Method and apparatus for controlling power consumption
First Claim
1. A method of power consumption control, comprising the steps of:
- setting a power consumption per time period setpoint;
determining the current price of power per unit time period;
monitoring power consumption of a plurality of devices; and
controlling said power consumption when said power consumption exceeds said setpoint based on current price, whereby if the current price is below a set amount, maintaining power consumption, and if the current price is above the set amount, reducing power consumption of at least one preselected device of said plurality of devices.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for controlling power consumption of a facility, building or simply a collection of one or more devices, by load shedding when power consumption is above, or is predicted to be above, a preselected setpoint, but only if electrical power on the spot market cannot be purchased at or below a preselected price. The apparatus and method of the invention optimizes power usage by taking advantage of the buying of electricity as a commodity on the spot market. As a further aspect of the invention, in the situation of a supermarket for example, which refrigerates food products, artificial product core temperature sensors or direct insertion product sensors can be used to continuously monitor the refrigerated temperature of perishable products. A controller would constantly monitor these temperatures to allow a precise load shedding routine to be implemented.
177 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A method of power consumption control, comprising the steps of:
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setting a power consumption per time period setpoint; determining the current price of power per unit time period; monitoring power consumption of a plurality of devices; and controlling said power consumption when said power consumption exceeds said setpoint based on current price, whereby if the current price is below a set amount, maintaining power consumption, and if the current price is above the set amount, reducing power consumption of at least one preselected device of said plurality of devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system for load shedding power, comprising:
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a switch connected to a source of electrical power; a power consuming apparatus connected to said switch; a control connected to said switch to adjust power flow to said apparatus; a communication link arranged to allow communication between said control and a remote information supplier, the remote information supplier providing as a signal, the current market price of electrical power; said control comprising a control circuit within said control which contains a preselected power consumption setpoint, and wherein said control circuit controls said power consumption when said power consumption exceeds said setpoint based on current price, whereby if the current price is below a set amount, power consumption is maintained, and if the current price is above the set amount, power consumption of at least one preselected device of said plurality of devices is reduced. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification