Energy management system

1. The energy management system comprising an in situ processing unit comprising:

(a) a measuring unit capable of measuring a set of power related parameters over a main electricity cable;

(b) a first processing unit capable of processing said power related parameters by applying a signature detection algorithm, for detecting an event relating to turning ON or OFF of an electronic and/or electric appliance and for characterizing said event;

(c) a device for transferring to a server a data packet comprising an output of said signature detection algorithm;

wherein the processing unit triggers the transfer of at least one data packet only in case such an event is detected and

wherein the in situ processing unit comprises:

the measuring unit capable of measuring and monitoring a power related set of parameters, X, as a function of time, t, over a main electricity cable;

the first processing unit capable of processing said power related parameters by applying a signature detection algorithm comprising:

(a) calculating a power value, P i , from the values of the power related set of parameters, X i , measured within a time interval, Δt i comprised between [t i , t i+1 ];

(b) calculating a power variation, ΔP i =P j −P i , between the power value, P j , at time interval Δt j =[t j , t j+1 ], and the power value Pi at time interval Δt i =[t i , t i+1 ], wherein t j >t i ;

(c) comparing the value of the power variation, ΔP i , with a reference value, ΔP ref , and defining that an event occurred between times t i and t j+1 in case ΔP i >ΔP ref , else the power set of parameters, X i , is considered as steady between times t i and t j+i ;

if and only if an event occurred between t i and t i+i , then said processing unit further processes the data as follows:

(d) defining an event interval [t h,0 , t h,N+1 ] with t h,0 <t i <t j+1 , comprising a pre-event interval Δt h,0 =[t h,0 , t h,1 ] and post-event interval Δt h,N =[t h,N , t h,N+1 ], such that the power set of parameters, X h,0 and X h,N are steady in both pre-event interval and post-event interval, respectively;

(e) calculating the power values, P h,0 and P h,N within the respective time intervals, Δt h,0 and Δt h,N , and calculating the variation ΔP h,0N =P h,N −P h,0 ;

a device for transferring at least one data packet comprising said variation, ΔP h,0N , to the server.

2. The energy management system according to claim 1 , wherein the power related set of parameters, X comprises data selected from any one or more of: voltage, U, current, I, U, I phase difference, cos φ.

3. The energy management system according to claim 2 , wherein the power values P i , P j are in the form of an n-dimensional vector, where the n values in the vector model increase the power curve during one complete voltage cycle.

4. The energy management system according to claim 3 , wherein the value of the power variation ΔP i =P j −P i for defining whether an event occurred between times t i and t j+1 is determined by a T test, T(Δt i , Δt j ), defined as the difference between the arithmetic means, P Δt i , P Δt j , of power values measured at different times in the intervals Δt i and Δt j , respectively, divided by the square root of the sum of the variances of said power values, divided by the total number, n, of power values measured in both intervals Δt i and Δt j :

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5. The energy management system according to claim 4 , wherein the time intervals Δt i and Δt j are consecutive, i.e., t i+1 =t j .

6. The energy management system according to claim 5 , wherein the event interval [t h,0 , t h,N+1 ] is divided into N+2 consecutive event subintervals: Δt h,0 , Δt h,1 , . . . , Δt h,i+1 , . . . , Δt h,N , Δt h,N+1 , of equal time duration.

7. The energy management system according to claim 6 , wherein the output of said signature detection algorithm comprises a number string representing peak parameters such as: the amplitude of the peak, P peak , ΔP h,0N , duration of the peak, Δt peak , and/or the output of the comparison, defined as the transient characteristic.

8. The energy management system according to claim 7 , wherein the system comprises the server, said server comprising a communication interface for receiving the at least one data packet transferred by the in situ processing unit.

9. The energy management system according to claim 8 wherein the server further comprises a second processing unit capable of assigning a specific electronic and/or electric appliance to each of the at least one data packet received from the in situ processing unit as a function of various characteristic parameters of each of said data packets such as: ΔP h,0N , P peak , Δt peak .

10. The energy management system according to claim 9 wherein said second processing unit further comprises a device for classifying different data packets having similar characteristic parameters into a cluster and preferably a device for sending said cluster to said first processing unit of the in situ processing unit.

11. The energy management system according to claim 10 , wherein said power related set of parameters, X, are measured/monitored at a sampling rate comprised between 1-16 kHz.

12. The energy management system according to claim 11 , wherein said server further performs an analysis of energy consumption over time.

13. A method for monitoring electronic and/or electric appliances comprising the following steps:

measuring/monitoring power related parameters over a main electricity cable, using a measuring part of an in situ processing unit; said processing unit being part of an energy management system;

said energy management system further comprising a device for transferring to a server a data packet comprising an output of said signature detection algorithm;

processing said power related parameters on said in situ processing unit, by applying a signature detection algorithm for detecting whether an event relating to turning ON or OFF an electronic and/or electric appliance occurred and for characterizing said event initiating a data transfer to the server

transferring to the server at least one data packet comprising an output of said signature detection algorithm

said method further comprises triggering the transfer of at least one data packet only in case such an event is detected and

wherein the in situ processing unit performs at least the following steps: measuring and monitoring a power related set of parameters, X, as a function of time, t, over a main electricity cable through a measuring unit;

processing said power related parameters by applying the signature detection algorithm on the processing unit, by at least:

(a) calculating a power value, P i , from the values of the power related set of parameters, X i , measured within a time interval, Δt i comprised between [t i , t i+1 ];

(b) calculating a power variation, ΔP i =P j −P i , between the power value, P j , at time interval Δt j =[t j , t j+1 ], and the power value P i at time interval Δt i =[t i , t i+1 ], wherein t j >t i ;

(c) comparing the value of the power variation, ΔP i , with a reference value, ΔP ref , and defining that an event occurred between times t i and t j+1 in case ΔP i >ΔP ref , else the power set of parameters, X i , is considered as steady between times t i and t j+1 ;

if and only if an event occurred between t i and t j+1 , then said processing unit further processes the data as follows:

(d) defining an event interval [t h,0 , t h,N+1 ] with t h,0 <t i <t j+1 <t h,N+1 , comprising a pre-event interval Δt h,0 =[t h,0 , t h,1 ] and post-event interval Δt h,N =[t h,N , t h,N+1 ], such that the power set of parameters, X h,0 and X h,N are steady in both pre-event interval and post-event interval, respectively;

(e) calculating the power values, P h,0 and P h,N within the respective time intervals, Δt h,0 and Δt h,N , and calculating the variation ΔP h,0N =P h,N −P h,0 ; transferring at least one data packet comprising said variation, ΔP h,0N , to the server.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein said server comprises the second processing unit capable of performing the step of assigning a specific electronic and/or electric appliance to each of the at least one data packet received from the in situ processing unit, as a function of various characteristic parameters of each of said data packets such as: ΔP h,0N , P peak , Δt peak .

15. The method according to claim 14 wherein the output of said signature detection algorithm comprises a number string representing: peak parameters such as the amplitude of the peak, P peak , ΔP h,0N , and/or duration of the peak, Δt peak , and/or the output of the comparison, defined as the transient characteristic.

16. The method according to claim 14 , wherein said second processing unit further comprises a step of classifying different data packets having similar characteristic parameters into a cluster and preferably a step of sending said cluster to said first processing unit of the in situ processing unit.

17. The energy management system of claim 12 further comprising a kit of parts, said kit of parts comprising:

an in situ processing unit comprising:

(a) a measuring unit capable of measuring a set of power related parameters over a main electricity cable;

(b) a first processing unit capable of processing said power related parameters by applying a signature detection algorithm, for detecting an event relating to turning ON or OFF of an electronic and/or electric appliance and for characterizing said event;

(c) a device for transferring to a server a data packet comprising an output of said signature detection algorithm;

wherein the processing unit triggers the transfer of at least one data packet only in case such an event is detected.

18. The energy management system of claim 17 having the kit of parts wherein the in situ processing unit comprises:

a measuring unit comprising a sensor suitable for measuring power parameters over a main electricity cable, said sensor being adapted to be clamped around said electricity cable;

a main board comprising a processor unit, in communication with said sensor and capable of receiving data from said sensor, said main board further comprising a wireless interface for communicating with said server,

a controller unit for controlling the start and end transmission of processed power data over the wireless interface.

19. The energy management system of claim 18 having the kit of parts wherein the in situ processing unit comprises:

a sensor suitable for measuring power parameters over a main electricity cable, said sensor being adapted to be clamped around said electricity cable

a sensor suitable for measuring power parameters on a second main electricity cable, said sensor being adapted to be clamped around a power cable

a main board comprising a processor unit and a wireless interface, said main board receiving data from said sensors.