Granted Patent B2

US 11,460,490 · App. 16/994,195 · Granted Oct 4, 2022

Inventors: Yiping Lu (Cedar Park, TX); Daniel Daniil (San Francisco, CA); Luca Del Bianco (San Jose, CA); Juan Heber (San Jose, CA); Patrick Franz (San Mateo, CA); Miltiadis Vratimos (Berkeley, CA); Christos Voutsaras (Oakland, CA); Jonathan Tucker Thompson (Corte Madera, CA); Richard E. Mellor (El Cerrito, CA)

Assignee: SUNPOWER CORPORATION

G01R22/063G08C17/02H04L67/10H04Q9/00H04Q2209/10

Abstract

Claims (76)

1. A method for monitoring a photovoltaic (PV) system, comprising:

receiving PV system information for a predetermined timeframe, wherein the PV system includes one or more of an energy storage system and PV panels;

displaying a power flow based on the received PV system information corresponding to the predetermined timeframe, wherein displaying the power flow includes

acquiring a site type, wherein the site type corresponds to a site having one or more of production, consumption, and storage capability;

selecting a power metric based on the site type;

acquiring the selected power metric for a specific time frame;

iterating through data points corresponding to the selected power metric for the specific time frame and determining whether a valid data point is found;

in response to a determination that the valid data point is found, selecting a first valid data point;

truncating a value of the selected data point to one decimal place;

converting a consumption value to an absolute value; and

calculating a grid value; and

displaying an energy mix analysis based on the received PV system information corresponding to the predetermined timeframe.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying energy storage system information based on the received PV system information corresponding to the predetermined timeframe.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the energy storage system is a battery and displaying the energy storage system information includes

acquiring a battery state of charge and a battery mode;

rendering a storage page including the acquired battery state of charge and the battery mode;

determining if the battery mode is changed; and

in response to a determination that the battery mode is changed, setting the battery mode to the changed battery mode.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the battery mode corresponds to an outage mode, a self-supply mode, and a cost-savings mode, wherein the outage mode corresponds to reserving 100% of the battery for up to five days in anticipation of a power outage, wherein the self-supply mode corresponds to maximizing energy use from the PV panels during a daytime, wherein the cost-savings mode corresponds to reducing energy usage from a power grid during peak energy times.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein displaying the energy storage system information further includes

acquiring a charge percentage of the battery;

acquiring a battery status based on a current power flow and converting the battery status to one of charging, discharging, or idle based on the battery status;

selecting a battery animation color based on the battery status and the charge percentage; and

select a pipe animation color based on the battery status and the charge percentage.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the power flow includes one or more of the PV panels, the energy storage system, and a power grid powering a structure that the PV system is connected to.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the power flow includes one or more of the PV panels and the energy storage system exporting energy to a power grid.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the power flow includes one or more of the PV panels and a power grid charging the energy storage system.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein in response to a determination that a valid data point is not found,

acquiring the selected power metric for the previous twenty-four hours;

iterating through data points corresponding to the selected power metric for the previous twenty-four hours and determining whether a valid data point is found; and

in response to a determination that no valid data point is found, selecting a default power flow state.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein selecting the default power flow state includes

selecting a most recent invalid data point;

default any missing values from the most recent invalid data point to zero; and

render the power flow based on the most recent invalid data point.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying aggregated energy consumption for a selected aggregation period.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein displaying aggregated energy consumption includes

acquiring the site type, wherein the site type corresponds to the site having one or more of production, consumption, and storage capability;

selecting one or more energy metrics based on the site type;

selecting an aggregation period;

acquiring, for the selected aggregation period, one or more of the selected one or more energy metrics;

truncating power values to one decimal place;

converting a consumption value to an absolute value; and

calculating a grid value.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying the energy mix analysis includes plotting a graph including home usage, solar energy usage, power grid usage, and battery storage over a predetermined amount of time.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined amount of time includes a day time interval, a week time interval, a month time interval, and a year time interval.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the day time interval corresponds to displaying 1-hour intervals since a start of a day, the week time interval can correspond to displaying 1-day intervals in a start of a week, the month time interval can correspond to displaying 1-week intervals since a start of a month, and the year interval can correspond to displaying 1-month intervals since a start of a year.

16. One or more non-transitory computer readable medium including computer program instructions, which when executed by an information processing system, cause the system to:

receive PV system information for a predetermined timeframe, wherein a PV system includes one or more of an energy storage system and PV panels;

display a power flow based on the received PV system information corresponding to the predetermined timeframe, wherein the computer program instructions for displaying the power flow further cause the system to

acquire a site type, wherein the site type corresponds to a site having one or more of production, consumption, and storage capability;

select a power metric based on the site type;

acquire the selected power metric for a specific time frame;

iterate through data points corresponding to the selected power metric for the specific time frame and determining whether a valid data point is found;

in response to a determination that the valid data point is found, select a first valid data point;

truncate a value of the selected data point to one decimal place;

convert a consumption value to an absolute value; and

calculate a grid value; and

display an energy mix analysis based on the received PV system information corresponding to the predetermined timeframe.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the information processing system is a server.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the information processing system is a cloud-based architecture.

19. A server, comprising:

processing circuitry configured to

receive PV system information for a predetermined timeframe, wherein a PV system includes one or more of an energy storage system and PV panels,

display a power flow based on the received PV system information corresponding to the predetermined timeframe, wherein the processing circuitry for displaying the power flow is further configured to

acquire a site type, wherein the site type corresponds to a site having one or more of production, consumption, and storage capability,

select a power metric based on the site type,

acquire the selected power metric for a specific time frame,

iterate through data points corresponding to the selected power metric for the specific time frame and determining whether a valid data point is found,

in response to a determination that the valid data point is found, select a first valid data point,

truncate a value of the selected data point to one decimal place,

convert a consumption value to an absolute value, and

calculate a grid value, and

display an energy mix analysis based on the received PV system information corresponding to the predetermined timeframe.

Assignments (5)

Continuity (3)

Cited By (11)

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