NL2015058B1

NL2015058B1 - System for charging electric vehicles and method for controlling thereof.

Info

Publication number: NL2015058B1
Application number: NL2015058A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Marinus Johannes Janssen Hendricus; Johannes Georg Warnars Virgilius; Alexander Kisman Guido
Original assignee: Lightwell B V
Priority date: 2015-06-30
Filing date: 2015-06-30
Publication date: 2016-08-02
Also published as: NL2015058A

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for charging electric vehicles, comprising multiple street light poles, wherein each street light pole comprises: - an electric socket connectable to a power grid for connecting an electric vehicle to the power grid; and - a control device to control power transfer from power grid to electric socket, said control device being connectable to control devices of other street light poles within the system, wherein the multiple street light poles comprise a single master street light pole comprising a communication module for communicating with a back office system, and wherein the control device of the master street light pole is configured to control the control devices of the other street light poles within the system based on total power consumption from the power grid.

Description

P32322NL00/MVE

Title: System for charging electric vehicles and method for controlling thereof

The invention relates to a system for charging electric vehicles and a method for controlling such a system.

Such system and method are for instance known from US patent publication US2013/0268433A1 in which a multiplicity of street light poles is connected to a power supply line, each street light pole comprising an electronic node having a communication adapter for communication with remote devices and an electric socket for charging electric vehicles. The street light poles are connected to a feeder pillar, which feeder pillar is configured for communicating with the nodes and for controlling power consumption and operation of the street light poles through their nodes. The feeder pillar in turn is connected to an operation control center which is configured to control power of each street light pole utilizing the feeder pillar. The operation control center is the unit controlling the power consumption of a street light pole based on the power consumption of the entire power supply line. A drawback of the prior art system is that control of the street light poles relies on two communication networks, namely a first communication network between the operation control center and the feeder pillars and a second communication network between the feeder pillars and the street light poles.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved system for charging electric vehicles which is more robust and reliable.

To achieve this object, there is provided a system for charging electric vehicles, comprising multiple street light poles, wherein each street light pole comprises: - an electric socket connectable to a power grid for connecting an electric vehicle to the power grid; and - a control device to control power transfer from power grid to electric socket, said control device being connectable to control devices of other street light poles within the system, wherein the multiple street light poles comprise a single master street light pole comprising a communication module for communicating with a back office system, and wherein the control device of the master street light pole is configured to control the control devices of the other street light poles within the system based on total power consumption from the power grid.

The invention is based on the insight that robustness and reliability of the system benefits more from local control of the street light pole than from central control as in the prior art. A difference between the prior art and the invention is thus that the operation control center does not have to be configured to control the power consumption of individual street light poles, but control of the power consumption is carried out on street light pole level also eliminating the use of a separate feeder pillar. In this way, control of the street light poles is not dependent on any communication network. Communication networks are then only required for exchanging information between the street light poles and the back office system.

Hence, for instance if a street light pole has received sufficient information from the back office system, it can still function and charge electric vehicles in case communication between street light pole and back office system is temporarily lost. Information about energy consumption can then be stored within the control device and send to the back office system later on when communication is restored.

The use of a master street light pole within the system allows to control the overall power consumption from the power grid to prevent overloading the power grid and simplifies the communication between a street light pole and the back office system. Hence, not every street light pole needs to be configured for communication with the back office system, but only the master street light pole, so that each street light poles can communicate with the back office system via the master street light pole. In this way, when communication between master street light pole and back office system is temporarily lost, the master street light pole is still able to control the power consumption within the system. Hence, the dependency of this control on the communication networks is reduced considerably thereby increasing reliability.

In an embodiment, each control device is configured to set power transfer from power grid to electric socket to a low value in case communication with the control device of the master street light pole is lost. This low value is preferably chosen such that in case every street light pole is simultaneously used for charging electric vehicles, no overload of the power grid is caused. The advantage thereof is that the dependency on the communication network between the street light poles is further reduced, so that the system is still able to function in case of a temporary failure in communication.

In an embodiment, each street light pole comprises a luminaire for connecting a light source either to the power grid or to a separate light power grid, wherein in case the light source is connected to the power grid, the control device is preferably also configured to control power transfer from the power grid to the light source.

In an embodiment, the control device of the master street light pole controls the power transfer at each street light pole in order to prevent overloading the power grid.

The invention also relates to a method for controlling the system according to the invention, said method comprising the following steps: a. identifying an electric vehicle to be charged by a street light pole; b. determining a charging profile of the electric vehicle; c. charging the electric vehicle via said street light pole; d. sending charging details to the back office system after charging, wherein the communication between said street light pole and back office system goes through the control device and communication module of the master street light pole.

In an embodiment, during charging of the electric vehicle, the control device of the master street light pole controls the power transfer at the street light pole in order to prevent overloading the power grid.

In an embodiment, during charging, in case communication with the master street light pole is lost, charging is continued on a low value preventing overloading the power grid in all situations.

In an embodiment, during charging, in case communication between the master street light pole and the back office system is lost, charging still continues under control of the master street light pole.

The invention will now be described in non-limiting way by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1A depicts a street light pole according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 1B depicts a detail of the street light pole of Fig. 1 A;

Fig. 2 depicts the street light pole of Fig. 1A in a system with other street light poles according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 3 depicts communication between the master street light pole of the system of

Fig. 2 and a back office system; and

Fig. 4 depicts a schematic flowchart of a method to control a system according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1A depicts a street light pole 100 according to an embodiment of the invention, comprising an electric socket 112 connected to a power grid 117 for connecting an electric vehicle 102 to the power grid for charging purposes. The street light pole 100 comprises a dedicated grid connection component 116 to connect the street light pole 100 to the power grid 117 which grid connection component 116 may include a power meter to register the power consumption for this particular street light pole allowing easy billing by an energy supplier. However, the power meter may also be provided in another part of the street light pole.

The power grid 117 is embodied here as three phase connection consisting of three phases 118 and a neutral line 121 and the connection with the street light pole may use all phases. Alternatively, the connection may be a two phase connection consisting of two phases 119 and the neutral line 121 or a one phase connection consisting of one phase 120 and the neutral line 121.

Although in Fig. 1A an electric car 102 is shown, the street light pole can additionally or alternatively be configured to charge a Segway (two-wheeled, self-balancing, battery-powered electric vehicle), an electric bicycle, an electric scooter or an electric motorcycle. It can even be envisaged that the street light pole is used for powering equipment used by building constructors working near the street light pole or by maintenance personnel working on the street light pole itself. In Fig. 1A, the electric vehicle 102 is connected to the electric socket via a cable 105, as is preferred.

The street light pole 100 further comprises a luminaire 103 for holding a light source. The luminaire is in this embodiment provided with an electronic ballast 104 for controlling the power supplied to the light source, e.g. a LED light source. The electronic ballast 104 may be connected to the power grid 117, for instance via a one phase connection 120.

In case the luminaire 103 is connected to the power grid 117, the electronic ballast 104 preferably comprises a remotely controllable switch to turn the light source on and off. There may be separate communication means 101 provided for sending appropriate control signals to the street light pole 100 in order to turn the light source on and off. The advantage of separate communication means 101 is that the light source may be operated by another party than the charging facility of the street light pole, so that both parties can have their own communication to the street light pole 100 independent of each other, allowing to easily separate responsibilities and liabilities of each party and to prevent the two communications from interfering with each other. However, from a technical point of view it is also possible to control the light source and charging facility via the same communication means.

Communication means 101 in Fig. 1A is wireless, for instance using RF (Radio Frequency) communication. However, other wireless and wired communication means are also envisaged.

It is also envisaged that the light source is powered by a separate light grid (not shown) provided next to the power grid 117. In that case it is also possible that the turning on and off of the light source is controlled by operating a switch at a distinct control center, which has the advantage that using a single switch multiple light sources can be controlled at the same time.

The luminaire 103 in this embodiment also comprises a camera 109 allowing to monitor the surroundings of the street light pole 100. The images obtained with the camera 109 may be transmitted to a control center, e.g. a nearby police station, via communication means 101 or any other communication means.

To control power transfer from power grid 117 to electric socket 112, the street light pole 100 comprises a control device 111. The control device 111 is connectable to control devices of other street light poles as will be explained in more detail below by reference to Fig. 2. In the embodiment of Fig. 1A, the connection to control devices of other street light poles is established using wireless communication means 102, e.g. for WIFI communication, but other wireless and wired communication means are also envisaged.

The control device 111 preferably comprises one or more of the following components: - a CPU (central processing unit); - a power meter; - an autonomous photocell; - an RF modem; - charging driver; - a WIFI amplifier station.

During the lifetime of the street light pole 100 on the street, different people may want to have access to the components of the street light pole 100. For instance, the energy supplier may want to have access to the grid connection component 116 possibly including the power meter to check the grid connection, perform maintenance and/or to read out the power meter.

Further, the operator of the charging facility may want to have access to the electric socket 112 and/or the control device 111. As it may be possible that the energy supplier does not want the operator of the charging facility to have access to the grid connection component 116, and the operator of the charging facility does not want the energy supplier to have access to the electric socket and control device, the street light pole may be provided with separate access doors 113, 114 to respectively allow access to the combination of electric socket and control device, and the grid connection component 116 as is shown in Fig. 1B. Fig. 1B shows a detail of a lower part of the street light pole 100 of Fig. 1 A.

In order to being able to properly charge a vehicle 102, information needs to be provided about the type of vehicle and appropriate charging parameters commonly referred to as a charging profile. Vehicle identification can be performed in many ways, including: - via wireless communication to read out an electronic vehicle ID; - wired communication using cable 105 to read out the electronic vehicle ID; - via wireless communication 106 using for instance a card 115 or mobile device 107 containing the vehicle ID or customer details allowing to determine the vehicle ID.

Wireless communication may comprise RF communication or the use of an NFC (Near Field Communication) unit. Vehicle identification may also include obtaining information from a database in a back office system and thus may require the use of communication means 102.

Once, the vehicle has been identified, the precise charging power to be provided to the vehicle can be determined based on the charging profile corresponding to the vehicle. The charging profile may included data like type of vehicle, charging power, charging capacity, average consumption, charging behaviour over time, parking occupancy, maintenance data, etc.

Fig. 2 depicts three street light poles 100 to form a system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The three street light poles comprise a single master street light pole 202 and two slave street light poles 205. Although the embodiment of Fig. 2 only depicts three street light poles 100, it will be apparent to the skilled person that the system may comprise additional street light poles 100, which will all be slave street light poles 205.

The slave street light poles 205 are identical to the street light pole 100 shown in Fig. 1A. The master street light pole 202 is similar to the street light pole 100 shown in Fig. 1A, but in this case comprises additional components which will be explained below. For simplicity reasons, not all components that were shown in Fig. 1A are also shown in Fig. 2.

The street light poles 100 form a communication network to connect their respective control devices 111. This communication network may be established by wireless communication 203 through communication means 102, e.g. using WIFI communication. An alternative is also shown in Fig. 2. The communication network may alternatively be established by wired communication 204 between the control devices 111, e.g. by using twisted pair cables or by using power line communication (PLC) via the power grid 117.

The control device 111 of the master street light pole 202 is configured to communicate with the control devices of the slave street light poles 202 in order to control them based on total power consumption from the power grid. Hence, the control device 111 of the master street light pole 202 is used to relay all communications between the respective control devices 111 within the system and the back office system. To this end the master street light pole is equipped with a communication module 212 allowing wireless communication 211 with the back office system. Wireless communication may for instance be provided using GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) or any other data transfer network. Wired communication is also possible and may for instance be embodied as a TCP/IP line.

An advantage of the system according to the invention is that a lot of intelligence is present in each street light pole in the form of control device 111, which is able to function independently provided sufficient information is present. The same applies to the control device 111 of the master street light pole, which is able to function independently from the back office system provided enough sufficient is present. Hence, in case communication with the back office system is temporarily unavailable, charging can continue as the master street light pole is able to control all other control devices based on the power consumption of the power grid. The control devices of the slave street light poles can even be configured such that the power transfer from power grid to electric socket is set to a low value in case communication with the control device of the master street light pole is lost, so that charging can be finished despite the lack of communication albeit maybe at a lower rate without risking an overload of the power grid.

The control device also including a charging driver may be configured to supply DC power to the electric socket for charging purposes, so that the charging driver converts AC power from the power grid into DC power. This conversion is also controlled by the control device.

In an embodiment, the street light poles 100 are provided with an indicator 210 indicating the charging status of the vehicle. In Fig. 2 only the master street light pole 202 is provided with such an indicator as example. The indicator may be a light indicator indicating the status by emitting different colours for each status. For example, when the vehicle is charging, the light may be green, but when the vehicle is fully charged, the light indicator 201 may switch to blue. A red light indicator may indicate a malfunctioning street light pole indicating not to use this street light pole for charging.

Fig. 3 depicts the master street light pole 202 of the system of Fig. 2 only thereby omitting the other street light poles for simplicity reasons. Fig. 3 clearly shows communication around the back office system. The back office system comprises a main server 309 that can be controlled over the internet by an operation officer using a computer terminal 305 and internet to server communication 311.

As already explained with respect to Fig. 2, the communication module 212 of the master street light pole 202 is able to communicate with the main server 309 via wireless communication 211, in this case by GPRS.

With respect to Fig. 1A it was explained that turning the light source in the luminaire 103 on and off could be done by receiving on and off instructions from the back office system. In the embodiment of Fig. 3 this is embodied as wireless communication 312 with communication means 102. Alternatively, communication means 101 could be used for this purpose.

The back office system stores customer accounts with information about vehicles, billing, contact details, etc. and is able to automatically bill customers based on the information received from the master street light pole after charging a vehicle. Customers 108 may receive consumption reports, billing information and other communication from the back office system. Further customers 108 may log into their accounts to update their contact details and vehicle information. This can all be done via internet communication of which wireless communication using a mobile device 107 is an example shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 4 is an exemplary flowchart of a method to control the system described in relation to Fig. 2 and 3.

When a vehicle stops near a street light pole for charging, the charging process starts by identification of the vehicle in step 401. This can be done by an NFC unit or RF communication as described above.

Once the vehicle is identified, the customer is also known and the necessary information (e.g. charging profile) including an approval of the customer credit is communicated from the back office system to the street light pole via the master street light pole in step 402.

Based on the charging profile of the vehicle, the required charging power is determined, which is compared by the master street light pole with the available charging power. If there is not enough charging power available without overloading the power grid, the master street light pole will apply load balancing, meaning in practice that the charging power of the currently charged vehicles is reduced to make some charging capacity free for the to be charged vehicle. All of this happens in step 403.

Once the to be applied charging power is determined, power transfer from power grid to electric socket is allowed in step 404.

In step 405, the termination of the charging process is determined. Termination may happen because the vehicle is fully charged or because the customer runs out of credit.

Termination of the charging process is carried out by stopping power transfer from power grid to electric socket in step 406. A report of the energy consumption is send to the master street light pole and subsequently to the back office system in step 407, which is then able to charge the customer in step 408.

In short, the method can be summarized by the following steps: a. identifying an electric vehicle to be charged by a street light pole; b. determining a charging profile of the electric vehicle; c. charging the electric vehicle via said street light pole; and d. sending charging details to the back office system after charging, wherein the communication between said street light pole and back office system goes through the control device and communication module of the master street light pole.

Claims

A system for charging electric vehicles, comprising a plurality of street lamp posts in which each street lamp post comprises: - an electric socket connectable to an electricity network for connecting an electric car to the electricity network, a control device for controlling the energy transfer from the electricity network to the socket, wherein the control device is connectable to control devices of other street lamp posts within the system, characterized in that the multiple street lamp posts comprise a single main street lamp post with a communication module for communication with a back office system, and in that the control device of the main street lamp post is configured to control the control devices of the other street lamp posts within the system based on the total energy consumption from the electricity grid.

A system according to claim 1, wherein each control device is configured to set the energy transfer from the electricity grid to the socket to a low value in case the communication with the control device of the main street lamp post is lost.

A system according to claim 1, wherein each street lamp post comprises a fixture to connect a light source to the electricity grid or to a separate light electricity grid, wherein in the case the light source is connected to the electricity grid, the control device is also preferably configured to transfer the energy to control from the electricity grid to the light source.

A system according to claim 1, wherein the control device of the main street lamp post controls the energy transfer at each street lamp post to prevent overloading of the electricity grid.

A method of controlling the system according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises the steps of: a. Identifying an electric vehicle to be charged by a street lamp post; b. determining a charging profile of the electric vehicle; c. charging the electric vehicle through the street lamp post; d. sending charging details to the back office system after charging, wherein the communication between the street lamp post and back office system is through the control device and communication module of the main street lamp post.

A method according to claim 5, wherein during charging of the electric vehicle, the control device of the main street lamp post controls the energy transfer at the street lamp post to prevent overloading of the electricity grid.

A method according to claim 6, wherein during charging in the event that communication with the main street lamp is lost, charging is continued at a low value to prevent overloading of the electricity grid in all situations.

A method according to claim 6, wherein, during the charging, in the event that the communication between the main street lamp post and the back office system is lost, the charging still continues under control of the main street lamp post.