초록 ▼

A site management system (11) is provided for a power system (8) at site in a utility distribution grid (10). The power system (8) includes multiple fuel cell power plants, e.g., fuel cells, (18) and one or more loads (14), for selective connection/disconnection with the grid (10). The site managem

A site management system (11) is provided for a power system (8) at site in a utility distribution grid (10). The power system (8) includes multiple fuel cell power plants, e.g., fuel cells, (18) and one or more loads (14), for selective connection/disconnection with the grid (10). The site management system (11) controls the power plants (18) in an integrated manner, alternatively in a grid connected mode and a grid independent mode. The multiple power plants (18) at the site may be viewed and operated as a unified distributed resource on the grid (10). The site management system (11) provides signals representative of the present power capability (Kw Capacity—88) of each of the power plants (18), and a signal (Total Kw Capacity—95) representative of the total present power capability at the site. These power representations are used to appropriately assign power dispatch loadings to the respective fuel cells power plants (18) in the grid connected mode and in the grid independent mode, and may also be used for load shedding.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A fuel cell-powered generating system (8) at a site for inclusion as a distributed generating resource in a distributed generation utility power grid (10), comprising: a. multiple fuel cell power plants (181-n) at the site; b. at least one electrical load (14L1-Lx) located

What is claimed is: 1. A fuel cell-powered generating system (8) at a site for inclusion as a distributed generating resource in a distributed generation utility power grid (10), comprising: a. multiple fuel cell power plants (181-n) at the site; b. at least one electrical load (14L1-Lx) located substantially at the site; and c. a site management system (11) operatively connected in each of the multiple fuel cell power plants (181-n), the at least one load (14), and the utility power grid (10) for issuing command signals for controlling multiple control functions of the power generating system in an integrated manner, including controlling the multiple fuel cell power plants (181-n) and the at least one load (14L1-Lx) in an integrated manner, with respect to each other and with respect to the at least one load, in, alternatively: i. a grid connected mode of operation having the fuel cell power plants (18) directly connected to the at least one load (14L1-Lx) and to the utility power grid (10), and ii. a grid independent mode of operation having the fuel cell power plants (18) directly connected to the at least one load (14L1-Lx) independent of connection to the utility power grid (10); wherein the site management system is configured to control a transition of each fuel cell power plant from operation in one of the grid connect and grid independent modes, to operation in the other. 2. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 1 wherein each fuel cell power plant (18) includes a fuel cell and associated sub-systems (F. C.) for generating power, a power plant controller (PPC) for controlling and monitoring the a condition of the fuel cell and support sub-systems (F. C.), and a power conditioning system (PCS) for conditioning the power provided by the fuel cell to the at least one loads (14L1-Lx), the power plant controller (PPC) further including signal processing logic (77, 79, 81, 85, 87) responsive to signals indicative of the monitored condition of the fuel cell and support sub-systems (F. C.) for providing a signal (Kw Capacity—88) representative of the instant power output capacity of the respective fuel cell power plant (18), and wherein the site management system (11, 94) is responsive to the instant power output capacity signals (Kw capacity—88) from each of the fuel cell power plants (181-n) for providing a signal (Total Kw Capacity—95) representative of the total instant power output capacity of the multiple fuel cell power plants (181-n). 3. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 2, further including a received utility dispatch signal (58, 97) received from the utility , and wherein the site management system (11) includes signal processing means (96, 97, 110) responsive to the received utility dispatch signal (58, 97) and the Total Kw Capacity signal (95) for selecting the lesser thereof to provide an Actual Dispatch signal (98) and for comparing the Actual Dispatch signal (98) with the Total Kw Capacity signal (95) to provide a pro-rated dispatch signal (100), and responsive to the pro-rated dispatch signal (100) and to the Kw Capacity signals (88) from each of the respective fuel cell power plants (18) to provide respective Set Power control signals (112, 90) for controlling the dispatch power for each respective fuel cell power plant (181-n). 4. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 3 wherein the signal processing means (96, 97, 110) of the site management system (11) determines the a mathematical product of the pro-rated dispatch signal (100) and each of the Kw Capacity signals (88) from each of the respective fuel cell power plants (18), to provide each of the respective Set Power Control signals (112, 90). 5. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 1, further including a received utility dispatch signal (58, 97) received from the utility , each fuel cell power plant (18) including a fuel cell and associated sub-systems (F. C.) for generating power, a power plant controller (PPC) for controlling and monitoring the a condition of the fuel cell and support sub-systems (F. C.), and a power conditioning system (PCS) for conditioning the power provided by the fuel cells to the loads, the power plant controller (PPC) further including signal processing logic (77, 79, 81, 85, 87) responsive to the signals indicative of the monitored condition of the fuel cell and support sub-systems (F. C.) for providing a signal (Kw Capacity—88) representative of the instant power output capacity of the respective fuel cell power plant (18), and wherein the site management system (11) includes signal processing means for dividing the received utility dispatch signal (58, 97) by the multiple number of fuel cell power plants (18) to provide an initial per power plant dispatch signal value, for comparing the Kw Capacity signal (88) for an initial fuel cell power plant (18) with the per power plant dispatch signal value and assigning to that plant as much of the per power plant dispatch signal value as allowed by the respective Kw Capacity signal (88), for storing any remainder value in overflow storage, for similarly comparing and assigning to each successive one of the multiple fuel cell power plants (18) as much of the per power plant dispatch signal value as allowed by the respective Kw Capacity signal (88) and storing any respective remainder value, and for iteratively repeating the foregoing functions to allocate any remainder value remaining in the overflow storage. 6. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 2, wherein at least one of the at least one load (14L1-Lx) is connected (13) to receive power and the site management system (11) includes a power monitor (68) for providing a signal (69) representative of the total power demand of the at least one connected loads (14L1-LX) , and further signal processing logic (34, 29) for comparing the total power demand signal (69) and the Total Kw Capacity signal (95) and, if and to the extent the total power demand exceeds the total Kw Capacity, shedding one or more at least one connected loads (14L1-LX) in accordance with a predetermined schedule. 7. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 6, wherein each of the multiple at least one connected loads (14L1-LX) is connected to the fuel cell power plants (18) through respective selectively controlled contactors (13L1-LX), and wherein said shedding of the at least one or more of the connected loads is effected by selectively opening respective ones of the contactors (13L1-LX). 8. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 1, wherein the site management system (11) is connected to receive dispatch signals from and provide status signals to, the a remote utility via communications linkage (58, 62, 64, 61) connected between the site management system (11) and the utility . 9. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 8, wherein the site management system includes a site supervisory controller (29) for effecting the integrated control of the multiple fuel cell power plants (18) and providing the control interface with the remote utility. 10. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 9, wherein the site management system (11) includes a means (60) operatively connected with the site supervisory controller (29) for manually selecting operation of the generating system (8) either in a local operating mode in which the multiple power plants (18) are controlled individually or in a supervisory operating mode in which the multiple power plants (18) are operated in a unified manner. 11. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 1, wherein the site management system (11) comprises a site supervisory controller (29) for effecting the integrated control of the multiple fuel cell power plants (18), a load shed controller (34) connected (38, 70) to interact with the site supervisory controller (29) and the at least one loads (14L1-Lx, 13 ) to control load shedding, and a site management controller (31) connected to each of the fuel cell power plants (18) for controlling the power provided by the power plants (18) to the at least one loads (14L1-Lx). 12. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 2, wherein the site management system (11) comprises a site supervisory controller (29) for establishing, in response to a received utility power dispatch signal from the utility , the power dispatch loading of the fuel cell power plants (18) in an integrated manner when operating in the grid connected mode, a load shed controller (34) connected (38, 70) to interact with the site supervisory controller (29) and the at least one loads (14L1-Lx,13 ), and a site management controller (31) connected to the PCSs of each of the respective fuel cell power plants (18) for controlling the transition of each fuel cell power plant (18) from operation in one of the grid connected and the grid independent modes, to operation in the other. 13. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 12, wherein said site management system (11) further includes high speed, static switching means (12) connected to the utility power grid (10), the fuel cell power plants (18, 15), and the at least one loads (14L1-Lx, 13, 39 ) for rapidly disconnecting the at least one loads (14L1-Lx) and the fuel cell power plants (18) from the utility power grid (10) and transitioning from the grid connected mode of operation to the grid independent mode of operation. 14. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 2, wherein initial power rating signals (Kw Rating—76) representative of a base power capacity are provided for each of the multiple fuel cell power plants (181-n), and the signal processing logic (77, 79) is responsive to the monitored condition of each of the respective fuel cells and support sub-systems (F. C.1-n) to foldback the base power capacity (Kw Rating—76) of the respective power plant (18) by an amount predetermined in accordance with the monitored condition to thereby provide the respective instant power output capacity signal value (Kw Capacity—88). 15. A fuel cell-powered generating system (8) at a site for inclusion as a distributed generating resource in a distributed generation utility power grid (10), comprising: a. multiple fuel cell power plants (181-n) at the site; b. at least one electrical load (14) located substantially at the site; c. a site management system (11) operatively connected to each of the multiple fuel cell power plants (18), the at least one load (14), and the utility grid (10) for controlling the multiple fuel cell power plants (181-n) in an integrated manner, in, alternatively: i. a grid connected mode of operation having the fuel cell power plants (18) connected to the at least one load (14) and to the power grid (10), and ii. a grid independent mode of operation having the fuel cell power plants (18) connected to the at least one load (14) independent of connection to the power grid (10), and wherein each fuel cell power plant (18) includes a fuel cell and associated sub-systems (F. C.) for generating power, a power plant controller (PPC) for controlling and monitoring the condition of the fuel cell and support sub-systems (F. C.), and a power conditioning system (PCS) for conditioning the power provided by the fuel cell to the loads, the power plant controller (PPC) further including signal processing logic (77, 79, 81, 85, 87) responsive to signals indicative of the monitored condition of the fuel cell and support sub-systems (F. C.) for providing a signal (Kw Capacity—88) representative of the instant power output capacity of the respective fuel cell power plant (18). 16. The fuel cell-powered generating system (8) of claim 15, wherein said site management system (11) further includes high speed, static switching means (12) connected to the utility grid (10), the fuel cell power plants (18, 15), and the loads (14, 13, 39) for rapidly disconnecting the loads (14) and the fuel cell power plants (18) from the utility grid (10) and transitioning from the grid connected mode of operation to the grid independent mode of operation. 17. A fuel cell-powered generating system (8) at a site for inclusion as a distributed generating resource in a distributed generation utility power grid (10), comprising: d. multiple fuel cell power plants (181-n) at the site; e. at least one electrical load (14) located substantially at the site; and f. a site management system (11) operatively connected to each of the multiple fuel cell power plants (181-n), the at least one load (14), and the utility grid (10) for controlling the multiple fuel cell power plants (181-n) in an integrated manner, in, alternatively: i. a grid connected mode of operation having the fuel cell power plants (18) connected to the at least one load (14) and to the power grid (10), and ii. a grid independent mode of operation having the fuel cell power plants (18) connected to the at least one load (14) independent of connection to the power grid (10), wherein the site management system (11) further includes high speed, static switching means (12) connected to the utility grid (10), the fuel cell power plants (18, 15), and the loads (14, 13, 39) for rapidly disconnecting the loads (14) and the fuel cell power plants (18) from the utility grid (10) and transitioning from the grid connected mode of operation to the grid independent mode of operation to substantially continuously maintain power to the loads (14) from the fuel cell power plants (18). 18. A power generating system (8) at a site for inclusion as a distributed generating resource in a distributed generation utility power grid (10), comprising: a. multiple power plants (181-n) at the site; b. at least one electrical load (14L1-Lx) located substantially at the site; and c. a site management system (11) operatively connected to each of the multiple power plants (181-n), the at least one load (14L1-Lx), and the utility power grid (10) for issuing command signals for controlling multiple control functions of the power generating system in an integrated manner, including controlling the multiple power plants (181-n) and the at least one load (14L1-Lx) in an integrated manner, with respect to each other and with respect to the at least one load, in, alternatively: i. a grid connected mode of operation having the power plants (18) directly connected to the at least one load (14L1-Lx) and to the utility power grid (10), and ii. a grid independent mode of operation having the power plants (18) directly connected to the at least one load (14L1-Lx) independent of connection to the utility power grid (10); wherein the site management system is configured to control a transition of each power plant from operation in one of the grid connect and grid independent modes, to operation in the other. 