CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/391,947, filed on July 25, 2022, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Residential and commercial sites (e.g., homes, buildings, etc.) include various sources of electrical loads.

SUMMARY

[0003] At least one embodiment relates to a power management system that includes a first power source, a second power source, a first electrical load configured to receive power supplied by the first power source or the second power source, a second electrical load configured to receive power supplied by the first power source or the second power source, a load management module configured to selectively connect power to the fist electrical load and the second electrical load, a wireless gateway communicably coupled to the first power source, the second power source, and the load management module, and a controller. The controller includes one or more processors and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to: determine a power configuration based on an energy profile and a load profile and control operation of the load management module to provide or inhibit a connection between the first power source and the first electrical load and the second electrical load. The power configuration prioritizes the first power source over the second power source.

[0004] Another embodiment relates to a power management system that includes a first power source, a first electrical load defining a steady-state power demand, a second electrical load defining a transient power demand, a load management module configured to selectively connect power to the fist electrical load and the second electrical load, a wireless gateway communicably coupled to the first power source and the load management module, and a controller. The controller includes one or more processors and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to: determine a power configuration based a priority management circuit and control operation of the load management module to temporarily disconnect the first power source from the first electrical load and connect the first power source to the second electrical load. The priority management circuit prioritizes the second electrical load based on the transient power demand.

[0005] Another embodiment relates to a method for controlling power distribution at a site. The method includes receiving a load profile defining a power distribution to a first electrical load and a second electrical load, receiving an energy profile prioritizing a first power source and a second power source, determining that the first electrical load defines a transient power demand, prior to connecting the first power source or the second power source to the first electrical load, temporarily disconnecting the second electrical load from the first power source or the second power source, connecting the first power source or the second power source to the first electrical load, and connecting the second electrical load to the first power source or the second power source after a predetermined amount of time.

[0006] This summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, inventive features, and advantages of the devices or processes described herein will become apparent in the detailed description set forth herein, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0007] The disclosure will become more fully understood from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures, in which:

[0008] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a power management system, according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0009] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a site that is managed by the power management system, according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0010] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a load management controller of the power management system of FIG. 1; [0011] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a user device of the power management system of FIG. 1;

[0012] FIG. 5 is flowchart illustrating a method for determining a power configuration for distributing power at a site; and

[0013] FIG. 6 is a power distribution graph for the power management system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] Before turning to the figures, which illustrate the exemplary embodiments in detail, it should be understood that the present application is not limited to the details or methodology set forth in the description or illustrated in the figures. It should also be understood that the terminology is for the purpose of description only and should not be regarded as limiting.

[0015] The figures generally describe systems and methods for determining a power configuration for distributing power to meet the load requirements at a site (e.g., a home, a building, etc.). A typical power system may include a variety of power sources including a utility power grid, renewable power sources (e.g., solar panels, hydro power, etc.) and backup power sources (generators, batteries, etc.). However, typical power systems do not include a wireless gateway and/or load management controllers that is configured to determine a power configuration that controls both the mix of power sources used to provide power to a site and the power distribution to one or more electrical loads associated with the site. The systems and methods described herein are directed to a power system that addresses this issue by generating a power configuration that determines an appropriate mix of power sources used to provide power to a site in addition to the power distribution to one or more electrical load associated with the site. The appropriate mix of power sources and power distribution may be determined based on an energy profile, load profile, and/or user preferences.

[0016] The systems and methods described herein are directed to a power management system that includes a variety of power sources and a load management controller configured to determine the power configuration based on information and data received from a load management cloud. Once the power configuration is determined, the load management controller may implement the power configuration in the power management system through a load management module. [0017] Referring now to FIG. 1, a power management system 100 is shown according to an exemplary embodiment. In some embodiments, the power management system 100 is configured to manage power distribution at a site 102 from one or more power sources based on power usage data for the site 102, a load profile associated with the site 102, and/or an energy profile associated with the site 102. In some embodiments, the site 102 may be a home or any type of building that includes one or more loads and/or smart devices (e.g., smart bulbs, smart plugs, smart breakers, etc.). For example, referring now to FIG. 2, the site 102 may include electrical loads such as a refrigerator 132, a washer/dryer 134, and a television 136. Furthermore, the site 102 may include electrical loads such as smart devices 138 which includes smart plugs 140, smart lights 142, and/or smart breakers 144.

