NL2008691C2 - Power consumption control using real time pricing and disaggregation. - Google Patents
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Description
P31162NL00/RWT
Power consumption control using real time pricing and disaggregation FIELD OF THE INVENTION
5 The invention relates to the field of power management systems and more specifically to the field of controlling a utility supply such as an electricity supply to customers such as households, offices or the like
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
10
At present, the costs of energy consumption, e.g. the consumption of electricity, are ever increasing. At the same time, consumers, such as households or companies are urged to reduce their energy consumption, or are forced to do so via legislative initiatives. In order to enable a more efficient use of energy, devices are on the market that enable a real-time 15 monitoring of e.g. electricity consumption. Such devices are further capable of assessing the type of load is e.g. connected to the power supply. This type of assessment is e.g. known as non-intrusive utility or load monitoring. Based on e.g. a monitoring of a supply voltage (e.g. a mains voltage provided to a house or office) and a supply current, such devices may provide feedback, e.g. via a display of a user interface, on the type of load (specific appliances, 20 lighting) and the amount of power consumed by the different loads. As such, based on the sensed voltage and current, the device can disaggregate a number of loads and provide feedback to the customer on the power consumption of the different loads.
Further, devices, known as smart plugs, are on the market that facilitate power savings by e.g. disconnecting appliances when operating in standby. Such devices, which can e.g. be 25 fitted into a mains outlet, are often programmable and may e.g. have networking facilities to enable control of the smart plug or to provide data from the smart plug to a central processing unit. Such smart plugs may often be remotely controlled, e.g. from a (portable) computer or Smartphone.
As such, various devices are currently available that enable to some extent power savings or 30 provide insight in power consumption.
A drawback of the devices as currently on the market is the lack of insight in the effectiveness or usefulness of action initiates by a customer with respect to power consumption.
35 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
5 -2-
It would be desirable to provide an apparatus and methods that facilitate taking appropriate measures with respect to power consumption based on an analysis of a power consumption and which provide insight in an effectiveness of the measures.
To better address one or more of these concerns, in a first aspect of the invention, a method of managing a power consumption of one or more customers is provided, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, for each of the one or more customers, a power signal representing 10 a total power consumption of the customer; obtaining, for each of the one or more customers, an identification of one or more appliances that contribute to the total power consumption of the customer; determining a power consumption of the identified appliances based on the 15 power signals; obtaining a cost indicator representing a cost per unit energy; determining a cost per unit time for each the identified appliances based on the power consumption of the identified appliances; providing an output signal to the one or more customers, comprising the cost 20 per unit time for each of the identified appliances as power consumption information.
In accordance with the first aspect of the invention, a method is provided that provides an improved insight in power consumption at a customer.
The method is particularly suited for implementation in comparatively small consumers 25 of electricity such as households, small offices or SMEs. The method as proposed can be implemented without making substantial modifications to an existing electrical installation.
The method according to the first aspect of the invention provides in an analysis of the electric power consumed by a customer (e.g. a household or a small office) by receiving a power signal representing an electric power consumption of a customer. In an embodiment, 30 the power signal can e.g. comprise a current signal (e.g. from a current sensor) representing a current value of a total current supplied to one or more appliances. In general, in a household or an office, several appliances are operating at the same time, each consuming part of the power supplied. Many appliances are however found to have a particular power characteristic, e.g. a particular current profile that enables an identification of an appliance 35 based on the current supplied to the appliance. As such, a particular current or power profile can be considered a fingerprint or signature of a particular appliance. When such fingerprints or signatures of the appliances (or at least part of the installed appliances, e.g. the appliances -3- that are responsible for a comparatively large portion of the power consumption) are known, an analysis of a total current or power supplied to a customer can be disaggregated into different components which can be attributed to different appliances.
At present, devices are on the market that provide such a so-called non-intrusive utility 5 monitoring and can thus provide such a disaggregation and an identification of appliances that are powered. In this respect, reference can e.g. be made to UK-based company Navetas or to US 2011/0025519.
In an embodiment, the identification is based on both the current profile and the corresponding supply voltage, thus enabling to assess both the active and reactive power 10 consumed by the appliances.
Nowadays, more and more appliances (in particular lighting equipment) are adapted to receive a control signal via the power grid, i.e. applying a PLC protocol. Given this, an identification of one or more of the appliances can be facilitated; therefore, in accordance with the present invention, the identification of an appliance may also be obtained by receiving a 15 feedback from an appliance on a polling signal. In accordance with the present invention, polling (or providing a polling signal) is used to describe a probing or sampling of the power grid powering the plurality of appliances to retrieve information from the appliances. When an appliance (e.g. a lighting equipment) is adapted to receive and transmit signals according to a PLC protocol, it may, upon receipt of a polling signal, transmit a signal containing an 20 identification or identifier of the appliance onto the power grid.
Using such an identifier, (e.g. including information on the type or appliance, brand, serial number, ...) an expected power consumption or current profile of the appliance can be determined. When one or more appliances are thus identified, i.e. identified on the basis of an identifier received in reply to a polling signal, a disaggregation (i.e. an identification) of the 25 remaining appliances (if any) based on an analysis of the received current signal is facilitated. In accordance with the method according to the present invention, the power consumption of the identified appliances is subsequently determined and controlled, whereby the controlling involves controlling an operating state of at least one of the appliances by using a PLC protocol to provide a control signal containing an identifier of the appliance to be controlled.
30 In accordance with the present invention, controlling a power consumption or applying a power adjustment can e.g. refer to turning an appliance on or off or changing an operating state to a different power consumption level or rescheduling the power consumption.
Based on the power signal and the identification, a power consumption of the identified appliances is determined.
35 In accordance with the first aspect of the invention, a cost per unit time is determined for the identified appliances, based on a cost indicator representing a cost per unit energy.
-4-
In an embodiment, such a cost indicator can e.g. includes a cost schedule indicating the cost per unit energy as a function of time (e.g. a schedule indicating a cost during day-time, during night-time and/or during peak hours, etc...), or a cost signal, indicating a real time cost per unit energy.
5 In a next step, the method provides in an output signal to the one or more customers, comprising the cost per unit time for each of the identified appliances as power consumption information.
By providing such feedback, a more detailed insight is provided to the customer enabling the customer to make more accurate decisions (i.e. taking appropriate actions with 10 respect to power consumption), compared to known methods or devices that merely provide an insight in the appliances that are powered.
The output signal can be provided to the customer in various ways. The output signal comprising the power consumption information can e.g. be made available on a webpage accessible by the customer, or can be provide as a text message to a mobile phone. The 15 signal may also be provided to a display unit at the customer’s premises.
