GB2536229A - An Electronic Controller - Google Patents

An Electronic Controller Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2536229A
GB2536229A GB1503947.2A GB201503947A GB2536229A GB 2536229 A GB2536229 A GB 2536229A GB 201503947 A GB201503947 A GB 201503947A GB 2536229 A GB2536229 A GB 2536229A
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GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
operational
electronic controller
schedule
emissions
time
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB1503947.2A
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GB201503947D0 (en
Inventor
Ninan Daniel
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Intelligent Energy Ltd
Original Assignee
Intelligent Energy Ltd
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Intelligent Energy Ltd filed Critical Intelligent Energy Ltd
Priority to GB1503947.2A priority Critical patent/GB2536229A/en
Publication of GB201503947D0 publication Critical patent/GB201503947D0/en
Publication of GB2536229A publication Critical patent/GB2536229A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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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
    • H02J3/12—Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks for adjusting voltage in ac networks by changing a characteristic of the network load
    • H02J3/14—Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks for adjusting voltage in ac networks by changing a characteristic of the network load by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
    • G05B15/00—Systems controlled by a computer
    • G05B15/02—Systems controlled by a computer electric
    • 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
    • H02J3/003—Load forecast, e.g. methods or systems for forecasting future load demand
    • 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
    • H02J3/381—Dispersed generators
    • 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
    • H02J2300/00—Systems for supplying or distributing electric power characterised by decentralized, dispersed, or local generation
    • H02J2300/20—The dispersed energy generation being of renewable origin
    • 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
    • H02J2310/00—The network for supplying or distributing electric power characterised by its spatial reach or by the load
    • H02J2310/50—The network for supplying or distributing electric power characterised by its spatial reach or by the load for selectively controlling the operation of the loads
    • H02J2310/54—The network for supplying or distributing electric power characterised by its spatial reach or by the load for selectively controlling the operation of the loads according to a pre-established time schedule
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02A—TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02A30/00—Adapting or protecting infrastructure or their operation
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02B—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS
    • Y02B70/00—Technologies for an efficient end-user side electric power management and consumption
    • Y02B70/30—Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
    • Y02B70/3225—Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y04—INFORMATION OR COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES HAVING AN IMPACT ON OTHER TECHNOLOGY AREAS
    • Y04S—SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS
    • Y04S20/00—Management or operation of end-user stationary applications or the last stages of power distribution; Controlling, monitoring or operating thereof
    • Y04S20/20—End-user application control systems
    • Y04S20/222—Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving

Abstract

An electronic controller 114 is configured to determine an operational schedule for a first electronic device 100 based on one or more emissions characteristics of an electricity supply grid 102, the electronic device 100 having a connector 118 for receiving power from the grid 102. The controller 114 may determine, as part of the operational schedule, an operational-event start time, end time, duration and/or minimum level of emissions characteristics. The emissions characteristics may indicate a proportion of energy supplied by a type of energy source, which may be renewable, solar, tidal, wind, nuclear or fossil fuel. The emissions characteristics may comprise predicted grid emissions, which the controller may determine based on current or historic grid emissions and/or predicted, current or historic weather forecast, daylight, climate and/or tidal information. An operational-even start time may be scheduled when any of the emissions, proportion of power from a particular source, weather forecast, daylight, climate and/or tidal information satisfy a threshold level. The controller may determine the operational schedule in accordance with the operational schedules of one or more second electronic devices. The schedule may be a charging schedule and may be determined in accordance with a target charge level.

Description

An Electronic Controller The present disclosure relates to an electronic controller for automatically scheduling operational events of electronic devices, and in particular, for automatically scheduling operational events at times that reduce an environmental impact of the events.
According to a first aspect, there is provided an electronic controller configured to determine an operational schedule for a first electronic device based on one or more emissions characteristics of an electricity supply grid.
Such an electronic controller can enable the electricity supply grid to be operated in an efficient and environmentally way, and can effectively manage an intermittency of energy generation capacity by renewable energy sources, alongside energy storage options.
The electronic controller may be configured to determine one or more of the following as part of the operational schedule: operational-event-start-time; operational-event-end-time; operational-event-duration.