[0018] Referring back to FIG. 1, the one or more power sources may include a solar panel 104, a power grid 106, a battery storage system 108, and a generator 110. The solar panel 104, the power grid 106, the battery 108, and the generator 110 may together herein be referred to as the power sources. Each of the power sources may be coupled to an inverter 112. The inverter 112 may be configured to convert the power received from the power sources to a power that may be used at the site 102. For example, the power sources may supply a DC voltage to the inverter 112. The inverter 112 may then convert DC power from the power sources into a cleaner (e.g., higher quality) and more widely useful AC electrical power at a desired frequency and voltage. The generated AC electrical power can then be output from the inverter 112 and used to power various loads at the site 102. In some embodiments, the inverter 112 may include a power configuration profile that is configured to receive a power configuration and then turn on and off power from one or more power sources according to the power configuration.

[0019] A wireless gateway 114 facilitates communication between a load management controller 116 and a load management module 118. In some embodiments, the wireless gateway 114 may be a wired gateway. In some embodiments, the load management module 118 may be a load switching device that is configured to change or update the power source(s) that is used to supply power to the site 102 and/or allocate what portion of the power supplied to the site 102 is used by one or more devices (e.g., electrical loads) at the site 102. In some embodiments, the load management module 118 may be a wirelessly-controlled load switching device. For example, the wireless gateway 114 sends instructions from the load management controller 116 to the inverter 112 to change or update the power distribution from the power sources (e.g., the solar panel 104, the generator 110, the battery 108, the power grid 106, etc.) to the site 102. In some embodiments, the wireless gateway 114 may be communicably coupled with the generator 110 and/or the battery 108 directly.

[0020] A network interface of the wireless gateway 114 may include, but is not limited to, a wired interface, a Wi-Fi interface, a cellular modem, a Bluetooth transceiver, a Bluetooth beacon, or a combination thereof. In other embodiments, the wireless gateway 114 includes different type of network devices to enable other kinds of wired or cellular radio communications. The wireless gateway 114 may communicate to a WiFi router at a site 102. As such, the wireless gateway 114 can relay information to the router on the amount of power available from each of the power sources to provide power to the site. In some embodiments, the wireless gateway 114 may communicate to the WiFi router that a first power source (e.g., the power grid 106) is being used instead of a second power source (e.g., the solar panel 104). In some embodiments, the wireless gateway may be coupled to an open global smart grid data information exchange platform (e.g., OpenADR) that is configured to provide information about the power grid 106. This information may include a dynamic prices of the power grid 106 and the predicted operation (e.g., predicted outages and performance) of the power grid 106 based on a variety of factors including weather information. In some embodiments, the load management module 118 is optionally connected directly to the power grid 106.

[0021] In some embodiments, the load management module 118 is hard-wired between a distribution panel (e.g., a circuit breaker) associated with the site 102 and one or more smart devices for the site 102 via the site’s power lines. The load management module 118 is electrically connected to the distribution panel through wired power lines. For example, the load management module 118 can be provided between a wall socket and a smart plug that normally operates on a power supply of a home. The load management module 118 may include switching circuitry. The switching circuitry includes one or more transfer switches 119 that each change between first and second positions based on controls received (e.g., via wireless gateway 114) from the load management controller 116. In some embodiments, the load management module 118 includes a transfer switch 119 for each of the power sources. In some embodiments, the load management module 118 may be a smart circuit breaker. A smart circuit breaker may be configured to provide wireless and remote switching capabilities. [0022] The load management controller 116 may monitor the load experienced by the one or more power sources (e.g., the solar panel 104, the power grid 106, the battery 108, the generator 110, etc.). The load management controller 116 can be configured to control the load management module 118. The load management controller 116 selectively disconnects one or more electrical loads associated with the site 102 based on the availability of power from the power sources (e.g., an energy profile) and the power required by the one or more electrical loads at the site 102 (e.g., a load profile). The load management controller 116 may include the function of the load management controller described in the embodiment with reference to FIG. 2, as described below, along with additional functions for power control of the switch assemblies (e.g., the transfer switches 119 of the load management module 118).

