초록 ▼

A system, method and apparatus for automatically adapting power grid usage by controlling internal and/or external power-related assets of one or more users in response to power regulation and/or frequency regulation functions in a manner beneficial to both the power grid itself and the users of the

A system, method and apparatus for automatically adapting power grid usage by controlling internal and/or external power-related assets of one or more users in response to power regulation and/or frequency regulation functions in a manner beneficial to both the power grid itself and the users of the power grid.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method for automatically adapting end user power usage, comprising: receiving data indicative of one or more operating conditions associated with a power grid supplying power to at least one end user, each end user being associated with user assets including at least one power consuming asset b

1. A method for automatically adapting end user power usage, comprising: receiving data indicative of one or more operating conditions associated with a power grid supplying power to at least one end user, each end user being associated with user assets including at least one power consuming asset being controllably connected to said power grid;determining a power adaptation function in response to said received data;determining an operational adaptation of at least one user asset from at least one end user sufficient to meet said power adaptation functiontransmitting, toward said at least one end user, commands configured to cause said operational adaptation of said at least one user asset; andreceiving from the at least one end user data indicative of end user asset capacity suitable for use in determining said operational adaptation. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a prioritized sequence of user assets to be adapted according to said power adaptation function. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein all elements of said method are iteratively performed until said received data indicates said one or more operating conditions associated with said power grid are reduced to below a threshold level. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said power adaptation function is calculated to meet power or frequency management needs associated with said power grid. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said operational adaptations comprises at least one of providing power to said power grid and accepting power from said power grid. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said operational adaptation comprises at least one of providing power to said power grid at predetermined intervals and accepting power from said power grid at predetermined intervals. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said one or more operating conditions comprise any of a power grid event, power quality condition and real time economic information. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein said power grid event comprises one or more of a capacity demand response event, a synchronous reserves demand response event and a real time economic demand response event. 9. The method of claim 7, wherein said power quality condition comprises one or more of a power condition and a frequency regulation condition. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one power consuming asset comprises any of HVAC equipment, industrial process loads, lighting, fountains, escalators and miscellaneous loads. 11. A method for automatically adapting end user power usage, comprising: receiving data indicative of one or more operating conditions associated with a power grid supplying power to at least one end user, each end user being associated with user assets including at least one power consuming asset being controllably connected to said power grid;determining a power adaptation function in response to said received data;determining an operational adaptation of at least one user asset from at least one end user sufficient to meet said power adaptation function; andtransmitting, toward said at least one end user, commands configured to cause said operational adaptation of said at least one user asset,wherein said user assets associated with at least some of said end users include at least one power providing asset controllably connected to said power grid, said at least one power providing asset comprising any of an A/C generator and a DC/AC inverter. 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining a prioritized sequence of user assets to be adapted according to said power adaptation function. 13. The method of claim 11, wherein all elements_of said method are iteratively performed until said received data indicates said one or more operating conditions associated with said power grid are reduced to below a threshold level. 14. The method of claim 11, wherein said power adaptation function is calculated to meet power or frequency management needs associated with said power grid. 15. The method of claim 11, wherein said operational adaptations comprises at least one of providing power to said power grid, providing power to said power grid at predetermined intervals, accepting power from said power grid and accepting power from said power grid at predetermined intervals. 16. The method of claim 11, wherein said one or more operating conditions comprise any of a power grid event, power quality condition and real time economic information. 17. The method of claim 11, wherein said power quality condition comprises one or more of a power condition and a frequency regulation condition. 18. A method for automatically adapting end user power usage, comprising: receiving data indicative of one or more operating conditions associated with a power grid supplying power to at least one end user, each end user being associated with user assets including at least one power consuming asset being controllably connected to said power grid;determining a power adaptation function in response to said received data;determining an operational adaptation of at least one user asset from at least one end user sufficient to meet said power adaptation function; andtransmitting, toward said at least one end user, commands configured to cause said operational adaptation of said at least one user asset,wherein said user assets associated with at least some of said end users include at least one power providing asset controllably connected to said power grid, said at least one power providing asset comprising any of a standby generator, a distributed generator, a peaker plant, a co-generation facility, an energy storage system, a battery, a solar based power generator, a wind-based power generator, a tidal power generator and a geothermal based power generator. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein said real time economic event comprises a grid request for frequency regulation assistance, and said operational adaptation comprises adapting user equipment in a manner imparting a frequency adaptation to said power grid. 20. The method of claim 18, further comprising determining a prioritized sequence of user assets to be adapted according to said power adaptation function. 21. The method of claim 18, wherein all elements of said method are iteratively performed until said received data indicates said one or more operating conditions associated with said power grid are reduced to below a threshold level. 22. The method of claim 18, wherein said power adaptation function is calculated to meet power or frequency management needs associated with said power grid. 23. The method of claim 18, wherein said operational adaptations comprises at least one of providing power to said power grid, providing power to said power grid at predetermined intervals, accepting power from said power grid and accepting power from said power grid at predetermined intervals. 24. The method of claim 18, wherein said one or more operating conditions comprise any of a power grid event, power quality condition and real time economic information. 25. The method of claim 18, wherein said power quality condition comprises one or more of a power condition and a frequency regulation condition. 26. A method for automatically adapting end user power usage, comprising: receiving data indicative of one or more operating conditions associated with a power grid supplying power to at least one end user, each end user being associated with user assets including at least one power consuming asset being controllably connected to said power grid;determining a power adaptation function in response to said received data;determining an operational adaptation of at least one user asset from at least one end user sufficient to meet said power adaptation function; andtransmitting, toward said at least one end user, commands configured to cause said operational adaptation of said at least one user asset,wherein said operating condition comprises a real-time economic event, said power adaptation function is calculated to satisfy corresponding economic event parameters, and said operational adaptation is adapted to satisfy said economic event parameters. 27. The method of claim 26, further comprising determining a prioritized sequence of user assets to be adapted according to said power adaptation function. 28. The method of claim 26, wherein all elements of said method are iteratively performed until said received data indicates said one or more operating conditions associated with said power grid are reduced to below a threshold level. 29. The method of claim 26, wherein said power adaptation function is calculated to meet power or frequency management needs associated with said power grid. 30. The method of claim 26, wherein said operational adaptations comprises at least one of providing power to said power grid and accepting power from said power grid. 31. The method of claim 26, wherein said operational adaptation comprises at least one of providing power to said power grid at predetermined intervals and accepting power from said power grid at predetermined intervals. 32. The method of claim 26, wherein said one or more operating conditions comprise any of a power grid event, power quality condition and real time economic information. 33. The method of claim 32, wherein said power grid event comprises one or more of a capacity demand response event, a synchronous reserves demand response event and a real time economic demand response event. 34. The method of claim 26, wherein said power quality condition comprises one or more of a power condition and a frequency regulation condition. 35. The method of claim 26, wherein said at least one power consuming asset comprises any of HVAC equipment, industrial process loads, lighting, fountains, escalators and miscellaneous loads. 36. A method for automatically adapting end user power usage, comprising: receiving data indicative of one or more operating conditions associated with a power grid supplying power to at least one end user, each end user being associated with user assets including at least one power consuming asset being controllably connected to said power grid;determining a power adaptation function in response to said received data;determining an operational adaptation of at least one user asset from at least one end user sufficient to meet said power adaptation function; andtransmitting, toward said at least one end user, commands configured to cause said operational adaptation of said at least one user asset,wherein said method is repeated in response to receiving additional data indicative of one or more operating conditions associated with a power grid, and wherein each repetition of said step of determining a power adaptation function uses information learned from one or more prior power adaptation function determinations. 37. The method of claim 36, wherein each repetition of said step of determining operational adaptation uses information learned from one or more prior operational adaptation determinations. 38. The method of claim 36, further comprising determining a prioritized sequence of user assets to be adapted according to said power adaptation function. 39. The method of claim 36, wherein all elements of said method are iteratively performed until said received data indicates said one or more operating conditions associated with said power grid are reduced to below a threshold level. 40. The method of claim 36, wherein said power adaptation function is calculated to meet power or frequency management needs associated with said power grid. 41. The method of claim 36, wherein said operational adaptations comprises at least one of providing power to said power grid, providing power to said power grid at predetermined intervals, accepting power from said power grid and accepting power from said power grid at predetermined intervals. 42. The method of claim 36, wherein said one or more operating conditions comprise any of a power grid event, power quality condition and real time economic information. 43. A method for automatically adapting end user power usage, comprising: receiving data indicative of one or more operating conditions associated with a power grid supplying power to at least one end user, each end user being associated with user assets including at least one power consuming asset being controllably connected to said power grid;determining a power adaptation function in response to said received data;determining an operational adaptation of at least one user asset from at least one end user sufficient to meet said power adaptation function; andtransmitting, toward said at least one end user, commands configured to cause said operational adaptation of said at least one user asset,wherein said power adaptation function is further determined in response to data indicative of next day wholesale electricity prices. 44. The method of claim 43, wherein said data indicative of next day wholesale electricity prices comprises one or more of day ahead pricing information, historic meteorological conditions, predicted market conditions, economic conditions and geo-political conditions. 45. The method of claim 43, wherein said power adaptation function is adapted to improve a value of providing power to said power grid and accepting power from said power grid. 46. The method of claim 43, further comprising determining a prioritized sequence of user assets to be adapted according to said power adaptation function. 47. The method of claim 43, wherein all elements of said method are iteratively performed until said received data indicates said one or more operating conditions associated with said power grid are reduced to below a threshold level. 48. The method of claim 43, wherein said power adaptation function is calculated to meet power or frequency management needs associated with said power grid. 49. The method of claim 43, wherein said operational adaptations comprises at least one of providing power to said power grid, providing power to said power grid at predetermined intervals, accepting power from said power grid and accepting power from said power grid at predetermined intervals. 50. The method of claim 43, wherein said one or more operating conditions comprise any of a power grid event, power quality condition and real time economic information. 51. The method of claim 43, wherein said power quality condition comprises one or more of a power condition and a frequency regulation condition. 52. The method of claim 36, wherein said power quality condition comprises one or more of a power condition and a frequency regulation condition.