The power consumption information can be made available or accessible to the customer in a substantially continuous manner and/or can be updated at regular or particular instances. As an example of the latter, an updated output signal can e.g. be provided when a change occurs in either the power consumption or in the energy cost. In case the cost indicator 20 comprises an real time cost per unit energy, an updated output signal can e.g. be provided when certain thresholds in cost per unit energy are reached or exceeded.
Based on the outputted power consumption information, a customer is able to take appropriate measures with respect to power consumption based on objective criteria such as the actual costs or the power consumption of certain appliances.
25 In an embodiment, the power consumption information further includes a cost comparison with an earlier total power consumption of a customer.
In such embodiment, the output signal may further include information on the cost per unit time for the identified appliances of a customer as a whole whereby such information is provided for both an earlier observed total power consumption cost or compared to such an 30 earlier observed total power consumption cost. In an embodiment, the output signal may further include an indication of cost savings made as a result of certain measures taken by a customer, such measures e.g. including changing an operating state of one or more appliances.
In an embodiment, the method further comprises, for each of the one or more 35 customers, recording the cost per unit time for each of the identified appliances or the cost per unit time for the identified appliances as a whole, to establish a baseline power consumption cost for each of the one or more customers. Such a baseline power -5- consumption cost can e.g. be established by monitoring the power consumption of a customer over a comparatively long period (e.g. several weeks or even months), and storing this information in a database. Subsequently, the method as described above can be enabled providing a customer insight in its actual power consumption cost. When such information is 5 made available, and a customer acts upon the information thereby adjusting its power consumption, the effects of such adjustment can be expressed in cost savings compared to the earlier established baseline power consumption cost. Such method is an effective way of providing a clear and insightful feedback to a customer that may improve awareness of actual power consumption and power consumption cost and may result in a more effective 10 behavioral change of the customer with respect to power consumption.
In an embodiment, the method further comprises, for at least one of the one or more customers, obtaining an identification of a power generating unit of the customer. Such power generating unit can e.g. include one or more solar panels, or a wind turbine or even emergency power units such as generators powered by combustion engines or the like.
15 In this respect, it is worth noting that a battery or an electric or hybrid car or vehicle may also be considered a power generating unit as it may enable providing electrical power to the power grid when connected to the grid. As such, within the meaning of the present invention, vehicle batteries and fuel cells as used in electric or hybrid cars or vehicles are considered examples of power generating units.
20 In an embodiment, the method according to the first aspect of the invention may further facilitate taking the appropriate actions or measure by a customer.
In such embodiment, the method may further include: providing a request for a power adjustment to at least one of the one or more customers; the request including a request to manually adjust a power 25 consumption of at least one of the identified appliances or a power generating unit (when available); acknowledging the power adjustment by receiving an adjusted power signal of the at least one of the one or more customers; determining a cost savings accountable to the power adjustment and providing 30 a further output signal to the at least one of the one or more customers indicating the cost savings.
In such embodiment, a particular power adjustment can be suggested to a customer (e.g. to change an operating state of an appliance or a power generating unit).
Such a suggestion can e.g. be based on the observed and identified actual power 35 consumption and the cost indicator.
Within the meaning of the present invention, “power adjustment” is used to denote a change in power consumption of an appliance or power generating unit, with respect to amplitude of -6- the power consumption and/or with respect to timing of the power consumption. As such, a rescheduling of a power consumption of a particular appliance can be considered a power adjustment as well.
In the embodiment, a request is provided to the customer (using any available means of 5 communication) to adjust the power consumption or power of a particular appliance.
As an example, the request can include a request to turn off a particular appliance (in view of a comparatively high electricity cost per unit time), or to reschedule the powering of an appliance to a later instance.
The request may include turning on a power generating unit or increasing a power level of 10 such unit, e.g. in view of a comparatively high electricity cost per unit time. In such case, the request can e.g. include suggesting or requesting to discharge a battery of an electric or hybrid car or vehicle, instead of charging the battery, whereby the charging is rescheduled. When the customer subsequently acknowledges the request, by implementing the power adjustment, this can be acknowledged or noticed when a changed (i.e. adjusted) power signal 15 of the customer is received. Subsequently, cost saving accountable to the power adjustment can be monitored and provided as feedback to the customer.
In an embodiment, the cost savings can be obtained by comparing the actual power consumption cost (having the power adjustment implemented) with the baseline power consumption cost mentioned above.
20 In an embodiment, an accumulated value of the cost savings attributable to one or more power adjustments made can be made available to the customer or customers at regular intervals (e.g. once a week or once a month). The cost savings can be presented in a disaggregated manner, i.e. indicating, per identified appliance, the savings made over a particular period.
25 In an embodiment, instead or requesting a customer to manually adjust a power consumption, the request can include an authorization request to remotely control the power consumption of one or more appliances or power generating units. Such embodiment may thus include: providing a request for power adjustment to at least one of the one or more 30 customers; the request including an authorization request to remotely control a power consumption of at least one of the identified appliances or, when available, a power generation of a power generating unit; receiving an authorization to remotely control the power consumption of the at least one of the appliances or power generating unit; 35 - remotely controlling the power consumption of the at least one of the appliances or power generating unit; -7- acknowledging the power adjustment by receiving an adjusted power signal of the at least one of the one or more customers; - determining a cost savings accountable to the power adjustment and providing a further output signal to the at least one of the one or more customers 5 indicating the cost savings.
At present, remotely controlling an appliance can be available, e.g. using communication protocols such as PLC, Dali, Zigbee or the like, and can be applied to facilitate the implementation of a power adjustment. In the method as described, an authorization is requested to a customer to remotely control an appliance or power generating unit. Once the 10 request is authorized, the power adjustment is implemented, its effect (i.e. an adjusted power consumption) is observed via the adjusted power signal and the effect with respect to savings is reported, by providing the further output signal.
In case one or more appliances or power generating units are capable of being remotely controlled, it may be advantageous to use an authorization scheme or schedule of a 15 customer. Such scheme can e.g. indicate which appliances may be controlled. Such authorized controlling can e.g. be made conditional;
As an example, authorization can be given to remotely control a particular appliance during certain hours or periods. Authorization can e.g. be made conditional as a function of the cost per unit energy; thereby e.g. authorizing turning off a particular appliance when the cost per 20 unit energy reaches or exceeds a certain threshold level.
In an embodiment, the request for power adjustment is based on an occupancy signal or schedule of the one or more customers.
In such embodiment, the method according to the invention may thus comprise: • receiving an occupancy signal indicative of an occupancy of the consumer; 25 • assessing a necessity of the power consumption of the identified one or more appliances based on the occupancy signal; • determining a request for power adjustment based on the necessity.
