EP4470081A1

EP4470081A1 - Smart energy management and supervisory control system

Info

Publication number: EP4470081A1
Application number: EP23702552.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Xiongwei Liu
Original assignee: Entrust Smart Home Microgrid Ltd
Current assignee: ENTRUST MICROGRID LTD
Priority date: 2022-02-18
Filing date: 2023-01-27
Publication date: 2024-12-04
Also published as: WO2023156172A1; CN118749167A; GB202202220D0; GB2615789A

Abstract

Smart Energy Management and Supervisory Control System In a first aspect, this specification describes a smart energy management and supervisory control system for use with a local energy system installed with a plurality of energy smart appliances, ESAs, and at least one smart metering system, the smart energy management and supervisory control system configured to: cause each of the plurality of ESAs to operate in a first, predetermined, operation mode with associated parameters; receive information indicative of (i) operation performance of each of the plurality of ESAs and (ii), from the at least one smart metering system, energy consumption of the local energy system; generate supervisory control signals for the plurality of ESAs based at least in part on the received information, wherein the supervisory control signals cause a given ESA to operate in a second operation mode with specific parameters corresponding, at least in part, to the received information; and transmit, to each of the plurality of ESAs, the supervisory control signals.

Description

Smart Energy Management and Supervisory Control System

Field

The present specification relates to apparatuses, methods, and computer readable instructions of a smart energy management and supervisory control system for use with a local energy system installed with a plurality of energy smart appliances (ESAs).

Background

Local energy systems comprise at least one energy supply and a plurality of appliances which make use of energy from the energy supply. As an example of a local energy system, a residential property maybe supplied with energy in the form of electricity and natural gas via mains distribution networks (e.g. a national grid), and may use the energy to power lighting appliances such as LED lights, heating appliances such as boilers, cooking appliances such as ovens, and other appliances such as air conditioners (e.g. HVAC systems) and electric vehicle (EV) chargers. In some cases, local energy systems may include means for generating and storing energy, such as photovoltaic (PV) systems, wind turbines and batteries.

Local energy systems may also include a smart meter, which can provide automatic meter readings of the energy used by the local energy system, and provide these to, for instance, energy suppliers associated with the local energy system. The smart meter may also receive pricing or tariff information. In some cases, the smart meter is associated with an in-home display (IHD) which can display the meter readings and the pricing or tariff information.

Typically, energy is supplied to local energy systems “on demand”, and thus there is limited ability to balance supply and demand on the “grid” (i.e. mains distribution networks). However, Demand Side Response (DSR) communications can be used to cause energy smart appliances (ESAs) to modulate or shift their energy consumption, and thus, to some extent, balance demand with available supply.

Summary

In a first aspect, this specification describes a smart energy management and supervisory control system for use with a local energy system installed with a plurality of energy smart appliances, ESAs, and at least one smart metering system, the smart energy management and supervisory control system configured to: cause each of the plurality of ESAs to operate in a first, predetermined, operation mode with associated parameters; receive information indicative of (i) operation performance of each of the plurality of ESAs and (ii), from the at least one smart metering system, energy consumption of the local energy system; generate supervisory control signals for the plurality of ESAs based at least in part on the received information, wherein the supervisory control signals cause a given ESA to operate in a second operation mode with specific parameters corresponding, at least in part, to the received information; and transmit, to each of the plurality of ESAs, the supervisory control signals. The information indicative of operation performance may comprise data regarding one or more of: current performance of the respective ESA, and historical performance of the respective ESA, and wherein the information indicative of energy consumption of the local energy system may comprise current and/or historical consumption of the local energy system .

The smart energy management and supervisory control system may comprise a local device installed in the local energy system, wherein the causing, receiving, generating and transmitting are performed locally by the local device. The local device may be further configured to: receive, from an energy supplier, information indicative of an availability of energy, wherein generating the supervisory control signals may be further based on the information indicative of an availability of energy. The local device maybe further configured to: receive a demand side response, DSR, request from an information system of a DSR service provider or a DSR broker; wherein generating the supervisory control signals may be further based on the DSR request. The local device may be further configured to: determine an actual DSR contribution from each of the ESAs; report the actual DSR contributions to the information system; and receive, from the information system, credit based on the actual DSR contributions. The smart energy management and supervisory control system may comprise a local device installed in the local energy system and a remote system, wherein the generating maybe performed by the remote system.

The remote system may be further configured to access additional information, and generating the supervisory control signals may be further based on the additional information. The additional information may include at least one of: weather forecast information, DSR request information and/or energy network information from an energy network operator, and, from the smart metering system or an information system of an electricity market, information indicative of an availability of energy. The remote system may be configured to generate supervisory control signals for a plurality of local energy systems, and generating the supervisory control signals may be based in part on coordinative control of the plurality of local energy systems.

The smart energy management and supervisory control system may comprise a plurality of local devices each associated with one of a plurality of local energy systems, and the remote system maybe further configured to: register an operator with the remote system such that plurality of local devices can be managed by the operator; receive, from the plurality of local devices, the current and historic operation performance information of the plurality of local energy systems; and report, to the operator, the current and historic operation performance information of the plurality of local energy systems.

The remote system maybe further configured to: receive a demand side response, DSR, request from an external information system of an energy network operator or a DSR service broker; determine the DSR capacity for the local energy system based on a DSR capacity of each of the plurality of ESAs and the constraints limiting the DSR capacity from each of the plurality of ESAs and the local energy system; report the calculated DSR capacity for the local energy system to the external information system; and determine, based on the determined DSR capacity for the local energy system, whether to action the DSR request. When it is determined to action the DSR request, generating the supervisory control signals may be further based on the DSR request and the calculated DSR capacity for the local energy system.

The remote system maybe further configured to: access weather forecast information and installed renewable energy system information; and generate a renewable energy production forecast profile for the local energy system based on the weather forecast information and the installed renewable energy system information. Generating the supervisory control signals may be further based on the renewable energy production forecast profile. The installed renewable energy system information may be determined based on historical data which comprises historic energy generation data and associated weather information data. The remote system maybe further configured to: access weather forecast information and historic energy consumption data for the local energy system; and generate an energy demand forecast profile for each ESA and the local energy system overall based on the weather forecast information and the historic energy consumption data.

Generating the supervisory control signals may be further based on the energy demand forecast profile.

The remote system maybe further configured to: receive, from an energy supplier associated with the local energy system, information indicative of an availability of energy, wherein generating the supervisory control signals may be further based on the information indicative of an availability of energy.

The remote system maybe further configured to: receive, from an information system of a regulated electricity market, information indicative of an availability of energy, wherein generating the supervisory control signals may be further based on the information indicative of an availability of energy.

The remote system may be configured to allow the local device to trade energy with the remote system.

