Power disconnect system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12355299-B2
Application number	US-202118024957-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 8, 2021
Priority date	Sep 9, 2020
Publication date	Jul 8, 2025
Grant date	Jul 8, 2025

Abstract

The systems and methods herein described isolating a circuit breaker panel for a building from a grid circuit during an event disrupting the grid circuit. In one aspect, an interrupt switch system comprises a housing configured to mate with an electric meter socket on a first side and an electric meter on a second side, the housing comprising power inputs from grid power and power outputs to a circuit breaker panel and an interrupt circuit disposed within the housing and configured to interrupt a flow of electricity from the power inputs to the power outputs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An interrupt switch system, comprising:
a housing configured to mate with an electric meter socket on a first side and an electric meter on a second side, the housing comprising power inputs from grid power and power outputs to a circuit breaker panel; and
an interrupt circuit disposed within the housing and configured to interrupt a flow of electricity from the power inputs to the power outputs,
wherein the interrupt circuit comprises a relay switch configured to create an open circuit or a closed circuit between the power inputs and the power outputs, wherein the relay switch is controllable by one of a processor circuit and a manual disconnect switch,
wherein the housing further comprises:
a first conductor pair configured to electrically couple input terminals of the electric meter to respective terminals in the electric meter socket;
a second conductor pair configured to electrically couple output terminals of the electric meter to the interrupt circuit; and
a third conductor pair configured to couple the interrupt circuit to respective terminals in the electric meter socket electrically coupled to the circuit breaker panel,

and wherein the first conductor pair, the second conductor pair, and the third conductor pair are at least partially disposed within the housing.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a communication circuit in data communication with the interrupt circuit and configured to communicate one or more of a heartbeat signal and a state of the grid power to an external component.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the external component is a power backup system configured to provide power to the circuit breaker panel in a backup event.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the power backup system is one of a battery backup device and a solar power array.

5. The system of claim 2 , further comprising:
a sense circuit configured to sense power flow into the electric meter; and
a processor circuit configured determine the state of the grid power based on the sensed power flow.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the sense circuit comprises at least one Rogowski coil configured to sense power flow through a bus bar pair that feeds the grid power to the electric meter.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the housing is an ANSI 2S compliant adapter configured to receive the electric meter that is ANSI 2S compliant on the second side and mate with the electric meter socket that is ANSI 2S compliant on the first side.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises the manual disconnect switch which is configured to interrupt the flow of electricity from the power inputs to the power outputs when the manual disconnect switch is actuated.

9. A method of isolating a circuit breaker panel for a building from a grid circuit during an event disrupting the grid circuit, the method comprising:
sensing a current in the grid circuit;
transitioning to backup power based on detecting a disruption in the grid circuit, the transitioning comprising:
disconnecting output terminals of an electric meter for the building from terminals of an electric meter socket via which the circuit breaker panel receives electricity from the grid circuit using an interrupt switch adapter, wherein the interrupt switch adapter is installed into the electric meter socket and the electric meter is installed into the interrupt switch adapter,
wherein the interrupt switch adapter comprises a relay switch configured to create an open circuit or a closed circuit, wherein the relay switch is controllable by one of a processor circuit and a manual disconnect switch,
wherein the interrupt switch adapter comprises:
a first conductor pair configured to electrically couple input terminals of the electric meter to the terminals of the electric meter socket;
a second conductor pair configured to electrically couple the output terminals of the electric meter to an interrupt circuit included in the interrupt circuit adapter; and
a third conductor pair configured to couple the interrupt circuit to respective terminals of the electric meter socket which are electrically coupled to the circuit breaker panel,

and wherein the first conductor pair, the second conductor pair, and the third conductor pair are at least partially disposed within the interrupt switch adapter, and
activating a backup power source to energize at least a portion of the circuit breaker panel during the disruption in the grid circuit.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein sensing the current in the grid circuit comprises sensing the current in the grid circuit with at least one Rogowski coil without physically contacting the grid circuit and without establishing communications with the grid circuit.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
continuously monitoring the grid circuit for an end of the disruption; and
connecting the circuit breaker panel to the grid circuit when a first power quality of the grid circuit matches a second power quality of the backup power source.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
detecting the end of the disruption;
detecting a parameter of the first power quality;
detecting a parameter of the second power quality;
communicating the parameter of the first power quality to the backup power source; and
determining that the parameter of the first power quality matches the parameter of the second power quality before connecting the grid circuit to the circuit breaker panel.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising detecting that the grid circuit is experiencing the disruption based on sensing the current in the grid circuit.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein transitioning to backup power further comprises confirming that the backup power source is available to provide power to at least the portion of the circuit breaker panel and maintaining a heartbeat with the backup power source.

15. A power disconnect system, comprising:
a power backup system;
at least one external device, wherein the at least one external device comprises an external computing device, a controller, or a power grid; and
an interrupt switch, the interrupt switch comprising:
a housing configured to mate with an electric meter socket on a first side and an electric meter on a second side, the housing comprising power inputs from grid power and power outputs to a circuit breaker panel; and

an interrupt circuit disposed within the housing and configured to interrupt a flow of electricity from the power inputs to the power outputs,
wherein the interrupt circuit comprises a relay switch configured to create an open circuit or a closed circuit between the power inputs and the power outputs, wherein the relay switch is controllable by one of a processor circuit and a manual disconnect switch,
wherein the housing further comprises:
a first conductor pair configured to electrically couple input terminals of the electric meter to respective terminals in the electric meter socket;
a second conductor pair configured to electrically couple output terminals of the electric meter to the interrupt circuit; and
a third conductor pair configured to couple the interrupt circuit to respective terminals in the electric meter socket electrically coupled to the circuit breaker panel,
and wherein the first conductor pair, the second conductor pair, and the third conductor pair are at least partially disposed within the housing;

wherein the power backup system, the interrupt switch, and the at least one external device communicate via a network.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherei

Assignees

• Tesla Inc

Inventors

• Evans Kyle Breuning
• Lydecker Adam
• Nikolaev Alexey

Classifications

• H02J2101/22

  Solar energy · CPC title

• H02J13/13

  characterised by the transmission of data to equipment in the power network · CPC title

• H02J13/12

  Monitoring network conditions, e.g. electrical magnitudes or operational status · CPC title

• H02J13/36

  specially adapted for protection systems · CPC title

• H02J13/14

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