[0023] The load management controller 116 may also act as a transfer switch controller that determines the position of the transfer switches 119 to select the power source or combination of power sources (e.g., the solar panel 104, the power grid 106, the battery 108, and the generator 110) is used to provide power to one or more electrical loads. For example, the load management controller 116 may also be configured to connect a second power source (e.g., the generator 110) to supply one of the electrical loads of the site 102 with power after detecting a loss of power from a first power source or combination of power sources (e.g., the power grid 106 and/or the solar panel 104). In this case, the load management controller 116 may instruct one of the transfer switches 119 in the load management module 118 to change to a second position during a power outage to connect generator 110 to one or more smart devices and/or appliances at the site 102.

[0024] The load management controller 116 can communicate the controls for load shedding and the transfer switches 119 over radio frequencies via the wireless gateway 114 that is electrically connected to the power sources via the inverter 112. In some embodiments, the wireless gateway 114 may be hard-wired to the inverter 112 via one or more wire RS485 cables. In some embodiments, the wireless gateway 114 uses a combination of WiFi and Zigbee protocols to communicate with the load management module 118.

[0025] The wireless gateway 114 facilitates communication between the load management controller 116 and the load management module 118. For example, the wireless gateway 114 sends instructions from the load management controller 116 to the load management module 118 for the transfer switch(es) 119 to change positions to disconnect the one or more smart devices/appliances from one of the power sources. A network interface of the wireless gateway 114 connected to each of the power sources (e.g., electrically and communicably coupled to the solar panel 104, the power grid 106, the battery 108, and the generator 110) may include, but is not limited to, a Wi-Fi interface, a cellular modem, a Bluetooth transceiver, a Bluetooth beacon, or a combination thereof. In other embodiments, the wireless gateway 114 includes different type of network devices to enable other kinds of cellular radio communications. In some embodiments, instead of using wireless radio communications via the wireless gateway 114, the load management controller 116 sends and receives data via power line communications (PLC). As such, the load management controller 116 can transmit and receive information on load shedding and available power of each of the power sources over power communication lines (i.e., existing, hard-wired cables for utility power) installed between the load switching device (e.g., the load management module 118), the power sources, and the electrical loads associated with the site 102 (e.g., appliances, electricity for a house, etc.). The wireless gateway 114 may communicate to a WiFi router at the site 102 that is being powered by the power sources. As such, the wireless gateway 114 can relay information to the router on the amount of power available from each of the power sources, for example. In some embodiments, the wireless gateway 114 may communicate to a user the power sources that are being used to supply the site 102 through the user device 120.

[0026] In some embodiments, the electrical loads being powered by the power sources that are physically and electrically connected to the load management module 118 through the inverter 112 may include one or more appliances 131 and/or smart devices 138 associated with the site 102 (see, e.g., FIG. 2). The appliances may include any types of machines that are powered by electricity in a home or building, such as a washing machine/dryer 134, a refrigerator 132, a television 136, etc. The load management module 118 can be installed at a lead of the appliance. The smart devices 138 may include any type of automated devices or appliances whose operation is automated. For example, the smart devices 138 may include smart lights 142, smart breakers 144, and/or smart plugs 140 that may automatically turn on or off based on sensed motion and/or pre-programmed parameters. The appliances 131 and/or smart devices 138 may directly couple to the load management module 118 to receive power from one or more of the power sources. Further, the appliances 131 and/or smart devices 138 may be designated as electrical loads that can be turned on and off by the wireless gateway 114 and/or the load management module 118. [0027] In some embodiments, the wireless gateway 114 may also be coupled to a load management cloud 122 that is configured to receive and store data associated with the power sources, the electrical loads associated with the site 102, and/or user preferences for how power is to be managed at the site 102. The load management cloud 122 may be a cloudbased server(s) that includes memory storage capabilities and processing capabilities that may be used to store and analyze information associated with the power management system 100. More specifically, the load management cloud 122 may include a power database 124 that is configured to store one or more energy profiles and/or load profiles for the power management system 100. The energy profiles may be described as the amount of power available from the each of the power sources at different times of operation. The energy profiles may be used by the load management controller 116 to control operation of the load management module 118. In some embodiments, multiple energy profiles may be defined for the power management system 100. For example, a daytime energy profile, a nighttime energy profile, and one or more seasonal/weather energy profiles may be determined and stored in the power database 124. An exemplary summer daytime energy profile is provided in Table 1 below. An exemplary summer nighttime energy profile is provided in Table 2 below. An exemplary inclement weather daytime energy profile when the power grid 106 is experiencing an outage is provided in Table 3 below.

