Renewable energy control systems and methods
View Patent ↗Various examples are provided for renewable energy control. In one example, among others, a system includes a PV source, a multi-core processor load, and a solar power manager configured to adjust an operating point of the PV source about a maximum power point by dynamically adjusting a transfer ratio and a load level. In another example, a method includes sensing an output current supplied to a multi-core processor load by a power converter at a first transfer ratio, sensing another output current supplied at a second transfer ratio, and determining an operating point of the PV source with respect to a maximum power point based upon the output currents. In another example, a system includes a power manager configured to switch servers between a renewable energy supply and a utility energy supply based at least in part upon a budget level and the load power consumption.
1. A system, comprising:
at least one cluster including a plurality of servers; and
a power manager configured to switch at least a portion of the plurality of servers between a renewable energy supply (RES) and a utility energy supply based at least in part upon a budget level corresponding to an amount of power available from the RES and a load power consumption of the at least one cluster, where the power manager comprises a central switch controller configured to switch the at least a portion of the plurality of servers based upon a switch assignment determined by a switch scheduler based at least in part upon switching history and load history.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein switching the at least a portion of the plurality of servers comprises virtual machine migration to move workload between servers.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein switch assignment indicates that each of the plurality of servers is utility driven, RES driven, or shutdown.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein switching of the at least a portion of the plurality of servers is initiated in response to a change in the amount of power available from the RES or the load power consumption of the at least one cluster exceeding a corresponding predefined threshold.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the power manager is configured to switch the at least a portion of the plurality of servers to smooth power fluctuation of RES powered servers.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the RES is a photovoltaic source or a wind-driven renewable energy source.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the switching history comprises a switching frequency of the server loads.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the switching history comprises switching outcomes of server loads.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the switch scheduler is configured to monitor a power provisioning status of loads on the plurality of servers.
10. A system, comprising:
at least one cluster including a plurality of servers; and
a power manager configured to switch at least a portion of the plurality of servers between a renewable energy supply (RES) and a utility energy supply based at least in part upon a budget level corresponding to an amount of power available from the RES and a load power consumption of the at least one cluster, where the power manager comprises a central switch controller configured to switch the at least a portion of the plurality of servers based upon a switch assignment determined by a switch scheduler that is configured to allocate switch operations of the switch assignment using a least recently used (LRU) scheme based at least in part upon a switching frequency of server loads.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein allocation of the switch operations is based at least in part upon the switching frequency of the server loads during a preceding control period.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the switch operations are allocated based at least in part upon a quantity of servers in the at least one cluster.
13. A method, comprising:
determining a budget level corresponding to an amount of power available from a renewable energy supply (RES); and
switching server loads of at least one cluster of servers between the RES and a utility energy supply based at least in part the budget level and a load power consumption of the at least one cluster, where switch operations are allocated using a least recently used (LRU) scheme based at least in part upon a switching frequency of the server loads.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein switching server loads of at least one cluster of servers comprises switching at least a portion of the plurality of servers between the RES and the utility energy supply.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein a central switch controller is configured to switch the at least a portion of the plurality of servers.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the at least a portion of the plurality of servers are switched based upon a switch assignment that indicates whether each of the plurality of servers is utility driven, RES driven, or shutdown.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein switching of the at least a portion of the plurality of servers is initiated in response to a change in the amount of power available from the RES or the load power consumption of the at least one cluster exceeding a corresponding predefined threshold.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the at least a portion of the plurality of servers is switched to smooth power fluctuation of RES powered servers.
19. The method of claim 13 , wherein switching server loads of at least one cluster of servers comprises virtual machine migration to move workload between servers.
20. The system of claim 13 , wherein the RES is a photovoltaic source or a wind-driven renewable energy source.
21. The method of claim 13 , wherein allocation of the switch operations is based at least in part upon the switching frequency of the server loads during a preceding control period.
22. The method of claim 13 , wherein the switch operations are allocated based at least in part upon a quantity of servers in the at least one cluster.