Distributed energy services management system

• US 9,063,525 B2
• Filed: 02/22/2013
• Issued: 06/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sunverge Energy, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sunverge Energy, Inc.
• Inventors: Sanders, Dean, Statman, Stuart
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): Karim, Ziaul
• Application Number:
  US13/774,531
• Publication Number:
  US 20130166081A1
• Time in Patent Office: 851 Days
• Field of Search: 700/287, 700/286, 700/291, 700/293, 700/294, 700/295
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 11/01 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric

Abstract

Systems and methods for distributed energy services management are disclosed. A particular embodiment includes: receiving an input command via a network interface at a site gateway, the input command including information for controlling one or more physical devices at a site; converting, by use of a data processor, the input command to a virtualized command in a common command format; executing, by use of the data processor, one or more executor modules to cause execution of one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command; and using the executed one or more virtual devices to control the corresponding one or more physical devices at the site.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for distributed energy services management, having one or more processors coupled to memory in a computer system to perform the following steps in any order, comprising:

receiving an input command via a network interface at a site gateway, the input command including information for controlling one or more physical devices at a premise user site including one or more executor modules of a set of executor modules running at a command virtualization layer to activate one or more virtual devices at a device virtualization layer, wherein one or more activated virtual devices can control one or more corresponding physical devices, and wherein the site gateway can use one or more executor modules of the set of executor modules running at the command virtualization layer to activate one of a plurality of programs or platform applications wherein the one or more activated programs can then activate the one or more virtual devices, which can control the one or more corresponding physical devices providing one or more power and energy services to a user to balance demands by shifting one or more energy resources to where they are needed most, wherein the one or more corresponding physical devices include at least one inverter to store at least a portion of reserve energy locally generated at the premise user site within an integrated storage appliance of a distributed energy storage system (DESS) that has been extended with an input/output (I/O) controller board that allows multiple energy components to be electrically connected internally within the DESS apparatus, including at least one of a current transfer sensor system that monitors local user site energy demand in real-time, and at least one energy component using an internal data communication protocol to communicate with an energy storage module, inverter, charge controller and a site gateway connected via a common bus network, and to enable direct control of locally created energy generation that can be both stored in the batteries and dispatched to the grid, and wherein the site gateway automatically discovers local devices, and virtualizes those devices without the use of agents, wherein the distributed energy storage system, integrated storage appliance, and site gateway are housed in a common enclosure to form a site management system for one or more consumers that is located between a utility grid smart meter, and one or more renewable energy generation sources, and one or more user site loads, wherein both the one or more renewable energy sources and one or more user site loads connect to the user side of the site management system, and wherein a portion of said reserve energy is capable of being pooled in a virtualized energy pool;

converting, by use of a data processor, the input command to a virtualized command in a common command format;

executing, by use of the data processor, one or more executor modules to cause execution of one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command; and

using the one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command to control the corresponding one or more physical devices at the site; and

providing an energy area network for controlling and monitoring one or more user loads and corresponding energy consumption,

executing the one or more executor modules to cause execution of at least one of a plurality of programs or platform applications, wherein the platform application is accessed via a wireless network mobile software application,

using the one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command to control the corresponding one or more physical devices at the site, and wherein the one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command are associated with the wireless network mobile software application wherein the energy area network is a home area network configured to monitor and control one or more user appliances via a consumer web portal to compare the energy consumption and generation with desired thresholds, and to produce new command sets for driving the energy consumption and generation toward desired thresholds from the user site.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using the one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command to control the corresponding one or more physical devices at the site, wherein one of a plurality of programs or platform applications including one or more computer programs that can each implement a mode or policy in the set of virtual devices at the device virtualization layer, wherein the one or more activated programs can then activate the one or more virtual devices, which can control the one or more corresponding physical devices providing one or more power and energy services to a user by controlling one or more components of the distributed energy services system to store and distribute reserve energy at the premise user site within an integrated storage appliance; and

