Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
  • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
  • H02J3/00—Circuit arrangements for AC mains or AC distribution networks
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
  • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
  • H02J3/00—Circuit arrangements for AC mains or AC distribution networks
  • H02J3/38—Arrangements for parallely feeding a single network by two or more generators, converters or transformers

Definitions

• the invention relates to a load balancing arrangement to allocate electrical power in an electrical supply, generation and consumption system.
• PCT Published Application WO00/79669 discloses a system for bringing into use a local generator in the event of the failure of a mains supply.
• the system has the capability of adding or subtracting loads on the generator in a prescribed order of priority, depending on the demands of the household.
• connection to the mains supply or the generator is an either/or function.
• the system has a break-before-make relay, which precludes the connection of both at the same time. There is no provision for the feedback of power from the generator to the mains supply.
• European Published Application EP 1 626 322 (Robert Bosch GmbH) deals with the distribution of power in a vehicle having a generator and a battery. Power requirements within the vehicle are prioritized so that high priority functions (e.g. lighting) will receive power in preference to low priority functions such as rear window heating and air conditioning.
• the disclosure deals with battery conditions such as amount of charge retained, age and temperature. While the generator can - at times of low energy demand - supply current to recharge the battery, there is clearly no provision for the battery to supply the generator. In the isolated electrical system of a vehicle, feed back of locally generated power to an external source of power is not possible.
• the invention provides an arrangement for use in an electrical power consumption system associated with a local electrical generator and an external electrical supply, the arrangement including electrical connections for at least two electrical appliances and a control unit comprising a comparison device to compare the amounts of electrical consumption required by different electrical appliances within the system and a power allocation device to allocate power from the local electrical generator or the external electrical supply to the electrical appliances according to specified priorities, and a user preference interface to facilitate the input of user defined data into the power allocation device, whereby the control unit can optimize usage of the power available from the local electrical generator , and when possible return power from the local electrical generator to the external electrical supply.
• the power consumption system is associated with a mains electrical supply.
• communication between the control unit and the different electrical appliances is by wireless technology.
• communication between the control unit and the different electrical appliances is hard wired.
• the local electricity generator is a micro power generation unit specifically arranged to supply the power consumption system.
• the micro power generation unit may be part of a micro Combined Heat and Power unit generating electricity or a wind turbine generating electricity, or at least one solar panel generating electricity.
• the arrangement can operate with electrical appliances configured to resume their predetermined cycle following the cut off and resumption of electrical power supply, and in this preferred form each electrical appliance may have an associated adaptor capable of sending and receiving signals from the control unit.
• the arrangement can operate with at least one electrical appliance having programmable features.
• Programmable features in the control unit may ⁇ nc
• at least one of the appliances has provision to feedback its maximum electrical consumption characteristics to the control unit, and the control unit has provision to set these characteristics as a default setting for that appliance.
• all the appliances have provision to feedback maximum electrical consumption characteristics to the control unit.
• an appliance has imprinted characteristics, and the control unit has the capability of reading these characteristics when the appliance is incorporated into the system.
• user defined data includes user priority preferences.
• the arrangement may be programmed at user's discretion to give priority to one appliance over another appliance to maximize use of electricity from the local electrical generator.
• the arrangement may be programmed to run the appliances in a predetermined order.
• There may be more than one local electrical generator, and in this case the control unit can be set to distribute electrical energy from other local electrical generators in a specified user defined order of priorities.
• control unit is supplied with a pre-defined set up programme appropriate for the category of expected usage, which can be personalized by the user preference interface.
• the user interface controls all appliances within the system .
• the comparison device has the ability to recognize different pricing regimes for mains electrical supply, and to determine whether or not to return power to the external electrical supply.
• Figure l is a schematic diagram illustrating an arrangement according to the invention as applied to a household with modern household appliances having integrated controls;
• Figure 2 is a similar diagram illustrating an arrangement for a household having household appliances without integrated controls.
• Figure 3 is a representation of an adaptor for use in the arrangement of Figure 2. Description of Specific Embodiments of the Invention
• FIG. 1 illustrates a household having a local electricity generator 10 such as a micro Combined Heat and Power (mCHP) unit, a wind turbine, or an array of PV solar panels.
• a local electricity generator 10 such as a micro Combined Heat and Power (mCHP) unit, a wind turbine, or an array of PV solar panels.
• mCHP micro Combined Heat and Power
• the exact nature of the local electricity generator is not important, but it will have the capability of feeding alternating current back to an external (mains) electricity supply 11.
• the household has numerous appliances such as a dishwasher 12a with integrated controls for washing cycles, a washing machine 12b and a tumble dryer 12c.
• Other functions within the household draw electricity from the same sources of supply. (Examples are lighting, central heating, TV, computer and computer accessories, music systems and cooking. Some of these functions may not have integrated controls, but all will run off the same power supply.)
• control unit 14 comprising a comparison device 14a and a power allocation device 14b. These are shown adjacent to the local electricity generator 10, but need not necessarily be so located.
• the control unit 14 has the capability of using Bluetooth wireless technology to derive consumption levels from all the appliances. In new housing, a hard wired connection network could be inserted in the building during construction.
• the comparison device 14a can assess the current usage in the household and the power available from the local electricity generator 10.
• the power allocation device 14b can switch appliances 12a etc on and off in accordance with the householder's preferences.
• the householder's preferences can be set using a user preference interface 15. This may be on the control unit, or, as illustrated, may be remote from the system in the form of a mobile 'phone, PC or other dedicated user interface using Bluetooth or other wireless technology.
• FIG 2 illustrates a household having older appliances, none of which have integrated controls.
• the arrangement is basically the same, with a local electricity generator 110, external supply 111, appliances 112a etc, and a control unit 114.
• each appliance to which control is to be is applied has an adaptor 117a etc.
• the configuration of the adaptor is shown in Figure 3.
• the supply 109 feeds a fixed plug socket 116, and then, through the adaptor 117, the appliance 112. In this way a house with old appliances can be set up to take advantage of the arrangement according to the invention.
• a load balancing arrangement is used in a property where power is delivered directly from the grid (mains) and supplemented by local generation, with at least two appliances connected to this system.
• Local generation presents two main ways for consumer to make savings. Firstly, power generated within the property by a local electricity generator will generate less carbon emissions than the equivalent amount generated at a coal, oil, or gas fired power plant and delivered to the consumer. Secondly, power generated locally within the property will typically cost significantly less when used within the property compared to the same amount of power when delivered via the mains.
• any power generated by local generation will be used to cover the base load of the property; if any is generated in excess of the base load it may be exported back to the grid.
• the local generator is a mCHP unit that produces 3kW of electrical power. If the base load of a property at a moment is 2kW, then of the 3kW locally generated power available, 2kW will be used to drive the base load and the remaining IkW will be exported back to the grid. However, if for example the base load on the property is 5kW, all 3kW that is been locally generated will be used to drive the base load, plus a further 2kW will be imported from the grid to cover it.
• the load balancing arrangement may also be configured to make best use of these rates if there is no locally generated electricity available.
• the load balancing arrangement will work differently depending on whether it is connected to older style appliances (rocker switch operation, hard on-off, no time delay function etc) rather than to new appliances that can communicate directly with the control unit 14/114.
• an appliance is defined as any electrical equipment that is likely to be near permanently connected to the grid within the property. The appliances are likely to be able to operate automatically. Types of appliances 12/112 include but are not limited to cookers, washing machines, tumble dryers, slow cookers, point of use heaters, dishwashers, dehumidifiers etc.
• the power allocation device 14b/l 14b can calculate how to make best use of the local power to achieve maximum savings. It will do this by giving different appliances priority and running them at different time as a result, all dependant on the quantity of locally generated power available.
• the specific examples illustrate arrangements which are not trying to regulate the amount of energy that each appliance uses for its operation, as this can lead to sub optimal performance from the appliance.
• the control unit 14/114 can turn appliances on and off, and run them at different times to regulate the load within the property, relative to the amount of locally generated or cheap mains energy available.
• a user interface module 15/115 For example, this is a separate, hand held man-machine interface that communicates with the control unit 14/114 using the same wireless protocols previously mentioned. It may also be used for other settings, such as setting the clock, adding and removing appliances, inputting energy costs etc.
• the next appliance is the tumble dryer 12c/l 12c, and this has communicated that it needs 1.5kW for lhour. Knowing that it presently only has 0.3kW of locally generated energy available, the power allocation device 14b/l 14b would wait until more was available before starting the tumble dryer. If it didn't wait, it would need to import energy from the grid 11/111, thus costing money. More energy becomes available when either the washing machine finishes or the average base load drops.
• the washing machine 12b/l 12b is put on a light wash which this time needs IkW for 2 hours. There is still the same 3.0-0.7kW of locally generated energy available so the control unit 14/114 sends the signal for the washer to do its cycle.
• the tumble dryer 12c/l 12c then communicates that it again requires 1.5kW for 1 hour. This time there is 1.3kW of locally generated energy available, so this time the tumble dryer could be run. However it would also get the requirement from the dishwasher, which is IkW for one hour. Therefore running the dishwasher leaves a little energy spare for export while running the tumble dryer leaves a little energy to import. Knowing the relative costs of these energies, the control unit will determine which one is the more cost effective to run.
• the control unit 14/114 will be able to perform other functions too, such as applying time constraints.
• a program may be run similar to those in the specific examples above, but it may be at a warmer time of year, so there could be no guarantee that the heating switches on, and hence that local energy is generated by the mCHP. Therefore a time constraint could be applied to the washing machine 12b/l 12b that requires that it must be finished before 5pm. So if, like in the above example, the heating comes on at 2pm and electricity is generated, the washing machine would run then.
• the control unit 14/114 would start the washing machine anyway so that the cycle is finished for the user selected time of 5pm.
• Another useful function is an over-ride function. If circumstances should change once appliances, priorities and time constraints have been set, the user is able to over-ride these. For example, if in one of the above examples the person comes home early and needs the items in the dishwasher 12a/ 112a to make dinner, it may not be possible as the dishwasher may not have started its cycle yet due to the load balancing and available locally generated power. Therefore a function could be included that starts any of the scheduled appliances on their cycle immediately, hence over-riding the power allocation device 14b/114b.
• the user would 'add' any new appliance to the load balancing arrangement via the user interface 115 so that the control unit 114 was aware of the new appliance.
• a basic power profile for that appliance would then be inserted into the comparison device 114a, since its actual power profile is not yet known. (Power profile meaning it requires 2kW for 3 hours for example.)
• the adapter 117 measures the amount of power the appliance uses over its cycle. The power profile for that appliance is then adjusted to these more accurate values from the basic ones now that the accurate values are known. With this information, the comparison device can now behave in the same way as described above for the new appliance.
• the load balancing arrangement is capable of balancing modes of economical operation both up and down stream of the comparison/allocation device.
• Both mains and local electrical supplies are used to their best advantage either jointly or severally. When used jointly, electricity can be exported back to the mains supply.
• the arrangement does not limit the performance of the appliances (i.e. by resulting in sub-optimal performance), but runs the appliances with no limitations when energy is available.
• the arrangement enables manufacturers to load energy requirement specifications into new appliances, so making them 'plug and play' directly into household systems.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Power Engineering (AREA)
• Supply And Distribution Of Alternating Current (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=37758885

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (10)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 2006
  • 2006-12-14 GB GB0624997A patent/GB0624997D0/en not_active Ceased
• 2007
  • 2007-12-14 WO PCT/GB2007/004823 patent/WO2008071995A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2007-12-14 EP EP07848563A patent/EP2102958A2/de not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events