IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,491,787
Granted Patent B2
US 12,491,787 · App. 17/821,972 · Granted Dec 9, 2025

Electric vehicle charging facility multi-asset optimization

Inventors: Zachary J. Lee (Altadena, CA); Robin Guarnotta (La Jolla, CA); Rajat Sethi (San Diego, CA); Justin D. Roethle (Encinitas, CA); Jeffrey William Wright (Sherborn, MA); Ted G. Lee (San Marino, CA)
Assignee: PowerFlex Systems, LLC
B60L53/67B60L53/302B60L53/51B60L53/53B60L53/54B60L53/63H02J3/322H02J7/00712H02J7/35G06Q50/06H02J2310/48
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,491,787
App. No.
17/821,972
Filed
Aug 24, 2022
Granted
Dec 9, 2025
Kind
B2
Art Unit
2859
USPC
320/109
Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for electric vehicle charging management. In one example, a method includes: building a graph representing an electrical topology of the electric vehicle charging facility and producing an updated graph by updating a state of the one or more network nodes based on electric current or power flow through the one or more passive electric components and updating a state of the one or more component nodes based on electric current or power produced or consumed by the one or more active electric components. The method further includes receiving a selected control strategy for the electric vehicle charging facility and adjusting an electric current or a power draw of an electric vehicle charging station in the electric vehicle charging facility based on the updated graph and the selected control strategy.

Claims (51)

1 . A method for controlling electrical components at an electric vehicle charging facility, the method comprising:

building a graph representing an electrical topology of the electric vehicle charging facility, the graph comprising one or more network nodes representing one or more passive electric components in the electric vehicle charging facility and one or more component nodes representing one or more active electric components in the electric vehicle charging facility that produce or consume electric power;

producing an updated graph by:

updating a state of the one or more network nodes based on electric current or power flow through the one or more passive electric components; and

updating a state of the one or more component nodes based on electric current or power produced or consumed by the one or more active electric components;

receiving a selected control strategy for the electric vehicle charging facility; and

adjusting an electric current or a power draw of an electric vehicle charging station in the electric vehicle charging facility based on the updated graph and the selected control strategy.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected control strategy comprises at least one of an objective of reducing energy costs of the electric vehicle charging facility, an objective of charging using only solar energy, an objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, an objective of responding to demand response events, an objective of reducing load variations, an objective of not exporting energy to a grid, or an objective of reducing time to charge an electric vehicle.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more active electric components comprise a solar energy collection system, an energy storage system, a building load, a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, a fuel cell, a thermal storage system, or a generator.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

adjusting an electric current or a power draw of the one or more active electric components of the electric vehicle charging facility.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the one or more component nodes are one or more child nodes of the one or more network nodes in the graph; and

the electric current or the power flow through the one or more passive electric components is based on the electric current or the power produced or consumed by the one or more active electric components.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the electric current or the power draw is further based on at least one of an electric current limit, an electric power limit, or an electric voltage limit of the one or more passive electric components.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein

adjusting the electric current comprises disregarding, by a storage controller in the electric vehicle charging facility, a determination that a battery in the electric vehicle charging facility should be discharged to a grid.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the electric current or the power draw of the electric vehicle charging station is performed according to a control strategy as an optimization.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the electric current or the power draw of the electric vehicle charging station is based on a prioritization index.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein

the state of the one or more network nodes comprises an electric current flow through or a voltage of each line of a multiphase electrical system.

11 . A system for controlling electrical components at an electric vehicle charging facility, the system comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors communicatively coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to:

build a graph representing an electrical topology of the electric vehicle charging facility, the graph comprising one or more network nodes representing one or more passive electric components in the electric vehicle charging facility and one or more component nodes representing one or more active electric components in the electric vehicle charging facility that produce or consume electric power;

produce an updated graph by:

updating a state of the one or more network nodes based on electric current or power flow through the one or more passive electric components; and

updating a state of the one or more component nodes based on electric current or power produced or consumed by the one or more active electric components; and

receive a selected control strategy for the electric vehicle charging facility; and

adjust an electric current or a power draw of an electric vehicle charging station in the electric vehicle charging facility based on the updated graph and the selected control strategy.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the selected control strategy comprises at least one of an objective of reducing energy costs of the electric vehicle charging facility, an objective of charging using only solar energy, an objective of responding to demand response events, an objective of reducing load variations, an objective of not exporting energy to a grid, or an objective of reducing time to charge an electric vehicle.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more active electric components comprise a solar energy collection system, an energy storage system, a building load, a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, a fuel cell, a thermal storage system, or a generator.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to

adjust an electric current or a power draw of the one or more active electric components of the electric vehicle charging facility.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein:

the one or more component nodes are one or more child nodes of the one or more network nodes in the graph; and

the electric current or the power flow through the one or more passive electric components is based on the electric current or the power produced or consumed by the one or more active electric components.

16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein to adjust the electric current in the electric vehicle charging facility, the one or more processors are configured to adjust the electric current in the electric vehicle charging facility further based on at least one of an electric current limit, an electric power limit, or an electric voltage limit of the one or more passive electric components.

17 . The system of claim 11 , wherein

to adjust the electric current or the power draw, the one or more processors are configured to disregard, by a storage controller in the electric vehicle charging facility, a determination that a battery in the electric vehicle charging facility should be discharged to a grid.

18 . An electric vehicle charging facility comprising:

one or more electric vehicle charging stations;

one or more active electric components;

one or more passive electric components; and

a facility controller comprising a memory and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to:

build a graph representing an electrical topology of the electric vehicle charging facility, the graph comprising one or more network nodes representing the one or more passive electric components and one or more component nodes representing the one or more active electric components;

produce an updated graph by updating a state of the one or more network nodes based on electric current or power flow through the one or more passive electric components and updating a state of the one or more component nodes based on electric current or power produced or consumed by the one or more active electric components;

receive a selected control strategy for the electric vehicle charging facility; and

adjust an electric current or a power draw of the one or more electric vehicle charging stations based on the updated graph and the selected control strategy.

19 . The electric vehicle charging facility of claim 18 , wherein the selected control strategy comprises at least one of an objective of reducing energy costs of the electric vehicle charging facility, an objective of charging using only solar energy, an objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, an objective of responding to demand response events, an objective of reducing load variations, an objective of not exporting energy to a grid, or an objective of reducing time to charge an electric vehicle.

20 . The electric vehicle charging facility of claim 18 , wherein the one or more active electric components comprise a solar energy collection system, an energy storage system, a building load, a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, a fuel cell, a thermal storage system, or a generator.

Assignments (2)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded May 15, 2023
From: POWERFLEX SYSTEMS, INC.
To: POWERFLEX SYSTEMS, LLC
Reel/Frame 063649/0282 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 24, 2022
From: LEE, ZACHARY J.; GUARNOTTA, ROBIN; SETHI, RAJAT; ROETHLE, JUSTIN D.; WRIGHT, JEFFREY WILLIAM; LEE, TED G.
To: POWERFLEX SYSTEMS, INC
Reel/Frame 060888/0883 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240067035A1 · Feb 29, 2024
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