Methods and systems for integrating energy control systems with electrical systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11569782-B2
Application number	US-202117381581-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 21, 2021
Priority date	Jul 21, 2020
Publication date	Jan 31, 2023
Grant date	Jan 31, 2023

Abstract

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for integrating an energy control system with an electrical system having a utility meter connected to a utility grid, a photovoltaic (PV) system, an energy storage system, and a plurality of electrical loads. The systems and methods include determining a site condition of the electrical system, determining a type of backup configuration for the electrical system based on the determined site condition, and determining a location of at least one of a main circuit breaker, the PV system, a subpanel, and a site current transformer with respect to the energy control system based on the determined site condition and the determined type of backup configuration.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for integrating an energy control system with an electrical system including a utility meter electrically coupled to a utility grid, a photovoltaic (PV) system, and a plurality of electrical loads, comprising:
determining a site condition of the electrical system;
determining a type of backup configuration for the electrical system based on the determined site condition;
determining a location of at least one of a main circuit breaker, the PV system, a subpanel, and a site current transformer with respect to the energy control system based on the determined site condition and the determined type of backup configuration;
locating the energy control system downstream of the utility meter and upstream of at least one of the plurality of electrical loads; and
electrically coupling at least one of the main circuit breaker, the PV system, the subpanel, and the site current transformer to the energy control system based on the determined location,
wherein the site condition includes at least one of a type of service panel electrically coupled to the utility meter, a size of a utility service supplied by the utility grid, a size of a largest load breaker associated with the plurality of loads, and a storage capacity of the energy storage system.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the energy control system includes a grid interconnection, a backup load interconnection, a non-backup load interconnection, and a backup power interconnection.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the type of backup configuration includes a whole backup configuration and a partial backup configuration,
wherein under the whole backup configuration, all of the plurality of loads are connected to the backup load interconnection, and under the partial backup configuration, the plurality of loads include a plurality of backup loads connected to the backup load interconnection and a plurality of non-backup loads connected to the non-backup load interconnection.

4. A method for integrating an energy control system with an electrical system including a utility meter electrically coupled to a utility grid, a photovoltaic (PV) system, and a plurality of electrical loads, comprising:
determining a site condition of the electrical system;
determining a type of backup configuration for the electrical system based on the determined site condition;
determining a location of an electrical component with respect to the energy control system based on at least one of the determined site condition and the determined type of backup configuration; and
electrically coupling the electrical component to the energy control system based on the determined location.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the electrical component includes at least one of a main circuit breaker, the PV system, a subpanel, and a site current transformer.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the site condition includes at least one of a type of service panel electrically coupled to the utility meter, a size of a utility service supplied by the utility grid, a size of a largest load breaker associated with the plurality of loads, and a storage capacity of the energy storage system.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the type of backup configuration includes a whole backup configuration and a partial backup configuration,
wherein under the whole backup configuration, all of the plurality of loads are electrically coupled to a backup load interconnection of the energy control system, and under the partial backup configuration, the plurality of loads include a plurality of backup loads electrically coupled to the backup load interconnection of the energy control system and a plurality of non-backup loads connected to a non-backup load interconnection of the energy control system.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the location of the electrical component includes determining whether to locate the electrical component inside a housing of energy control system or outside the housing of energy control system.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the electrical component includes at least one of a main circuit breaker and a site current transformer.

10. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the location of the electrical component includes determining whether to electrically couple the electrical component to a non-backup side of the energy control system or a backup side of the energy control system.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the electrical component includes at least one of the PV system and a subpanel.

12. The method of claim 4 , wherein the energy control system is located downstream of the utility meter and upstream of one or more of the plurality of loads.

13. The method of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of electrical loads include a plurality of first backup loads and a plurality of second backup loads,
wherein the site condition includes a service panel electrically coupled to a utility grid, the service panel comprising a first feed circuit and a second feed circuit, and
wherein the electrical component includes:
a first subpanel electrically coupled to the first feed circuit and the plurality of first backup loads, and
a second subpanel electrically coupled to the second feed circuit and the plurality of second backup loads.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the energy control system includes a first energy control system and a second energy control system, and
wherein determining the location of the electrical component with respect to the energy control system includes:
locating the first energy control system downstream of the service panel and upstream of the first subpanel, and
locating the second energy control system downstream of the service panel and upstream of the second subpanel.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein electrically coupling the electrical component to the energy control system includes:
electrically coupling the first subpanel to a backup load interconnection of the first energy control system, and
electrically coupling the second subpanel to a backup load interconnection of the second energy control system.

Assignees

• Sunpower Corp

Inventors

• Narla Sandeep
• Risi Brian
• Lutkus Andrew

Classifications

• H02S40/36

  characterised by special electrical interconnection means between two or more PV modules, e.g. electrical module-to-module connection · CPC title

• H02S40/34 Primary

  comprising specially adapted electrical connection means to be structurally associated with the PV module, e.g. junction boxes · CPC title

• H02J3/001

  Arrangements for handling faults or abnormalities, e.g. emergencies or contingencies · CPC title

• H02J3/381

  Dispersed generators · CPC title

• G06Q50/06

  Energy or water supply · CPC title