Commanding distributed energy resources
View Patent ↗Computer systems and methods regarding distributed energy resource systems (DERs) re described. Configurations and employed methods may include sending a command to a DER system to place the DER system in one or more of a charge state, a discharge state, an idle state, or a reactive power state. these DER systems may include a rechargeable battery, a dc/ac converter configured to receive a DC voltage from the battery and convert the received DC voltage for receipt by an external AC circuit, and one or more controllers configured to designate operation state of the battery in at least a charge state, a discharge state, and an idle state.
1. A computer server system comprising:
one or more computing devices located apart from a distributed energy resource system (DER);
the one or more computing devices configured to communicate to and from the DER system over a network; and
the one or more computing devices configured to send a command to the DER system to place the DER system in one or more of a charge state, a discharge state, an idle state, or a reactive power state,
wherein the DER system comprises:
a rechargeable battery;
a dc/ac converter configured to receive a DC voltage from the battery and convert the received DC voltage for receipt by an external AC circuit; and
one or more controllers configured to designate operation state of the battery in at least a charge state, a discharge state, and an idle state, the one or more controllers further configured to designate a mode of operation of the dc/ac converter, the mode of operation including at least a discharge mode where stored electrical energy in the battery is converted to an AC voltage compatible with and for receipt by the external AC circuit.
2. The computer server system of claim 1 wherein the one or more controllers of the DER system are further configured to designate the discharge mode of operation of the dc/ac converter during a first electrical load period of time of the external AC circuit and to not designate the discharge mode of operation during a second electrical load period of time of the external AC circuit, wherein a first electrical load during the first electrical load period of time is greater than the second electrical load during the second electrical load period of time.
3. The computer server system of claim 1 wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to receive a command for the DER system from an outside computing device to place the DER system in one or more of a charge state, a discharge state, an idle state, or a reactive power state.
4. The computer server system of claim 1 wherein the outside computing device comprises a laptop, a tablet computer, a smartphone, or a wearable computer.
5. The computer server system of claim 1 wherein the outside computing device comprises a laptop, a tablet computer, or a smartphone.
6. The computer server system of claim 1 wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to operate a graphical user interface (GUI) to receive information from and send information to the DER system.
7. The computer server system of claim 1 wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to operate an application program interface (API) to receive information from and send information to the DER system.
8. The computer server system of claim 1 wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to receive a command for the DER system from a remote utility technician, the received command instructing to place the DER system in one or more of a charge state, a discharge state, an idle state, or a reactive power state.
9. The computer server system of claim 1 wherein the one or more computing devices is one computing server device.
10. A method of commanding a DER comprising:
at a computing device, sending a command over a network from the computing device to place one or more distributed energy resources (DER) in a state comprising a charge state, a discharge state, an idle state, or a reactive power state,
wherein the DER comprises:
a rechargeable battery;
a dc/ac converter configured to receive a DC voltage from the battery and convert the received DC voltage for receipt by an external AC circuit; and
one or more controllers configured to designate operation state of the battery in at least a charge state, a discharge state, and an idle state, the one or more controllers further configured to designate a mode of operation of the dc/ac converter, the mode of operation including at least a discharge mode where stored electrical energy in the battery is converted to an AC voltage compatible with and for receipt by the external AC circuit.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the computing device comprises one or more of a laptop, a tablet computer, a smartphone, or a wearable computer.
12. The method of claim 10 wherein the network is a computing network including a computer server.
13. The method of claim 10 wherein the computing device is configured to wirelessly communicate with a DER via a WiFi network.
14. The method of claim 10 wherein the command is sent to a computer server.
15. A control system comprising:
a computer server located apart from one or more distributed energy resources (DERs);
the computing server configured to communicate to and from the one or more DERs over a network; and
the computing server configured to send a command to the one or more DERs to place the one or more DERs in one or more of a charge state, a discharge state, an idle state, or a reactive power state,
wherein each DER comprises:
a rechargeable battery;
a dc/ac converter configured to receive a DC voltage from the battery and convert the received DC voltage for receipt by an external AC circuit; and
one or more controllers configured to designate operation state of the battery in at least a charge state, a discharge state, and an idle state, the one or more controllers further configured to designate a mode of operation of the dc/ac converter, the mode of operation including at least a discharge mode where stored electrical energy in the battery is converted to an AC voltage compatible with and for receipt by the external AC circuit.
16. The control system of claim 15 wherein the one or more controllers of each DER are further configured to designate the discharge mode of operation of the converter during a first electrical load period of time of the external AC circuit and to not designate the discharge mode of operation during a second electrical load period of time of the external AC circuit, wherein a first electrical load during the first electrical load period of time is greater than the second electrical load during the second electrical load period of time.
17. The control system of claim 15 wherein the computing server is further configured to receive a command for the one or more DERs from an outside computing device to place the one or more DERs in one or more of a charge state, a discharge state, an idle state, or a reactive power state.
18. The control system of claim 15 wherein the outside computing device comprises a laptop, a tablet computer, a smartphone, or a wearable computer.
19. The control system of claim 15 wherein the outside computing device comprises a laptop, a tablet computer, or a smartphone.
20. The control system of claim 15 wherein the computing server is further configured to operate graphical user interface (GUI) to receive information from and send information to the one or more DERs.