The supervisory control signals may be generated in order to modify the load shifting schedule and/ or power modulation profile of each of the plurality of ESAs. In a second aspect, this specification describes a method of a smart energy management and supervisory control system for use with a local energy system installed with a plurality of energy smart appliances, ESAs, and at least one smart metering system, the method comprising: causing each of the plurality of ESAs to operate in a first, predetermined, operation mode with associated parameters; receiving information indicative of (i) operation performance of each of the plurality of

ESAs and (ii), from the at least one smart metering system, energy consumption of the local energy system; generating supervisory control signals for the plurality of ESAs based at least in part on the received information, wherein the supervisory control signals cause a given ESA to operate in a second operation mode with specific parameters corresponding, at least in part, to the received information, and transmitting, to each of the plurality of ESAs, the supervisory control signals. The method of the second aspect may further comprise any of the operations described with reference to the system of the first aspect. In a third aspect, this specification describes a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform any method described with reference to the second aspect. Brief Description of the Figures

For a more complete understanding of the apparatuses, methods and computer readable instructions described herein, reference is now made to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying Figures, in which: Figure 1 illustrates an example of an arrangement in which the smart energy management and supervisory control system may be used with a local energy system; Figure 2 illustrates an example of an arrangement in which the smart energy management and supervisory control system may be used with a local energy system; Figure 3 illustrates an example of an arrangement in which the smart energy management and supervisory control system may be used with a local energy system; Figures 4 and 5 illustrate various process flows and operations which may be performed by the various entities of the arrangements shown in Figures 1 to 3;

Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method performed by the smart energy management and supervisory control system;

Figure 7 is a schematic illustration of an example configuration of a computer system utilised to provide one or more of the operations described herein.

Detailed Description

In the description and drawings, like reference numerals may refer to like elements throughout.

This application describes systems and techniques for providing a smart energy management and supervisory control system for use with a local energy system installed with a plurality of energy smart appliances (ESAs). The smart energy management and supervisory control system may allow coordinative control of a plurality of ESAs to influence energy demand and supply both from a local energy system, and across a plurality of local energy systems, according to various factors. The smart energy management and supervisory control system may also provide flexibility for the various entities involved in supplying energy to a local energy system (e.g. to balance supply and demand on the grid). In this way, use of the smart energy management and supervisory control system may reduce or prevent instances of “black outs” on the energy grid (e.g. from demand on the grid exceeding supply) and instances of unused energy on the energy grid being wasted (e.g. from supply exceeding demand). Furthermore, the smart energy management and supervisory control system may allow demand/supply on the energy grid (as well energy stored by battery storage) to increase and decrease according to renewable energy source generation, which may be relatively volatile. This may prevent or reduce instances of other, non-renewable, sources from needing to come online to meet the demand on the energy grid. As such, the smart energy management and supervisory control system may allow for better utilisation of renewable energy and thereby reduce carbon emissions.

In some examples, the smart energy management and supervisory control system may be provided with energy unit price information. As such, the smart energy management and supervisory control system may minimise energy bills and/or maximise revenue from energy exportation for the owner of the local energy system.

Figure 1 illustrates an example of an arrangement 100 in which the smart energy management and supervisory control system maybe used with a local energy system. As illustrated in Figure 1, the smart energy management and supervisory control system may be provided as a local device 101 installed in a local energy system, and a user application 103 may also be provided. As also illustrated in Figure 1, the arrangement 100 may comprise a plurality of ESAs (e.g. hot water cylinder with immersion heater 110A, heat pumping system 110B, EV charger 110C, PV system 110D, low voltage battery storage 110E, an inverter 110 F, etc.), a smart metering system (e.g. smart meter 121 and/or smart load meter 122), a plurality of external information systems (e.g. DSR service provider 130A, Energy supplier 130B, etc.), and a supply of energy (e.g. energy grid 140).

The local device 101 maybe configured to provide the smart energy management and supervisory control system for the local energy system. The local device 101 may comprise an embedded control system. For instance, the local device 101 maybe configured as a computer system as described in relation to Figure 7.

The local device 101 may comprise a touch screen display to allow user interaction with the local device 101. Additionally or alternatively, the local device 101 may comprise one or more other input/output mechanisms to allow user interaction, such as physical controls (e.g. buttons), microphones, speakers, etc. In some instances, the user may be able to indirectly interact with the local device 101 e.g. via a remote controller or another device.

The local device 101 may also comprise one or more communication interfaces. For instance, the communication interfaces may include wired (e.g. RS485, RS232, Ethernet, etc.), and/or wireless (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.) communication interfaces. The communication interfaces may also be configured with one or more communication protocols (e.g. CANBUS, MODBUS, TCP/IP, etc.).

The local device 101 maybe installed within the local energy system. As an example, when the local energy system is a residential or commercial property, the local device maybe installed within the property.

As illustrated in Figure 1, the smart energy management and supervisory control system maybe provided as a local device 101, configured to operate independently without communication with a cloud management system. In this way, the smart energy management and supervisory control system may operate without sharing potentially sensitive information with any external or cloud management systems. As such, this configuration of the smart energy management and supervisory control system may provide improved security and privacy for the user.

As further illustrated in Figure 1, the smart energy management and supervisory control system may comprise a user application 103. For instance, the user application 103 may be provided as an application installed on a user device (e.g. smart phone device, tablet computer, desktop computer, laptop computer, smart speaker, etc.), and/or as a web application accessible with a user device. The user application 103 may enable the user to access the smart energy management and supervisory control system remotely. User interaction with the user application 103 ^may be communicated with the smart energy management and supervisory control system (in this case, the local device 101), for instance via a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection. In this way, the local device 101 itself need not include means by which the user can directly interact with the local device 101, and the user is enabled to interact with the smart energy management and supervisory control system remotely (from both the local device 101 and the local energy system).

In some examples, such as in the arrangement 100 illustrated in Figure 1, the user application 103 may communicate directly with the local device, and communication with external servers (e.g. a cloud system) may not be required. In this way the user application 103 may operate like a traditional remote controller.

In some other examples, such as in the arrangements illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, as described below, the user application 103 may be configured to interact with the smart energy management and supervisory control system remotely via one or more external cloud systems (e.g. a remote system as described throughout this specification). For instance, a user account of the user stored by a remote system may be associated with a particular local device 101. As such, the user can access the particular local device 101 through the user account on the user application 103 via the remote system. It will be appreciated that a user account may be associated with multiple local devices 101 installed in different local energy systems, such that the user can interact with the local devices 101 installed at each respective local energy system.

As further illustrated in Figure 1, the local device 101 may be in communication with a plurality of ESAs, via the communication interfaces of the local device 101. It will be appreciated that the ESAs depicted in Figure 1 are merely examples, and that the smart energy management and supervisory control system may operate with some, all or none of the ESAs depicted, or indeed with any number of ESAs not depicted, at any given time. In some instances, different communication protocols may be used for communication with different ESAs.