The electronic controller may be configured to determine the operational schedule in zo accordance with a defined-end-time and / or a defined-start-time. The electronic controller may be configured to determine the operational schedule in accordance with a definedtime-window, between the defined-end-time and the defined-start-time; and optionally also a minimum level of the one or more of the emissions characteristics during the definedtime-window.
The electronic controller may be configured to determine the operational schedule in accordance with an expected operational-event-duration The one or more emissions characteristics comprise emissions levels of the electricity supply grid and / or a proportion of energy supplied by a type of energy source. The type of energy source may be one or more of renewable, solar, tidal, wind power, nuclear, or fossil fuel.
The one or more emissions characteristics may comprise predicted emissions levels of the grid. The electronic controller may be configured to determine the predicted emissions levels of the grid based on one or more of: current or historic emissions levels of the grid; predicted, current or historic weather forecast information; predicted, current or historic daylight information; predicted, current or historic climate information; or predicted, current or historic tidal information.
The electronic controller may be configured to schedule an operational-event-start-time at a time when one or more of: emissions levels satisfy an emissions-threshold-level; a value for a proportion of energy supplied by a specific type of energy source to satisfies a proportional-threshold-level; weather forecast information satisfies a weather-threshold-level; daylight information satisfies a daylight-threshold level climate information satisfies a climate-threshold-level; and tidal information satisfies a tidal-threshold-level.
The electronic controller may be configured to schedule an operational-event-end-time at a time when: emissions levels are above an emissions-threshold-level; and / or a value for the predicted proportion of energy supplied by a type of energy source is above a proportional-threshold-level.
The electronic controller may be configured to cease an operational-event when: current emissions levels are above an emissions-threshold-level; and / or a current value for the proportion of energy supplied by the type of energy source is above a proportional-threshold-level.
The operational schedule may comprise a plurality of operational-sub-events, which together correspond to a complete operational-event.
The electronic controller may be configured to determine the operational schedule in accordance with operational schedules of one or more second electronic devices. The electronic controller may be configured to recalculate the operational schedule for the first electronic device, based on a determined operational schedule for a second electronic device.
The electronic controller may be configured to determine the charging schedule in accordance with a target charge level at one or more points in the charging schedule.
The electronic controller may be configured to periodically recalculate the operational schedule.
The electronic controller may be configured to transmit a start-up signal to the first electronic device in accordance with the operational schedule.
The operational schedule may be a charging schedule. An operational event may be a charging event.
The electronic controller may be configured to selectively connect the first electronic device to the electricity supply grid in accordance with the operational schedule.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a first electronic device comprising: an electrical connector for receiving energy from an electricity supply grid; and an electronic controller configured to: determine an operational schedule for the first electronic device based on one or more emissions characteristics of the electricity supply grid; and cause the first electronic device to operate using energy received at the electrical connector in accordance with the operational schedule.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method comprising: determining an operational schedule for a first electronic device based on one or more emissions characteristics of an electricity supply grid.
There may be provided a computer program, which when run on a computer, causes the computer to configure any apparatus, including a controller, system, or device disclosed herein or perform any method disclosed herein. The computer program may be a software implementation, and the computer may be considered as any appropriate hardware, including a digital signal processor, a microcontroller, and an implementation in read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) or electronically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), as non-limiting examples. The software may be an assembly program.
The computer program may be provided on a computer readable medium, which may be a physical computer readable medium such as a disc or a memory device, or may be embodied as a transient signal. Such a transient signal may be a network download, including an internet download.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a first electronic device that is connected to an electricity supply grid; Figure 2 shows schematically an example of a public website that shows emissions characteristics of the grid; Figure 3 illustrates schematically a supply predictor table and three operational schedules; and Figure 4 shows a first electronic device, a second electronic device, a central server and an electricity supply grid.
Figure 1 shows a first electronic device 100 that is connected to an electricity supply grid 102. The transfer of electricity is schematically shown by arrows with solid lines in figure 1. The grid 102 can receive electricity from a number of energy generating sources. As an example, figure 1 shows a renewable energy source 105, a fossil fuels energy source 106, and a nuclear energy source 108. As is known in the art, different types of energy source generate different amounts of CO2 emissions. Therefore, at any instant in time, the grid 102 can be said to have emissions characteristics, which will depend upon which of the different types of energy source are contributing to the electricity supplied by the grid 102.
The first electronic device 100 is also shown as connected to a data exchange network 104, such as the internet. Schematically, the first electronic device 100 is shown to have a receiver 110 and a transmitter 112 for communicating with the network 104. The transfer of data / information is schematically shown by arrows with dashed lines in figure 1. The transmitter 112 can transmit a request for data representative of one or more emissions characteristics of the grid 102. The receiver 110 can receive data representative of one or more emissions characteristics of the grid 102. Figure 1 also shows how data can be exchanged between the grid 102 and the network 104, for example date representative of one or more emissions characteristics of the grid 102 can be communicated to the network 104.
The first electronic device 100 includes an electronic controller 114 that can determine an operational schedule for the first electronic device 100 based on one or more emissions characteristics of the grid 102. The operational schedule can schedule operational-events that include an operational-event-start-time, an operational-event-end-time, and / or an operational-event-duration. An operational-event can be a primary function that is provided by the first electronic device 100 (such as a wash cycle, where the first electronic device 100 is a washing machine) or it can be a charging-event of a charging schedule where the first electronic device 100 is a battery charger, or has a battery that is to be charged.
The electronic controller 114 can schedule an operational-event at a time when the emissions characteristics of the grid 102 are acceptably low, or as low as possible within a given timeframe. Instantaneous and historical emissions characteristics of an electricity supply grid can be available from publicly available websites (such as https://www.ecotricitv,co. uk/our-oreen-enerovienerqy-independence/uk-gridlive and http://www.gridwatch.temolar.co.uk/ in the UK).
Figure 2 shows schematically an example of the type of information relating to an instantaneous state of the grid that may be available online as a public website. Figure 2 shows a current emissions levels of the grid of 500 gCO2/kWh, and current proportions of energy supplied by various types of energy source, in this example fossil fuels (70%), nuclear (15%) and renewables (15%).
Returning to figure 1, the one or more emissions characteristics may include historic or current or predicted emissions levels of the grid. One or more of these values may be publicly available online. If the predicted information is not publicly available, then the electronic controller 114 may determine this information using current and / or historic information. The one or more emissions characteristics may additionally or alternatively include historic or current or predicted values for a proportion of energy supplied by a specific type of energy source, for example a proportion of the electricity provided by renewable, solar, tidal, wind power, nuclear, or fossil fuel energy sources.
In some examples the electronic controller 114 can determine predicted emissions levels of the grid 102 in accordance with one or more of: * predicted, current or historic weather forecast information -for example this information can be processed in order to predict an expected contribution of wind turbines and solar panels (as examples of renewable energy sources 105) to the electricity supplied by the grid 102, which in turn can be processed to determine predicted emissions levels of the grid 102; * predicted, current or historic daylight information -this information can include sunrise-time and / or sunset-time, which can be processed in order to predict an expected contribution to the grid 102 by solar panels. The daylight information may be binary, in that it can be given a value of 1 for times between sunrise and sunset, and it can be given a value of 0 for times between sunset and sunrise; * predicted, current or historic climate information -this information can be processed in a similar way to the weather forecast information, described above; * predicted, current or historic tidal information -this information can be processed in order to predict an expected contribution of tidal generators (as another example of a renewable energy source 105) to the grid 102; and * current or historic emissions levels of the grid.
The predicted emissions levels can be associated with predefined timeframes, for example hour-long slots, such that the electronic controller 114 can schedule an operational event 15 for one or more of these predefined timeframes based on the associated predicted emissions levels.