In such embodiment, a power consumption of one or more appliances (whereby the appliances are identified in a similar manner as discussed above) is evaluated to establish 30 the necessity (or usefulness) of the power consumption by using an occupancy signal. In accordance with the present invention, the feature occupancy signal is used to denote information on the presence of inhabitants (in case of a household) or employees (in case of an office or the like) in the house or office where the appliances are used.
In an embodiment, this information can be generated automatically, e.g. the occupancy signal 35 being based on feedback from an occupancy sensor or other detector such as a card reader. In an embodiment, the occupancy signal can be a schedule indicative of the occupancy of the house or office. Such a schedule can e.g. be inputted (via a user interface) by a user and can -8- e.g. be in the form of a time schedule such as a week schedule indicating for each day when the house or office is occupied.
In an embodiment, such occupancy signal or information may include further details on a preferred use (or non-use) of certain appliances. Such information can e.g. include that 5 certain appliances need to be turned on at all times or can describe a preferred use of appliances in relationship with the occupancy.
In an embodiment, the current signal is analyzed over a period T and the occupancy signal comprises an occupancy schedule of the customer over the period T.
Such a period T can e.g. span several days or weeks, whereas the current signal is e.g.
10 analyzed at a comparatively high rate, e.g. once every 5 min or 15 min.
In accordance with the embodiment, the necessity of the powering the one or more identified appliances can be assessed by using the occupancy signal or information.
As an example, when the occupancy signal indicates that the house or office is vacant or unoccupied during a week-end, this information can be compared with the power 15 consumption during this week-end and, for each of the appliances powered, it can be determined if this appliance needs to be powered, i.e. the necessity of the power consumption is determined, given the provided occupancy.
By doing so, the embodiment described provides insight in the power consumption and the usefulness of this consumption and may thus facilitate the formulation of a request for power 20 adjustment to the customer.
Note that such occupancy signal can also be used as a condition to give authorization to perform a power adjustment. As an example, in case the occupancy signal or schedule indicates that the customer is absent or that part of a building is vacant, this may e.g. result in an authorization to reduce a power consumption of a lighting or HVAC appliance of the 25 customer.
In an embodiment, the step of providing a request for power adjustment is preceded by the step of determining the request for power adjustment utilizing a historical database of power consumption of the one or more customers. In such embodiment, a historical database of power consumption is used to forecast or predict a power consumption. Such an insight 30 can e.g. help in predicting a peak demand and may facilitate taking appropriate measures to avoid or mitigate such peak demand. When such a peak demand can be forecasted, appropriate requests for power adjustments can be generated and provided to the one or more customers; such requests (which may also include authorization requests as indicated above) can e.g. include requests to reduce a power consumption of an appliance, reschedule 35 a power consumption or increase a power generation of a power generation unit.
-9-
In an embodiment, the power consumption of the one or more customers is recorded over a comparatively large period at a comparatively high frequency to establish the historical database of power consumption.
In an embodiment, the request for power adjustment or the authorization request 5 comprises an indication of a cost savings that can be obtained when the request is authorized or executed. As such, the customer can receive a feedback on potential savings when the requested power adjustments (e.g. a reduced power consumption of an appliance or a rescheduling of a power consumption) are implemented.
In an embodiment, the step of providing a request for power adjustment is preceded by: 10 - receiving a request for a power reduction; converting the request for a power reduction to the request for power adjustment, based on the power consumption of the identified appliances;
As described above, the request for a power adjustment or authorization request can be based on e.g. the cost indicator, a historical database, an occupancy signal, etc...
15 Alternatively, or in addition, a request for a power adjustment can also be initiated by a request for a power reduction, e.g. initiated by a utility company, to avoid or mitigate a peak demand, in order to safeguard a power grid stability. Upon receipt of such a request, e.g. to reduce a power consumption, one or more requests towards one or more customers to address the request for a power reduction. In order to accommodate such a request, use can 20 be made of the aforementioned authorization scheme enabling a rapid power reduction by remotely controlling those appliances for which an authorization is present.
In an embodiment, the method is performed for a plurality of customers and the indentified appliances or power generating units of the plurality of customers are grouped, based on a predetermined criterion. Such criterion can e.g. be the type of appliance or an 25 authorization level. Such grouping may facilitate responding to a request to reduce a power consumption, e.g. received from a utility company.
In addition, or as an alternative, the grouping of appliances that are powered can be done on a customer level, i.e. grouping the identified appliances per type can be established. Such type can e.g. include a grouping of lighting equipment, HVAC equipment, etc...
30 In an embodiment, the method further comprises: determining a cost savings target for the one or more customers;
Such a cost savings target can e.g. be obtained by analyzing the power consumption of a plurality of customers and comparing the consumption, e.g. on a type level. Based on this comparison, a ranking with respect to energy efficiency can be derived for a plurality of 35 customers and measures can be determined for particular customers how to improve their power consumption, based on the comparison. Such measures can be formulates as a schedule of potential improvements to the customer, indicating for each improvement the - 10- potential cost savings when implemented. Such a schedule can, in an embodiment, be formulated in the form of one or more requests for power adjustment.
As such, in an embodiment, the method further includes determining the request for power adjustment based on the cost savings 5 target.
In an embodiment, whereby such a cost savings target is set, e.g. based on a peer review of the power consumption of similar customers, feedback on the progress, with respect to the cost savings target, can be provided to the customer at regular intervals, thereby indicating the actual savings made which can be attributed to the implementation of the power 10 adjustment requests.
In an embodiment, the method according to the first aspect of the invention enables an optimization of power consumption and power generation with respect to power consumption costs. Based on the cost indicator and the identified appliances and, optionally, any of the further input parameters such as an authorization or occupancy scheme, power generation 15 and consumption can be distributed over time in such manner as to optimize costs; In such arrangement, power generating units can be controlled to maximum output while power consumption is controlled to a minimum when costs are high, whereas, when costs are low, power consumption is primarily applied. In case power generating units with an energy storage capacity are available, such as car batteries (see above), such optimization may 20 further include discharging such batteries at times when costs are high (thereby reducing peak demands and saving expensive energy costs) and charging such batteries when costs are low.
In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for 25 power management that enables the methods according to the first aspect of the invention. In an embodiment, there is provided an apparatus for managing a power consumption of one or more customers, the system comprising: an analyzing unit comprising: i. an input terminal for receiving a power signal representing a power 30 consumption of the one or more customers; ii. a processing unit arranged to: • receive the power signal and a cost indicator representing a cost per unit energy; • determine an identification of one or more appliances based on 35 the power signal; • determining a power consumption of the identified appliances; -11 - • determining a cost per unit time for the identified appliances using the cost indicator; • providing an output signal comprising the cost per unit time for the identified appliances; 5 iii. an output terminal for providing the output signal to the one or more customers via a communication network.
