Systems and methods for cascaded model predictive control
First Claim
1. A heating, ventilation, or air conditioning (HVAC) system for a building, the HVAC system comprising:
- a building system comprising one or more measurement devices configured to measure at least one of a temperature of the building and a power usage of the building, wherein the building system is configured to generate a feedback signal comprising at least one of the measured temperature of the building and the measured power usage of the building;
a load predictor configured to predict a future power usage of the building based on historical weather and power usage data;
an outer model predictive controller configured to receive the feedback signal from the building system, receive time-varying pricing information for a plurality of pricing scenarios, perform an optimization process to determine an optimal amount of power to defer from the predicted power usage based on the feedback signal and the pricing information, and output a power control signal indicating the optimal amount of power to defer, wherein the optimal amount of power to defer optimizes a total cost of the power usage of the building;
an inner model predictive controller configured to receive the feedback signal from the building system, receive a power setpoint representing a difference between the predicted power usage and the optimal amount of power to defer, determine a temperature setpoint for the building system predicted to achieve the power setpoint, and output a temperature control signal indicating the temperature setpoint; and
HVAC equipment comprising one or more physical devices configured to supply heat to the building or remove heat from the building, wherein the building system is configured to operate the HVAC equipment to achieve the temperature setpoint;
wherein at least one of the outer model predictive controller and the inner model predictive controller is an electronic device comprising a communications interface and a processing circuit.
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Abstract
Methods and systems to minimize energy cost in response to time-varying energy prices are presented for a variety of different pricing scenarios. A cascaded model predictive control system is disclosed comprising an inner controller and an outer controller. The inner controller controls power use using a derivative of a temperature setpoint and the outer controller controls temperature via a power setpoint or power deferral. An optimization procedure is used to minimize a cost function within a time horizon subject to temperature constraints, equality constraints, and demand charge constraints. Equality constraints are formulated using system model information and system state information whereas demand charge constraints are formulated using system state information and pricing information. A masking procedure is used to invalidate demand charge constraints for inactive pricing periods including peak, partial-peak, off-peak, critical-peak, and real-time.
243 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A heating, ventilation, or air conditioning (HVAC) system for a building, the HVAC system comprising:
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a building system comprising one or more measurement devices configured to measure at least one of a temperature of the building and a power usage of the building, wherein the building system is configured to generate a feedback signal comprising at least one of the measured temperature of the building and the measured power usage of the building; a load predictor configured to predict a future power usage of the building based on historical weather and power usage data; an outer model predictive controller configured to receive the feedback signal from the building system, receive time-varying pricing information for a plurality of pricing scenarios, perform an optimization process to determine an optimal amount of power to defer from the predicted power usage based on the feedback signal and the pricing information, and output a power control signal indicating the optimal amount of power to defer, wherein the optimal amount of power to defer optimizes a total cost of the power usage of the building; an inner model predictive controller configured to receive the feedback signal from the building system, receive a power setpoint representing a difference between the predicted power usage and the optimal amount of power to defer, determine a temperature setpoint for the building system predicted to achieve the power setpoint, and output a temperature control signal indicating the temperature setpoint; and HVAC equipment comprising one or more physical devices configured to supply heat to the building or remove heat from the building, wherein the building system is configured to operate the HVAC equipment to achieve the temperature setpoint; wherein at least one of the outer model predictive controller and the inner model predictive controller is an electronic device comprising a communications interface and a processing circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification