Secondary power utilization during peak power times
View Patent ↗The invention generally relates to the utilization of electric power, and more particularly to systems and methods for selectively utilizing secondary power sources during peak power times. A method includes receiving a notification of a peak power time, and discontinuing use of a primary power supply and beginning use of a secondary power supply based upon the notification.
1. A system for implementing a greenout, comprising:
at least one device operable by a primary power supply and a secondary power supply; and
a controller that:
causes the at least one device to discontinue using the primary power supply and begin using the secondary power supply based upon data from a notification system, the data comprising a date and time of at least one of a plurality of peak power events comprising a brownout and a blackout, of the primary power supply; and
determines and sends to the notification system a time period which the at least one device will use the secondary power supply.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one device comprises a laptop computer.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the primary power supply comprises a power grid and the secondary power supply comprises at least one of: a battery, and a back-up generator.
4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the battery comprises a rechargeable battery.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one device includes the controller.
6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the controller comprises a software program stored on a computer readable medium.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is separate from the at least one device.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the controller comprises a computing device and the at least one device comprises a plurality of computing devices.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data is transmitted through at least one of:
an additional portion of a nominal sinusoidal alternating current signal;
a series of on and off states of the primary power supply;
a message broadcast by the notification system over a network; and
a message posted by the notification system and accessed by the controller over a network.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of peak power events further comprises a price increase of the primary power supply; and
the data comprises a geographic location of the at least one of the plurality of peak power events.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the data is transmitted through at least one of:
an additional portion of a nominal sinusoidal alternating current signal; and
a series of on and off states of the primary power supply; and
the controller determines and sends to the notification system an estimation of a reduction in demand from the at least one device for the primary power supply.
12. A method for implementing a greenout, comprising:
receiving a notification of a peak power time of a primary power supply;
discontinuing use of the primary power supply and beginning use of a secondary power supply based upon the notification, the discontinuing and the beginning being performed at a time and date specified in the notification, and the time and date being of at least one of a plurality of peak power events comprising a brownout and a blackout, of the primary power supply; and
determining and sending to a notification system a time period which at least one device will use the secondary power supply.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising performing the discontinuing and the beginning in a geographic location specified in the notification, wherein the geographic location is a location of the at least one of the plurality of peak power events.
14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the receiving comprises at least one of:
decoding an additional portion of a nominal sinusoidal alternating current signal of the primary power supply;
decoding a series of on and off states of the primary power supply;
receiving a message broadcast over a network; and
accessing, via a network, a message posted by a notification system.
15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the receiving is performed by a controller and the discontinuing is performed by at least one device.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the at least one device comprises a laptop computer and the controller comprises a program stored on the laptop computer.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the at least one device comprises a plurality of laptop computers operatively connected to the controller.
18. The method of claim 12 , wherein the primary power supply comprises a power grid and the secondary power supply comprises a battery.
19. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the receiving comprises at least one of:
decoding an additional portion of a nominal sinusoidal alternating current signal of the primary power supply; and
decoding a series of on and off states of the primary power supply;
the method further comprises determining and sending an estimation of a reduction in demand from the at least one device for the primary power supply.
20. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program embodied in the medium, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a device causes the device to:
receive a notification of a peak power time;
discontinue use of a primary power supply and begin use of a secondary power supply based upon the notification, the discontinuing and the beginning being performed at a time and date specified in the notification, and the time and date being of at least one of a plurality of peak power events comprising a brownout and a blackout, of the primary power supply; and
determine and send to a notification system a time period which at least one device will use the secondary power supply.
21. The computer program product of claim 20 , wherein the computer readable program causes the device to perform the discontinuing and the beginning at a geographic location specified in the notification, wherein the geographic location is a location of the at least one of the plurality of peak power events.
22. The computer program product of claim 20 , wherein the receiving comprises at least one of:
decoding an additional portion of a nominal sinusoidal alternating current signal of the primary power supply;
decoding a series of on and off states of the primary power supply;
receiving a message broadcast over a network; and
accessing, via a network, a message posted by a notification system.
23. The computer program product of claim 20 , wherein:
the receiving comprises at least one of:
decoding an additional portion of a nominal sinusoidal alternating current signal of the primary power supply; and
decoding a series of on and off states of the primary power supply;
the computer readable program causes the device to determine and send an estimation of a reduction in demand from the at least one device for the primary power supply.
24. A method for implementing a greenout, comprising:
determining a peak power event of a primary power supply;
notifying at least one device that is capable of operating on the primary power supply and a secondary power supply of the peak power event so that the at least one device may elect to discontinue using the primary power supply and begin using the secondary power supply, the discontinuing and the beginning being performed at a time and date of the peak power event comprising one of a plurality of peak power events comprising a brownout and a blackout, of the primary power supply; and
determining and sending to a notification system a time period which the at least one device will use the secondary power supply.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the notifying comprises notifying the at least one device of a date and time of the peak power event by at least one of:
adding a portion to a nominal sinusoidal alternating current signal of the primary power supply;
causing a series of on and off states of the primary power supply;
broadcasting data to the at least one device over a network; and
posting a message to a network, wherein the message is accessible by the at least one device.
26. The method of claim 25 , wherein:
the at least one device comprises a plurality of devices, and the broadcasting comprises sending the data to an IP address or MAC address of each of one of the plurality of devices.
27. The method of claim 24 , wherein:
the discontinuing and the beginning are performed in a geographic location of the peak power event comprising one of the plurality of peak power events;
the notifying comprises notifying the at least one device of a date and time of the peak power event by at least one of:
adding a portion to a nominal sinusoidal alternating current signal of the primary power supply; and
causing a series of on and off states of the primary power supply;
the method further comprises determining and sending an estimation of a reduction in demand from the at least one device for the primary power supply.