In order to e.g. perform the method according to the first aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided that comprises an analyzing unit. In accordance with the invention, the analyzing unit comprises an input terminal for receiving a power signal representing a total 10 power supplied to one or more appliances of the customer or customers. In an embodiment, the power signal can be obtained by a recording unit. As such, in an embodiment, the analyzing unit further comprises a recording unit for recording the power signal or the current signal and providing the power signal or the current signal to the input terminal.
Such a recording unit can e.g. sample a total current as supplied to the costumer (the total 15 current thus being an example of the power signal) and provide the sampled current in a digitized format to a processing unit of the apparatus. In an embodiment, the analyzing unit may also comprises a current sensor connected to the input terminal, the current sensor being arranged to measure the total current supplied to the appliance(s). In accordance with the invention, the power signal (e.g. a total current signal) is provided to a processing unit of 20 the apparatus in order to analyze the signal to obtain an identification of the one or more.
Note that the processing unit of the analyzing unit need not be directly connected to the input terminal receiving the input signal. In an embodiment, the analyzing unit comprise a transmitter for transmitting the input signal (which can e.g. be a sampled total current) to the processing unit for analysis.
25 In an embodiment, the processing unit, which can e.g. comprises a processor, a microcontroller or the like, is arranged to disaggregate the input signal into different components, each component representing a current or current profile of an appliance. In such embodiment, each component may subsequently be compared to current or current profiles of know appliances, which are e.g. stored in a database that is accessible to the 30 processing unit.
In order to establish such an identification, the processing unit can e.g. be arranged to apply mathematical signal processing techniques such as Fourier transformations or the like.
In accordance with the present invention, the processing unit is further arranged to receive a cost indicator (as described above), determine the power consumption of the indentified 35 appliances and output a signal representing the costs per unit time for the identified appliances.
- 12-
In a similar manner, the processing unit can be arranged to obtain an identification of a power generating unit of the one or more customers. Such an identification can thus, in an embodiment, be derived from the same power or current signal obtained from the customer. However, in an embodiment, the analyzing unit may comprise a further recording unit for 5 recording a power signal or a current signal representing the power generated by one or more power generating units of the customer. As such, two distinct power or current signals can be provided to the processing unit. Such application of two power signals may facilitate the identification of both the appliances and power generating units, in particular in case the resulting power or current is comparatively low, i.e. in case the generated power substantially 10 matches the consumed power.
The apparatus according to the second aspect of the invention enables to provide a detailed feedback on power consumption costs, thus providing a more detailed insight to the customer and enabling the customer to make more accurate decisions (i.e. taking appropriate actions with respect to power consumption), compared to known methods or devices that merely 15 provide an insight in the appliances that are powered and which thus more or less rely on an intuitive (i.e. unsubstantiated) insight of a customer. The output signal can e.g. be provided to the customer via a communication network, which can e.g. be a PCL or Zigbee network or an Ethernet connection.
In an embodiment, the processing unit of the apparatus according to the invention can 20 be arranged to determine request for power adjustment and provide the request to the one or more customers, e.g. via the communication network as mentioned.
In an embodiment, the apparatus is arranged to receive an occupancy signal of the one or more customers and use this signal in order to determine the request for power adjustment.
In such embodiment, the analyzing unit may further comprise a terminal for receiving an 25 occupancy signal representing an occupancy of the customer and the processing unit can be arranged assess a necessity of the power consumption of the identified one or more appliances based on the occupancy signal.
In such embodiment, the necessity as determined can be used to formulate the request for power adjustment. Using such an apparatus, insight can be provided in the power 30 consumption of a customer whereby this power consumption is correlated with an occupancy signal, thereby providing feedback on the necessity of the power consumption and providing feedback on a possible energy savings, i.e. formulated as requests to adjust a power consumption. In order to realize this, the apparatus according to comprises a processing unit for processing a current signal to identify appliances that are powered and assess the 35 necessity of the power consumption of the identified appliances, using an occupancy signal.
In an embodiment, the apparatus enables a remote control of certain appliances for which authorization is obtained. Such control of the power consumption of one or more - 13- appliances can be established based on the necessity (derived from an occupancy signal) or the cost indicator, in order to reduce power consumption costs. In order to facilitate such control, electrical devices that can disconnect an appliance from an electric grid (e.g. a mains supply voltage) by receiving a control signal can be installed at the appropriate appliances.
5 Such devices are further on referred to as remotely controllable electrical switches. In this respect, reference can e.g. be made to WO 2008/088219 disclosing electrical devices comprising a controllable switch and a receiver for receiving a control signal for controlling the switch. Such devices can e.g. take the form of a wall plug that can be plugged in an existing wall socked and comprises a wall socket for receiving a plug of an appliance or can take the 10 form of a connector to connect two cable ends.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, one or more of the identified appliances are indicated as suitable candidates for the application of an active control of the power consumption. Such an identification can e.g. be based on the determined necessity of the power consumption of the appliances and/or on the amount of power consumed.
15 Since the installation of remotely controllable electrical switches may be time consuming and expensive, it may be preferred to install such switches only for a selected number of appliances, i.e. the appliances that are identified and which can, when turned off at suitable instances or periods derived from the necessity, provide in an energy savings. As will be understood, the installation of such remotely controllable electrical switches is most beneficial 20 in case the energy savings that are achievable are important.
As such, in an embodiment, the present invention provides in a selection of one or more of the identified appliances to which an active control of the power consumption may be applied. Within the meaning of the present invention, the term active control of the power consumption of an appliance is used to denote the application of a remotely controllable electrical switch to 25 control the power consumption of an appliance.
Subsequently, the method according to the present invention can provide, in an embodiment, in the installation of the remotely controllable electrical switches at the appropriate appliances. In such embodiment, the method according to the present invention, can provide in controlling the installed electrical switches based on the necessity derived and e.g. the cost 30 indicator.
In an embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention, the apparatus further comprises one or more remotely controllable switches for installation at a selected number of appliances, the selection being based on the determined necessity. In such embodiment, the apparatus can further comprise a transmitter arranged to receive a switch control signal from 35 the processing unit, whereby the transmitter is arranged to transmit the switch control signal (using any type of suitable communication network or system, e.g. Zigbee or PLC) to the controllable switches in order to control the switches based on the necessity.