The electronic controller 114 can schedule an operational-event-start-time at a future time when one or more of: * a predicted emissions level satisfies (in one example is less than) an emissions-threshold-level; * a value for the predicted proportion of energy supplied by a specific type of energy source satisfies a proportional-threshold-level (for example when a predicted proportion of energy provided by non-renewable energy sources is below a first-proportional-threshold-level and I or a predicted proportion of energy provided by renewable energy sources is above a second-proportional-threshold-level); * predicted weather forecast information satisfies a weather-threshold-level (for example when predicted wind speed is greater than a wind-threshold-level, or when predicted-cloud-cover is less than a cloud-threshold-level); * predicted daylight information satisfies a daylight-threshold level (for example, if the daylight information is binary, an operational-event-start-time may be scheduled when the daylight information has a daylight-threshold level of 1); * predicted climate information satisfies a climate-threshold-level (climate information may include similar information to the weather forecast information, and can be processed in a similar way); and * predicted tidal information satisfies a tidal-threshold-level (for example when a predicted tidal range is greater than the tidal-threshold-level).
The electronic controller 114 can also schedule an operational-event-start-time at a current / instantaneous time in response to a determination that any one or more of the above thresholds are satisfied by associated instantaneous information.
Similarly, the electronic controller 114 can be configured to schedule an operational-eventend-time in accordance with any one or more of the above thresholds, for example at a to time when one or more of the above thresholds are satisfied in the opposite way to that discussed with reference to starting an operational-event.
The electronic controller 114 can also schedule an operational-event-end-time (which may be at a current / instantaneous time or after a predetermined period of time has elapsed) in response to a determination that any one or more of the above thresholds are satisfied by associated instantaneous information. This can enable an operational-event to be "cut-short" based on instantaneous values for the emissions characteristics that are considered unacceptable.
In some examples, such scheduling of an operational-event-end-time based on instantaneous values can also be based on one or more other parameters including: * a first-electronic-device-operating-parameter -for example, if the operational-event is a charging event, the electronic controller 114 may only schedule an instantaneous operational-event-end-time if a current-charge-level is greater than a minimum-charge-threshold-value (for example 50%); * an operational-event-parameter, for example an operational-event-timeremaining-parameter, in which case the electronic controller 114 may only schedule an instantaneous operational-event-end-time if the operational-eventtime-remaining-parameter is less than a sufficiently-complete-threshold-value.
This can enable an operational-event to be cut short only if it sufficiently completed (for example 70% complete): and * a time-constraint-parameter -for example, an operational-event-time-remainingparameter may be compared with a user-defined-end-time. In this way, an operational-event may only be instantaneously stopped if the electronic controller 114 determines that there is sufficient time to restart the operational-event at a later time and still complete the operational-event before the user-defined-endtime.
The electronic controller 114 can also determine the operational schedule in accordance with user-information provided by a user, for example a user can input user-information by using a user input device 116 associated with the first electronic device 100. The user-information may include a user-defined-end-time. For example, a user may provide input indicative of a desire for the operational-event (which may be a charging event) to be completed by a specific time. The electronic controller 114 can then schedule the operational event, using a known value for an operational-event-duration, such that the operational event will be completed before the user-defined-end-time. Similarly, the user-information may include a user-defined-start-time that is used by the electronic controller 114 to ensure that an operational-event does not start before the user-defined-start-time. In examples where the electronic controller 114 processes both a user-defined-end-time and a user-defined-start-time, it can be considered as processing a user-defined-timewindow. In some examples, the user-defined-start-time can be automatically set as an instantaneous time at which a user provides input indicative of a desire for the operational-event to be completed by a specific time. Also, for a charging event, the user-information can include a target-charge-level and optionally a charging-end-time, as discussed in more detail below.
In some examples the electronic controller 114 can determine the operational schedule in accordance with an application-defined-end-time or an application-defined-start-time. For example the electronic controller 114 can receive an application-defined-end-time or an application-defined-start-time from alarm application software, or any other device native software. In such an example the application-defined-end-time or the application-defined-start-time can be automatically set as the time at which an alarm is scheduled, or any other event is scheduled. Further still, a user interface associated with the alarm application software can simply provide a user with a selectable option for a specific operational-event to be completed before the alarm time is reached. In this way, at least part of the electronic controller 114 functionality can be provided by the alarm application software, or by any other device native software.
The user-defined-end-time and the application-defined-end-time are examples of defined-end-times. The user-defined-start-time and the application-defined-start-time are examples of defined-start-times.
The electronic controller 114 can determine an operational-event of an operational schedule in accordance with a minimum level of one or more of the emissions characteristics disclosed herein, during a defined-time-window. For example, an operational-event can be scheduled to occur during a portion of a user-defined-timewindow that has the lowest CO2 emissions.