The plurality of ESAs may include, for example, a heat pumping system 110B (such as an air source heat pump, a water source heat pump, a ground source heat pump, etc.), an EV charger 110C, an energy storage system (such as battery storage 110E, hot water cylinder 110A, phase change material heat storage, ice storage, or other energy storage device, etc.), an inverter 110F (e.g. a hybrid inverter for solar PV 110D and battery storage 110E, an inverter for solar PV 110D, an inverter for battery storage 110E, etc.), a washing machine, a tumble dryer, a refrigerator or freezer. It will be appreciated that this list is not exhaustive, and in principle, any suitable ESA maybe used with the smart energy management and supervisory control system. An ESA can be either DC- powered or AC-powered. The controls of the ESAs (power and energy flow management) may also be different, depending on the functionality provided by the ESAs.

Each of the ESAs may be configured to operate in a number of predetermined operation modes. Each of the operation modes may be configured with a set of associated parameters. As an example, an air conditioning system maybe configured to operate in a max power operation mode, a comfort operation mode and a night/sleeping operation mode, each having parameters defining, for instance, a maximum temperature or a fan speed. In some cases, the operation modes and associated parameters may be defined by the manufacturer of the ESA.

The smart energy management and supervisory control system (in this case, the local device 101) maybe configured to pre-set each connected ESA’s operation mode and associated parameters. For instance, a user may determine the desired operation mode of each ESA, input the desired operation mode of each ESA to the local device 101 (e.g. via a touch screen display of the local device 101 or a user application 103), and the local device 101 may cause the ESAs to operate in the desired operation mode (e.g. by transmitting control signals to the ESAs). In addition, the user may change the operation mode of any of the ESAs at any time following the same process. Equally, the user can modify the parameters associated with the operation modes in the same way.

As described in detail later in the specification, the smart energy management and supervisory control system may automatically adjust the parameters and/or operation mode of the ESAs by transmitting supervisory control signals to the ESAs. For instance, following the example above, the local device 101 may initially cause the air conditioning system to operate in a comfort mode with a first maximum temperature parameter and a first fan speed parameter (e.g. according to a user input), and the local device 101 may subsequently automatically (e.g. without the user’s input) cause the air conditioning system to operate in the comfort mode with a second maximum temperature parameter and a second fan speed parameter. For each operation mode of an ESA, the user may be provided with the ability to restrict the associated parameter range, such that the smart energy management and supervisory control system cannot adjust parameters of an operation mode outside of the restricted parameter range. In other words, the smart energy management and supervisory control system may be configured to adjust the associated parameters of an operation mode within the parameter range set by the user.

The smart energy management and supervisory control system may also facilitate performance monitoring and reporting of the ESAs. For each type of ESA, a set of function and/ or performance parameters may be defined for the performance monitoring and reporting. Further, historic “accumulated” performance of the ESAs may also be monitored by the local device 101. For instance, the ESAs may track their own historic performance and send this to the local device 101, or the local device 101 may track the historic performance of the ESAs based on instant performance information received from the ESAs over time. Additionally or alternatively, certain states of the ESAs may be monitored by the local device 101, such as on/ off states, fault states and error codes, operation modes, etc.

As an example, for a hybrid inverter, the performance information may include instant solar PV power output (in kW), the battery SoC (state of charge: in %), the inverter power output (in kW) when in inverting mode or the rectifying power input (in kW) when in rectifying mode, the battery charging or discharging power (in kW), the accumulated performance (daily, weekly, monthly and annual solar PV electricity generated by the solar PV panels, electricity inverted, electricity rectified, etc.). As another example, for a heat pumping system, the performance information may include instant electric power input (in kW), the room(s) temperature, the hot water temperatures (a hot water cylinder may have more than one temperature sensors installed), the heat output (in kW), and accumulated performance (daily, weekly, monthly and annual electricity consumption, etc.).

As illustrated in Figure 1, the local energy system may comprise a solar PV system 110D for local energy generation. The local energy system may further comprise battery storage 110E which can be charged to store energy (e.g. from the PV system 110D or from the energy grid 140) and discharged to supply energy (e.g. for use by the ESAs or to export energy to the energy grid). In some cases, the energy generation of the PV system 110D and the charging and discharging of the (low voltage) battery storage 110E may be controlled by the inverter 110F, as described below.

As illustrated in Figure 1, the local energy system may comprise an inverter 110F. The inverter 110F may be configured to convert DC power from the PV system 110D to AC power for use by appliances in the local energy system and/or for supplying energy to the energy grid 140. In some examples, the inverter 110F is configured to convert DC power from the battery storage 110E to AC power for appliances in the local energy system and also send DC power from the PV system 110D to the battery storage 110E (for instance, the inverter 110F may be a hybrid inverter). In some further examples, the inverter 110F is configured to additionally convert DC power from the battery storage 110E to AC power for the energy grid 140 (and vice versa) to allow charging and discharging of the battery storage 110E from the energy grid 140 (e.g. the inverter 110F maybe a power conversion system for charging and discharging the battery storage). As described herein, the operation of the inverter nof can be controlled based on supervisory control signals received from the local device 101.

As illustrated in Figure 1, the local energy system may comprise hot water cylinder(s) 110A, heat storage (such as phase change material heat storage) or cooling storage (such as ice storage). These appliances may be supplied by heat pumping system 110B , direct immersive electric heat, solar thermal, biomass, CHP, etc.

As illustrated in Figure 1, the local energy system may comprise an EV charger 110C.

The EV charger 110C may manage charging/ discharging of an electric vehicle (EV). In this way, the EV may be treated as a battery storage in the local energy system. In addition, the user can define a required range of state of charge (SoC) at particular times (e.g. so that the EV is ready for use as a vehicle), and also a minimum SoC (for emergency use as a vehicle). Some ESAs may have direct DSR capability. For example, an EV charger may have direct DSR capability if it is connected to an AC power grid. On the other hand, a DC EV charger may not have direct DSR capability because it is connected to the DC network of the local energy system. However, in some cases, even a DC EV charger may have indirect DSR capability/ capacity. For example, by switching off the DC EV charger, the system may allow solar PV power and/ or battery electricity exporting

(through the hybrid inverter) to the (AC) energy grid to offer the DSR service. If the solar PV power and/or battery electricity is limited, the DC EV charger may even export electricity from the electric vehicle to the DC network and then export the electricity (through the hybrid inverter) to AC power grid to offer the DSR service. As illustrated in Figure 1, the local energy system may comprise a smart metering system, such as a smart meter 121 and/or a smart load meter 122 which may be associated with the inverter 110F. The local device 101 maybe configured to communicate with the smart metering system, e.g. via wired or wireless communication.

The local device 101 may receive, from a smart meter 121, electric load information, which may include the total load (in kW) of the local energy system (e.g. load from the ESAs and any other appliances installed in the local energy system) and/ or multiple major loads (in kW), depending on the functions of the smart meter. The local device 101 may also receive energy tariff information (fixed tariff, variable tariff, Time-of-Use tariff, half hourly tariff, etc.) from the smart meter 121.

Additionally or alternatively, the local device may receive information indicative of an availability of energy from the energy grid 140. For instance, the information may reflect an energy generation and demand imbalance due to e.g. high demand at peak times or low supply at times of low generation of energy. By using this information to generate supervisory control signals for the ESAs by the smart energy management and supervisory control system, the local energy system may benefit and the energy network (the grid) may be supported simultaneously.

Additionally or alternatively, the smart meter 121 and/or the smart load meter 122 may be configured to provide the local device 101 with the total load (in kW) information as determined by the smart load meter 122 for smart supervision control of the ESAs. In some examples, the local device 101 may be configured to receive this information from the smart load meter 122 when it does not have access to a smart meter 121.

In some cases, the local device 101 maybe configured to communicate with one or more digital sensors in the local energy system, such as temperature sensors (for example, room temperature, water temperature, etc.). These sensor readings may further be taken into account in generating supervisory control signals. Additionally or alternatively, the ESAs themselves may comprise built-in temperature sensors. In this case, the temperature information may be communicated through the corresponding ESAs.

As illustrated, the local device 101 may also communicate with one or more information systems, such as a DSR service provider 130A, and an energy supplier 130B. The local device 101 may receive information from these information systems, and the received information maybe taken into account in generating the supervisory control signals. For instance, the supervisory control signals may action a DSR request received from the DSR service provider 130A, and/ or the supervisory control signals may be based, at least in part, on information indicative of an availability of energy received from the energy supplier.

Figure 2 illustrates an example of an arrangement 200 in which the smart energy management and supervisory control system may be used with a local energy system. The arrangement 200 of Figure 2 is largely similar to that described in relation to Figure 1, and for brevity, only the differences between these arrangements will be described here.

As illustrated in Figure 2, the smart energy management and supervisory control system may comprise a remote system 102. The remote system may comprise, for instance one or more servers or cloud systems “remote” from the local energy system. The local device 101 maybe configured to communicate with the remote system 102. Some or all of the information received/ stored by the local device 101, as described above in relation to Figure 1 maybe transmitted to the remote system 102 by the local device 101. The remote system 102 may be configured to generate the supervisory control signals and transmit these to the local device 101, which then passes them on to the ESAs. The remote system 102 maybe computationally powerful relative to the local device 101. As such, the generation of supervisory control signals by the remote system 102 maybe more sophisticated, and may take into account a wider range of variables (e.g. information received from a wider variety of sources).

As illustrated in Figure 2, the remote system 102 may communicate with one or more external information systems. For example, the external information systems may comprise a regulated electricity market 130E, DNO/DSO/TSO 130C (distribution network operator, distribution system operator, transmission system operator), weather forecasting system 130D (e.g. MET office), electricity/ energy supplier 130B, etc. The remote system 102 may receive information from the external information systems, such as energy price information (both for purchasing and selling), DSR requests, weather forecast information, and information indicative of an availability of energy from the energy grid 140.

As also illustrated in Figure 2, the remote system 102 may be configured to communicate with a smart metering system to receive information, such as information indicative of an availability of energy from the energy grid 140 (whether that be instant availability or projected availability), and/or price/tariff information.

The remote system 102 may communicate with a plurality of local devices 101, each installed in a different local energy system and associated with different users. The remote system 102 may store user accounts for each of the users, where the user accounts are associated with the respective local devices 101. In this way, a plurality of users can be provided with access to the smart energy management and supervisory control system simultaneously via their respective local devices 101. In addition, the remote system 102 may be able to consider information received from multiple local devices 101 in the generation of supervisory control signals, and the supervisory control signals maybe generated in a coordinative manner for the plurality of local energy systems.

The remote system 102 may be configured to enable registration by one or more operators. As compared with users, who maybe associated with a single local energy system (and its installed local device 101), operators may be associated with a (potentially large) number of local energy systems. For instance, an operator may be a demand side response service provider (DSRSP), an independent electricity/energy supplier (IES), a community operator, etc. The remote system 102 may be configured to report the overall performance of all the local energy systems connected to the remote system 102 (through local devices 101 installed in the local energy systems) which are managed by the operator.

The remote system 102 may fulfil a DSRSP role. For instance, the smart energy management and supervisory control system may receive and respond to DSR requests from an energy network operator (e.g. DNO/DSO/TSO) or a DSR service broker. The remote system 102 may fulfil an (independent) energy supplier role. For instance, the smart energy management and supervisory control system may supply the properties connected to the smart energy management and supervisory control system through the local devices 101 and participate in the electricity market. In this case, the local energy systems may be supplied by an energy supplier, or may be supplied from the wholesale energy market. For instance, for small local energy systems (e.g. domestic home energy systems), the remote system 102 as the independent energy supplier (IES) may trade with the wholesale energy market, and the local energy systems may trade with the IES. On the other hand, large local energy systems (e.g. a large manufacturer with MW scale power demand), may themselves trade with the wholesale market. Furthermore, the remote system 102 may be configured to allow the local devices 101 to trade energy with the remote system 102.

In some cases, the remote system may fulfil both a DSRSP role and an independent energy supplier role simultaneously. The remote system 102 may be configured to send a demand side response (DSR) request to the local device 101 and request a response, such as “Yes” or “No”. In case of a “Yes” response, the remote system 102 may cause the ESAs to modify various parameters of their operation, such as power demand reduction or power generation, scheduled start time and end time of an operation in an operation mode, etc.

A DSR request maybe a request for a power demand reduction (in kW) and/or a power generation (e.g. export power to the grid, in kW) from the local energy system. A DSR request may also be a power demand increase request. Positively responding to such a request positively is generally rewarded, e.g. with credit according to the DSR contribution.

A DSR request maybe an instant request (e.g. requesting an immediate action or within a short time period e.g. seconds) or a scheduled request, for example, at least half an hour ahead.

Figure 3 illustrates an example of an arrangement 300 in which the smart energy management and supervisory control system may be used with a local energy system. The arrangement 300 of Figure 3 is largely similar to that described in relation to Figures 1 and 2, and for brevity, only the differences from these arrangements will be described here. As illustrated in Figure 3, the local energy system may comprise high voltage battery storage 110G (in addition to or as an alternative of the low voltage battery storage 110E described above in relation to Figures 1 and 2). High voltage battery storages 110G typically operate above 100V (e.g. 400V) as compared to low voltage battery storages 110E which typically operate below 100V (e.g. 48V). By operating at a relatively high voltage, the high voltage battery storage 110E may operate at a closer voltage to which other DC appliances (which may include ESAs) operate (e.g. PV systems 110D, EV chargers 110C, ASHPs 110B), thereby reducing or eliminating the need for additional hardware to convert the DC voltage to be suitable for these other appliances. In addition, high voltage battery storages may provide relatively high rates of charging and discharging.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate various process flows and operations which may be performed by the various entities of the arrangements shown in Figures 1 to 3. In particular, Figure 4 illustrates various process flows and operations which may be performed by the various entities of an arrangement in which the smart energy management and supervisory control system comprises a local device 101.

In operation S4.1, the local device 101 causes the plurality of ESAs 110 to operate in a first, predetermined operation mode with associated parameters, as discussed above in relation to Figures 1 to 3. For instance, the user may select a predetermined operation mode and/or associated parameters for the ESAs 110 via user input at the local device 101 or the user application 103 on another device. Additionally or alternatively, the first predetermined operation mode and/or associated parameters maybe a “default” setting, or in other words, selected without user input. The local device 101 may transmit control signals to the ESAs 110 to cause operation in the first operation mode with associated parameters.

