Multi-node electrical power monitoring, analysis, and related services

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9625518-B2
Application number	US-201615166713-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 27, 2016
Priority date	May 10, 2013
Publication date	Apr 18, 2017
Grant date	Apr 18, 2017

Abstract

The operation of electrical appliances receiving electrical power from an electrical system may be indirectly monitored using monitoring units engaged with outlets on branch circuits of the electrical system. Electrical systems providing power to appliances to be monitored in accordance with the present invention may comprise split phase alternating current systems, tri-phase systems, or any other type of electrical system. Known loads may be applied to calibrate the monitoring system. The monitoring system may measure the power consumption of appliances operating on the electrical system and/or detect possible fault conditions. The application of a known load to each phase of the electrical system for calibration permits different portions of the electrical system to be isolated and, therefor, provides improved accuracy in monitoring power consumption and detection of potential fault conditions.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system configured to monitor electrical devices that draw power from an electrical power network operating on multiple phases, the system comprising:
a first monitoring unit configured to engage with a first outlet of the electrical power network, the first outlet operating on a first phase of the electrical power network;
a second monitoring unit configured to engage with a second outlet of the electrical power network, the second outlet operating on a second phase of the electrical power network that is different from the first phase;
at least one processor configured to:
measure, during a first time period, a first set of voltage variation measurements at the first monitoring unit and the second monitoring unit;
measure, during a second time period that is not coincident with the first time period, a second set of voltage variation measurements at the first monitoring unit and the second monitoring unit;
determine, based on the first set of voltage variation measurements, a first set of calibration measurements;
determine, based on the second set of voltage variation measurements, a second set of calibration measurements;
measure, at a first plurality of time periods not coincident with either of the first time period and the second time period, a third set of voltage variation measurements;
calculate, based at least in part on the first set of calibration measurements, the second set of calibration measurements, and the third set of voltage variation measurements, an amount of power consumed by an electrical device connected to the electrical power network; and
output the calculated amount of power consumed by the electrical device.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to measure, during the first time period, the first set of voltage variation measurements based on an application of a first calibration load at the first monitoring unit and to measure, during the second time period, the second set of voltage variation measurements based on an application of a second calibration load at the second monitoring unit.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the first time period is of a first duration that is sufficiently long for transients due to the application of the first calibration load to dissipate and wherein the second time period is of a second length that is sufficiently long for transients due to the application of the second calibration load to dissipate.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to measure the third set of voltage variation measurements based on an engagement of the electrical device to an outlet of the electrical power network and corresponding to the electrical device being in an operational state.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
determine that a plurality of electrical devices draw power from the electrical power network; and
calculate an amount of power consumed by each of the plurality of electrical devices.

6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising at least one digital storage unit, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
store, in the at least one digital storage unit, the first set of calibration measurements, the second set of calibration measurements, and the third set of voltage variation measurements;
access, from the at least one digital storage unit, at least one voltage signature corresponding to at least one electrical device;
based on the first set of calibration measurements, the second set of calibration measurements, the third set of voltage variation measurements, and the at least one voltage signature, identify an electrical device from among the plurality of electrical devices drawing power from the electrical power network; and
output an indication of the identified electrical device and the amount of power consumed by the identified electrical device.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
compare the third set of voltage variation measurements with the at least one voltage signature;
determine whether the third set of voltage variation measurements differs from the at least one voltage signature by a threshold amount; and
based on a determination that the third set of voltage variation measurements differs from the at least one voltage signature by the threshold amount, issue an alert indicating a possible fault in the electrical device.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
receive data regarding a topology and a design of the electrical power network; and
calculate the amount of power consumed by the electrical device further based on the data regarding the topology and the design of the electrical power network.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
analyze the third set of voltage variation measurements using a blind signal separation technique; and
based on analyzing the third set of voltage variation measurements using the blind signal separation technique, identify individual electrical devices drawing power from the electrical power network.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the blind signal separation technique is at least one of Singular Value Decomposition (SVD), Principle Component Analysis (PCA), or Independent Component Analysis (ICA).

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electrical power network comprises a split phase electrical power network or a tri-phase electrical power network.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to measure the first set of calibration measurements, the second set of calibration measurements, and the third set of voltage variation measurements by:
measuring at least one voltage in relation to a cycle of the electrical power network; and
based on measuring the at least one voltage in relation to a cycle of the electrical power network, determining a plurality of voltage measurements.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine, for each of the plurality of voltage measurements, a measurement time during the cycle of the electrical power network at which the voltage measurement was measured.

14. A system configured to monitor electrical devices that draw power from an alternating current electrical power network having a plurality of outlets, the system comprising:
at least one digital storage unit; and
at least one processor configured to:
determine, for at least one outlet of the alternating current electrical power network and in a first plurality of time windows, a first plurality of voltage measurements for voltages between a hot line and a neutral line and for voltages between a neutral line and a ground line of the electrical power network, the first plurality of voltage measurements occurring at different stages of an alternating current cycle of the electrical power network;
store, in the at least one digital storage unit:
at least one of the first plurality of voltage measurements;
an indication of a phase of the alternating current cycle at which the at least one of the first plurality of voltage measurements was measured; and
an indication of whether the at least one of the first plurality of voltage measurements was measured during a time in which an electrical load was applied to the alternating current electrical power network;

calibrate a model of the alternating current electrical power network based at least in part on:
the stored at least one of the first pluralit

Assignees

• Alarm Com Inc

Inventors

• Kabler Ronald Byron
• Lutes Robert Leon
• Briancon Alain Charles
• Crawford Curtis Scott
• Giacoponello Christopher Allen
• Johnson Jerald Frederic
• Jara-Olivares Victor Andres
• Epard Marc Anthony
• Goldberg Steven Jeffrey
• Lancaster John Berns

Classifications

• G01R21/00

  Arrangements for measuring electric power or power factor (G01R7/12 takes precedence) · CPC title

• Y04S20/36

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y04S20/38

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• G01D4/008

  Modifications to installed utility meters to enable remote reading · CPC title

• G01R31/2836 Primary

  Fault-finding or characterising (G01R31/2822 - G01R31/2831 take precedence) · CPC title