The electronic controller 114 can, in some examples, determine the operational schedule in accordance with an expected operational-event-duration, which may be a cycle time for some types of electronic device, and may be an expected charging time for charging-events. The expected charging time may be a period of time required to charge the device to a predetermined level (such as 75% or 100%, for example). That is, the electronic controller 114 can determine the operational schedule in accordance with a target charge level at one or more points in the charging schedule, including an end-target-charge-level. This can enable a battery to be charged to a desired charge level at the end of a charging event. Also, the electronic controller 114 can determine the operational schedule in accordance with an end-target-charge-level. In this way, for example, a charging event can be scheduled if the charge level gets too low.
The electronic controller 114 can select an operational-event-start-time and an operational-event-end-time in accordance with (i) a known operational-event-duration and (ii) known or predicted emissions characteristics of the grid 102, and optionally (iii) a user-defined-end-time and / or a user-defined-start-time. In some examples, the electronic controller 114 can schedule a plurality of operational-sub-events, that together correspond to a complete operational-event. In some cases, it can be more environmentally friendly to split up an operational event in this way.
The first electronic device 100 in this example also includes an electrical connector 118 for receiving energy from the grid 102. The electronic controller 114 can cause the first electronic device 100 to operate using energy received at the electrical connector 118 in accordance with a determined operational schedule.
Figure 3 illustrates a supply predictor table 320 and three operational schedules 322, 324, 326. The supply predictor table 320 shows a predicted portion of energy supplied to the grid by fossil fuels, nuclear and renewable energy source, for hour-long timeslots between 10:00 and 7:00. In this way, the percentage make-up of the power generation capacity can represent the emissions characteristics of an electricity supply grid.
Figure 3 shows an operational schedule 322 for charging a mobile telephone that has been set by an electronic controller in accordance with the information shown in the supply predictor table 320. This operational schedule 322 includes a single operational-event 328, which in this example is a charging-event.
Figure 3 shows an operational schedule 324 for operating a washing machine. This operational schedule 324 includes a single operational-event 330, which in this example represents a wash cycle.
Figure 3 also shows an operational schedule 326 for charging an electric car. This operational schedule 324 includes a single charging-event 332, which has a charging parameter that can be set at a plurality of values between 0% and 100%. As shown in figure 3, the electronic controller can also set the charging parameter in accordance with the information shown in the supply predictor table 320.
In some examples, a user can plug in a device, such as the mobile telephone, washing machine and electric car, and enable an "eco-auto" mode of operation. The device can communicate with a cloud server, and the cloud server can provide an "eco-auto" charge / run schedule based on an algorithm, which can provide at least some of the functionality of the electronic controllers described above, and below. Alternatively, the device can choose and set an "eco-auto" charge / run schedule independently of a cloud / central server.
Figure 4 shows a first electronic device 400, a second electronic device 440, a server 442 and an electricity supply grid 402, that are in data communication through a data exchange network 404. In this example, the server 442, which may be a central server or a cloud-based server, provides the functionality of an electronic controller 414 that can determine an operational schedule for an electronic device 400, 440 based on one or more emissions characteristics of the electricity supply grid 402.
The electronic controller 414 in this example can determine the operational schedule of the first electronic device 400 in accordance with operational schedules of one or more second electronic devices 440. For example, the electronic controller 414 can automatically schedule the first electronic device 400 such that overall, when considered with the operational schedules of the second electronic devices 440, an environmentally friendly schedule can be provided that does not over-burden the grid 402 at certain times.
Such over-burdening could otherwise increase the emissions characteristics of the grid 402.
In some examples, the one or more second electronic devices 440 and the first electronic device 400 can be associated with a common user. For example, in order to schedule a plurality of devices within a person's home. Alternatively, the one or more second electronic devices and the first electronic device can be associated with different users such that cloud-based scheduling can be provided to make especially good, environmentally friendly usage of the grid 402.
The electronic controller 414 can receive as an input, data about a number of appliances that are available to be "eco-auto scheduled". As an output, the electronic controller 414 io can push back data representative of operational schedules to each of the electronic devices.