In operation S4.2, the local device 101 receives information from the ESAs indicative of an operation performance of the ESAs. The operation performance information may comprise a current (or instant) performance of the respective ESA (e.g. current power usage/supply, recent energy usage/supply over a given time period, current operation mode/parameters, information about current/future planned operation such as time remaining before operation is complete, etc.). The operation performance information may comprise a historic performance of the respective ESA (although it will be appreciated this may also be stored by the local device 101). In addition to operation performance information, the ESAs no may provide information indicative of specifications of the ESAs. As an example, a PV system may provide information indicating that it is a PV system, number of strings of PV panels, a total number of PV panels, a number of PV panels per string, installation orientations of each string, shading obstructions, associated inverter specifications, etc. Additionally or alternatively, the local device 101 may receive (e.g. from the ESAs no or from user input at the local device 101 or the user application 103) and store ESA specification information prior to the illustrated operations (e.g. at installation time of the local device 101 or the respective ESA no).

As an example, for a hybrid inverter, the operation performance information may include instant solar PV power output (in kW), battery SoC (state of charge: in %), inverter power output (in kW) when in inverting mode or rectifying power input (in kW) when in rectifying mode, battery charging or discharging power (in kW), accumulated performance (daily, weekly, monthly and annual solar PV electricity generated by the solar PV panels, electricity inverted, electricity rectified, etc.), etc. As another example, for a heat pumping system, the operation performance information may include instant electric power input (in kW), room(s) temperature, hot water temperatures (e.g. a hot water cylinder may have one or more temperature sensors installed), heat output (in kW), and accumulated performance (daily, weekly, monthly and annual electricity consumption, etc.), etc.

The operation performance information may also include information relating to operating states of ESAs. For instance, the operation performance may include information indicative of on/off states, fault states and error codes, operation mode, etc.

In operation S4.3, the local device 101 receives information indicative of energy consumption of the local energy system from the smart metering system 120. The smart metering system 120 may comprise one or more of a smart meter 121 installed in the local energy system, and a smart load meter 122 which may be associated with an inverter 110F.

The information received from the smart metering system 120 may comprise the total load (in kW) of the local energy system (e.g. including load from both ESAs and other appliances) and/or multiple major loads (in kW). The information received from the smart metering system 120 may comprise information indicative of an availability of energy (e.g. from the energy grid 140), as described previously.

In operation S4.4, the local device 101 receives additional information from one or more external information systems 130. As an example, the local device 101 may receive, from an energy supplier, information indicative of an availability of energy. As another example, the local device 101 may receive, from an information system of a DSR service provider or a DSR broker, a DSR request. In operation S4.5, the local device 101 generates and transmits, to the ESAs 110, supervisory control signals based at least in part on the information received from the ESAs 110 and the smart metering system 120. The supervisory control signals cause the ESAs to operate in a second operation mode with specific parameters corresponding, at least in part, to the information received from the ESAs 110 and the smart metering system 120. In some cases, the second operation mode may be different to the first operation mode. In some other cases, the second operation mode may be the same as the first operation mode, and the parameters are changed. In other words, the supervisory control signals may cause the ESAs to modify their operation mode and/or associated parameters. The supervisory control signals may cause the ESAs 110 to modify their respective load shifting schedule and power modulation profile based on the gathered information.

As an example, the local device 101 may receive information from the smart metering system indicating that present availability of energy is relatively low. The local device 101 may also receive information from the smart metering system 120 indicating that predicted availability (e.g. in an hour) of energy is relatively high. The local device 101 may also receive information from the ESAs 110 indicating that a washing machine is scheduled to run imminently, and that a heating system is currently heating a room to a target temperature of 21 degrees Celsius. Responsive to this information, the local device 101 may generate supervisory control signals to shift the washing machine to run in an hour, and to reduce the target temperature of the heating system to 19 degrees Celsius. As another example, the local device 101 may receive information indicative of an available supply of energy from one or more energy supply ESAs (e.g. from inverter 110F, PV system 110D, battery storage 110E, battery storage 110G etc.). When the received information indicates that the local supply of energy is relatively low (e.g. when the instant solar PV output is relatively low, when the battery SoC is relatively low, etc.), the local device 101 may generate supervisory control signals to cause one or more of the other ESAs to reduce or defer energy consumption (e.g. as described herein). When the received information indicates that the availability of local supply of energy is relatively high (e.g. when the instant solar PV output is relatively high, when the battery SoC is relatively high, etc.), the local device 101 may cause one or more of the other ESAs to increase or expedite energy consumption.

The generation of supervisory control signals may be further based on information stored by the local device 101 and/or received from an external information system 130. The supervisory control signals may be generated automatically (i.e. without user interaction) by the local device 101.

As an example, the local device 101 may receive a DSR request from a DSR service provider or a DSR broker. The DSR request maybe a request for the local energy system to decrease its demand for energy from the energy grid 140 for a given amount of time (e.g. because availability of energy from the energy grid is limited). It will be appreciated that the DSR request may also be a request for an increase in demand for energy, e.g. when there is a surplus of energy on the energy grid 140, or for an increase of supply from the local energy system (e.g. from PV system 110D or battery storage 110E) to the energy grid 140. Responsive to this request, the local device 101 may generate supervisory control signals to cause one or more of the ESAs to reduce their consumption of energy (e.g. pause/reduce EV charging, pause/reduce heating water in a hot water cylinder). In some examples, the user may be prompted to accept or decline a DSR request via e.g. the local device 101 or the user application 103 on another device.

In some examples, the generation of supervisory control signals may further be based on sensor data received from one or more sensors installed in the local energy system. In operation S4.6, the local device 101 receives further information from the ESAs 110. This further information may, for instance, be a confirmation that the supervisory control signals were received and that the ESAs 110 are operating in the second operation mode with specific parameters corresponding, at least in part, to the received information. The further information may indicate whether a user has overridden the supervisory control signals (e.g. by changing a target room temperature back up to its initial state, or by rejecting the change in target room temperature according to the supervisory control signals). The further information may include operation performance of the ESAs no, as described in relation to operation S4.2.

Additionally or alternatively, the further information may indicate whether the ESAs successfully actioned the DSR request, and to what extent (e.g. how much energy consumption was reduced by a given ESA). Based on this further information, the local device 101 may determine a DSR contribution from each of the ESAs no.

In operation S4.7, the local device 101 reports information to one or more of the external information systems 130. For instance, the local device 101 may provide an indication of the DSR contributions of the ESAs 110 to a DSR service provider or DSR broker.

In operation S4.8, the local device 101 receives a communication from the one or more external information systems 130 responsive to the reported information transmitted in operation S4.7. For instance, the local device 101 may receive, from the DSR service provider or DSR broker, credit based on the DSR contributions of the local energy system reported in operation S4.7. The user maybe recompensed based on the credit at a subsequent time (e.g. in terms of energy supply from the energy grid 140 or financially).