19. The power generating system (8) of claim 18 wherein each power plant (18) generates power and includes a power plant controller (PPC) for controlling and monitoring the condition of the power plant and a power conditioning system (PCS) for conditioning the power provided by the power plant to the at least one load (14L1-Lx), the power plant controller (PPC) further including signal processing logic (77, 79, 81, 85, 87) responsive to signals indicative of the monitored condition of the power plant for providing a signal (Kw Capacity—88) representative of the instant power output capacity of the respective power plant (18), and wherein the site management system (11, 94) is responsive to the instant power output capacity signals (Kw capacity—88) from each of the power plants (181-n) for providing a signal (Total Kw Capacity—95) representative of the total instant power output capacity of the multiple power plants (181-n). 20. The power generating system (8) of claim 19, further including a received utility dispatch signal (58,97), and wherein the site management system (11) includes signal processing means (96, 97, 110) responsive to the received utility dispatch signal (58, 97) and the Total Kw Capacity signal (95) for selecting the lesser thereof to provide an Actual Dispatch signal (98) and for comparing the Actual Dispatch signal (98) with the Total Kw Capacity signal (95) to provide a pro-rated dispatch signal (100), and responsive to the pro-rated dispatch signal (100) and to the Kw Capacity signals (88) from each of the respective power plants (18) to provide respective Set Power control signals (112, 90) for controlling dispatch power for each respective power plant (181-n). 21. The power generating system (8) of claim 20 wherein the signal processing means (96, 97, 110) of the site management system (11) determines a mathematical product of the pro-rated dispatch signal (100) and each of the Kw Capacity signals (88) from each of the respective power plants (18), to provide each of the respective Set Power Control signals (112, 90). 22. The power generating system (8) of claim 18, further including a received utility dispatch signal (58, 97), each power plant (18) generates power and includes a power plant controller (PPC) for controlling and monitoring a condition of the power plant and a power conditioning system (PCS) for conditioning the power provided by the power plant to the loads, the power plant controller (PPC) further including signal processing logic (77, 79, 81, 85, 87) responsive to signals indicative of the monitored condition of the power plant for providing a signal (Kw Capacity—88) representative of the instant power output capacity of the respective power plant (18), and wherein the site management system (11) includes signal processing means for dividing the received utility dispatch signal (58, 97) by the multiple number of power plants (18) to provide an initial per power plant dispatch signal value, for comparing the Kw Capacity signal (88) for an initial power plant (18) with the per power plant dispatch signal value and assigning to that plant as much of the per power plant dispatch signal value as allowed by the respective Kw Capacity signal (88), for storing any remainder value in overflow storage, for similarly comparing and assigning to each successive one of the multiple power plants (18) as much of the per power plant dispatch signal value as allowed by the respective Kw Capacity signal (88) and storing any respective remainder value, and for iteratively repeating the foregoing functions to allocate any remainder value remaining in the overflow storage. 23. The power generating system (8) of claim 19, wherein at least one of the at least one loads (14L1-Lx) is connected (13) to receive power and the site management system (11) includes a power monitor (68) for providing a signal (69) representative of the total power demand of the at least one connected load, and further signal processing logic (34, 29) for comparing the total power demand signal (69) and the Total Kw Capacity signal (95) and, if and to the extent the total power demand exceeds the Total Kw Capacity, shedding the at least one connected load in accordance with a predetermined schedule. 24. The power generating system (8) of claim 23, wherein each at least one connected load is connected to the power plants (18) through respective selectively controlled contactors (13L1-Lx), and wherein said shedding of the at least one connected load is effected by selectively opening respective ones of the contactors (13L1-Lx). 25. The power generating system (8) of claim 18, wherein the site management system (11) is connected to receive dispatch signals from and provide status signals to, a remote utility via communications linkage (58, 62, 64, 61). 26. The power generating system (8) of claim 25, wherein the site management system includes a site supervisory controller (29) for effecting the integrated control of the multiple power plants (18) and providing control interface with the remote utility. 27. The power generating system (8) of claim 26, wherein the site management system (11) includes a means (60) operatively connected with the site supervisory controller (29) for manually selecting operation of the generating system (8) either in a local operating mode in which the multiple power plants (18) are controlled individually or in a supervisory operating mode in which the multiple power plants (18) are operated in a unified manner. 28. The power generating system (8) of claim 18, wherein the site management system (11) comprises a site supervisory controller (29) for effecting the integrated control of the multiple power plants (18), a load shed controller (34) connected (38, 70) to interact with the site supervisory controller (29) and the at least one load (14L1-Lx) to control load shedding, and a site management controller (31) connected to each of the power plants (18) for controlling the power provided by the power plants (18) to the at least one load (14L1-Lx). 29. The power generating system (8) of claim 19, wherein the site management system (11) comprises a site supervisory controller (29) for establishing, in response to a received utility power dispatch signal, power dispatch loading of the power plants (18) in an integrated manner when operating in the grid connected mode, a load shed controller (34) connected (38, 70) to interact with the site supervisory controller (29) and the at least one load (14L1-Lx), and a site management controller (31) connected to the PCSs of each of the respective power plants (18) for controlling the transition of each power plant (18) from operation in one of the grid connected and the grid independent modes, to operation in the other. 30. The power generating system (8) of claim 29, wherein said site management system (11) further includes high speed, static switching means (12) connected to the utility power grid (10), the power plants (18), and the at least one load (14L1-Lx) for rapidly disconnecting the at least one load (14L1-Lx) and the power plants (18) from the utility power grid (10) and transitioning from the grid connected mode of operation to the grid independent mode of operation. 31. The power generating system (8) of claim 19, wherein initial power rating signals (Kw Rating—76) representative of a base power capacity are provided for each of the multiple power plants (181-n), and the signal processing logic (77, 79) is responsive to the monitored condition of each of the respective power generating means (F. C.1-n) to foldback the base power capacity (Kw Rating—76) of the respective power plant (18) by an amount predetermined in accordance with the monitored condition to thereby provide the respective instant power output capacity signal value (Kw Capacity—88). 32. A power generating system (8) at a site for inclusion as a distributed generating resource in a distributed generation utility power grid (10), comprising: a. multiple power plants (181-n) at the site; b. at least one electrical load (14L1-Lx) located substantially at the site; c. a site management system (11) operatively connected to each of the multiple power plants (181-n), the at least one load (14L1-Lx), and the utility power grid (10) for controlling the multiple power plants (181-n) and the at least one load (14L1-Lx) in an integrated manner, with respect to each other and with respect to the at least one load, in, alternatively: i. a grid connected mode of operation having the power plants (18) directly connected to the at least one load (14L1-Lx) and to the utility power grid (10), and ii. a grid independent mode of operation having the power plants (18) directly connected to the at least one load (14L1-Lx) independent of connection to the utility power grid (10), wherein the site management system is configured to control a transition of each power plant from operation in one of the grid connect and grid independent modes, to operation in the other, and wherein each power plant (18) includes means (F. C.) for generating power, a power plant controller (PPC) for controlling and monitoring a condition of the power generating means (F. C.), and a power conditioning system (PCS) for conditioning the power provided by the power generating means to the loads, the power plant controller (PPC) further including signal processing logic (77, 79, 81, 85, 87) responsive to signals indicative of the monitored condition of the power generating means (F. C.) for providing a signal (Kw Capacity—88) representative of the instant power output capacity of the respective power plant (18). 33. The power generating system (8) of claim 32, wherein said site management system (11) further includes high speed, static switching means (12) connected to the utility power grid (10), the power plants (18), and the at least one load (14L1-Lx) for rapidly disconnecting the at least one load (14L1-Lx) and the power plants (18) from the utility power grid (10) and transitioning from the grid connected mode of operation to the grid independent mode of operation. 34. A power generating system (8) at a site for inclusion as a distributed generating resource in a distributed generation utility power grid (10), comprising: a. multiple power plants (181-n) at the site; b. at least one electrical load (14L1-Lx) located substantially at the site; and c. a site management system (11) operatively connected to each of the multiple power plants (181-n), the at least one load (14L1-Lx), and the utility grid (10) for controlling the multiple power plants (181-n) and the at least one load (14L1-Lx) in an integrated manner, with respect to each other and with respect to the at least one load, in, alternatively: i. a grid connected mode of operation having the power plants (18) directly connected to the at least one load (14L1-Lx) and to the utility power grid (10), and ii. a grid independent mode of operation having the power plants (18) directly connected to the at least one load (14L1-Lx) independent of connection to the utility power grid (10), wherein the site management system is configured to control a transition of each power plant from operation in one of the grid connect and grid independent modes, to operation in the other, and wherein the site management system (11) further includes high speed, static switching means (12) connected to the utility power grid (10), the power plants (18), and the at least one load (14L1-Lx) for rapidly disconnecting the at least one load (14L1-Lx) and the power plants (18) from the utility power grid (10) and transitioning from the grid connected mode of operation to the grid independent mode of operation to substantially continuously maintain power to the at least one load (14L1-Lx) from the power plants (18). 35. A power generating system (8) at a site for inclusion as a distributed generating resource in a distributed generation utility power grid (10), comprising: a. multiple power plants (181-n) at the site; b. at least one electrical load (14L1-Lx) located substantially at the site; and c. a site management system (11) operatively connected to each of the multiple power plants (181-n), the at least one load (14L1-Lx), and the utility power grid (10) for controlling the multiple power plants (181-n) in an integrated manner, in, alternatively: iii. a grid connected mode of operation having the power plants (18) connected to the at least one load (14L1-Lx) and to the utility power grid (10), and iv. a grid independent mode of operation having the power plants (18) connected to the at least one load (14L1-Lx) independent of connection to the utility power grid (10); wherein each power plant (18) generates power and includes a power plant controller (PPC) for controlling and monitoring the condition of the power plant and a power conditioning system (PCS) for conditioning the power provided by the power plant to the at least one load (14L1-Lx), the power plant controller (PPC) further including signal processing logic (77, 79, 81, 85, 87) responsive to signals indicative of the monitored condition of the power plant for providing a signal (Kw Capacity—88) representative of the instant power output capacity of the respective power plant (18), and wherein the site management system (11, 94) is responsive to the instant power output capacity signals (Kw capacity—88) from each of the power plants (181-n) for providing a signal (Total Kw Capacity—95) representative of the total instant power output capacity of the multiple power plants (181-n); and further including a received utility dispatch signal (58,97), and wherein the site management system (11) includes signal processing means (96, 97, 110) responsive to the received utility dispatch signal (58, 97) and the Total Kw Capacity signal (95) for selecting the lesser thereof to provide an Actual Dispatch signal (98) and for comparing the Actual Dispatch signal (98) with the Total Kw Capacity signal (95) to provide a pro-rated dispatch signal (100), and responsive to the pro-rated dispatch signal (100) and to the Kw Capacity signals (88) from each of the respective power plants (18) to provide respective Set Power control signals (112, 90) for controlling dispatch power for each respective power plant (181-n). 36. The power generating system (8) of claim 35 wherein the signal processing means (96, 97, 110) of the site management system (11) determines a mathematical product of the pro-rated dispatch signal (100) and each of the Kw Capacity signals (88) from each of the respective power plants (18), to provide each of the respective Set Power Control signals (112, 90). 37. A power generating system (8) at a site for inclusion as a distributed generating resource in a distributed generation utility power grid (10), comprising: a. multiple power plants (181-n) at the site; b. at least one electrical load (14L1-Lx) located substantially at the site; and c. a site management system (11) operatively connected to each of the multiple power plants (181-n), the at least one load (14L1-Lx), and the utility power grid (10) for issuing command signals for controlling multiple control functions of the power generating system in an integrated manner, including controlling the multiple power plants (181-n) in an integrated manner, in, alternatively: i. a grid connected mode of operation having the power plants (18) connected to the at least one load (14L1-Lx) and to the utility power grid (10), and ii. a grid independent mode of operation having the power plants (18) connected to the at least one load (14L1-Lx) independent of connection to the utility power grid (10); and further including a received utility dispatch signal (58, 97), each power plant (18) generates power and includes a power plant controller (PPC) for controlling and monitoring a condition of the power plant and a power conditioning system (PCS) for conditioning the power provided by the power plant to the loads, the power plant controller (PPC) further including signal processing logic (77, 79, 81, 85, 87) responsive to signals indicative of the monitored condition of the power plant for providing a signal (Kw Capacity—88) representative of the instant power output capacity of the respective power plant (18), and wherein the site management system (11) includes signal processing means for dividing the received utility dispatch signal (58, 97) by the multiple number of power plants (18) to provide an initial per power plant dispatch signal value, for comparing the Kw Capacity signal (88) for an initial power plant (18) with the per power plant dispatch signal value and assigning to that plant as much of the per power plant dispatch signal value as allowed by the respective Kw Capacity signal (88), for storing any remainder value in overflow storage, for similarly comparing and assigning to each successive one of the multiple power plants (18) as much of the per power plant dispatch signal value as allowed by the respective Kw Capacity signal (88) and storing any respective remainder value, and for iteratively repeating the foregoing functions to allocate any remainder value remaining in the overflow storage.