-14-
By applying this embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention, the power consumption of one or more appliances can actively be controlled taking into an occupancy of a house or office and/or a cost indicator such as a cost schedule. In accordance with the invention, the appliances that are provided with an active control of the power consumption, 5 are not selected at random but can be selected on the basis of e.g. potential energy savings and are related to the occupancy of the house or office by the customer. As such, selected appliances can be turned off at times when the occupancy is low resulting in an energy savings that does hinder the customer. Further, as the appliances for active control are carefully selected, no excessive investments need to be made, e.g. with respect to remotely 10 controllable electrical switches.
In an embodiment, the apparatus and method according to the present invention enable so-called power shaving whereby the power consumption of one or more appliances is controlled such that a desired (total) power level is attained. By an appropriate control of the remotely controllable electrical switches and/or providing appropriate request for power adjustments to 15 the customer or customers, and optionally taking into account an occupancy of the customer one can ensure that a total power consumption does not exceed a predetermined or desired threshold.
In an embodiment, the apparatus may further comprise a memory unit for storing historical power consumption data such as the historical database mentioned above.
20 In addition to providing energy savings (and thus cost savings) for the customers, the methods and apparatuses as discussed can provide or facilitate an improvement of the stability of the power grid. As a rule, in a power grid, the generated power (by power plants) should substantially match the power consumed. As such, when the power demand increases, the generated power has to increase as well, in order to maintain stability (with 25 respect to voltage and/or frequency). When power generating capabilities are limited and demands increase, the risk of instability increases. In order to mitigate in increase in demand, power plants apply variable tariffs (prices) for generated power which may vary substantially when power demands increase. As such, utility companies exploiting the power grid (e.g. intermediates between the power generating plants and end-users or customers) and having 30 to match a particular power demand, may buy or reserve particular power capacity, at a price which may vary substantially in real-time. As such, a real-time energy price for electricity may thus be considered an indication of a possible discrepancy between supply and demand on a power grid. Similarly, a cost schedule as proposed to a customer by a utility company can be considered to reflect a possible discrepancy between supply and demand; often, such pricing 35 or cost schemes indicate a high price during day-time and a low price during night-time. It is expected that more refined schemes could be implemented in future which more closely - 15- match an total power demand on a grid and thus be an indication of a potential instability risk with an ever increasing demand.
As, in general, information on an actual power demand and power generating capacity on a power grid is not available to a customer or customers, the cost indicator as discussed above 5 can be used instead.
As such, the methods and systems as discussed above may advantageously be applied by utility companies or customers of utility companies to contribute to a power grid stability by adjusting a power consumption and/or generation based on an (actual) cost level.
These and other aspects of the invention will be more readily appreciated as the same 10 becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description and considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference symbols designate like parts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 15
Figure 1 depicts a flowchart of an embodiment of the method according to the invention.
Figure 2 depicts a further flowchart of an embodiment of the method according to the invention.
20 Figure 3 depicts a first embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention.
Figure 4 depicts a second embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention. Figure 5 depicts a third embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 25
In Figure 1 a flowchart is shown of a method of managing a power consumption of one or more customers. The method comprises a first step 5 of receiving a power signal representing a total power consumption of the one or more customers. Such a power signal can e.g. include a current signal representing a total current supplied to the customer. Such a 30 signal can e.g. be in a sampled, digitized format. As a next step 10, the method comprises the step of identifying appliances. In accordance with the present invention, such an identification is preferable performed by either (step 20) analyzing a current signal representing a total current supplied to the customer’s appliances (see further on) or by (step 30) providing a polling signal (using a PLC protocol) and obtaining a reply signal (from one or more of the 35 appliances), using the PLC protocol, the reply signal comprising an identification of the appliance.
- 16-
Nowadays, more and more appliances (in particular lighting equipment) are adapted to receive a control signal via the power grid, i.e. applying a PLC protocol. Given this, an identification of one or more of the appliances can be facilitated; therefore, in accordance with the present invention, the identification of an appliance may also be obtained by receiving a 5 feedback from an appliance on a polling signal. When an appliance (e.g. a lighting equipment) is adapted to receive and transmit signals according to a PLC protocol, it may, upon receipt of a polling signal, transmit a signal containing an identification or identifier of the appliance onto the power grid.
Using such an identifier, (e.g. including information on the type or appliance, brand, serial 10 number, ...) an expected power consumption of the appliance can be determined. When one or more appliances are thus identified, i.e. identified on the basis of an identifier received in reply to a polling signal, a disaggregation (i.e. an identification) of the remaining appliances (if any) based on an analysis of the received current signal is facilitated.
15 With respect to the identification based on a current analysis (step 20), the following can be mentioned:
The current (or power) signal received, e.g. a sampled current, is analyzed in order to identify the one or more appliances that are powered.
In order to identify the appliances that are powered, use can be made of one or more of the 20 following features of the obtained current signal: - total real power consumption; - phase angle of the power consumption; - current wave shape, including e.g. harmonic content of the current supplied.
- etc...
25 In order to assess these features, the total current as supplied to the one or more appliances can e.g. be sampled (at a comparatively high frequency, e.g. > 5 kHz) and processed using digital signal processing equipment.
Examples of processing modules enabling such identification of an appliance, based on an observed current are e.g. described in US 2011/0025519 or WO 2011/012840.
30 It may be worth noting that the step 20 as indicated may be performed in two separate stages; a first stage aiming at identifying which appliances are connected to an electric network of a customer and a second stage aimed at identifying which appliances are powered at a particular instance or within a particular time frame.
When the appliances that are connected in a particular network (e.g. a household or small 35 office) are known beforehand (and their respective characteristic power consumption), the identification of appliances in the second stage can be facilitated.
- 17-
In a next step, step 40, the method provides in determining a power consumption of the identified appliances. This can e.g. be establish on the basis of a current signal representing the current provided to the appliances and a voltage signal represent the supply voltage to the appliances.
5 In a next step, step 50, a cost indicator representing a cost per unit energy is obtained, which is used, in a next step 60, together with the power consumption as determined, to determine a cost per unit time for the identified appliances. Subsequently, (step 70), an output signal is provided comprising the cost per unit time for the identified appliances.
Such information can be provided to the one or more customers in any suitable format by any 10 means of communication.
In an embodiment, the method further provides in obtaining an identification of a power generating unit of the customer. Such identification can be established in the same manner (see steps 20, 30) as the identification of an appliance.
