User interface for demand side energy management

• US 7,886,166 B2
• Filed: 09/15/2008
• Issued: 02/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gridpoint (Twenty First Century Utilities LLC)
• Original Assignee: Gridpoint (Twenty First Century Utilities LLC)
• Inventors: Shnekendorf, Edward, Golden, Brian, McMahan, Courtney, Ferguson, Doug
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel; Nitin C
• Application Number:
  US12/210,761
• Publication Number:
  US 20090077397A1
• Time in Patent Office: 876 Days
• Field of Search: 713/300, 713/310
• US Class Current: 713/310
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00028 involving the use of Internet protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/64 The condition being economic, e.g. tariff based load management
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 50/10 Energy trading, including energy flowing from end-user application to grid

Abstract

A user interface is visibly displayed on a display device operatively connected to a first computer. The user interface enables an end user to enter at least one energy management rule for each of a plurality of electrical loads at a location, each rule including a command to be transmitted to the electrical load associated with the rule if a condition is met. The energy management rules for each of the plurality of electrical loads are received by a second computer. An energy management profile containing the energy management rules for each of the plurality of electrical loads at the location is created and stored using a second computer. The energy management profile is activated using the second computer. For each of the energy management rules where the condition has been met, the command associated with the rule is transmitted to the electrical load associated with the rule.

Claims

1. A method comprising the steps:

causing a user interface to be visibly displayed on a display device operatively connected to a first computer, wherein the user interface enables an end user to enter at least one energy management rule for each of a plurality of electrical loads at a location, wherein each energy management rule comprises a command to be transmitted to the electrical load associated with the rule if a condition is met;

receiving at a second computer, over a network, the at least one energy management rule for each of the plurality of electrical loads at a location from the first computer, wherein each of the at least one energy management rules was entered using the user interface;

creating, using the second computer, an energy management profile stored on a computer readable medium, wherein the energy management profile contains the at least one energy management rule for each of the plurality of electrical loads at the location, wherein the energy management profile allows the plurality of electrical loads at the location to be controlled in concert;

activating, using the second computer, the energy management profile, wherein each of the plurality of electrical loads at the location begin acting on the associated at least one energy management rule contained in the energy management profile;

evaluating, using the second computer, each of the at least one energy management rules within the activated energy management profile to determine if the condition associated with the rule has been met;

transmitting, over a network, for each of the at least one energy management rules where the condition has been met, the command associated with the rule to the electrical load associated with the rule.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein at least a subset of the at least one energy management rules associated with at least one of the plurality of electrical loads define a power management schedule for at least one of the plurality of electrical loads.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein if an energy management rule is not specified for at least one of the plurality of electrical loads, a default rule is created for the at least one of the plurality of electrical loads and is stored in the energy management profile.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the condition associated with the at least one energy management rule is a time of day, and the command is selected from the set of commands consisting of:

switch on, switch off, increase power consumption, decrease power consumption, alter the schedule of an electrical device, alter the schedule of an electrical device, or set thermostat temperature.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the condition associated with the at least one energy management rule is a minimum or maximum runtime of the load associated with the rule, and the command is selected from set of commands consisting of:

switch on, switch off, increase power consumption, decrease power consumption, alter the schedule of an electrical device, or set thermostat temperature.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the condition is a threshold price for electricity, and the command is selected from the set of commands consisting of:

switch on, switch off, increase power consumption, decrease power consumption, alter the schedule of an electrical device, or set thermostat temperature.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the threshold price of electricity is the cost of electricity already used in a billing cycle.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of electrical loads is a programmable device and the command of the at least one energy management rule associated with the at least one of the plurality of electrical loads is a program that causes the at least one of the plurality of electrical loads to be programmed to implement the at least one energy management rule.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein at least a subset of the plurality of electrical loads are controlled by a demand management system and the commands associated with the at least one energy management rules associated with each of the at least a subset of the plurality of electrical loads are transmitted, over the network, to the demand management system.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the commands transmitted to the demand management system comprise a plurality of use cases.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of electrical loads comprise at least one circuit and at least one thermostat.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the network is the Internet and the user interface is web-based.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the first computer and the second computer are the same computer.

