Energy management system which includes on-site energy supply
First Claim
1. A system for managing the supply of energy to a load that receives power from an electric power grid, comprising:
- at least one on-site power generator that is capable of supplying power to said load independently of said power grid;
a controller which processes data relating to at least one factor that is predictive of the reliability and/or quality of power supplied to said load, and selects the power grid or the on-site generator as a preferred power source; and
a switch which is responsive to the selection of the preferred power source to connect the load to the selected power source.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An energy management system includes one or more electric power generators located at or near a consumer'"'"'s premises, to provide power which is dedicated to the needs of that consumer. The power provided by the on-site generators complements that which is delivered via a centralized power grid network. In the event that the power grid is disabled, or is otherwise unable to provide adequate power to the consumer, the on-site generators are switched to provide power to critical equipment. In one embodiment, a computer-driven control facility selectively actuates the on-site generator to intelligently arbitrage between the locally generated power and that which is provided via the grid network, based on a variety of factors. The instantaneous cost of power supplied via the grid network is compared against stored costs of operating the on-site generators, such as the price of fuel required to run the generators, maintenance expenses, other types of service and installation expenses, and finance charges. When these costs are less than the charges for the power provided by the grid network, the central control system actuates the on-site generators, to partially or totally replace power delivered via the grid. Other factors are also employed in the decision whether to activate the on-site generators, such as data relating to weather conditions and peak usage periods. Historical data regarding the consumer'"'"'s power usage is employed to predict times when the usage requirements are likely to be high, and thereby actuate the generators to supplement or replace the power provided from the grid.
226 Citations
48 Claims
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1. A system for managing the supply of energy to a load that receives power from an electric power grid, comprising:
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at least one on-site power generator that is capable of supplying power to said load independently of said power grid;
a controller which processes data relating to at least one factor that is predictive of the reliability and/or quality of power supplied to said load, and selects the power grid or the on-site generator as a preferred power source; and
a switch which is responsive to the selection of the preferred power source to connect the load to the selected power source. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for managing the supply of energy to a plurality of loads at different sites that each receive power from an electric power grid, comprising:
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a plurality of on-site power generators respectively located at said different sites that are each capable of supplying power to an associated load independently of said power grid;
a controller located remote from said sites which processes data relating to at least one factor affecting the supply of power to the loads, and selects the power grid or an on-site generator at each respective site as a preferred power source;
a communication interface which transmits the selections made by the controller to the respective sites; and
a switch at each site which is responsive to the transmitted selection of the preferred power source for that site to connect the load at that site to the selected power source. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method for ensuring an uninterrupted supply of quality power to a load that receives power from an electric power grid, comprising the steps of:
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providing a power generator at the site of the load, which is capable of supplying power to the load independently of the power grid;
processing a plurality of factors which affect the supply of power to the load, wherein at least one of the factors is predictive of the reliability and/or quality of power from the electric power grid; and
selectively connecting the load to the electric power grid or the generator in response to the processing of said plurality of factors. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A system for managing the supply of energy to a load that receives power from an electric power grid, comprising:
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at least one on-site power generator that is capable of supplying power to said load independently of said power grid; and
a controller which processes at least one factor relating to the reliability and/or quality of the supply of power to said load, and selectively connects said load to receive power from said on-site generator in response to said factor.
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47. A system for managing the supply of energy to a plurality of loads at different sites that each receive power from an electric power grid, comprising:
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a plurality of on-site power generators respectively located at said different sites that are each capable of supplying power to an associated load independently of said power grid;
a controller located remote from said sites which processes data relating to at least one factor affecting the supply of power to the loads, and determining whether an on-site generator at each respective site should be connected to an associated load;
a communication interface which transmits the determinations made by the controller to the respective sites; and
a switch at each site which is responsive to the transmitted determination to selectively connect the load at that site to receive power from the on-site generator.
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48. A method for ensuring a supply of quality power to a load that receives power from an electric power grid, comprising the steps of:
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providing a power generator at the site of the load, which is capable of supplying power to the load independently of the power grid;
processing a plurality of factors which affect the supply of power to the load, wherein at least one of said factors relates to the reliability and/or quality of the power; and
selectively connecting the load to receive power from the generator in response to the processing of said plurality of factors.
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Specification