Table 1 : Summer Daytime Energy Profile

Table 2: Summer Nighttime Energy Profile

Table 2: Inclement Weather Daytime Energy Profile

[0028] In some embodiments, the energy profiles stored in the power database 124 may be created based on a combination of data directed to the amount of power available from each of the power sources as determined by the load management controller 116 and user preferences received from the user through user device 120. For example, a user associated with the site 102 may wish to prioritize using power from the battery 108 over using power from the generator during a power outage of the power grid 106. The user may enter this preference and other such preferences in the user device 120. These preferences may be included in the energy profile and may be used as a factor in determining “percentage in power distribution mix” as shown in the energy profiles in Tables 1-3.

[0029] The loads profiles may be described as the distribution of power as received from the power sources to a variety of electrical loads (e.g., appliances, smart devices, etc.) at the site 102. The load profiles may be used by the load management controller 116 to control operation of the load management module 118. In some embodiments, multiple load profiles may be defined for the power management system 100 for different situations. For example, a daytime load profile, a nighttime load profile, and an emergency load profile may be determined and stored in the power database 124. The daytime load profile describes how power should be distributed to one or more appliances or devices at the site 102 during normal daytime operation (e.g., most appliances on, car charging not active, lights on, etc.) whereas the nighttime load profile describes how power should be distributed to one or more appliances during normal nighttime operation (e.g., non-essential appliances not active, car charging, light off, etc.). The emergency load profile describes how power may be distributed to the one or more appliances or devices during an emergency operation (e.g., power outage/blackout, power brownout, etc.). An exemplary daytime load profile is provided in Table 4 below. An exemplary nighttime load profile is provided in Table 5 below. An exemplary emergency load profile when the power grid 106 is experiencing an outage is provided in Table 6 below.

Table 4: Daytime Load Profile

Table 5: Nighttime Load Profile

[0030] In some embodiments, the load profiles stored in the power database 124 may be created based on a combination of data directed to the amount of power available from each of the power sources as determined by the load management controller 116 and user preferences received from the user through user device 120. For example, a user associated with the site 102 may wish to prioritize supplying power to a refrigerator over supplying power to a washer or dryer. The user may enter this preference and other such preferences in the user device 120. These preferences may be included in the load profile and may be used as a factor in determining whether to distribute power to an appliance as shown in the load profiles in Tables 4-6. [0031] In some embodiments, the load management cloud 122 includes a forecast database 130 that is configured to store weather forecast information and power grid operation forecast information. For example, the forecast database 130 may store a forecast of sunshine duration for one or more upcoming hours, days, week, months, etc. The sunshine duration may be used by the load management controller 116 to determine when to prioritize a solar power source in the power distribution mix. As another example, the forecast database may store a forecast of power grid brownouts or blackouts. The load management controller 116 may then prioritize non-power grid power sources (e.g., the solar panel 104, the generator 110, and/or the battery 108) during the forecasted brownouts or blackouts.

[0032] The load management cloud 122 may be coupled to a user device 120 via an application programing interface (API) 126 that provides a power management application to a user. More specifically, the API 126 may facilitate a data transfer between the load management cloud 122 and the power management application on the user device 120. This data may be used to create one or more user interfaces on the user device 120 that present data about the power distribution to a user. Furthermore, the user may enter data such as user preferences and/or commands on the user device 120 that may be transmitted, processed, and stored on the load management cloud 122. The user device 120 is described in more detail below with respect to FIG. 4.

[0033] In some embodiments, the load management cloud 122 includes a fleet management server 128. The fleet management server 128 may be configured to collect and analyze data from multiple sites, such as site 102. The power distribution data on the fleet management server 128 may be used by a power equipment installer to aid them in installing and maintaining power equipment at additional sites. The data collected and analyzed by the fleet management server may sent to the user device 120 so that the data and analysis may be displayed to a power distribution installer.

[0034] Referring now to FIG. 3, a diagram of the load management controller 116 is shown according to an exemplary embodiment. The load management controller 116 is configured to receive power availability information, electrical load information, and one or more user preferences which the load management controller 116 may use to determine a power configuration to be implemented by the power management system 100. The power configuration may be defined as one or more control settings (e.g., transfer switch 119 positions, smart breaker settings, smart plug settings, etc.) that are implemented in the load management module 118 and/or at the site 102. The load management controller 116 may determine a power configuration based an energy profile for the power management system 100, a load profile for the power management system 100, and/or one or more user preferences entered through the user device 120. In some embodiments, the user preferences may be integrated into the energy profiles and load profiles as described above. In other embodiments, the user preferences may be provided to the load management controller 116 separately from the energy profiles and load profiles.

[0035] The load management controller 116 includes a processing circuit 210 having a processor 215 and a memory 220. The load management controller 116 also includes an energy profile circuit 222, a load profile circuit 224, a user preferences circuit 226, and a priority management circuit 228. In one configuration, the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228 are embodied as machine or computer-readable media that stores instructions that are executable by a processor, such as the processor 215. As described herein and amongst other uses, the machine-readable media facilitates performance of certain operations to enable reception and transmission of data. For example, the machine-readable media may provide an instruction (e.g., command, etc.) to, e.g., acquire data. In this regard, the machine-readable media may include programmable logic that defines the frequency of acquisition of the data (or, transmission of the data). The computer readable media may include code, which may be written in any programming language including, but not limited to, Java or the like and any conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program code may be executed on one processor or multiple remote processors. In the latter scenario, the remote processors may be connected to each other through any type of network (e.g., CAN bus, etc.).

[0036] In another configuration, the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228 are embodied as hardware units such as electronic control units. In another configuration, the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228 may be embodied as one or more circuitry components including, but not limited to, processing circuitry, network interfaces, peripheral devices, input devices, output devices, etc. In some embodiments, the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228 may take the form of one or more analog circuits, electronic circuits (e.g., integrated circuits (IC), discrete circuits, system on a chip (SOCs) circuits, microcontrollers, etc.), telecommunication circuits, hybrid circuits, and any other type of “circuit.” In this regard, the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228 may include any type of component for accomplishing or facilitating achievement of the operations described herein. For example, a circuit as described herein may include one or more transistors, logic gates (e.g., NAND, AND, NOR, OR, XOR, NOT, XNOR, etc.), resistors, multiplexers, registers, capacitors, inductors, diodes, wiring, and so on). The energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228 may also include programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or the like. The energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228 may include one or more memory devices for storing instructions that executable by the processor(s) of the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228. The one or more memory devices and processor(s) may have the same or similar definition as provided below with respect to the memory 220 and processor 215. In some hardware unit configurations, the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228 may be geographically dispersed throughout separate locations in the vehicle. Alternatively and as shown, the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228 may be embodied in or within a single unit/housing, which is shown as the load management controller 116.