14. The method of claim 1 additionally comprising the steps of:

monitoring, over the network, the power consumption of the at least one of the plurality of electrical loads at the location;

transmitting, over the network, the power consumption of the at least one of the plurality of electrical loads to the first computer;

causing the power consumption of the at least one of the plurality of electrical loads to be displayed on the display device using the user interface.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein a plurality of energy management profiles are stored on the computer readable medium comprising the additional steps of:

causing a second user interface to be visibly displayed on the display device operatively connected to the first computer, wherein the second user interface enables the end user to view the energy management profiles and select one of the plurality of energy management profiles;

receiving a selection from the end user, over the network, of a selection of one of the plurality of energy management profiles, wherein the selected one of the plurality of energy management profiles is activated in the activating step.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for a method comprising the steps of:

causing a user interface to be visibly displayed on a display device operatively connected to a first computer, wherein the user interface enables an end user to enter at least one energy management rule for each of a plurality of electrical loads at a location, wherein each energy management rule comprises a command to be transmitted to the electrical load associated with the rule if a condition is met;

receiving at a second computer, over a network, the at least one energy management rule for each of the plurality of electrical loads at a location from the first computer, wherein each of the at least one energy management rules was entered using the user interface;

creating, using the second computer, an energy management profile stored on a computer readable medium, wherein the energy management profile contains the at least one energy management rule for each of the plurality of electrical loads at the location, wherein the energy management profile allows the plurality of electrical loads at the location to be controlled in concert;

activating, using the second computer, the energy management profile, wherein each of the plurality of electrical loads at the location begin acting on the associated at least one energy management rule contained in the energy management profile;

evaluating, using the second computer, each of the at least one energy management rules within the activated energy management profile to determine if the condition associated with the rule has been met;

transmitting, over a network, for each of the at least one energy management rules where the condition has been met, the command associated with the rule to the electrical load associated with the rule.

17. A system comprising:

a first computer enabled to display a user interface on a display device operatively connected to the first computer, wherein the user interface enables an end user to enter at least one energy management rule for each of a plurality of electrical loads at a location, wherein each energy management rule comprises a command to be transmitted to the electrical load associated with the rule if a condition is met;

a second computer, enabled to receive, over a network, the at least one energy management rule for each of the plurality of electrical loads at the location from the first computer, wherein each of the at least one energy management rules was entered using the user interface, wherein

the second computer is further enabled to create an energy management profile stored on a computer readable medium, wherein the energy management profile contains the at least one energy management rule for each of the plurality of electrical loads at the location, wherein the energy management profile allows the plurality of electrical loads at the location to be controlled in concert, wherein the second computer is enabled to activate the energy management profile, wherein each of the plurality of electrical loads at the location are enabled to begin acting on the associated at least one energy management rule contained in the energy management profile, wherein,

the second computer is enabled to evaluate each of the at least one energy management rules within the activated energy management profile to determine if the condition associated with the rule has been met, and wherein

the second computer is enabled to transmit a command, over the network, for each of the at least one energy management rules where the condition has been met, the command associated with the rule to the electrical load associated with the rule.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein at least a subset of the at least one energy management rules associate with at least one of the plurality of electrical loads define a power management schedule for at least one of the plurality of electrical loads.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein if an energy management rule is not specified for at least one of the plurality of electrical loads, a default rule is created for the at least one of the plurality of electrical loads and is stored in the energy management profile.

20. The system of claim 17 wherein the condition associated with the at least one energy management rule is a time of day, and the command is selected from the set of commands consisting of:

switch on, switch off, increase power consumption, decrease power consumption, alter the schedule of an electrical device, or set thermostat temperature.