using the one or more virtual devices to collect status information from the one or more physical devices at the site via a corresponding device driver to aggregate data from a network of one or more inverters within one or more distributed energy services systems to distribute reserve energy via a distributed software architecture and virtual energy cloud.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the one of a plurality of programs or platform applications are installable and configurable at the site gateway.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the one of a plurality of programs or platform applications are assigned a configurable unique priority relative to other programs.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the one of a plurality of programs or platform applications is configured to a site management system resource portion and a site gateway resource portion, wherein a site management system resource portion and one or more site gateway resource portions combine to equal an entire resource allocation configured from one of a plurality of programs or platform applications to form one or more resource reservations and to adjust a required amount of grid energy for the site management system.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5 wherein the one of a plurality of programs or platform applications are configurably associated with a particular external entity.

7. The method as claimed in claim 5 wherein the one of a plurality of programs or platform applications configured to set a mode or policy in the one or more virtual devices using any of a plurality of available program models.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

providing one or more hybrid inverter converters coupled to one or more charge controllers and one or more intelligent battery management systems via an electrical bus in the common enclosure of the site resident management system, and

providing one or more energy management devices and one or more site gateways configured to monitor and control the one or more energy management devices.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

executing the one or more executor modules to cause execution of at least one of a plurality of programs or platform applications, wherein the platform application is accessed via a wireless network mobile software application, and

using the one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command to control the corresponding one or more physical devices at the site, and wherein the one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command are associated with the wireless network mobile software application.

10. A grid-scale distributed energy services ecosystem comprising:

a consumer user interface coupled to a central network cloud to access a consumer portal;

a site management system coupled to the network cloud;

one or more utility resources including an advanced metering infrastructure head end and a demand and response management system (DRMS), wherein the advanced metering infrastructure head end receives and processes electrical energy usage and generation information received from a smart meter coupled to a distributed energy storage system located at a site wherein power and energy services are provided to a user, and wherein the demand and response management system provides centralized management of demand and supply from a community of sites;

one or more data processors; and

a distributed energy services management system, executable by the one or more data processors, to;

receive an input command via a network interface at a site gateway, the input command including information for controlling one or more physical devices at one or more premise user sites wherein power and energy services are provided to a user, wherein reserve energy is capable of being locally generated at the one or more premise user sites and stored within an integrated storage appliance of the distributed energy storage system, wherein the distributed energy storage system, integrated storage appliance, and site gateway are housed in a common enclosure to form a site resident management system that is located between a utility grid smart meter, and one or more renewable energy generation sources, and one or more user site loads, wherein both the one or more renewable energy sources and one or more user site loads connect to the user side of the site management system, and wherein a portion of said reserve energy is pooled in a virtualized energy pool;

convert the input command to a virtualized command in a common command format;

execute one or more executor modules to cause execution of one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command; and

use the one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command to control the corresponding one or more physical devices at the site to charge and discharge a specified amount of reserve energy from one or more components of one or more distributed energy services systems and one or more site gateway systems of the site management system, wherein a site management system resource portion and one or more site gateway resource portions combine to equal an entire resource allocation configured from one of a plurality of programs or platform applications to form one or more resource reservations and to adjust a required amount of grid energy for the site management system, and to balance demands by shifting one or more energy resources to where they are needed most, wherein the one or more corresponding physical devices include at least one inverter to store at least a portion of reserve energy that is locally generated at the one or more premise user sites within an integrated storage appliance of a distributed energy storage system (DESS), wherein each DESS has been extended with an input/output (I/O) intelligent controller board that allows one or more energy components to be electrically connected internally within each of the DESS apparatus, at least one of the DESS including at least one of a current transfer sensor system that monitors local user site energy demand in real-time, and at least one energy component using an internal data communication protocol to communicate with an energy storage module, inverter, charge controller and a site gateway connected via a common bus network, and to enable direct control of locally created energy generation that can be both stored in the batteries and dispatched to the grid, and wherein the site gateway automatically discovers local devices, and virtualizes those devices without the use of agents; and

provide an energy area network for controlling and monitoring one or more user loads and corresponding energy consumption,

execute the one or more executor modules to cause execution of at least one of a plurality of programs or platform applications, wherein the platform application is accessed via a wireless network mobile software application,

use the one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command to control the corresponding one or more physical devices at the site, and wherein the one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command are associated with the wireless network mobile software application wherein the energy area network is a home area network configured to monitor and control one or more user appliances via a consumer web portal to compare the energy consumption and generation with desired thresholds, and to produce new command sets for driving the energy consumption and generation toward desired thresholds from the user site.