It will be appreciated that at least some of the operations described above are optional for the operation of the smart energy management and supervisory control system. For instance, in some examples, there may be no communication between the external information system 130 and the local device 101 (operations S4.4, S4.7, S4.8), and/or the ESAs may not provide further information to the local device 101 (operation S4.6).

Figure 5 illustrates various process flows and operations which may be performed by the various entities of an arrangement in which the smart energy management and supervisory control system comprises a local device 101 and a remote system 102.

In operation S5.1, the remote system 102 causes the plurality of ESAs 110 to operate in a first, predetermined operation mode with associated parameters, as discussed above in relation to Figures 1 to 3. For instance, the user may select a predetermined operation mode and/or associated parameters for the ESAs no via user input at the local device 101 or the user application 103 on another device, and this selection maybe passed on to the remote system 102. Additionally or alternatively, the first predetermined operation mode and/ or associated parameters may be a “default” setting, or in other words, selected without user input. Responsive to the selection, the remote system 102 may transmit control signals to the local device 101 to cause the plurality of ESAs no to operate in a first, predetermined operation mode with associated parameters. In operation S5.2, the local device 101 passes on the control signals received from the remote system 102 to the ESAs 110. In some examples, the remote system 102 may additionally or alternatively send the control signals directly to the ESAs 110. In some other examples, the local device 101 may generate and send the control signals to the ESAs without communication with the remote system 102, similarly to operation S4.1 described above in relation to Figure 4.

In operation S5.3, the local device 101 receives information from the ESAs 110. Operation S5.3 may be substantially similar to operation S4.2 as described above in relation to Figure 4.

In operation S5.4, the local device 101 receives information from the smart metering system 120. Operation S5.4 may be substantially similar to operation S4.3 as described above in relation to Figure 4. In operation S5.5, the remote system 102 receives the information received and/or stored by the local device 101. In some examples, the ESAs 110 and/ or the smart metering system 120 may communicate with the remote system 102 directly, without using the local device 101 to pass on information. In operation S5.6, the remote system 102 may receive additional information from the one or more external information systems 130.

For instance, the additional information may comprise weather forecast information received from a weather forecast provided (such as the MET office), DSR request information and/ or energy network information from an energy network operator, and, from an electricity market, information indicative of an availability of energy. In some cases, the energy network information provided to the remote system 102 can be used for responding to a DSR request. For instance, the energy network information may comprise information regarding the energy network infrastructure information, such as the LV (low voltage) and MV (medium voltage, e.g. around 33kV) distribution transformers capacities and their reverse power flow capacities. These capacities will limit the DSR service capacity. The remote system may store this information once received for subsequent use. In addition, this information may be updated when upgrading of the energy network infrastructure takes place and is communicated to the remote system 102.

In operation S5.7, the remote system 102 reports information regarding specifications of the local energy system 102 to one or more external information systems 130. For instance, the remote system 102 may report a determined DSR capacity of the local energy system to the energy network operator or the DSR service broker. In some instances, the determining and reporting maybe performed responsive to receiving a DSR request in operation S5.6.

The remote system 102 may determine the DSR capacity of the local energy system based on a determined capability and capacity of each of the ESAs 110 in the local energy system (which maybe e.g. based on information received from the ESAs). The DSR capacity of an ESA may depend on the specification of the ESA and its operation information. For example, for an inverter with a battery storage, the DSR capacity depends not only on the specifications of the inverter and the battery storage, but also on the state of charge of the battery storage (i.e. operation information). As another example, the DSR capacity of an EV charger with an EV connected to the EV charger may be determined in the same way.

The determined DSR capacity of the local energy system may be further based on determined constraints limiting the DSR service from each ESA and/or the local energy system as a whole. The constraints may come from the hybrid inverter capacity, which may limit the capability/ capacity of the DSR service, particularly for the DC-powered ESAs, such as heat pumps and EV chargers. There may also be overall constraints from low voltage (LV) transformers involved in the supply of energy to the local energy system (and also potentially other nearby local energy systems) from the energy grid 140, which may limit the overall reverse power flow capacity (i.e. from the local energy system to the energy grid 140). This constraint may become more pronounced when many of the nearby local energy systems supplied by the LV transformer install local energy generation systems (e.g. roof solar PV systems) since the LV transformer may not be able to handle the reverse power flow when all of the (hybrid) inverters of the local energy systems export. The reverse flow power may be limited by regulations or standards (e.g. UK standard G98 limits the inverting power of an inverter to 3.6 kW) to mitigate this issue, however, even with these limitations, the LV transformer may not be able to handle the reverse power flow. Other constraints limiting the exporting capacity may come from the AC network (energy grid 140) voltage. For some local energy systems located at a distance from the LV transformer, exporting power to the AC grid involves raising the voltage level at the local energy systems feeder. As a result, the voltage may be higher than a maximum permitted voltage limit. In this circumstance, the (hybrid) inverter maybe switched off or may be forced to reduce the power output from the solar PV system (e.g. curtailing solar PV power). This may result in a waste of solar power resources, thus representing a constraint on the DSR capacity.

In some examples, the remote system 102 may be configured to generate DSR requests itself (e.g. rather than receive them from an external information system 130). In this case, the remote system 102 may select a subset of the local energy systems registered with the remote system 102 and having a DSR capacity above a threshold minimum DSR capacity (e.g. determined as described above). The remote system 102 may then transmit DSR requests to the selected subset of local energy systems via the local devices 101 installed within them.

In operation S5.8, the remote system 102 generates supervisory control signals based at least in part on the information received from the ESAs 110 and the smart metering system 120. The supervisory control signals cause the ESAs to operate in a second operation mode with specific parameters corresponding, at least in part, to the information received from the ESAs 110 and the smart metering system 120. In other words, the supervisory control signals may cause the ESAs to modify their operation mode and/or associated parameters. The supervisory control signals may cause the ESAs 110 to modify their respective load shifting schedule and power modulation profile based on the gathered information. The generation of supervisory control signals may be further based on information stored at the remote system 102 and/ or the local device. Additionally or alternatively, the generation of supervisory control signals may be further based on information received from the one or more external information systems 130. The generation of supervisory control signals of operation S5.8 maybe substantially similar to the generation of supervisory control signals of operation S4.5, except that it is performed by the remote system 102 rather than the local device 101.

The remote system 102 also sends the supervisory control signals to the local device 101, for subsequent transmission to the ESAs 110 in operation S5.9. In some examples, the remote system 102 may instead transmit the supervisory control signals directly to the ESAs 110.

In some examples, the remote system 102 may be configured to generate renewable energy (e.g. solar PV or wind) power generation forecast profiles based on received weather forecast information and installed renewable energy generation system model for the local energy system. The renewable energy generation system model may be stored by the remote system 102 or the local device 101. As described previously, the user may input specifications of the renewable energy generation system, for instance, during installation or shortly thereafter, which may be used to generate the renewable energy generation system model. Additionally or alternatively, the renewable energy generation system model may be based on historical data of the generation of energy by the renewable energy generation system in the local energy system and associated weather data. In this way, the model may become more accurate over time. The generation of supervisoiy control signals maybe further based on the solar PV power generation forecast profiles, and/ or these may be forwarded to the local device 101.

