Optimum utilization of electric circuit capacity by adding electric vehicle charging
This invention enables Electric Vehicle (EV) charging requirements to be supplied by electric power available off-peak without increasing demand charges. It does this by continually measuring primary loads and enabling EV charging to utilize only that power that will not increase total demand. Grouping software available from Electric Vehicle Service Equipment (EVSE) suppliers allows the available power to be shared among multiple vehicles.
1 . A system comprising:
communication equipment and software to control operation of a group of Electric Vehicle Service Equipments (EVSEs),
said group of Electric Vehicle Service Equipments (EVSEs) providing electric energy recharging facilities to one or more Electric Vehicles,
a source of electric energy supplying a building or other facility,
an electric energy meter to measure the electric power load on the source, and
a current tap to provide electric energy to the group of EVSEs from the source of electric energy, said current tap being disposed between said electric energy meter and a current transformer of said building or other facility,
wherein said software is adapted to enable recharging of said one or more electric vehicles without increasing the measured demand on the source of electric energy by providing a demand charge limit derived from previous months electric bills and a plurality of measurements of a primary load made by said current transformer, and allowing said one or more Electric Vehicles to receive, through said current tap, a quantity of said electric energy up to a difference between said demand charge limit and a particular measurement of said primary load made by said current transformer.
2 . The system of claim 1 in which an additional electric energy meter is installed to measure the electric power load on the building, exclusive of the power consumed by the EVSEs.
3 . The system of claim 1 in which said communication equipment includes a WiFi internet router.
4 . The system of claim 1 in which said communication equipment includes a cellular phone connection.
5 . The system of claim 1 in which the software is resident in an on site micro controller.
6 . The system of claim 1 in which the software is resident in the cloud.
7 . An Electric Vehicle Service Equipment (EVSE) charging system comprising:
a source of electric energy operatively coupled to a facility to supply said facility with a respective portion of said electric energy;
an electric energy meter, said electric energy meter being operatively coupled between said source of electric energy and said facility, said electric energy meter being adapted to measure an electric power load on said source;
a current tap, said current tap being operatively coupled to said source of electric energy between said electric energy meter and a current transformer of said facility;
a group, said group including one or more EVSEs, said one or more EVSEs being operatively coupled through said current tap to said source of electric energy, each EVSE of said one or more EVSEs being adapted to supply a further respective portion of said electric energy to one or more electric vehicles for charging said one or more electric vehicles;
communication equipment; and
software, said software being adapted to enable recharging of said one or more electric vehicles without increasing a measured demand on the source of electric energy by providing a demand charge limit derived from a previous electric bill and a plurality of measurements of a primary load made by said current transformer, and allowing said one or more Electric Vehicles to receive, through said current tap, a quantity of said electric energy up to a difference between said demand charge limit and a particular measurement of said primary load made by said current transformer.
8 . An EVSE charging system as defined in claim 7 wherein said facility comprises a building.
9 . An EVSE charging system as defined in claim 7 wherein said electric energy meter is adapted to measure said electric energy in kilowatts.
10 . An EVSE charging system as defined in claim 7 wherein said software communicates through the cloud to said group.
11 . An EVSE charging system as defined in claim 7 further comprising an additional electric energy meter, said additional electric energy meter being operatively coupled between said current tap and said facility, said additional electric energy meter being adapted to measure an electric power load of said facility.
12 . An EVSE charging system as defined in claim 7 wherein said communication equipment comprises a Wi-Fi Internet router.
13 . An EVSE charging system as defined in claim 7 wherein said communication equipment comprises cellular phone equipment.
14 . An EVSE charging system as defined in claim 7 wherein said system comprises a controller, said controller including a microcomputer.
15 . An EVSE charging system as defined in claim 14 wherein said software is resident within said controller.
16 . An EVSE charging system as defined in claim 7 wherein said software is resident in the cloud.
17 . A system comprising:
communication equipment and software to control operation of a group of Electric Vehicle Service Equipments (EVSEs),
said group of Electric Vehicle Service Equipments (EVSEs) providing electric energy recharging facilities to one or more Electric Vehicles,
a source of electric energy supplying a building or other facility,
an electric energy meter to measure the electric power load on the source, and
a current tap to provide electric energy to the group of EVSEs from the source of electric energy, said current tap being disposed between said electric energy meter and a current transformer of said building or other facility,
wherein said software is adapted to enable recharging of said one or more electric vehicles without increasing the measured demand on the source of electric energy by providing a demand charge limit derived from previous months electric bills and a plurality of measurements of a primary load made by said current transformer.