System and methods for controlling a supply of electric energy
First Claim
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1. A building backup electric power supply system for use during the loss of a primary electric power system, comprising:
- an energy storage system for use when the primary electric power system is subject to interruption or degradation, and an inverter for converting the stored energy from DC to AC; and
a programmable controller for switching from the primary electric power system to the energy storage system during times of interruption or degradation of the primary electric power system, said controller being configured so as to allow a user to set priorities for each of the building loads that may be powered by the energy storage system under different circumstances,wherein the prioritized building loads correspond to different equipment powered by the energy storage system.
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Abstract
A system and methods for controlling the supply and distribution of backup electrical power determine when backup power is needed and allocates available backup power among connected devices in a power outage. Batteries may be used as an energy storage subsystem, and may backup a home heating plant and other devices based on a dual set of user-established priorities that may change during power blackouts and brownouts as the amount of stored energy decreases.
108 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A building backup electric power supply system for use during the loss of a primary electric power system, comprising:
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an energy storage system for use when the primary electric power system is subject to interruption or degradation, and an inverter for converting the stored energy from DC to AC; and a programmable controller for switching from the primary electric power system to the energy storage system during times of interruption or degradation of the primary electric power system, said controller being configured so as to allow a user to set priorities for each of the building loads that may be powered by the energy storage system under different circumstances, wherein the prioritized building loads correspond to different equipment powered by the energy storage system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for providing a building backup electric power supply for use during the loss of a primary electric power supply, comprising:
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providing an energy storage system including at least one battery for storing electric power for use when the primary electric power supply is subject to interruption or degradation and an inverter for converting DC to AC; switching from the primary electric power supply to the energy storage system during times of interruption or degradation of the primary electric power system; and programming a controller to allow a user to prioritize which building loads are to be served by the energy storage system, wherein the prioritized loads correspond to different equipment powered by the energy storage system. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An electric power supply system for use during the loss of a primary electric power system, comprising:
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an electric energy storage system, connected to the primary electric power system, including at least one battery for storing energy for use when the primary electric power system is subject to interruption or degradation, and an inverter for converting the stored energy in the at least one battery from DC to AC; a switching system for sensing when the primary electric power system is unavailable or degraded and for then switching over to the energy storage system and for sensing when the primary electric power system is available and for then switching back to the primary electric power system; a user interface for inputting and displaying a priority level assigned to each building load to be supplied with power by the energy storage system, and a programmable controller configured to allow a user to set priorities for each of the building loads that may be served by the energy storage system under different circumstances, wherein the prioritized building loads correspond to different equipment to be powered by the energy storage system, wherein the controller implements operating priorities in accordance with user inputs including the importance of each building load to the building occupants, the real time power demand of the prioritized building loads, and the duty cycle of each of the prioritized building loads, compared with the level of stored energy remaining in the energy storage system, wherein the controller is configured to allow the user to update or modify the building loads that may be powered by the energy storage system and update or modify the priority assigned to each building load at any time, wherein the controller is configured to implement operating priorities for a heating system on the basis of the real power demand of the heating system and other connected equipment relative to the capacity of the energy storage system then in use and/or upon the level of stored energy remaining in the energy storage system. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification