AU2023202272A1 - A device and method for power management in a DC nanogrid power distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

5 Present disclosure related to a device and method for power management in a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system. The device comprises at least one nanosocket device positioned between a power distribution unit and a power appliance unit for controlling and monitoring power appliances used in a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system. The device also 10 comprises at least one Nanogrid System Controller (NSC) configured to supervise power control in the 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system. Further, the device comprises a Control Area Network (CAN) communication interface used to communicate with the at least one NSC. Subsequently, the device comprises an automatic network address setting module configured to assign a unique network address to each nanosocket device. Further, the device 15 comprises at least one power load controller configured to manage power load connected to the 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system. Fig. 1 101- 1Dc BUS 103 Nanogrid System' Controller 105 Nanogrid 23VAC sup* Powr113 107- a~de Scar MPPT 13 From solar FV Charger CAIN BS 113 Fig. 1

Description

101- 1Dc BUS

103 Nanogrid System' Controller

105 Nanogrid 23VAC sup* Powr113

a~de 107- Scar MPPT 13

From solar FV Charger

CAIN BS 113

Fig. 1

TITLE: "A DEVICE AND METHOD FOR POWER MANAGEMENT IN A DC NANOGRID POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM"

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates, in general, to a nanosocket device, which can be used for power management in a 48V Direct Current (DC) nanogrid power distribution system. Particularly, but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to a device and scheme for Nanosocket with Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol for communication with a Nanogrid System Controller (NSC) in a power distribution system.

BACKGROUND Generally, 48V Direct Current (DC) power distribution for a building is termed as a 48 DC nanogrid, and it may be a part of microgrid or a standalone DC nanogrid. Two or more interconnected nanogrids may be a DC microgrid. A nanogrid mainly consists of subsystems such as, a nanogrid supervisor, a battery bank with a dedicated management system, renewable energy sources like solar Photovoltaic (PV), a bidirectional converter for grid-tied operation and connected load modules.

The DC nanogrid may operate in a different mode based on the energy availability. In an islanded mode, the solar PV panels may supply the power load demand and charge the battery with its remaining power. During the hours of inferior insolation, the solar PV may alone not be able to meet the load demand and the battery bank delivers the remaining load demand. When excess energy is available from the renewable resources, it may operate in the grid-tied mode and the surplus energy is exported to the grid. Energy is drawn from the grid when both renewables and battery is unable to deliver the load demand. The DC electrical appliances such as Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) fans and Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights, which are connected directly to the DC line, result in an imbalance in the power distribution network, especially during the islanded mode of operation when there is limited energy availability due to absence of grid.

Nanosocket is envisaged for bringing an effective balance between the DC appliance and the nanogrid distribution system for effective utilization of solar power harvested. The nanosocket may be used for connecting the DC power supply to a smart device to facilitate an efficient and effective power management scheme. The home appliances may be plug-in to or plug-out of the nanogrid network according to the needs of each user. No power connections are required and the source to load interfacing is achieved through linking with nanogrid communication network using smart devices.

One of the existing technologies disclosed in US patent, US8295960B2 discusses the aspects related to a load management controller, which is dedicated for residential loads in accordance with the electricity usage profile by means of manipulating the predictable load pattern.

Another existing technology disclosed in US patent application US20090251072 deals with a DC distribution scheme with multiple voltage levels for various loads. Here, each load is coupled to the corresponding AC-DC converter according to a control signal by means of a single-layer wireless communication network.

Similarly, the US patent US010050445B2 suggests a dedicated photovoltaic inverter scheme for microgrid and nanogrid connectivity, which may be operated in either voltage controlled mode or current controlled mode. However, none of these existing technologies disclose or suggest a nanosocket device for power management in a Direct Current (DC) nanogrid power distribution system.

The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

SUMMARY The present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more limitations stated above or any other limitations associated with the conventional arts.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure discloses a device for power management in a Direct Controller (DC) nanogrid power distribution system. The device comprises at least one nanosocket device positioned between a power distribution unit and a power appliance unit for controlling and monitoring power appliances used in a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system. The device also comprises at least one Nanogrid System Controller (NSC) configured to supervise power control in the 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system. Further, the device comprises a Control Area Network (CAN) communication interface used to communicate with the at least one NSC for transmitting real-time status information of the power appliances. Subsequently, the device comprises an automatic network address setting module configured to assign a unique network address to each nanosocket device. Further, the device comprises at least one power load controller configured to manage power load connected to the 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system.

In another embodiment, the present disclosure discloses a method for power management in a Direct Current (DC) nanogrid power distribution system. The method comprises distributing, by a nanosocket device, power load to at least one of a Nanogrid System Controller (NSC) and power appliances after receiving a user input for initiating a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system. Thereafter, the method comprises monitoring the distributed power load among the power appliances to obtain a real-time status information related to a total power consumption by the power appliances. After monitoring the distributed power load, the method comprises determining, by the nanosocket device, the total power consumption by each of the power appliances based on the real-time status information. Further, the method comprises controlling, by the nanosocket device, one or more conditions based on the power consumption for managing the power distribution system, wherein one or more conditions are related to activation of power appliances

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, explain the disclosed principles. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example only, and regarding the accompanying figures, in which:

Fig. 1 shows an overview of a DC nanogrid power distribution system with a nanosocket device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 shows a control architecture of the DC nanogrid power distribution system along with a nanosocket device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 shows an internal structure of a nanosocket device used in the architecture of the DC nanogrid power distribution system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4a shows an exemplary view of the nanosocket device prototype model, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4b shows an exemplary view of a DC nanogrid power distribution system testing setup, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a nonoscoket device PCB model, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 illustrates categorization of priority levels with respect to total power consumption by power appliances, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figs. 7a-7e show various flow diagrams related to a power management algorithm for a DC nanogrid power distribution system using a nanosocket device, in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for power management in a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer or processor, whether such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.

The terms "comprise", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device, or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.

The terms "include", "including", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device, or method that includes a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by "includes... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.

In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

The present disclosure relates to a device and method for power management in a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system using a nanosocket. The device comprises at least one nanosocket device positioned between a power distribution unit and a power appliance unit for controlling and monitoring power appliances used in a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system. The device also comprises at least one Nanogrid System Controller (NSC), a Control Area Network (CAN) communication interfacet, an automatic network address setting module and at least one power load controller. The NSC is configured to supervise power control in the 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system. The at least one nanosocket device comprises one or more Solid State Relays (SSRs), a microcontroller, a sensor module, a manual control switch, CAN communication interface, at least one priority selection switch, an automatic network address setting module, and a DC-to-DC power converter. The SSRs are electrically connected to the live line input port of a power appliances and the live line output port of the power appliances, to control the electrical connection to the connected power load.

The nanosocket device is an active device which is used for controlling and monitoring home appliances/power appliances and is also used in the 48 DC nanogrid power distribution system. The nanosocket device connects the power loads to the NSC through CAN communication interface, which eliminates the need for a direct communication line to the actual power load. The nanosocket device retrieves a real-time status information of the power appliance and transmits it back to the NSC through the CAN communication interface. Subsequently, the NSC monitors the power appliance's real-time status information, as well as a supervisory mechanism known as condition monitoring is used to ensure the safety and protection of the power appliances under its management.

Furthermore, the nanosocket device determines the total power consumption by each one of the power appliances based on the real-time status information. The nanosocket device receives control signals transmitted from the NSC and operates in accordance with the control command received from NSC. Once the total power consumption is determined, the nanosocket device controls one or more conditions based on the power consumption for managing the power distribution system. In an embodiment, the one or more conditions are related to the activation of power appliances, for example, ON/OFF control of the power appliances like fans, TVs, lights and so on.

In an embodiment, the method of present disclosure is more effective in power management connected in the 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system, and helps in controlling, regulating, monitoring and managing the power sources and power loads in the system.

Fig. 1 shows an overview of a DC nanogrid power distribution system with a nanosocket device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment, a power consumption architecture of a DC nanogrid power distribution system using a nanosocket 111 device is depicted in Fig 1. The device mainly consists of subsystems such as a distribution unit 101, at least one Nanogrid System Controller (NSC) 103, at least one nanogrid power converter 105, a solar Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) charger unit 107, a battery unit 109 and a nanosocket 111 devices. In an embodiment, the one or more units may be implemented as dedicated hardware units and when implemented in such a manner, said units may be configured with the functionality defined in the present disclosure to result in a novel hardware.

In an embodiment, the NSC 103 is used for power system management and network coordination. The Solar MPPT charger unit 107 is a solar PV converter which is the default powering element in the DC nanogrid. The nanogrid power converter 105 is used to power ON the DC nanogrid when the power of both solar MPPT charging unit 107 and battery unit 109 is unavailable. The battery unit 109 is used for managing and controlling battery charging and battery discharging. The DC nanogrid may operate in one or more modes based on the energy availability and power load demand. The one or modes are identified by a mode identifier present in the NSC 103. The default operating mode is an 'islanded mode' in which the Solar PV may supply the demanded power load and charges the battery with its remaining power. In the event when the renewable source is unavailable, the battery unit 109 supplies the remaining power load. When excess energy is available from the renewable source, the battery may operate in the grid-connected inverter mode and the energy is supplied to the grid. Energy is drawn from the grid when both the renewable source and battery are unable to deliver the power load demand.

In an embodiment, a typical DC microgrid and DC nanogrid power control architecture is implemented with a hierarchical control architecture, wherein control architecture comprises a primary control (includes local controls such as voltage, current, dropped voltage and power electronics converter), a secondary control (for example, mode identifier) and a tertiary control (for example, load management strategy). The NSC 103 comprises a mode identifier and a load management strategy, wherein the NSC 103 is configured to supervise power control in a 48V DC nanogrid. An effective power management of power loads, which are connected in a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system, is realized by a full-fledged power controller. The power controller is used to maintain power load and balance input source. The power controller architecture of the DC nanogrid power distribution system along with nanosocket 111 device is shown in Fig 2.

In an embodiment, the power load is distributed to at least one of the NSC 103 and power appliances after receiving a user input for initiating the 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system. Thereafter, the distributed power load is monitored among the power appliances to obtain a real-time status information related to a total power consumption by the power appliances. The real-time status information includes, without limiting to, the total power consumption of the power appliances, voltage operation mode and current operation mode of the power appliances.

In an embodiment, a Control Area Network (CAN) 113 communication interface is used to communicate with the at least one NSC 103 for transmitting the real-time status information of the power appliances. For example, in a room, the room controller and subsystem controller (switch controller of power appliance which is installed inside the room) are interconnected by means of the CAN 113 communication interface.

Fig. 3 shows an internal structure of a nanosocket device used in the architecture of the DC nanogrid power distribution system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment, the internal diagram of the nanosocket 111 devices used in the power controller architecture of the DC nanogrid power distribution system is shown in Fig. 3. The nanosocket 111 device is an intelligent power interface device with the ability to measure and monitor the real-time status information of power appliances. At least one nanosocket 111 device comprises one or more Solid State Relays (SSRs), a nanosocket controller 301, a microcontroller, a sensor module, a manual control switch, CAN 113 communication interface, at least one priority selection switch (say Pi, P2, P 3 and P4), an automatic network address setting module (say Ai, A2, A3 and A4), and power converters. The sensor module includes a current sensor module and a voltage sensor module, wherein a total power consumption of the power appliances is calculated using an instantaneous current and voltage data obtained from the sensor module. The current sensor module and voltage sensor module are built-in sensor modules, wherein the corresponding current and voltage values are mapped to the dictionary object in the CAN 113 communication interface. The power converters comprise an Analog to-Digital (ADC) power converter and DC-to-DC power convertor, wherein the DC-to-DC power converter is used for controlling the charging and discharging modes of the battery. For example, a 48V DC-to-DC power converter may be used for a USB based power output. The microcontroller controls the operations of the power converter based on the current and voltage parameters of both the 48V DC bus input side and the 48V DC battery side. The ADC power converter converts the analog value, obtained from the current sensor module and voltage sensor module of 48V DC bus input, to digital form.

In an embodiment, the nanosocket 111 device controls the electrical devices linked to the nanogrid power distribution system based on an external command. The external command and data signaling are realized through the reliable CAN 113 communication interface. The 48V DC bus input line shall be engaged at the corresponding output port through SSRs, wherein at least two SSRs are used to connect the power appliances and at least two SSRs are used to disconnect the power appliances based on input from a sensor module as shown in Fig. 3.

The hardware setup model of the nanosocket 111 device prototype model is shown in Fig 4a and Fig. 4b. The schematic representation of the nanosocket 111 device PCB is shown in Fig 5, wherein the nanosocket 111 device is configured with a power rating ranging from 125W to 500W depending on the total power consumption on each of the power appliances.

Fig. 6 illustrates categorization of priority levels with respect to total power consumption by power appliances, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment, a priority level is categorized based on the total power consumption by the power appliances. The priority levels are categorized into four levels of criticality, comprising an extremely critical level (PE), a very critical level (Pv), a moderately critical level (PM) and a non-critical level (PN), as illustrated in Fig. 6. The priority levels are also referred to as power slabs based on the power consumption of the power appliances. In an embodiment, current measurement is performed for each circuit element. The total nanosocket current flow is expressed in equation 1 below: nn

Total Nanosocket power is calculated by equation 2below:

i=1

where, "n" is the number of circuit elements including all the switches, nanosockets 111 in the nanogrid and "E" is the voltage level.

Flow diagrams of a power management algorithm for a DC nanogrid power distribution system using a nanosocket 111 device is shown in Figs. 7a-7e. In an embodiment, the total power consumed by the power loads of the power appliances is limited to a maximum allowable power limit say PAllowed. The NSC 103 is configured to run a power management algorithm and manage the nanosocket 111 device using the CAN 113 communication interface. The power management algorithm is realized in the embedded 'C' code with an overall size optimized to an upper limit of 2.69 MB. Further, the power management algorithm is based on a priority based scheduling of power load through the NSC 103, wherein the priority-based scheduling is designed to maintain an optimal balance between the actual power demand for the power appliances and a total DC power availability. The actual power and power demand are constantly monitored on a real-time basis using the CAN 113 bus channel and these values are updated in the NSC 103 for implementing the power management algorithm. The total power demand is calculated by summing up the individual power slabs (say PTotai PE+Pv+PM+PN) categorized as per the priority levels as shown in Fig. 7a. The priority levels are categorized into four levels of criticality comprising an extremely critical level (PE), a very critical level (Pv), a moderately critical level (PM) and a non-critical level (PN).

In an embodiment, the priority levels may be assigned by the user in accordance with the criticality of the power loads. In an embodiment, the least critical nodes are turned-off initially and other power slabs are turned-off in a gradual way by the NSC 103. Thereafter the most critical node is assigned as the highest priority level and the power of appliances is turned-off at the very last. The turning-off of power appliances is based on a priority level which is defined by a hierarchical identifier number of each power load. The power management strategy realized in the NSC 103 functions as a master controller of the nanogrid power distribution system, by means of an iron-grip over the energy consumption level of electronic devices connected to the nanosocket 111 device. The data from the nanosocket 111 device comprises total power consumption and a priority identification number, wherein the obtained data is instantly monitored and sent to the NSC 103 through CAN 113 bus data line.

In an embodiment, a power management algorithm is used to limit the power consumed by the power loads connected to the DC nanogrid to a maximum allowable power limit (say, PAllowe). The PA11owed is decided by the NSC 103 using NSC's energy schedule algorithm based on the energy available from renewable energy, storage battery unit 109 and the grid availability. The energy scheduling algorithm acquires the power data from each nanosocket 111 device node and updates it instantaneously using the CAN 111 communication interface. Further, the algorithm calculates the total power consumption (Potat)of the entire nanosocket 111 groups connected to power appliances. When the total power consumed by the power loads exceeds the maximum allowed power limit (say, - PE + PE + Pm PA11Od < Protat), then the

NSC 103 turns-off the largest power consuming load from the least priority power slab (say, non-critical power slab - PN) as shown in Fig. 7b-7d. The gradual turning-ON procedure of the nanosocket 111 devices is also included in the power management algorithm for ensuring the optimum usage of available power. In the turn-ON process, in addition to the priority level of the nanosocket 111 device, the average power from the Store Parameters Registers (SPR) of each nanosocket 111 device is also taken into consideration.

In an embodiment, the turning-on function will be run if any nanosocket 111 device is switched off, for an instance, when the allowable power is more than total power. Since no instantaneous power is available in the power OFF condition, the NSC 103 retrieves the average power profile logged in each nanosocket 111 device to manipulate the turn-on process of the power appliances (Fig. 7e). During the turn-ON process of the power appliances, the extreme critical power slab (say PE) has the first priority and non-critical power slab (say PN) has the least priority. Hence, the priority-based scheduling algorithm is followed in turn-ON power appliances operation also.

Fig. 8 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for power management in a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated in Fig. 8, the method comprises one or more blocks for illustrating power management in a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system. The method may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. Generally, computer executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types.

The order in which the method is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof

At block 801, the method comprises distributing, by a nanosocket 111 device, power load to at least one of a Nanogrid System Controller (NSC) 103 and power appliances after receiving a user input for initiating a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system. As an example, the nanosocket 111 devices (say, 111, 111i2, ... I11) receive user input from the distribution unit 101 for initiating a 48V DC bus and distributing the received power load to NSC 103 along with power appliances (say desktop computer, TV, fan, lights).

At block 803, the method comprises monitoring, by the nanosocket 111 device, the distributed power load among the power appliances to obtain a real-time status information related to a total power consumption by the power appliances. The real-time status information includes, without limiting to, the total power consumption of the power appliances, voltage operation mode and current operation mode of the power appliances. Further, the real-time status information is updated back to NSC 103 through the CAN 113 communication interface.

At block 805, the method comprises determining, by the nanosocket 111 device, the total power consumption by each of the power appliances based on the real-time status information. The total power consumption is based on the individual power appliances connected to the nanosocket111devices.

At block 807, the method comprises controlling, by the nanosocket 111 device, one or more conditions based on the power consumption for managing the power distribution system, wherein one or more conditions are related to activation of power appliances. The one or more conditions are turn-OFF power appliances and turn-ON power appliances of nanogrid power distribution system based on a priority level. Further, the priority levels are categorized into four levels of criticality comprising an extremely critical level, a very critical level, a moderately critical level and a non-critical level.

Nanogrid System Controller (NSC): Fig. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system 900 for implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the computer system 900 may be the Nanogrid System Controller (NSC) 103 which may be used for power management in a Direct Current (DC) nanogrid power distribution system. The computer system 900 may include a central processing unit ("CPU" or "processor") 902. The processor 902 may comprise at least one data processor for executing program components for executing user or system-generated business processes. The processor 902 may include specialized processing units such as integrated system (bus) controllers, memory management control units, floating point units, graphics processing units, digital signal processing units, etc.

The processor 902 may be disposed in communication with one or more input/output (I/O) devices (911 and 912) via I/O interface 901. TheI/O interface 901 may employ communication protocols/methods such as, without limitation, audio, analog, digital, stereo, IEEE-1394, serial bus, Universal Serial Bus (USB), infrared, PS/2, BNC, coaxial, component, composite, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), Radio Frequency (RF) antennas, S-Video, Video Graphics Array (VGA), IEEE 802.n /b/g/n/x, Bluetooth, cellular (e.g., Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), Global System For Mobile Communications (GSM), Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or the like), etc. Using the I/O interface 901, the computer system 900 may communicate with one or more I/O devices 911 and 912. The computer system 900 may receive data from image capturing unit 901 and edge detection unit 903.

In some embodiments, the processor 902 may be disposed in communication with a communication network 909 via a network interface 903. The network interface 903 may communicate with the communication network 909. The network interface 903 may employ connection protocols including, without limitation, direct connect, Ethernet (e.g., twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), token ring, IEEE 802.1la/b/g/n/x, etc.

The communication network 909 can be implemented as one of the several types of networks, such as intranet or Local Area Network (LAN) and such within the organization. The communication network 909 may either be a dedicated network or a shared network, which represents an association of several types of networks that use a variety of protocols, for example, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), etc., to communicate with each other. Further, the communication network 909 may include a variety of network devices, including routers, bridges, servers, computing devices, storage devices, etc.

In some embodiments, the processor 902 may be disposed in communication with a memory 905 (e.g., RAM 913, ROM 914, etc. as shown in Fig. 9) via a storage interface 904. The storage interface 904 may connect to memory 905 including, without limitation, memory drives, removable disc drives, etc., employing connection protocols such as Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), IEEE-1394, Universal Serial Bus (USB), fiber channel, Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), etc. The memory drives may further include a drum, magnetic disc drive, magneto-optical drive, optical drive, Redundant Array of Independent Discs (RAID), solid-state memory devices, solid-state drives, etc.

The memory 905 may store a collection of program or database components, including, without limitation, user /application 906, an operating system 907, a web browser 908, mail client 915, mail server 916, web server 917 and the like. In some embodiments, computer system 900 may store user /application data 906, such as the data, variables, records, etc. as described in this invention. Such databases may be implemented as fault-tolerant, relational, scalable, secure databases such as Oracle* or Sybase*.

The operating system 907 may facilitate resource management and operation of the computer system 900. Examples of operating systems include, without limitation, APPLE MACINTOSH© OS X, UNIX©, UNIX-like system distributions (E.G., BERKELEY SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTIONTM (BSD), FREEBSD TM ,NETBSD TM , OPENBSD T M, etc.), LINUX DISTRIBUTIONSTM (E.G., RED HATTM, UBUNTU , KUBUNTU TM, etc.), IBMTM TM

OS/2, MICROSOFTTM WINDOWSTM (XPTM, VISTATM/7/8, 10 etc.), APPLE IOSTM,

TM GOOGLE* ANDROID , BLACKBERRY© OS, or the like. A user interface may facilitate display, execution, interaction, manipulation, or operation of program components through textual or graphical facilities. For example, user interfaces may provide computer interaction interface elements on a display system operatively connected to the computer system 900, such as cursors, icons, check boxes, menus, windows, widgets, etc. Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) may be employed, including, without limitation, APPLE MACINTOSH© operating systems, IBMTM OS/2, MICROSOFTTM WINDOWSTM (XPTM, VISTAT/7/8, 10 etc.), Unix© X Windows, web interface libraries (e.g., AJAX T M , DHTML TM, ADOBE* FLASH T M

, JAVASCRIPT T M, JAVATM, etc.), or the like.

Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be utilized in implementing embodiments consistent with the present invention. A computer-readable storage medium refers to any type of physical memory on which information or data readable by a processor may be stored. Thus, a computer-readable storage medium may store instructions for execution by one or more processors, including instructions for causing the processor(s) to perform steps or stages consistent with the embodiments described herein. The term "computer-readable medium" should be understood to include tangible items and exclude carrier waves and transient signals, i.e., non-transitory. Examples include Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, hard drives, Compact Disc (CD) ROMs, Digital Video Disc (DVDs), flash drives, disks, and any other known physical storage media.

Advantages of the present disclosure:

In an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a device and a method for power management in a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system using a nanosocket device.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure helps in controlling the power consumed by the power appliances installed in the building using a priority-based controlling mechanism.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure is extremely useful in controlling, regulating, monitoring and managing the power sources and the power loads in the system.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure discloses CAN-based networking which supports easy integration or adding of new devices to the network without any change in the network configuration. The terms "an embodiment", "embodiment", "embodiments", "the embodiment", "the embodiments", "one or more embodiments", "some embodiments", and "one embodiment" mean "one or more (but not all) embodiments of the invention(s)" unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms "including", "comprising", "having" and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to", unless expressly specified otherwise.

The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms "a", "an" and "the" mean "one or more", unless expressly specified otherwise.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the invention.

When a single device or article is described herein, it will be clear that more than one device/article (whether they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein (whether they cooperate), it will be clear that a single device/article may be used in place of the more than one device or article or a different number of devices/articles may be used instead of the shown number of devices or programs. The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of the invention need not include the device itself.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based here on.

Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Referral Numerals:

Reference Number Description 101 Distribution Unit 103 Nanogrid System Controller 105 Nanogrid Power Converter 107 Solar MPPT Charger 109 Battery Unit 111 Nanosocket 113 CAN Bus 301 Nanosocket Controller 900 Computer System 901 I/O Interface of the exemplary computer system 902 Processor of the exemplary computer system 903 Network interface 904 Storage interface 905 Memory of the exemplary computer system 906 User /Application 907 Operating system 908 Web browser 909 Communication network 911 Input devices 912 Output devices 913 RAM 914 ROM 915 Mail Client

916 Mail Server 917 Web Server

Claims (15)

We Claim:

1. A device for power management in a Direct Current (DC) nanogrid power distribution system, the device comprising: at least one nanosocket device positioned between a power distribution unit and a power appliance unit for controlling and monitoring power appliances used in a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system; at least one Nanogrid System Controller (NSC) configured to supervise power control in the 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system; a Control Area Network (CAN) communication interface used to communicate with the at least one NSC for transmitting real-time status information of the power appliances; an automatic network address setting module configured to assign a unique network address to each nanosocket device; and at least one power load controller configured to manage power load connected to the 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one nanosocket device comprises one or more Solid State Relays (SSRs), a microcontroller, a sensor module, a manual control switch, CAN communication interface, at least one priority selection switch, an automatic network address setting module, and a DC-to-DC power converter.

3. The device as claimed in claim 2, wherein at least two SSRs are used to connect the power appliances and at least two SSRs are used to disconnect the power appliances based on input from a sensor module.

4. The device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the microcontroller is used for supervising and controlling the 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system, and the CAN communication interface is used for external connection between the at least one nanosocket device and at least one NSC.

5. The device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least one priority selection switch is used to determine a classification of the power appliances based on the power loads on each of the power appliances.

6. The device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the sensor module includes a current sensor module and a voltage sensor module, wherein a total power consumption of the power appliances is calculated using an instantaneous current and voltage data obtained from the sensor module.

7. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the nanosocket device is configured with a power rating ranging from 125 W to 500 W depending on the total power consumption on each of the power appliances.

8. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the real-time status information includes, the total power consumption of the power appliances, voltage operation mode and current operation mode of the power appliances.

9. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the NSC is further configured to run a power management algorithm and manage the nanosocket device using the CAN communication interface.

10. The device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the power management algorithm is based on priority-based scheduling of power load through the NSC, wherein the priority based scheduling is designed to maintain an optimal balance between actual power demand for the power appliances and a total DC power availability.

11. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the NSC is further configured to determine the number of nanosockets available in the DC nanogrid and assign a network address to each of the nanosockets for initialization of each of the nanosockets.

12. A method for power management in a Direct Current (DC) nanogrid power distribution system, the method comprising: distributing, by a nanosocket device, power load to at least one of a Nanogrid System Controller (NSC) and power appliances after receiving a user input for initiating a 48V DC nanogrid power distribution system; monitoring, by the nanosocket device, the distributed power load among the power appliances to obtain a real-time status information related to a total power consumption by the power appliances; determining, by the nanosocket device, the total power consumption by each of the power appliances based on the real-time status information; and controlling, by the nanosocket device, one or more conditions based on the power consumption for managing power distribution system, wherein one or more conditions are related to activation of power appliances.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein one or more conditions are turn-OFF power appliances and turn-ON power appliances of nanogrid power distribution system based on a priority level.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the priority level is categorized based on the total power consumption by the power appliances.

15. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the priority levels are categorized into four levels of criticality comprising an extremely critical level, a very critical level, a moderately critical level and a non-critical level.