In some examples, the remote system 102 may be configured to generate load forecast profiles based on a local energy system load model and received weather forecast information. The local energy system load model may be stored by the remote system 102 or the local device 101. The user may input specifications of the various appliances in the local energy system which may be used to generate the renewable energy generation system model. Additionally or alternatively, the renewable energy generation system model may be based on historical data of the consumption of energy by the local energy system and associated weather data. In this way, the model may become more accurate over time. The generation of supervisory control signals may be further based on the solar PV power generation forecast profiles, and/or these maybe forwarded to the local device 101.

In some further examples, the remote system 102 may generate these forecasts based on information received from a plurality of local devices 102, each installed in a different energy system. In this case, the remote system 102 may provide the forecasts to the plurality of local devices 102.

The remote system 102 may repeat operation S5.8 on a regular basis (e.g. every 3 hours). Additionally or alternatively, the remote system 102 may perform operation

S5.8 in response to information received from the one or more external information system 130.

In some examples, the remote system 102 may be configured to generate supervisory control signals for transmission to a plurality of local devices 101 each installed in a different local energy system, to ultimately control operations of ESAs 110 in the various local energy systems. In this case, the remote system 102 may repeat operations S5.1 to S5.7 for each of the local energy systems. In addition, generating the supervisory control signals may involve coordinative control of the local energy systems. Coordinative control may take into consideration the constraints of the energy network shared by the local energy systems (e.g. the power capacity of the energy network).

As an example, without coordinative control, the remote system 102 may cause a spike in demand (e.g. if it receives information indicating there is high availability of energy from the energy grid 140) by causing each of the local energy systems to increase consumption at the same time. Due to the constraints of the energy network, the energy network may not be able to accommodate such a high power demand. However, with coordinative control, the remote system 102 may ensure that the total power demand on the energy network from the various local energy systems does not exceed the constraints of the energy network.

The methods by which the remote system 102 generates the supervisory control signals may be updated over time to improve their efficacy. For instance, machine learning models used in generating the forecasts may be improved over time as more training data is collected, thereby improving the accuracy of the generated forecasts. In operation S5.10 the local device 101 receives further information from the ESAs 110. Operation S5.10 is substantially similar to operation S4.6 as described in relation to Figure 4.

In operation S5.11, the remote system 102 receives the further information received by the local device 101 in operation S5.10. As an example, the further information maybe indicative of, or used to determine, an actual DSR contribution from the local energy system after the DSR session has ended. In some cases the actual DSR contribution of the local energy system may be different from the determined DSR capacity of the local energy system, e.g. if the user overrode control of one or more of the ESAs 110.

Operations S5.12 and S5.13 are substantially similar to the operations S4.7 and S4.8 as described in relation to Figure 4, except that they are performed by the remote system 102 rather than the local device 101. As an example, the remote system 102 may report the actual contribution from the local energy system to the external information system 130 (e.g. of an energy network operator or a DSR service broker) in operation S5.12, and may receive credit for the actual DSR contribution from the external information system 130.

It will be appreciated that at least some of the operations described above are optional for the operation of the smart energy management and supervisory control system. For instance, in some examples, there may be no communication between the external information system 130 and the local device 101 (operations S5.6, S5.7, S5.12, S513), and/ or the ESAs may not provide further information to the local device 101

(operations S5.10, S5.11).

Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method performed by the smart energy management and supervisory control system. The operations illustrated in Figure 6 are described further in relation to Figures 1 to 5. The smart energy management and supervisory control system is configured to be used with a local energy system installed with a plurality of ESAs, and at least one smart metering system. In operation 600, the smart energy management and supervisory control system causes each of the plurality of ESAs to operate in a first predetermined, operation mode with associated parameters. In operation 610, the smart energy management and supervisory control system receives information indicative of (i) operation performance of each of the plurality of ESAs and (ii), from the at least one smart metering system, energy consumption of the local energy system. In operation 620, the smart energy management and supervisory control system generates supervisory control signals for the plurality of ESAs based at least in part on the received information, wherein the supervisory control signals cause a given ESA to operate in a second operation mode with specific parameters corresponding, at least in part, to the received information.

In operation 630, the smart energy management and supervisory control system transmits, to each of the plurality of ESAs, the supervisory control signals.

Figure 7 is a schematic illustration of an example configuration of a computer system 700 which may be utilised to provide one or more of the operations described herein.

For instance, the local device 101 and/or the remote system 102 may comprise one or more computer systems 700.

In the example illustrated in Figure 7, computer system 700 comprises one or more processors 710 communicatively coupled with one or more storage device(s) 730, a network interface 740, and one or more input and/or output devices 750 via an I/O interface 720.

The network interface 730 allows for wireless communications with one or more other computer systems. For instance, computer system 700 of the local device 101 can communicate with a computer system of the remote system via their respective network interfaces 740.

The one or more input and output device(s) 750 allow for the computer system 700 to interface with the outside world. Examples of input devices include user input devices (e.g. a button-type electrical switch, a rocker switch, a toggle switch, a microphone, a camera, etc.), sensors, microphones, cameras, wired communications input, receivers, etc. Examples of output devices include displays, lights, speakers, wired communication output, etc. The computer system 700 comprises one or more processors 710 communicatively coupled with one or more storage devices 730. The storage device(s) 730 has computer readable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the processors 710 causes the computer system 700 to cause performance of various ones of the operations described with reference to Figures 1 to 6. The computer system 700 may, in some instances, be referred to as simply “apparatus”.

The processor(s) 710 maybe of any suitable type or suitable combination of types. Indeed, the term “processor” should be understood to encompass computers having differing architectures such as single/multi-processor architectures and sequence rs/parall el architectures. For example, the processor 710 may be a programmable processor that interprets computer program instructions and processes data. The processor(s) 710 may include plural programmable processors. Alternatively, the processor(s) 710 maybe, for example, programmable hardware with embedded firmware. The processor(s) 710 may alternatively or additionally include one or more specialised circuit such as field programmable gate arrays FPGA, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), signal processing devices etc. In some instances, the processor(s) 710 maybe referred to as computing apparatus or processing means. The processor(s) is coupled to the storage device(s) 730 and is operable to read/write data to/from the storage device(s) 730. The storage device(s) 730 may comprise a single memory unit or a plurality of memory units, upon which the computer readable instructions (or code) is stored. For example, the storage device(s) 730 may comprise both volatile memory and non-volatile memory. In such examples, the computer readable instructions/program code may be stored in the non-volatile memory and may be executed by the processor(s) 710 using the volatile memory for temporary storage of data or data and instructions. Examples of volatile memory include RAM, DRAM, and SDRAM etc. Examples of non-volatile memory include ROM, PROM, EEPROM, flash memory, optical storage, magnetic storage, etc. The storage device(s) 730 may be referred to as one or more non-transitory computer readable memory medium. Further, the term ‘memory’, in addition to covering memory comprising both one or more non-volatile memory and one or more volatile memory, may also cover one or more volatile memories only, one or more non-volatile memories only. In the context of this document, a “memory” or “computer-readable medium” maybe any media or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer. The computer readable instructions/program code may be pre-programmed into the computer system 700. Alternatively, the computer readable instructions may arrive at the computer system 700 via an electromagnetic carrier signal or may be copied from a physical entity such as a computer program product, a memory device or a record medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD. The computer readable instructions may provide the logic and routines that enables the computer system 700 to perform the functionality described above. The combination of computer-readable instructions stored on storage device(s) may be referred to as a computer program product. In general, references to computer program, instructions, code etc. should be understood to express software for a programmable processor firmware such as the programmable content of a hardware device as instructions for a processor or configured or configuration settings for a fixed function device, gate array, programmable logic device, etc.

