BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The field of the disclosure relates generally to measuring electric energy consumption, and more specifically to a system and method for generating an energy usage profile for an electrical device.
To ensure that an amount of electricity generated by an electrical utility is sufficient to meet a load demand placed on a system by their customers, the utility must continually manage their capacity. Utilities generally have two options for meeting demands on the system during periods of peak energy demand (loading). These include either bringing additional generating capacity on¬line to satisfy the increased demand, or, if properly equipped, shedding load across their customer base to reduce overall demand on the system.
When reducing demand, it is desirable to equitably distribute a necessary load shedding across the customer base. This is especially true where participation in load control programs is voluntary. In this regard, a number of methods have been proposed to manage load control fairly across a wide range of customers and their individual needs. These methods make use of demand and/or rate of demand as measured at a customer's site. This amount of "dispatchable" load, for example, usage that can be shed at a given time, is calculated from these measurements and then used to formulate set points and/or generate control signals which directly affect the shedding of a load.
Currently, to measure demand at a site, either a demand type metering device must be used, or a similar demand metering capability must be present in a load control device employed at that location. While some utilities may only employ demand measuring capability for a short time (e.g., until robust models are developed), even a short term deployment of a measuring capability may not only
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be cost prohibitive, but also require additional levels of system management.
Furthermore, measuring usage at a premise level does not provide an indication of
usage patterns at an equipment level. The result is that control signals meant to
control individual loads are based on global measurements that have been taken and
which are applied equally across all controlled loads. Generally speaking, utilities are
primarily concerned with usage on an aggregate level, and individual equipment level
data is not considered. :
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FNVENTION
In one aspect, a system for generating an energy usage profile of an electrical device is provided. The system includes a meter configured to measure electric energy usage; a memory area for storing an energy usage profile corresponding to one or more electrical devices associated with the electric meter, and at least one processor. The at least one processor is programmed to receive a request to turn off power to each of the one or more electrical devices associated with the meter, receive a request to turn on a first electrical device of the one or more electrical devices, obtain a sample of a ramp up waveform of energy usage of the first electrical device, convert the sample of the ramp up waveform to a digital signature, and store the ramp up digital signature of the first electricaljdevice in the memory area.
In another aspect, a method is provided. The method includes receiving a request to turn off power to each of one or more electrical devices associated with a meter configured to measure electric energy usage, receiving a request to turn on a first electrical device of the one or more electrical devices, obtaining a sample of a ramp up waveform of energy usage of the first electrical device, converting the sample of the ramp up waveform to a digital signature, and storing the ramp up digital signature of the first electrical device in the memory area.
In yet another aspect, one or more computer-readable media having computer-executable components are provided. The components include an interface component that when executed by at least one processor causes the at least one processor to receive a request to turn off power to each of one or more electrical
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devices associated with a meter configured to measure electric energy usage, and receive a request to turn on a first electrical device of the one or more electrical devices, a sampling component that when executed by at least one processor causes the at least one processor to obtain a sample of a ramp up waveform of energy usage of the first electrical device, a converting component that when executed by at least one processor causes the at least one processor to convert the sample of the ramp up waveform to a digital signature, and a memory component that when executed by at least one processor causes the at least one processor to store the ramp up digital signature of the first electrical device in the memory area.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present disclosure is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures.
Figure 1 is a block diagram of an electric energy measurement system.
Figure 2 is a process flow diagram of a method for generating an energy usage profile for an electrical device.
Figure 3 provide an illustrative example of a ramp up waveform and a ramp down waveform.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
While embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated and described herein with reference to measuring electric energy consumption, and more specifically to a system and method for generating an energy usage profile for one or more electrical devices in a home or business, aspects of the disclosure are operable with any system that performs the functionality illustrated and described herein, or its equivalent.
The two primary components of electrical bills are usage charges and demand charges. Usage refers to a quantity of electrical energy
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consumed, and it is measured in Icilowatt-iiours (kWh). Demand is a rate (e.g., a pace) at which energy is consumed, and it is measured in kilowatts (kW). Usage is often metered for each of a sequence of equal metering intervals, for example, 15 minutes to 60 minutes long. This is done for two reasons. First, usage charges can vary by a time of use, and a usage of each interval, or a particular block of intervals, can be billed at a different rate. Second, usage data are a convenient basis for demand charges. Demand charges are generally calculated from a highest average demand from any of the intervals that comprise a specified block of intervals. An average demand for an interval is simply the usage during that interval, expressed on an hourly basis. For the commonly used 15-minute interval, the usage would be multiplied by four to get the hourly demand.