11. The ecosystem as claimed in claim 10 being further configured to execute the one or more executor modules to cause execution of at least one of a plurality of programs or platform applications wherein the one or more programs or platform applications are assigned a configurable unique priority relative to other programs or platform applications.

12. The ecosystem as claimed in claim 11 being further configured to use the one or more virtual devices to collect status information from the one or more physical devices at the site via a corresponding device driver.

13. The ecosystem as claimed in claim 11 wherein the one of a plurality of programs or platform applications is associated with an external entity.

14. A non-transitory machine-useable storage medium embodying instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

receive an input command via a network interface at a site gateway, the input command including information for controlling one or more physical devices at one or more sites including one or more executor modules of a set of executor modules running at a command virtualization layer to activate one or more virtual devices at a device virtualization layer, wherein one or more activated virtual devices can control one or more corresponding physical devices, and wherein the site gateway can use one or more executor modules of the set of executor modules running at the command virtualization layer to activate one of a plurality of programs or platform applications wherein the one or more activated programs can then activate the one or more virtual devices, which can control the one or more corresponding physical devices providing one or more power and energy services to a user, wherein reserve energy is capable of being locally generated at each premise user site and stored within an integrated storage appliance of a distributed energy storage system, wherein the distributed energy storage system, integrated storage appliance, and site gateway are housed in a common enclosure to form a site management system that is located between a utility grid smart meter, and one or more renewable energy generation sources, and one or more user site loads, wherein both the one or more renewable energy sources and one or more user site loads connect to the user side of the site management system, and wherein said reserve energy is capable of being pooled in a virtualized energy pool;

convert the input command to a virtualized command in a common command format;

execute one or more executor modules to cause execution of one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command;

use the executed one or more virtual devices to control the corresponding one or more physical devices at the site via one of a plurality of programs or platform applications including one or more computer programs that can each implement a mode or policy in the set of virtual devices at the device virtualization layer, wherein the one or more activated programs can then activate the one or more virtual devices, which can control the one or more corresponding physical devices providing one or more power and energy services to a user by controlling one or more components of the stand-alone distributed energy services system (DESS) apparatus to store and distribute reserve energy at the one or more premise user sites each within an integrated storage appliance site to charge and discharge a specified amount of reserve energy from one or more components of one or more distributed energy services systems and one or more site gateway systems of the site management system, wherein a site management system resource portion and one or more site gateway resource portions combine to equal an entire resource allocation configured from one of a plurality of programs or platform applications to form one or more resource reservations and to adjust a required amount of grid energy for the site management system;

use the one or more virtual devices to collect status information from the one or more physical devices at the site via a corresponding device driver to aggregate data from a distributed architecture network of one or more inverters within one or more distributed energy services systems to distribute reserve energy via a virtual energy cloud; and

provide an energy area network for controlling and monitoring one or more user loads and corresponding energy consumption,

execute the one or more executor modules to cause execution of at least one of a plurality of programs or platform applications, wherein the platform application is accessed via a wireless network mobile software application,

use the one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command to control the corresponding one or more physical devices at the site, and wherein the one or more corresponding virtual devices associated with the virtualized command are associated with the wireless network mobile software application wherein the energy area network is a home area network configured to monitor and control one or more user appliances via a consumer web portal to compare the energy consumption and generation with desired thresholds, and to produce new command sets for driving the energy consumption and generation toward desired thresholds from the user site.