The electronic controller 414 can recalculate the operational schedule for the first electronic device 400, based on a determined operational schedule for the second electronic device 440. For example, if a user schedules the second electronic device 440 after the first electronic device 400, then the electronic controller can potentially change the operational schedule for the first electronic device 400 such that overall the first and second electronic devices together make good use of the grid 402 in terms of generated emissions.
The electronic controller 414 can optionally periodically recalculate the operational schedule. This can enable changes in predicted emissions data to be accounted for by rescheduling one or more operational events.
In order to start an operational event, the electronic controller 414 can transmit a start-up signal to the first electronic device 400, for example via the network 404, in accordance with the operational schedule. The electronic controller 414 can transmit the start-up signal to the first electronic device 400 at an operation-start-time defined by the operational schedule. Alternatively, the electronic controller 414 can transmit the start-up signal to the first electronic device 400 in advance of the operation-start-time, such that the first electronic device 400 will start operation at the operation-start-time.
In some examples, the electronic controller 414 selectively connects the first electronic device 400 to the grid 402 in accordance with the operational schedule. For example, the electronic controller 414 can operate a switch in the power supply path between the grid 402 and the first electronic device 400 such that operation begins at the operation-starttime.
The electronic controller 414 can process a plurality of the parameters / variables described herein in order to determine an operational schedule. In one example, the electronic controller 414 can apply predetermined weightings to the plurality of parameters in order to calculate a score for starting an operational-event at various instances in time.
The electronic controller 414 can then schedule an operational event at the instance in time that has the best score.
It will be appreciated that any of the electronic controllers disclosed herein may be embodied in hardware or software, and may be co-located with the first electronic device or remote from the first electronic device 100. The functionality of the electronic controller can also be distributed between a plurality of discrete controllers / components.
Examples disclosed herein relate to a CO2-emissions minimisation Demand Response strategy for charging electrical devices and appliances, where a charging cycle (including start and finish times) is automatically scheduled by an algorithm. The algorithm can take inputs of: 1) the time required to perform an action, for example re-charging an electric car or running a wash cycle on a washing machine or dishwasher; 2) the time available in which to perform this action, for example the start time and a user selected required finish time or an implied finish time such as the wake up alarm on a phone; and 3) the present and forecast CO2 intensity of a local or national grid taken from publically available data such as the level of renewable energy sources contributing to the grid and weather forecasts.
As discussed above, the algorithm can take one, or more, or all of the inputs described above and combine them into an automated Demand Response scheduler that enables internet-connected devices to be operated when the renewable content of grid electricity is likely to be highest, that is when CO2 emissions are likely to be least within a specific user defined window of time. The algorithm could form part of a central server which takes inputs from a vast number of devices and is then able to push the optimised schedule back to all of these devices to minimise CO2 and/or manage intermittency of generation capacity by renewables alongside energy storage options such as Pumped Hydroelectric or Power to Gas. Incentives can be offered to customers who use this option.
Such a Demand Response mechanism based on a COrminimisation-strategy using forecast data which controls individual electrical machines, can improve the efficiency and environmental impact of the grid.
One or more examples disclosed herein can be implemented as an App on a smartphone, or within an embedded computer inside an internet-enabled electrical appliance such as a washing machine or dishwasher or electric vehicle, as non-limiting examples.

Claims (24)

  1. Claims 1. An electronic controller configured to determine an operational schedule for a first electronic device based on one or more emissions characteristics of an electricity supply grid.
  2. 2. The electronic controller of claim 1, configured to determine one or more of the following as part of the operational schedule: operational-event-start-time; operational-event-end-time; operational-event-duration.
  3. 3. The electronic controller of claim 1, configured to determine the operational schedule in accordance with a defined-end-time and / or a defined-start-time.
  4. 4. The electronic controller of claim 3, configured to determine the operational schedule in accordance with: a defined-time-window, between the defined-end-time and the defined-start-time; and a minimum level of the one or more of the emissions characteristics during the defined-time-window.
  5. 5. The electronic controller of claim 1, configured to determine the operational schedule in accordance with an expected operational-event-duration
  6. 6. The electronic controller of claim 1, wherein the one or more emissions characteristics comprise emissions levels of the electricity supply grid.