More recently, various types of dynamic pricing, such as real¬time energy pricing, have been introduced. Dynamic pricing provides market transparency that exposes customers to time variations in energy costs, encouraging customers to shift their electrical energy usage into periods of lower demand, and therefore, lower prices. Dynamic pricing is being increasingly used to mitigate power shortages and, in this context, it is referred to as a "demand response". Utilities and their regulators have implemented demand response as programs, which provide incentives to reduce electrical demand during power shortages ("events"). In some cases, these incentives are contingent upon a customer reducing usage below some prescribed limit during each hour or each metering" interval. If the customer fails to observe these limits, the incentives may be lost, Kairsh penalties may be imposed, or both.
Typically, a total demand of a facility fluctuates markedly, due to many individual electrical loads turning on and off at irregular intervals. To reliably hit a demand target, a customer or an automatic control system needs accurate electrical usage. Thus, an ability to refine load control to a higher degree of resolution, for example, at an individual electrical device level, can produce greater accuracies and better performance in load control strategies a utility may potentially employ. However, because conventional electric meters can not determine an electric energy usage of individual electrical devices, for example, an HVAC system, a
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washing machine, a dryer, a dishwashing machine, a hybrid vehicle, a pool pump, and the like, ensuring or even verifying that a consumer has in fact reduced power usage of a specific electrical device with respect to a demand response event can be difficult. Therefore, conventional demand response events merely require a customer to reduce total electrical energy usage.
Embodiments of the present disclosure enable a utility to verify compliance with a demand response event that requests a reduction of energy consumption, and more specifically, non-usage of one or more individual electrical devices, as well as enable a consumer to have appropriate control over energy consumption. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure utilize the fact that each electrical device has a unique energy usage profile based on, for example, power consumption, duration, ramp up (e.g., during powering on of the device)/ramp down (e.g., after powering off the device), and cycling. Thus, enabling a consumer to generate an energy usage profile for each electrical device not only provides the utility an ability to determine energy usage of for each electrical device by comparing the total energy usage with each energy usage profile, but also gives the consumer a level of control and assurance that each electrical device is properly defined with an accurate and up to date energy usage profile.
An exemplary technical effect of the methods and systems described herein includes at least one of (a) receiving a request to turn off power to each of one or more electrical devices associated with a meter configured to measure electric energy usage; (b) receiving a request to turn on a first electrical device of the one or more electrical devices; (c) obtaining a sample of a ramp up waveform of energy usage of the first electrical device; (d) converting the sample of the ramp up waveform to a digital signature; and (e) storing the ramp up digital signature of the first electrical device in the memory area.
With reference to Figure 1, a block diagram of an electric energy measurement system 100 is provided. System 100 includes a computing device 102 communicatively coupled to a meter 104 configured to measure electric energy usage, a home area network (HAN) user interface 106, and one or more
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electrical devices 108. Computing device 102 may be a portable computing device such as a laptop, netbook, and/or portable media player. Further, computing device 102 may include any device executing instructions (e.g., application programs), or represent a group of processing units or other computing devices. In addition, although computing device 102, meter 104, and HAN user interface 106 are shown as being separate devices in Figure 1, features of device 102, meter 104, and HAN user interface 106 may be combined into, for example, one or more devices. For example, meter 104 may include HAN user interface 106 and/or computing device 102. Further, computing device 102 may include a user interface (e.g., HAN user interface 106).
Computing device 102 may communicate with meter 104, HAN user interface 106, and one or more electrical devices 108 via wired and/or wireless networks, for example, local area networks or global networks such as the Internet. In embodiments in which computing device 102 communicates using wireless networks, computing device 102 may be enabled with technology such as BLUETOOTH brand wireless communication services (secured or unsecured), radio frequency identification (RFID), Wi-Fi such as peer-to-peer Wi-Fi, ZIGBEE brand wireless communication services, near field communication (NFC), and other technologies that enable short-range or long-range wireless communication. In some embodiments, computing device 102 may communicate via a wireless cellular network providing Internet access.
Computing device 102 in