In such embodiment, to facilitate the identification of the appliances that are powered 15 and the one or more power generating units, the power signal may further include a signal representing the total generated power by the customer. Such application of two power signals (one signal representing the total power that is retrieved by the customer from the electrical grid, the other signal representing the total generated power) may facilitate the identification of both the appliances and power generating units, in particular in case the 20 resulting power or current (retrieved from the grid) is comparatively low, i.e. in case the generated power substantially matches the consumed power.
In accordance with the present invention, the cost indicator can e.g. include a cost schedule indicating the cost per unit energy as a function of time, or a cost signal, indicating a real time cost per unit energy.
25 By applying the method according to the invention, a customer receives a detailed feedback on its power consumption, enabling a more effective adjustment of its power consumption pattern or behavior.
In an embodiment, illustrated in Figure 2, the method according to the invention facilitates the application a power adjustment by providing the customer or customers with a 30 request.
Such a request for power adjustment (steps 100, 110) can e.g. comprise a request to manually adjust a power consumption of an appliance or can comprise an authorization request to enable a remote controlling of an appliance. Note that similarly, the request for power adjustment can relate to a power adjustment for a power generation unit of the 35 customer. In case the request comprises an authorization request (step 110), this step is followed by the step of receiving the authorization (step 120) and the step of remotely controlling the appliance or power generating unit (step 130).
- 18-
In a next step (150) the power adjustment is acknowledged by the receipt of an adjusted power signal which can be analyzed in a similar manner as discussed above to obtain the costs per unit time for the identified appliances. Subsequently, using the cost indicator (see above), the cost savings accountable to the power adjustment are determined a provided to 5 the customer (step 160), thus enabling an accurate insight in the effectiveness of a performed power adjustment.
In accordance with the present invention, an accumulated value of the cost savings attributable to one or more power adjustments made can be made available to the customer or customers at regular intervals (e.g. once a week or once a month). The cost savings can 10 be presented in a disaggregated manner, i.e. indicating, per identified appliance, the savings made over a particular period.
In an embodiment, an analysis is performed of the power consumption of a plurality of customers, whereby a comparison of the power consumption of the customers (in particular the power consumption of the identified appliances) is used to determine a cost savings 15 target for one or more of the customers. Based on such a comparison, which may also be considered a peer review whereby a power consumption of similar customers are compared, potential savings can be determined for each customer. Such comparison may further include determining a ranking of the customers with respect to energy efficiency.
Given such a comparison, in an embodiment, feedback can be provided to a customer 20 indicating his/her energy efficiency relative to peer customers and providing the customer with a schedule on how to improve his/her ranking. Such schedule can e.g. include one or more requests for power adjustment that are determined based on the power consumption and the analysis and which can, when implemented, result in obtaining a predetermined cost savings target.
25 In an embodiment, the request for power adjustment is primarily based on the cost indicator, e.g. a cost schedule or real time cost signal. Using such indicator and given a particular power consumption characteristic of a customer (which can include power generating capabilities), suggestions can be made to improve power consumption with respect to overall costs. Such suggestions be formulated as requests for a power adjustments as described 30 above.
In an embodiment, the request for power adjustment is determined by using a historical database of power consumption of the one or more customers. In such embodiment, a historical database of power consumption is used to forecast or predict a power consumption. Such an insight can e.g. help in predicting a peak demand and may facilitate taking 35 appropriate measures to avoid or mitigate such peak demand. When such a peak demand can be forecasted, appropriate requests for power adjustments can be generated and provided to the one or more customers; such requests (which may also include authorization - 19- requests as indicated above) can e.g. include requests to reduce a power consumption of an appliance, reschedule a power consumption or increase a power generation of a power generation unit.
In an embodiment, the power consumption of the one or more customers is recorded 5 over a comparatively large period at a comparatively high frequency to establish the historical database of power consumption.
In an embodiment, the request for power adjustment or the authorization request comprises an indication of a cost savings that can be obtained when the request is authorized or executed. As such, the customer can receive a feedback on potential savings when the 10 requested power adjustments (e.g. a reduced power consumption of an appliance or a rescheduling of a power consumption) are implemented.
The request for power adjustment may further be based on an occupancy signal or scheme of the customer. Based on such occupancy signal, the necessity or usefulness of a particular power consumption can be assessed and a request for power adjustment can be formulated 15 accordingly. As such, in an embodiment of the method according to the invention, an occupancy signal is received, the signal providing information on the occupancy of the customer. Such occupancy signal can e.g. be obtained from an occupancy sensor or a card reader or can comprise a schedule indicating the occupancy for a given period of time. In such case, this schedule can e.g. be stored in an accessible database or memory unit, 20 whereby such a database of memory unit has been provided with the schedule via a user interface by the customer. In a next step, a necessity of the power consumption of the identified appliances is determined based on the occupancy signal. To illustrate this, in case the occupancy signal is a schedule indicating that the office or house will not be occupied over a certain period (e.g. a weekend), it can be assessed that applications such as lighting 25 or HVAC installations need not be powered. As such, the necessity of powering these appliances can be determined as “LOW’ or zero. In accordance with the present invention, the term or feature ‘necessity’ is thus used to indicate whether or not it is required or useful to power a specific appliance, based on an occupancy signal.
Note that, in general, the occupancy signal can be indicative of a general occupation or use of 30 a house or office, or can be more detailed, e.g. indicating the occupancy of certain rooms or floors in an office. Based on the determined necessity, a request for power adjustment can be formulated and provided to the customer.
In an embodiment, the current signal is analyzed over a period T and the occupancy signal comprises an occupancy schedule of the customer over the period T.
35 In Figure 3, an embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention is schematically shown. The apparatus as shown comprises an analyzing unit 410 comprising a terminal for receiving a power signal. In the embodiment shown, the terminal comprises a voltage -20- terminal 420 for receiving a signal representing a supply voltage Vin that is used to power a customer 230 and a current terminal 220 for receiving a signal l_tot representing a total current IJn as provided to the customer 230. The apparatus further comprises an output terminal 465 for providing an output signal 460, e.g. to a communication device 470 of the 5 customer. Optionally, the apparatus according to the present invention can comprise a further output terminal 405 comprising a PLC transmitter or transceiver. Such PLC transmitter or transceiver may enable or facilitate identification or control of the appliances of the customer that are powered.
The analyzing unit 410 further comprises a processing unit 440 arranged to: 10 o receive the current signal l_tot and the voltage signal Vin, in general, a power signal and a cost indicator representing a cost per unit energy; o obtain an identification of one or more of the appliances that are powered; 15 o determining a power consumption of the identified appliances; o determining a cost per unit time for the identified appliances using the cost indicator; o providing an output signal comprising the cost per unit time for the identified appliances; 20 In accordance with the present invention, the processing unit of the apparatus, is arranged to obtain an identification of the one or more appliances of the customer 230 that are powered. As mentioned above, such an identification can be established from an analysis of the current IJn that is supplied to the appliances. Such an analyzing step may be performed by the processing unit in two stages; a first stage aiming at identifying which appliances are 25 connected to an electric network of a customer and a second stage aimed at identifying which appliances are powered at a particular instance or within a particular time frame.
The first stage can e.g. be performed upon installation of the apparatus whereby the power consumption is monitored, via the total current, for a considerable period of time (which can e.g. take several days) to assess which apparatuses are present. Note that during such 30 comparatively long monitoring period, various combinations of load will have occurred, thus facilitating the disaggregation of the load in different components. Once the available load are known, a given combined load of a plurality of appliances can more easily, and thus more rapidly by identified.
In an embodiment, the analyzing unit comprises a recording unit 475 for recording the power 35 signal or the current signal and providing the power signal or the current signal to the input terminal (e.g. the voltage and current terminals). Such a recording unit can include a current sensor arranged to sample the current at a comparatively high frequency and e.g. store the -21 - sampled current in a memory unit of the recording unit. Alternatively, the sampled current can be transmitted via the terminal to the processing unit at a predetermined rate or each time a change is noticed in the power consumption behavior of the customer.
In an embodiment, the processing unit can be adapted to identify any power generating units 5 235 of a customer as well. Such power generating units 235 can e.g. include solar panels or wind turbines or may also include vehicle batteries of electric or hybrid vehicles which can be used to temporarily provide power to a grid. Such power generating units can be identified in a similar manner as appliances as they may have a particular current profile or fingerprint as well.
10 In an embodiment, to facility the identification of the various appliances and power generating units, a further recording unit 476 can be arranged to record or detect a current or power of the power generating units 235, when available. As such, the processing unit can be provided, via the terminals 420 and 220, with two distinct power or current signals, whereby one signal represents the generated power of a customer and the other signal represents 15 either the net consumed power of the customer or the consumed power of the customer’s appliances. The application of two power signals may facilitate the identification of appliances in case, due to the application of power generating units, the resulting current or power as retrieved from the electric grid is comparatively small. Note that the recording unit or further recording unit as shown may also be applied in the embodiments as described further on.
20 As an alternative to the stand-alone embodiment, the processing of the total current to obtain the identification can be performed remotely, at a central analyzing or processing unit which can be shared by a large number of customers. In such arrangement, the total current signal l_tot can e.g. be provided via a wireless network such as wifi or the like to the central processing unit.
25 In such arrangement, maintenance of a database containing fingerprints or signatures of appliances or power generating units is facilitated.
In the different embodiments of the apparatus according to the invention, the total current l_tot can be supplied to the processing unit at regular intervals, e.g. every minute or every 5 minutes, enabling a comparatively fast adjustment of the supply voltage to changes in either 30 the load situation or changes of the incoming voltage. Alternatively, or in addition, the total current signal can be supplied to the processing unit when a change in the total current is detected.
Alternatively to obtaining the identification of the appliances from a current analysis, a polling signal 415 can be provided by the PLC transmitter of the output terminal 405 to the power 35 grid for probing the appliances that are powered. Any appliances equipped to handle PCL commands may then, in reply to the polling signal, provide a reply signal containing an identification of the appliance. In order to receive the reply signal, the output terminal 405 -22- should be equipped with a PLC receiver as well, or should be a PLC transceiver. The polling signal 415 can be provided by the processing unit 440 to the output terminal 405 via connection 406, which can be a wired or wireless connection.
In the embodiment as shown, the PLC transmitter may further be used to remotely control a 5 power consumption of an appliance.
In an embodiment, the processing unit 410 is further arranged to determine a request for power adjustment to the customer, as described above. If, in reply to such a request, an authorization is given to adjust a power consumption, an operating state of one or more of the appliances can be controlled by the processing unit 440, by providing a control signal to the 10 appliances, using the PLC transmitter 405. By doing so, appliances that are capable of receiving and processing PLC commands, may be controlled.
In an embodiment, the processing unit 440 is further arranged to identify power generating units of the one or more customers, e.g. in a similar manner as the identification of appliances.
15 In an embodiment, the processing unit 440 is further arranged to: - provide a request for power adjustment to at least one of the one or more customers; the request including a request to manually adjust a power consumption of at least one of the identified appliances and/or a request to manually adjust a power generation of the power generating unit of the 20 customer; acknowledge the power adjustment by receiving an adjusted power signal of the at least one of the one or more customers; determine a cost savings accountable to the power adjustment and provide a further output signal to the at least one of the one or more customers indicating 25 the cost savings.
Alternatively or in addition, the processing unit 440 can be arranged to: provide a request for power adjustment to at least one of the one or more customers; the request including an authorization request to remotely control a power consumption of at least one of the identified appliances and/or an 30 authorization request to remotely control a power generation of the power generating unit of the customer; receive an authorization to remotely control the power consumption of the at least one of the appliances and/or receive an authorization to remotely control the power generating unit; 35 - remotely control the power consumption of the at least one of the appliances; acknowledge the power adjustment by receiving an adjusted power signal of the at least one of the one or more customers; -23- determine a cost savings accountable to the power adjustment and provide a further output signal to the at least one of the one or more customers indicating the cost savings.
By providing feedback on the cost savings made due power adjustments made, the present 5 invention enables to provide an important incentive for customers to make a behavioral change with respect to power consumption.
Suitable ways to communicate the cost savings (e.g. using the output terminal 465) to the customer (e.g. to a communication device 470 of the customer) include electronic communication via e-mail, text-messaging or making the information available on a customer-10 accessible webpage.
Note that the processing unit 440 need not be located on site or near the electrical grid, the processing unit can e.g. be located remotely, whereby voltage and current signals of several customers can be processed.
In an embodiment, the processing unit 440 can e.g. make use of a historical database as 15 described above.
In an embodiment, the apparatus may further comprise a terminal for receiving an occupancy signal. Such an embodiment is schematically shown in Figure 4. As can be seen, the apparatus as schematically shown in Figure 5 has a similar structure as the apparatus shown in Figure 3, including an analyzing unit 610 and a processing unit 640. The analyzing unit 610 20 comprises input terminals 220 and 420 for receiving voltage and current signals in order to analyze the load 230 (i.e. one or more appliances of a customer that are powered) by the processing unit 640. As can be seen, signals representing the voltage Vin and the total current IJn to the one or more appliances 230 are provided to the analyzing unit. As an alternative to providing the voltage signal Vin, the analyzing unit may also be provided with a 25 signal representing the total consumed power by the one or more appliances.
As can be seen, the apparatus further comprises an input terminal 650 for receiving an occupancy signal 655 indicating an occupancy of the household or office of the customer, as discussed above. In accordance with the invention, the processing unit 640 of the apparatus is arranged to: 30 - receive the current signal (l_tot) and the voltage signal Vin; - obtain an identification of the appliances by analyzing the current signal or by polling the power grid (using the PLC transmitter 405), in a similar manner as explained above; and - determine a power consumption of the identified one or more appliances based on the current signal and the voltage signal; 35 - assess a necessity of the power consumption of the identified one or more appliances based on the occupancy signal; -24- - determine a request for power adjustment and provide the request to the customer as discussed above.
In an embodiment, the processing unit 640 is further arranged to output an output signal 660 (at an output terminal 665) indicating the cost per unit time for the identified appliances to a 5 user interface or communication device 670 or the like of the customer.
Such a user interface (which may also take the form of a webpage accessible to the customer) may thus provide the user with insight in the power consumption of the appliances 230.
In such embodiment, the processing unit may further be equipped to provide a request for 10 power adjustment to a customer or user requesting an authorization for controlling the operating state of an appliance. Such a request can be provided to the customer via electronic messaging or the like. In order to output such a request or inquiry, the output terminal 665 of the analyzing unit 610 or a further output terminal (not shown) can be used. Such a request may further include information regarding the potential energy savings when 15 the request to alter an operating state is authorized.
In an embodiment, the processing unit 640 is further arranged to provide a ranking or selection of the appliances most suited for active control by remotely controllable electrical switches. Such a selection or ranking can be based on the potential energy savings that can be made when the selected appliances would be powered in accordance with the necessity. 20 When the processing unit has thus identified one or more of the identified appliances as suitable candidates for the application of an active control of the power consumption this information can be provided to the customer. Such an identification can e.g. be based on the determined necessity of the power consumption of the appliances and/or on the amount of power consumed.
25 In order to establish such an active control, the apparatus according to the invention comprises, in an embodiment, one or more remotely controllable switches for installation at a selected of appliances, the selection being determined by the processing unit 640 and based on the necessity and optionally on the power consumption of the appliances. With respect to the latter, a ranking in terms of energy savings can be made of the appliances that are 30 powered whereby the potential energy savings (obtainable by actively controlling the power consumption based on the necessity) will be larger when: - the appliance is powered at unnecessary instances or periods (i.e. having a low necessity, given the occupancy situation); - the appliance has a comparatively large power consumption.
35 As such, in an embodiment, the processing unit is arranged to determine a selection of the appliances for active control, based on both the necessity and the relative power consumption of the appliances.
-25-
An embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention including remotely controllable electronic switches is schematically shown in Figure 5.
Compared to the apparatus shown in Figures 4 or 5 , the apparatus as shown in Figure 6 further comprises remotely controllable electrical switches 680.2 - 680.3 for controlling a 5 power consumption of resp. appliances 230.2 - 230. 3 of the load 230. In an embodiment, the controllable switches 680.2 - 680.3 comprise a switch for interrupting the power supply to the resp. appliances, whereby an operation or operating state of the switch can be controlled by a control signal which is provided to a receiver (e.g. a PLC receiver) of the remotely controllable electrical switch by the PLC transmitter 605. In the embodiment as shown, the remotely 10 controllable switches are only applied for a selected set of appliances that are not equipped to receive and process PLC signals. In the embodiment as shown, appliance 230.1 is assumed to be equipped to receive and process PLC control signals, therefore no switch is required to control an operating state of the appliance 230.1, rather, the appliance can be readily controlled by the PLC transmitter (or transceiver) 605.
15 Since the apparatus according to the invention as described enables an identification of the appliances that are powered and enables an active control of the power consumption (by controlling the operating state) of an appliance, the apparatus according to the invention may further be arranged to control the power consumption such that certain constraints are met. Such constraints can e.g. be a maximum value of the total consumed power by the customer. 20 In case such a constraint is provide, e.g. via a user interface to the analyzing unit, such as unit 610, which provides the constraint to the processing unit 640, the processing unit can determine a power schedule for powering the appliances, whereby the constraint is met, as much as possible. In order to establish such a scheme, use can be made of the identification of the different loads or appliances, of the occupancy signal being indicative of the necessity 25 of certain appliances at certain instances and of the controllable electrical switches.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis 30 for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting, but rather, to provide an understandable description of the invention.
The terms "a" or "an", as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. The term 35 plurality, as used herein, is defined as two or more than two. The term another, as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms including and/or having, as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language, not excluding other elements or -26- steps). Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claims or the invention.
The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.
5 The term coupled, as used herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically.
A single processor or other unit may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims.
Claims (39)
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| NL2008691A NL2008691C2 (en) | 2012-04-24 | 2012-04-24 | Power consumption control using real time pricing and disaggregation. |
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| NL2008691A NL2008691C2 (en) | 2012-04-24 | 2012-04-24 | Power consumption control using real time pricing and disaggregation. |
| NL2008691 | 2012-04-24 |
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| NL2008691C2 true NL2008691C2 (en) | 2013-10-28 |
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Citations (3)
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| US20030050737A1 (en) * | 2001-09-10 | 2003-03-13 | Robert Osann | Energy-smart home system |
| WO2003084022A1 (en) * | 2002-03-28 | 2003-10-09 | Robertshaw Controls Company | Energy management system and method |
| US20110025519A1 (en) * | 2009-07-30 | 2011-02-03 | Intelligent Sustainable Energy Limited | Non-intrusive utility monitoring |
-
2012
- 2012-04-24 NL NL2008691A patent/NL2008691C2/en not_active IP Right Cessation
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| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US20030050737A1 (en) * | 2001-09-10 | 2003-03-13 | Robert Osann | Energy-smart home system |
| WO2003084022A1 (en) * | 2002-03-28 | 2003-10-09 | Robertshaw Controls Company | Energy management system and method |
| US20110025519A1 (en) * | 2009-07-30 | 2011-02-03 | Intelligent Sustainable Energy Limited | Non-intrusive utility monitoring |
Non-Patent Citations (1)
| Title |
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| SHENGNAN SHAO ET AL: "Grid Integration of Electric Vehicles and Demand Response With Customer Choice", IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SMART GRID, IEEE, USA, vol. 3, no. 1, 1 March 2012 (2012-03-01), pages 543 - 550, XP011422605, ISSN: 1949-3053, DOI: 10.1109/TSG.2011.2164949 * |
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