Although various aspects of the methods and apparatuses described herein are set out in the independent claims, other aspects may comprise other combinations of features from the described embodiments and/or the dependent claims with the features of the independent claims, and not solely the combinations explicitly set out in the claims.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes various examples, these descriptions should not be viewed in a limiting sense. Rather, there are several variations and modifications which may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. The extent of protection is defined by the following claims, with due account being taken of any element which is equivalent to an element specified in the claims.

Claims

1. A smart energy management and supervisory control system for use with a local energy system installed with a plurality of energy smart appliances, ESAs, and at least one smart metering system, wherein the plurality of ESAs comprise at least one energy supply appliance, the smart energy management and supervisory control system configured to: cause each of the plurality of ESAs to operate in a first, predetermined, operation mode with associated parameters; receive information indicative of (i) operation performance of each of the plurality of ESAs, wherein the operation performance of the at least one energy supply appliance comprises information indicative of an available supply of energy from the energy supply appliance, and (ii), from the at least one smart metering system, energy consumption of the local energy system; generate supervisory control signals for the plurality of ESAs based at least in part on the received information, wherein the supervisory control signals cause a given ESA to operate in a second operation mode with specific parameters corresponding, at least in part, to the received information; and transmit, to each of the plurality of ESAs, the supervisory control signals. 2. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of claim 1, wherein the information indicative of operation performance comprises data regarding one or more of: current performance of the respective ESA, and historical performance of the respective ESA, and wherein the information indicative of energy consumption of the local energy system comprises current and/ or historical consumption of the local energy system .

3. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the smart energy management and supervisory control system comprises a local device installed in the local energy system, wherein the causing, receiving, generating and transmitting are performed locally by the local device.

4. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of claim 3, wherein the local device is further configured to: receive, from an energy supplier, information indicative of an availability of energy, wherein generating the supervisory control signals is further based on the information indicative of an availability of energy.

5. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the local device is further configured to: receive a demand side response, DSR, request from an information system of a DSR service provider or a DSR broker; wherein generating the supervisory control signals is further based on the DSR request; wherein the local device is further configured to: determine an actual DSR contribution from each of the ESAs; report the actual DSR contributions to the information system; and receive, from the information system, credit based on the actual DSR contributions.

6. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the smart energy management and supervisory control system comprises a local device installed in the local energy system and a remote system, wherein the generating is performed by the remote system.

7. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of claim 6, wherein the remote system is further configured to access additional information, and wherein generating the supervisory control signals is further based on the additional information.

8. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of claim 7, wherein the additional information includes at least one of: weather forecast information, DSR request information and/or energy network information from an energy network operator, and, from the smart metering system or an information system of an electricity market, information indicative of an availability of energy.

9. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the remote system is configured to generate supervisory control signals for a plurality of local energy systems, and wherein generating the supervisory control signals is based in part on coordinative control of the plurality of local energy systems. to. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of any one of claims 6 to 9 , further comprising a plurality of local devices each associated with one of a plurality of local energy systems, wherein the remote system is further configured to: register an operator with the remote system such that plurality of local devices can be managed by the operator; receive, from the plurality of local devices, the current and historic operation performance information of the plurality of local energy systems; and report, to the operator, the current and historic operation performance information of the plurality of local energy systems.

11. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein the remote system is further configured to: receive a demand side response, DSR, request from an external information system of an energy network operator or a DSR service broker; determine the DSR capacity for the local energy system based on a DSR capacity of each of the plurality of ESAs and the constraints limiting the DSR capacity from each of the plurality of ESAs and the local energy system; report the calculated DSR capacity for the local energy system to the external information system; and determine, based on the determined DSR capacity for the local energy system, whether to action the DSR request; wherein, when it is determined to action the DSR request, generating the supervisory control signals is further based on the DSR request and the calculated DSR capacity for the local energy system.

12. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of any one of claims 6 to 11, wherein the remote system is further configured to: access weather forecast information and installed renewable energy system information; and generate a renewable energy production forecast profile for the local energy system based on the weather forecast information and the installed renewable energy system information, wherein generating the supervisory control signals is further based on the renewable energy production forecast profile.

13. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of claim 12, wherein the installed renewable energy system information is determined based on historical data which comprises historic energy generation data and associated weather information data.

14. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of any one of claims 6 to 13, wherein the remote system is further configured to: access weather forecast information and historic energy consumption data for the local energy system; and generate an energy demand forecast profile for each ESA and the local energy system overall based on the weather forecast information and the historic energy consumption data, wherein generating the supervisory control signals is further based on the energy demand forecast profile.

15. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of any one of claims 6 to 14, wherein the remote system is further configured to: receive, from an energy supplier associated with the local energy system, information indicative of an availability of energy, wherein generating the supervisory control signals is further based on the information indicative of an availability of energy.

16. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of any one of claims 6 to 15, wherein the remote system is further configured to: receive, from an information system of a regulated electricity market, information indicative of an availability of energy, wherein generating the supervisory control signals is further based on the information indicative of an availability of energy.

17. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of any one of claims 6 to 16, wherein the remote system is configured to allow the local device to trade energy with the remote system.

18. The smart energy management and supervisory control system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the supervisory control signals are generated in order to modify the load shifting schedule and/or power modulation profile of each of the plurality of ESAs.

19. A method of a smart energy management and supervisory control system for use with a local energy system installed with a plurality of energy smart appliances, ESAs, and at least one smart metering system, wherein the plurality of ESAs comprise at least one energy supply appliance, the method comprising: causing each of the plurality of ESAs to operate in a first, predetermined, operation mode with associated parameters; receiving information indicative of (i) operation performance of each of the plurality of ESAs, wherein the operation performance of the at least one energy supply appliance comprises information indicative of an available supply of energy from the energy supply appliance, and (ii), from the at least one smart metering system, energy consumption of the local energy system; generating supervisory control signals for the plurality of ESAs based at least in part on the received information, wherein the supervisory control signals cause a given ESA to operate in a second operation mode with specific parameters corresponding, at least in part, to the received information; and transmitting, to each of the plurality of ESAs, the supervisory control signals.

20. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 19.