources.

13. The computer-readable medium, that is not a propagating signal, of claim 12 wherein the first trigger further comprise a designated criticality event defined by a utility.

14. A method, performed by a computing system having a memory and a processor, the method comprising:

receiving consumer preference information for each of a plurality of consumers, wherein the consumer preference information comprises a first trigger, a first trigger level, and a first action, wherein the first trigger specifies at least a first energy source and wherein the first trigger level is a first percentage of energy provided by a first type of energy source exceeding a first preset limit;

receiving trigger data from a plurality of trigger data sources;

for each of the plurality of consumers,

examining the received consumer preference information to determine whether any actions are to be taken in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network based on at least one change in the trigger data,

wherein the at least one change in the trigger data for a first consumer comprise at least one of;

a change in a first percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by the first type of energy source, or

a change in a second percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by a second type of energy source, and

wherein the examining comprises;

determining whether a change in the first percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by the first type of energy source causes the first percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by the first type of energy source to exceed the first preset limit,

wherein the first percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by the first type of energy source is greater than zero, and

determining whether a change in the second percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by the second type of energy source causes the second percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by the second type of energy source to exceeds a second preset limit,

wherein the second percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by the second type of energy source is greater than zero;

in response to determining that at least one first action is to be taken in the first consumer'"'"'s residential energy network based on the change in the first percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by the first type of energy source indicating that the first percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by the first type of energy source exceeds the first preset limit,

communicating, to the first consumer'"'"'s residential energy network via a network connection, the change in the first percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by the first type of energy source, and

communicating to at least one energy consuming device in the first consumer'"'"'s residential energy network via a network connection, control instructions for taking the at least one first action,

wherein the at least one first action comprises limiting demand on the first type of energy source;

in response to determining that at least one second action is to be taken in the first consumer'"'"'s residential energy network based on the change in the second percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by the second type of energy source indicating that the second percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by the second type of energy source exceeds a second preset limit,

communicating, to the first consumer'"'"'s residential energy network via a network connection, the change in the second percentage of energy provided to the residential energy network of the first consumer by the second type of energy source, and

communicating, to the first consumer'"'"'s residential energy network via a network connection, control instructions for taking the at least one second action

wherein the at least one second action comprise limiting demand on the second type of energy source

so that the system is configured to limit demand on the first or second type of energy source in response to determining that the first or second percentage of energy provided by the first or second type of energy source exceeds the first or second preset limit.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the trigger data comprises weather data, energy prices, and energy source information.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining a first percentage of energy provided by wind energy sources;

determining whether the first percentage of energy provided by wind energy sources exceeds a preset limit; and

in response to determining that the first percentage of energy provided by wind energy sources exceeds the preset limit, limiting demand on energy from wind energy sources.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining a first percentage of energy provided by solar energy sources;

determining whether the first percentage of energy provided by solar energy sources exceeds a preset limit; and

in response to determining that the first percentage of energy provided by solar energy sources exceeds the preset limit, limiting demand on energy from solar energy sources.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining a first percentage of energy provided by coal energy sources;

determining whether the first percentage of energy provided by coal energy sources exceeds a preset limit; and

in response to determining that the first percentage of energy provided by coal energy sources exceeds the preset limit, limiting demand on energy from coal energy sources.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

automatically determining whether the first consumer is home or away from home, without requiring any interaction from the first consumer based at least in part on available geographic location data.

20. The method of claim 14 wherein the first type of energy source is wind and wherein the second type of energy source is not wind.

21. The method of claim 14 wherein the first type of energy source is coal and wherein the second type of energy source is not coal.

22. A method, performed by a computing system having a memory and a processor, the method comprising:

receiving, from a consumer preferences database, consumer preference information for each of a plurality of consumers, wherein the consumer preference information for each of the plurality of consumers comprises;

a trigger that specifies at least one energy source type,

a trigger level, and

a first action associated with at least one or more energy consuming devices in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network,

wherein the first action is taken in response to the trigger level being reached,

wherein the trigger level is a first percentage of energy provided by the at least one energy source type relative to a preset level so that the first action is taken in response to determining that the first percentage of energy provided by the at least one energy source type to the at least one or more energy consuming devices in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network has reached the trigger level;

receiving trigger data from a plurality of trigger data sources; and

in response to receiving the trigger data from the plurality of trigger data sources,

for each of the plurality of consumers,

examining, by the computing system, the received consumer preference information to determine whether any actions are to be taken in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network, and

in response to determining that at least one action is to be taken in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network, communicating, to at least one energy consuming device in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network via a network connection, control instructions for taking the at least one action to limit demand on the at least one energy source type so that the system is configured to limit demand on the at least one energy source type in response to determining that the first percentage of energy provided by the at least one energy source type exceeds the preset level,

wherein determining that at least one action is to be taken in at least one consumer'"'"'s residential energy network comprises;

determining that there has been a change in a first percentage of energy provided to the at least one consumer'"'"'s residential energy network by a first type of energy source, and

determining that there has been a change in a second percentage of energy provided to the least one consumer'"'"'s residential energy network by a second type of energy source.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the energy source type is wind so that the first action is taken in response to determining that the percentage of energy provided by wind energy sources to the at least one or more energy consuming devices in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network has reached the trigger level.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the energy source type is solar so that the first action is taken in response to determining that the percentage of energy provided by solar energy sources to the at least one or more energy consuming devices in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network has reached the trigger level.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the energy source type is coal so that the first action is taken in response to determining that the percentage of energy provided by coal energy sources to the at least one or more energy consuming devices in the consumer'"'"'s residential energy network has reached the trigger level.

26. A method, performed by a computing system having a memory and a processor, the method comprising:

storing, for a consumer having a plurality of controllable devices, a set of preferences, wherein at least one preference of the set of preferences comprises;

a trigger,

a level or levels of the trigger,

wherein at least one of the levels comprises a first threshold percentage of energy provided to the consumer by a first type of energy source, wherein the consumer receives energy from multiple types of energy sources, and

a set of actions related to at least one controllable device from among the plurality of controllable devices,

wherein at least one action of the set of actions is to adjust a setpoint of the at least one controllable device in response to determining that a percentage of energy provided to the consumer by the first type of energy source exceeds the first threshold percentage; and

in response to determining that at least one action is to be taken based on a change in the percentage of energy provided to the consumer by the first type of energy source, the change indicating that the percentage of energy provided to the consumer by the first type of energy source exceeds the first threshold percentage,

communicating, to the at least one controllable device, control instructions for taking the at least one action.