Analytic-based energy consumption control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10168673-B2
Application number	US-201615057775-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 1, 2016
Priority date	Mar 1, 2016
Publication date	Jan 1, 2019
Grant date	Jan 1, 2019

Abstract

For analytic-based control of energy consumption, an appliance module receives an appliance identifier of an appliance connected to a power outlet, a selection module selects a power model for the power outlet based on the appliance identifier, the power model designating times that the power outlet is to be powered and times that the power outlet is to be unpowered, a usage module receives energy usage data for a power outlet, a presence module receives user presence data for a locale containing the power outlet, a update module modifies a power model for the power outlet based on the energy usage data and the user presence data, and a power control module selectively provides electrical power to the power outlet according to the power schedule.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
an identity module that receives an appliance identifier for an appliance connected to a power outlet;
a model selection module that selects a power model for the power outlet based on the appliance identifier, the power model designating times that the power outlet is to be powered and times that the power outlet is to be unpowered;
a usage module that receives energy usage data for the power outlet;
a presence module that receives user presence data for a locale containing the power outlet;
a model update module that modifies a power model for the power outlet based on the energy usage data and the user presence data; and
a power control module that selectively provides electrical power to the power outlet according to the power model,
wherein at least a portion of the identity module, model selection module, usage module, presence module, model update module, and power control module comprise one or more of hardware and executable code, the executable code stored on one or more computer readable storage media.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a power down module that receives a power down command from the appliance, wherein the power control module withholds electrical power from the power outlet in response to the power down command and the model update module modifies the power model based on the power down command, wherein at least a portion of the power down module comprises one or more of hardware and executable code, the executable code stored on one or more computer readable storage media.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising a timer module that initiates a timer in response to the power down command, the timer counting an amount of time indicated in a timer parameter of the power down command, wherein the power control module provides power to the power outlet based on the power model in response to expiration of the timer, wherein at least a portion of the timer module comprises one or more of hardware and executable code, the executable code stored on one or more computer readable storage media.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the power down module receives the power down command from the appliance via a wireless interface.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an override module that:
receives a manual override command for the power outlet; and
signals the power control module to override the power model in response to the manual override command, wherein the model update module modifies the power model based on the manual override command,
wherein at least a portion of the override module comprises one or more of hardware and executable code, the executable code stored on one or more computer readable storage media.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the presence module further receives locale information for the locale, wherein the model selection module selects the power model based on the locale information.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a history module that:
tracks the energy usage data as power usage history; and
tracks the user presence data as presence history, wherein the model update module modifies the power model based on a statistical analysis of the power usage history and the presence history,
wherein at least a portion of the history module comprises one or more of hardware and executable code, the executable code stored on one or more computer readable storage media.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising a pattern module that
identifies one or more periods of statistically significant low power usage from the power usage history;
identifies one or more periods of statistically significant high power usage from the power usage history; and
generates a power usage pattern for the appliance based on the periods of low power usage and periods of high power usage, wherein the model update module modifies the power model based on the power usage pattern for the appliance,
wherein at least a portion of the pattern module comprises one or more of hardware and executable code, the executable code stored on one or more computer readable storage media.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the presence module further identifies times a user is present in the locale and times a user is likely to use the appliance, wherein the model update module modifies the power model based on the identified times.

10. A method for analytic-based control of energy consumption comprising:
identifying, by an energy management device, an appliance connected to a power outlet;
selecting, by the energy management device, a power model for the power outlet based on the appliance identity, the power model designating times that the power outlet is to be powered and times that the power outlet is to be unpowered;
receiving, at the energy management device, energy usage data for the power outlet;
receiving, at the energy management device, user presence data for a locale containing the power outlet;
modifying, by the energy management device, the power model for the power outlet based on the energy usage data and the user presence data; and
selectively providing electrical power to the power outlet by the energy management device according to the power model.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving a power down command from the appliance;
switching off the power outlet in response to the power down command; and
updating the power model based on the power down command.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the power down command includes a timer parameter, the method further comprising:
setting a timer based on the timer parameter; and
selectively providing power to the power outlet according to the power model in response to expiration of the timer.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving a manual override signal from the power outlet;
overriding the power model in response to the manual override signal; and
updating the power model based on the manual override signal.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein identifying the appliance comprises determining an appliance type for the appliance, and wherein selecting a power model for the power outlet based on the appliance identity comprises selecting the power model based on the appliance type.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
storing the received energy usage data as power usage history; and
storing the received user presence data as presence history, wherein modifying the power model includes updating the power model based on a statistical analysis of the power usage history and the presence history.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein identifying the appliance connected to a power outlet comprises:
receiving a wireless data packet from the appliance; and
identifying the appliance based on the wireless data packet.

17. A computer program product for analytic-based control of energy consumption, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions readable/executable by a processor to cause the processor to:
receive, by processor, an appliance type parameter for an appliance connected to a power outlet;
select, by processor, a power model for the power outlet based on the appliance type parameter, the power model designating times that the power outlet is to be powered and times that the power outlet is to be unpowered;
selectively provide, by processor, electrical power to the power outlet according to the powe

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Bowers John A
• Laforteza Andrew
• Mcnair Ryan D
• Sanchez-Cifuentes Alvaro

Classifications

• H02J2105/42

  Home appliances · CPC title

• H02J2103/30

  Simulating, planning, modelling, reliability check or computer assisted design [CAD] of electric power networks · CPC title

• H02J13/1323

  using optical fibres · CPC title

• H02J13/14

  the power network being locally controlled, e.g. home energy management systems [HEMS] · CPC title

• G05B13/041 Primary

  in which a variable is automatically adjusted to optimise the performance · CPC title