Methods and systems for community energy management
View Patent ↗A community based energy management method which avoids energy peaks oftentimes associated with the restart of appliances after the delayed start of an appliance due to energy use restrictions is lifted by a utility company. The method includes the application of a queue model, such as a first-in, first-out model for the restart time of any delayed electrical device.
1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions, wherein the instructions perform steps for community energy management, comprising:
receiving from an electrical utility information regarding an operation of at least one load restriction during at least one of high electrical demand or low electrical demand periods;
receiving from the electrical utility information regarding a determined maximum power load for a community of electrical devices;
receiving from the electrical utility information regarding a determined maximum power load for a subset of the community of electrical devices;
receiving from the community of electrical devices information regarding the current load of the community of electrical devices and the subset of the community of electrical devices;
receiving from an electrical device with the subset of the community of electrical devices, a request to operate as a load against the electrical utility;
determining whether the electrical utility is currently operating under a load restriction;
when it is determined that the electrical utility is not currently operating under a load restriction, transmitting instructions to the electrical device to allow the electrical device to operate as a load against the electrical utility, otherwise, determining whether the current load of the subset of the community of electrical devices is at or above the determined maximum power load for the subset of the community of electrical devices;
when it is determined that the current load of the subset of the community of electrical devices is not at or above the determined maximum power load for the subset of the community of electrical devices, transmitting instructions to the electrical device to allow the electrical device to operate in a reduced load capacity against the electrical utility, otherwise, determining whether the current load of the community of electrical devices is at or above the determined maximum power load for the community of electrical devices;
when it is determined that the current load of the community of electrical devices is not at or above the determined maximum power load for community of electrical devices, transmitting instructions to the electrical device to allow the electrical device to operate as a load against the electrical utility, otherwise placing the request to operate as a load against the electrical utility in a queue;
monitoring the electrical utility to determine when the electrical utility is not currently operating under a load restriction; and
transmitting instructions to at least one of the electrical devices in the queue to allow the electrical device to operate as a load against the electrical utility, and removing the electrical device from the queue.
2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 1 , further comprising transmitting instructions to at least one of the electrical devices in the queue to allow the electrical device to operate as a load against the electrical utility only when the load required by the electrical device will not cause the current load of the community of electrical devices to exceed the maximum power load for the community of electrical devices.
3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 1 , wherein the electrical device first placed in the queue is the electrical device first removed from the queue.
4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 1 , wherein the queue operates in a first-in, first-out model, but if the current electrical devices in the queue would cause the current load of the community of electrical devices to exceed the maximum power load for the community of electrical devices, the electrical device remains in the queue and the next electrical device in the queue is removed from the queue.
5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 4 , wherein the next electrical device is removed from the queue only if the electrical device would not cause the current load of the community of electrical devices to exceed the maximum power load for the community of electrical devices.
6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 1 , wherein the electrical utility is a smart grid.
7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 1 , wherein the subset of the community of electrical devices is at least one of a residential address or business location.
8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 1 , further comprising calculating an estimated time to operation for at least one electrical device in the queue.
9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 8 , further comprising providing a user interface comprising user interface elements for displaying the calculated estimated time to operation at least one electrical device in the queue.
10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 1 , further comprising providing a user interface comprising user interface elements for allowing a user to override the queue.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 1 , further comprising providing a user interface comprising user interface elements for allowing a user to customize the queue.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 1 , further comprising providing a user interface comprising user interface elements for allowing a user to enter information utilized by the computer-readable media to prioritize the queue.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 1 , further comprising receiving information from an electronic data source regarding an estimate of the total load for the electrical device's request to operate as a load against the electrical utility.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 13 , wherein the electronic data source is a manufacturer.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 13 , wherein the electronic data source is the electronic device.
16. A method of community energy management in a computer system comprising:
in a computer system comprising at least one processor coupled to memory:
receiving from an electrical utility information regarding an operation of at least one load restriction during at least one of high electrical demand or low electrical demand periods;
receiving from the electrical utility information regarding a determined maximum power load for a community of electrical devices;
receiving from the electrical utility information regarding a determined maximum power load for a subset of the community of electrical devices;
receiving from the community of electrical devices information regarding the current load of the community of electrical devices and the subset of the community of electrical devices;
receiving from an electrical device with the subset of the community of electrical devices, a request to operate as a load against the electrical utility;
determining whether the electrical utility is currently operating under a load restriction;
when it is determined that the electrical utility is not currently operating under a load restriction, transmitting instructions to the electrical device to allow the electrical device to operate as a load against the electrical utility, otherwise, determining whether the current load of the subset of the community of electrical devices is at or above the determined maximum power load for the subset of the community of electrical devices;
when it is determined that the current load of the subset of the community of electrical devices is not at or above the determined maximum power load for the subset of the community of electrical devices, transmitting instructions to the electrical device to allow the electrical device to operate in a reduced load capacity against the electrical utility, otherwise, determining whether the current load of the community of electrical devices is at or above the determined maximum power load for the community of electrical devices;
when it is determined that the current load of the community of electrical devices is not at or above the determined maximum power load for community of electrical devices, transmitting instructions to the electrical device to allow the electrical device to operate as a load against the electrical utility, otherwise placing the request to operate as a load against the electrical utility in a queue;
monitoring the electrical utility to determine when the electrical utility is not currently operating under a load restriction; and
transmitting instructions to at least one of the electrical devices in the queue to allow the electrical device to operate as a load against the electrical utility, and removing the electrical device from the queue.
17. The method as defined in claim 16 , further comprising transmitting instructions to at least one of the electrical devices in the queue to allow the electrical device to operate as a load against the electrical utility only when the load required by the electrical device will not cause the current load of the community of electrical devices to exceed the maximum power load for the community of electrical devices.
18. The method as defined in claim 16 , wherein the electrical device first placed in the queue is the electrical device first removed from the queue.
19. The method as defined in claim 16 , wherein the queue operates in a first-in, first-out model, but if the current electrical devices in the queue would cause the current load of the community of electrical devices to exceed the maximum power load for the community of electrical devices, the electrical device remains in the queue and the next electrical device in the queue is removed from the queue.
20. The method as defined in claim 19 , wherein the next electrical device is removed from the queue only if the electrical device would not cause the current load of the community of electrical devices to exceed the maximum power load for the community of electrical devices.
21. The method as defined in claim 16 , wherein the electrical utility is a smart grid.
22. The method as defined in claim 16 , wherein the subset of the community of electrical devices is at least one of a residential address or business location.
23. The method as defined in claim 16 , further comprising calculating an estimated time to operation for at least one electrical device in the queue.
24. The method as defined in claim 23 , further comprising providing a user interface comprising user interface elements for displaying the calculated estimated time to operation at least one electrical device in the queue.
25. The method as defined in claim 16 , further comprising providing a user interface comprising user interface elements for allowing a user to override the queue.
26. The method as defined in claim 16 , further comprising providing a user interface comprising user interface elements for allowing a user to customize the queue.
27. The method as defined in claim 16 , further comprising providing a user interface comprising user interface elements for allowing a user to enter information utilized by the computer-readable media to prioritize the queue.
28. The method as defined in claim 16 , further comprising receiving information from an electronic data source regarding an estimate of the total load for the electrical device's request to operate as a load against the electrical utility.
29. The method as defined in claim 28 , wherein the electronic data source is a manufacturer.
30. The method as defined in claim 28 , wherein the electronic data source is the electronic device.