Electrically autonomous installation and method of management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10056760-B2
Application number	US-201415026580-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 3, 2014
Priority date	Oct 4, 2013
Publication date	Aug 21, 2018
Grant date	Aug 21, 2018

Abstract

The subject of the invention is an installation ( 10 ) able to be electrically autonomous comprising elements to be powered ( 12, 20 ) from among which: —a building ( 12 ) comprising at least one room delimited by at least one wall and one roof, and —an electricity distribution terminal ( 20 ), situated outside the building and comprising means of connection for the connection to at least one external electrical apparatus, the installation comprising means for powering the elements comprising: —means for generating energy ( 16 ) on the basis of a natural source, —means for storing energy ( 56 ), —means of interconnection ( 58, 62, 64 ) of the means of storage and/or of the means of generation to the elements to be powered, the installation also comprising: —means of measurement ( 72 ) of at least one parameter relating to the energy stored in at least one part of the energy storage means, and —means of control ( 66, 68, 67 ) of the means of interconnection as a function of the values obtained by the measurement means, so that if the energy stored in the at least one part of the storage means is less than a threshold value, the electrical powering of at least one of the elements ( 20 ) other than the building is prohibited.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An installation ( 10 ) capable of being electrically autonomous including elements to be powered ( 12 , 20 , 30 ) including:
a building ( 12 ) including at least one room delimited by at least a wall and a roof ( 14 ), and
an electricity distribution terminal ( 20 ) located outside the building and including connection means ( 22 ) for connection of at least one external electrical device,
the installation including means for powering the elements comprising:
means for generating energy ( 16 ) from a natural source,
means for storing energy ( 56 ; 56 A, 56 B),
means ( 58 , 62 , 64 ; 58 A, 58 B, 62 A, 62 B) for interconnecting the storage means and/or the generation means to the elements to be powered,
the installation also includes:
means ( 72 ; 72 A, 72 B) for measuring at least one parameter (I 72 ; I 72A , I 72B ) relating to the energy stored in at least one portion of the energy storage means, and
means ( 66 , 68 , 67 ; 66 A, 66 B, 68 A, 68 B) for controlling the interconnection means depending on the values obtained by the measuring means, so that if the energy stored in the at least one portion of the storage means is less than a threshold value, electrical power supply to at least one of the elements ( 20 , 30 ) other than the building is prohibited, wherein the energy storage means include a plurality of energy storage assemblies ( 56 A, 56 B) in parallel, the measuring means ( 72 A, 72 B) being capable of measuring a parameter relating to the energy stored in each storage assembly, the installation including in particular means ( 92 ) for determining the energy stored in a plurality or the totality of the assemblies.

2. The installation according to claim 1 , including a plurality of sub-installations ( 10 A; 10 B), each sub-installation including a distinct sub-group of energy generation means and, when appropriate, energy storage means ( 56 A; 56 B), each sub-installation being electrically connected to at least one element or a portion of an element ( 12 A; 12 B) that is not supplied by at least one other installation.

3. The installation according to claim 2 , wherein at least two sub-installations ( 10 A; 10 B) are each electrically connected to a distinct portion of the building ( 12 A; 12 B), at least one of the sub-installations also being connected to at least one other element to be powered ( 20 ) other than the building, said sub-installation including:
means ( 58 A, 58 B, 62 A, 62 B) for interconnecting the storage means and/or the generation means of said sub-installation to the elements to be powered ( 12 A, 12 B, 20 );
means ( 72 A, 72 B) for measuring at least one parameter relating to the energy stored in the energy storage means of said sub-installation, and
means ( 66 A, 66 B, 68 A, 68 B) for controlling the interconnection means depending on the values obtained by the measuring means, so that if the energy stored in the storage means of said sub-installation is less than a threshold value, electrical power supply to at least one of the elements ( 20 , 30 ) connected to said sub-installation, other than the building, is prohibited.

4. The installation according to claim 3 , wherein at least one safety interconnection means ( 75 ) is configured so that when it is activated, the energy coming from the generation means of a first sub-installation supplies the element or the portion of the element belonging to a second sub-installation.

5. The installation according to claim 1 , including a plurality of elements ( 20 , 30 ) to be powered other than the building ( 12 ), means ( 76 A, 76 B) for measuring at least one parameter (I 76A , I 76B ) relating to the power required by each of the elements to be powered, and means ( 92 ) for determining the element among the elements other than the building to which power supply is prohibited depending on the values obtained by said measuring means.

6. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the energy generation means comprise at least one photovoltaic panel ( 16 ) capable of converting solar radiation into electrical energy.

7. The installation according to claim 6 , wherein the surface area of the photovoltaic panels ( 16 ) and particularly of the roof ( 14 ) is greater than 100 m 2 and can supply more than 60 kWh in one day of insolation so that the photovoltaic panels can supply the building ( 12 ) with electricity without interruption for 24 hours.

8. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein at least one charger ( 50 ; 50 A, 50 B, 50 C) comprising a DC converter ( 52 ) is placed downstream of the energy generation means ( 16 ) and in particular interposed between the energy generation means ( 16 ) and the energy storage means ( 56 ; 56 A, 56 B).

9. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein a DC/AC converter ( 54 , 60 ; 54 A, 54 B, 60 A, 60 B) is placed between the energy generation means ( 16 ) and the elements ( 12 , 20 , 30 ) to be powered, particularly at the output of the energy storage means ( 56 ; 56 A, 56 B).

10. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the energy generation means ( 16 ) are connected both to the energy storage means ( 56 ; 56 A, 56 B) and directly to at least one of the elements to be powered ( 12 , 20 ; 12 A, 12 B, 20 ) and particularly to the building.

11. The installation according to claim 1 , also connected to an emergency power supply means, such as a generator set or an electrical distribution grid ( 80 ), designed to supply at least one of the elements and/or at least partially the energy storage means.

12. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the electricity distribution terminal ( 20 ) includes a connection detecting means for the presence of an electrical device at the connection means ( 22 ) of the terminal, and control means ( 66 , 67 , 68 ; 66 A, 66 B, 68 A) for the interconnection means ( 58 , 62 , 64 ; 58 A, 58 B, 62 A) interposed between the terminal and the energy storage means depending on the detection means.

13. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the terminal includes an identification module ( 28 A) and/or a payment module ( 28 B).

14. The installation according to claim 13 , wherein the control means ( 67 , 68 ; 68 A) control the interconnection means ( 62 , 64 ; 62 A) interposed between the terminal and the energy storage means depending on the identification and/or payment modules.

15. The installation according to claim 13 , wherein the terminal includes access means ( 24 ) movable between a closed position allowing access to the connection means ( 22 ) to be blocked and an open position allowing free access to the connection means, and control means for the access means depending on the identification module and/or the payment module.

16. The installation according to claim 12 , including control means ( 67 , 68 ; 68 A) for the interconnection ( 62 , 64 ; 62 A) or access means relative to at least one connection means ( 22 ) of the terminal depending on the parameter relating to the energy available in at least one portion of the energy storage means.

17. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein another element to be powered of the installation is a water treatment unit ( 30 ) such as a water purification and/or seawater desalination element.

18. The installation according to claim 17 , wherein the water treatment element includes a fluid output channel ( 34 , 36 ) connected to the building ( 12 ) and is designed to supply the latter with water and/or is connected to a liquid

Assignees

• Blue Solutions

Inventors

• Colin Jacques
• Sellin Christian
• Le Paven Yvon
• Caron Jean
• Etienne Pierre-Luc
• Florimond Valery
• Sammouda Karim
• Vallee Alain

Classifications

• H02J2101/25

  involving maximum power point tracking control for photovoltaic sources · CPC title

• H02S40/38

  Energy storage means, e.g. batteries, structurally associated with PV modules · CPC title

• H02S20/26

  Building materials integrated with PV modules, e.g. façade elements (H02S20/25 takes precedence) · CPC title

• Y02B10/10

  Photovoltaic [PV] · CPC title

• H02J2105/12

  supplying households or buildings · CPC title