  7. 7. The electronic controller of claim 1, wherein the one or more emissions characteristics comprise a proportion of energy supplied by a type of energy source.
  8. 8. The electronic controller of claim 7, wherein the type of energy source is one or more of renewable, solar, tidal, wind power, nuclear, or fossil fuel.
  9. 9. The electronic controller of claim 1, wherein the one or more emissions characteristics comprise predicted emissions levels of the grid, and wherein the electronic controller is configured to determine the predicted emissions levels of the grid based on one or more of: current or historic emissions levels of the grid; predicted, current or historic weather forecast information; predicted, current or historic daylight information; predicted, current or historic climate information; or predicted, current or historic tidal information.
  10. 10. The electronic controller of claim 1, configured to schedule an operational-event-start-time at a time when one or more of: emissions levels satisfy an emissions-threshold-level; a value for a proportion of energy supplied by a specific type of energy source satisfies a proportional-threshold-level; weather forecast information satisfies a weather-threshold-level; daylight information satisfies a daylight-threshold level climate information satisfies a climate-threshold-level; and tidal information satisfies a tidal-threshold-level.
  11. 11. The electronic controller of claim 1, configured to schedule an operational-event-end-time at a time when: emissions levels are above an emissions-threshold-level; and / or a value for the predicted proportion of energy supplied by a type of energy source is above a proportional-threshold-level.
  12. 12. The electronic controller of claim 1, configured to cease an operational-event when: current emissions levels are above an emissions-threshold-level; and / or a current value for the proportion of energy supplied by the type of energy source is above a proportional-threshold-level.
  13. 13. The electronic controller of claim 1, wherein the operational schedule comprises a plurality of operational-sub-events, which together correspond to a complete operational-event.
  14. 14. The electronic controller of claim 1, configured to determine the operational schedule in accordance with operational schedules of one or more second electronic devices.
  15. 15. The electronic controller of claim 1, wherein the electronic controller is configured to recalculate the operational schedule for the first electronic device, based on a determined operational schedule for a second electronic device.
  16. 16. The electronic controller of claim 1, configured to determine the charging schedule in accordance with a target charge level at one or more points in the charging schedule.
  17. 17. The electronic controller of claim 1, configured to periodically recalculate the operational schedule.
  18. 18. The electronic controller of claim 1, configured to transmit a start-up signal to the first electronic device in accordance with the operational schedule.
  19. 19. The electronic controller of claim 1, wherein the operational schedule is a charging 15 schedule.
  20. 20. The electronic controller of claim 1, configured to selectively connect the first electronic device to the electricity supply grid in accordance with the operational schedule.
  21. 21. A first electronic device comprising: an electrical connector for receiving energy from an electricity supply grid; and an electronic controller configured to: determine an operational schedule for the first electronic device based on one or more emissions characteristics of the electricity supply grid; and cause the first electronic device to operate using energy received at the electrical connector in accordance with the operational schedule.
  22. 22. A method comprising: determining an operational schedule for a first electronic device based on one or more emissions characteristics of an electricity supply grid.
  23. 23. A computer program configured to perform the method of claim 22, or to configure the electronic controller of claim 1.
  24. 24. An electronic controller substantially as disclosed herein, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
GB1503947.2A 2015-03-09 2015-03-09 An Electronic Controller Withdrawn GB2536229A (en)

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Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20100017045A1 (en) * 2007-11-30 2010-01-21 Johnson Controls Technology Company Electrical demand response using energy storage in vehicles and buildings
US20120109394A1 (en) * 2010-10-28 2012-05-03 Yasuo Takagi Household Energy Management System
US20130154366A1 (en) * 2010-02-19 2013-06-20 The University Of Strathclyde Powering of devices

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20100017045A1 (en) * 2007-11-30 2010-01-21 Johnson Controls Technology Company Electrical demand response using energy storage in vehicles and buildings
US20130154366A1 (en) * 2010-02-19 2013-06-20 The University Of Strathclyde Powering of devices
US20120109394A1 (en) * 2010-10-28 2012-05-03 Yasuo Takagi Household Energy Management System

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