Energy generation interactions bypassing the grid

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10128659-B2
Application number	US-201615153037-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 12, 2016
Priority date	May 12, 2016
Publication date	Nov 13, 2018
Grant date	Nov 13, 2018

Abstract

Methods, devices, and systems for controlling energy generation interactions that bypass the grid may be provided. Flow control devices may be directly connected with one another independent of electrical connections to the utility grid. In some examples, the direct connections between the devices may enable sharing of power, controlling power flow over the direct connections, and/or recording relative power flows between the devices.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device for managing power flow between a plurality of electrical systems, comprising:
an electrical cable configured to connect, independent of connections to a power grid, a first end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems to a second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems;
an inverter, coupled with the electrical cable, configured to change a type of power from a direct current form to an alternating current form;
a memory configured to store computer-executable instructions; and
a processor configured to access the memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to at least:
identify power generated by a power generation device of the first end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems;
change the type of the power, utilizing the inverter, from the direct current form to the alternating current form;
identify a power draw of a first amount of the power from the first end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems;
compare the power generated by the power generation device of the first end-user electrical system to the first amount of the power drawn from the first end-user electrical system;
in accordance with a determination that a first excess amount of power is identified via the comparison between the power generated by the power generation device of the first end-user electrical system to the first amount of the power drawn by the first end-user electrical system:
identify that the second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems has a deficit amount of the power;
configure the electrical cable to allow power flow to the second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems; and
control a first flow of the first excess amount of the power over the electrical cable from the first end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems to the second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems based at least in part on the deficit amount of the power;

in accordance with a determination that the excess amount of power is not identified via the comparison between the power generated by the power generation device of the first end-user electrical system to the first amount of the power drawn by the first end-user electrical system and that an insufficient amount of the power is identified via the comparison between the power generated by the power generation device of the first end-user electrical system to the first amount of the power drawn by the first end-user electrical system:
identify that the second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems has a second excess amount of power;
request a second flow of the second excess amount of the power over the electrical cable from the second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems to the first end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems; and
receive the second flow of the power over the electrical cable from the second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems based at least in part on the insufficient amount of the power; and

monitor relative power flow between the plurality of electrical systems based at least in part on the first flow of the power and the second flow of the power over the electrical cable.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the second flow of the power from the second end-user electrical system is received based at least in part on a request sent from the first end-user electrical system to the second end-user electrical system.

3. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a rectifier, coupled with the electrical cable, configured to change the type of power from the alternating current form to the direct current form.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein the second flow of the power is received from the second end-user electrical system in the alternating current form.

5. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a metering device coupled with at least one of the electrical cable, the memory, or the processor.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the relative power flow between the plurality of electrical systems is further monitored based at least in part on a metric of the metering device.

7. A computer-implemented method for managing power flow between a plurality of electrical systems, comprising:
identifying power generated by a power generation device of a first end-user electrical system of a plurality of electrical systems;
changing a type of the power, utilizing an inverter, from a direct current form to an alternating current form;
identifying a power draw of a first amount of the power from the first end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems;
comparing the power generated by the power generation device of the first end-user electrical system to the first amount of the power drawn from the first end-user electrical system;
in accordance with a determination that a first excess amount of power is identified via the comparison between the power generated by the power generation device of the first end-user electrical system to the first amount of the power drawn by the first end-user electrical system:
identifying that a second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems has a deficit amount of the power;
configuring an electrical cable to allow power flow to the second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems; and
controlling a first flow of the first excess amount of the power over the electrical cable from the first end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems to the second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems based at least in part on the deficit amount of the power;

in accordance with a determination that the excess amount of power is not identified via the comparison between the power generated by the power generation device of the first end-user electrical system to the first amount of the power drawn by the first end-user electrical system and that an insufficient amount of the power is identified via the comparison between the power generated by the power generation device of the first end-user electrical system to the first amount of the power drawn by the first end-user electrical system:
identifying that the second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems has a second excess amount of power;
requesting a second flow of the second excess amount of the power over the electrical cable from the second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems to the first end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems; and
receiving the second flow of the power over the electrical cable from the second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems based at least in part on the insufficient amount of the power; and

monitoring relative power flow between the plurality of electrical systems based at least in part on the first flow of the power and the second flow of the power over the electrical cable.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the power generation device comprises a photovoltaic cell of the first end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems, and wherein controlling the first flow of the power comprises providing the power over the electrical cable.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising identifying a power draw from the second end-user electrical system of the plurality of electrical systems, wherein the power draw is identified based at least in part on a request receive

Assignees

• Solarcity Corp

Inventors

• Rive Peter Joshua
• Carlson Eric Daniel

Classifications

• Y04S10/123

  the energy generation units being or involving renewable energy sources · CPC title

• Y04S10/12

  Monitoring or controlling equipment for energy generation units, e.g. distributed energy generation [DER] or load-side generation · CPC title

• Y02B10/30

  Wind power · CPC title

• H02J2101/24

  Photovoltaics · CPC title

• H02J2101/20

  Dispersed power generation using renewable energy sources · CPC title