Renewable energy control systems and methods

• US 9,218,035 B2
• Filed: 02/09/2013
• Issued: 12/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: University of Florida Research Foundation, Incorporated (State University System of Florida)
• Original Assignee: University of Florida Research Foundation, Incorporated (State University System of Florida)
• Inventors: Li, Tao, Li, Chao
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, VINCENT HUY
• Application Number:
  US13/763,643
• Publication Number:
  US 20130212410A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,046 Days
• Field of Search: 713/300
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/263 Arrangements for using multiple switchable power supplies, e.g. battery and AC G06F1/30 takes precedence

Abstract

Various examples are provided for renewable energy control. In one example, among others, a system includes a PV source, a multi-core processor load, and a solar power manager configured to adjust an operating point of the PV source about a maximum power point by dynamically adjusting a transfer ratio and a load level. In another example, a method includes sensing an output current supplied to a multi-core processor load by a power converter at a first transfer ratio, sensing another output current supplied at a second transfer ratio, and determining an operating point of the PV source with respect to a maximum power point based upon the output currents. In another example, a system includes a power manager configured to switch servers between a renewable energy supply and a utility energy supply based at least in part upon a budget level and the load power consumption.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

at least one cluster including a plurality of servers; and

a power manager configured to switch at least a portion of the plurality of servers between a renewable energy supply (RES) and a utility energy supply based at least in part upon a budget level corresponding to an amount of power available from the RES and a load power consumption of the at least one cluster, where the power manager comprises a central switch controller configured to switch the at least a portion of the plurality of servers based upon a switch assignment determined by a switch scheduler based at least in part upon switching history and load history.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein switching the at least a portion of the plurality of servers comprises virtual machine migration to move workload between servers.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein switch assignment indicates that each of the plurality of servers is utility driven, RES driven, or shutdown.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein switching of the at least a portion of the plurality of servers is initiated in response to a change in the amount of power available from the RES or the load power consumption of the at least one cluster exceeding a corresponding predefined threshold.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the power manager is configured to switch the at least a portion of the plurality of servers to smooth power fluctuation of RES powered servers.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the RES is a photovoltaic source or a wind-driven renewable energy source.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the switching history comprises a switching frequency of the server loads.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the switching history comprises switching outcomes of server loads.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the switch scheduler is configured to monitor a power provisioning status of loads on the plurality of servers.

10. A system, comprising:

at least one cluster including a plurality of servers; and

a power manager configured to switch at least a portion of the plurality of servers between a renewable energy supply (RES) and a utility energy supply based at least in part upon a budget level corresponding to an amount of power available from the RES and a load power consumption of the at least one cluster, where the power manager comprises a central switch controller configured to switch the at least a portion of the plurality of servers based upon a switch assignment determined by a switch scheduler that is configured to allocate switch operations of the switch assignment using a least recently used (LRU) scheme based at least in part upon a switching frequency of server loads.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein allocation of the switch operations is based at least in part upon the switching frequency of the server loads during a preceding control period.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the switch operations are allocated based at least in part upon a quantity of servers in the at least one cluster.

13. A method, comprising:

determining a budget level corresponding to an amount of power available from a renewable energy supply (RES); and

switching server loads of at least one cluster of servers between the RES and a utility energy supply based at least in part the budget level and a load power consumption of the at least one cluster, where switch operations are allocated using a least recently used (LRU) scheme based at least in part upon a switching frequency of the server loads.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein switching server loads of at least one cluster of servers comprises switching at least a portion of the plurality of servers between the RES and the utility energy supply.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein a central switch controller is configured to switch the at least a portion of the plurality of servers.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least a portion of the plurality of servers are switched based upon a switch assignment that indicates whether each of the plurality of servers is utility driven, RES driven, or shutdown.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein switching of the at least a portion of the plurality of servers is initiated in response to a change in the amount of power available from the RES or the load power consumption of the at least one cluster exceeding a corresponding predefined threshold.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least a portion of the plurality of servers is switched to smooth power fluctuation of RES powered servers.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein switching server loads of at least one cluster of servers comprises virtual machine migration to move workload between servers.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the RES is a photovoltaic source or a wind-driven renewable energy source.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein allocation of the switch operations is based at least in part upon the switching frequency of the server loads during a preceding control period.

22. The method of claim 13, wherein the switch operations are allocated based at least in part upon a quantity of servers in the at least one cluster.