[0037] In the example shown, the controller 116 includes the processing circuit 210 having the processor 215 and the memory 220. The processing circuit 210 may be structured or configured to execute or implement the instructions, commands, and/or control processes described herein with respect to the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228. The depicted configuration represents the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228 as instructions stored in non- transitory machine or computer-readable media. However, as mentioned above, this illustration is not meant to be limiting as the present disclosure contemplates other embodiments the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228, or at least one circuit of the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228, is configured as a hardware unit. All such combinations and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0038] The processor 215 may be one or more of a single- or multi-chip processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, another type of suitable processor, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. In this way, the processor 215 may be a microprocessor, a state machine, or other suitable processor. The processor 215 also may be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. In some embodiments, the one or more processors may be shared by multiple circuits (e.g., the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile circuit 224, the user preferences circuit 226, and the priority management circuit 228 may comprise or otherwise share the same processor which, in some example embodiments, may execute instructions stored, or otherwise accessed, via different areas of memory). Alternatively or additionally, the one or more processors may be structured to perform or otherwise execute certain operations independent of one or more coprocessors. In other example embodiments, two or more processors may be coupled via a bus to enable independent, parallel, pipelined, or multi -threaded instruction execution. All such variations are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0039] The memory 220 (e.g., memory, memory unit, storage device) may include one or more devices (e.g., RAM, ROM, Flash memory, hard disk storage) for storing data and/or computer code for completing or facilitating the various processes, layers and modules described in the present disclosure. The memory 220 may be communicably coupled to the processor 215 to provide computer code or instructions to the processor 215 for executing at least some of the processes described herein. Moreover, the memory 220 may be or include tangible, non-transient volatile memory or non-volatile memory. Accordingly, the memory 220 may include database components, object code components, script components, or any other type of information structure for supporting the various activities and information structures described herein.

[0040] In some embodiments, the energy profile circuit 222 is configured to receive an energy profile from the load management cloud 122. The energy profile circuit 222 may be configured to receive the energy profile through the wireless gateway 114. As described above, the energy profiles may be described as the amount of power available from the each of the power sources (e.g., solar panel 104, power grid 106, battery 108, and generator 110) at different times of operation of the power sources. In some embodiments, the load management controller 116 may be configured to directly generate one or more energy profiles without having to receive the energy profile from the load management cloud 122. For example, the energy profile circuit 222 may be configured to receive a user preference (e.g., profile selection input) as a user input from the user device 120 and use the profile selection input to determine the energy profile to use to control operation of the load management module 118. Furthermore, the user can create and input customized profile settings as desired and can select the power configuration settings that should be implemented while certain profile settings are selected. For example, the user can create a “Winter” profile setting and designate a specific power configuration to be implemented during the time period that the “Winter” profile setting is selected. To illustrate, the user may have designated that in the “Winter” profile setting, the power from the generator 110 is to be prioritized higher than power from the solar panel 104. As another example, the user may have designated that in the “Summer” profile setting, the power from the solar panel 104 is to be prioritized higher than power from the power grid 106. Various other energy profile settings may be established by the user using the power management application on the user device 120.

[0041] In some embodiments, the load profile circuit 224 is configured to receive a load profile from the load management cloud 122. The load profile circuit 224 may be configured to receive the load profile through the wireless gateway 114. As described above, loads profiles may be described as the distribution of power as received from the power sources (e.g., solar panel 104, power grid 106, battery 108, and generator 110) to a variety of electrical loads (e.g., appliances 131, smart devices 138, etc.) at the site 102. In some embodiments, the load management controller 116 may be configured to directly generate one or more load profiles without having to receive the load profiles from the load management cloud 122. For example, the load profile circuit 224 may be configured to receive a user preference (e.g., profile selection input) as a user input from the user device 120 and use the profile selection input to determine the load profile to use to control operation of the load management module 118. Furthermore, the user can create and input customized profile settings as desired and can select the power configuration settings that should be implemented while certain profile settings are selected. For example, the user can create a “Winter” profile setting and designate a specific power configuration to be implemented during the time period that the “Winter” profile setting is selected. To illustrate, the user may have designated that in the “Winter” profile setting, a heating appliance such as a furnace is to be prioritized above all other appliances and/or smart devices and the air conditioner should always be off. As another example, the user may create a “Host” profile setting that may be selected during times when the user is hosting a party or a group of people are expected to be at the residence. The “Host” profile setting may be set by the user to always prioritize the relevant appliances (e.g., oven, refrigerator, television, sound, lights, etc.) over other appliances (e.g., car charger, washer/dryer, etc.) that may not need to be used to host a party or group of people. Various other load profile settings may be established by the user using the power management application on the user device 120.

[0042] In some embodiments, the user preferences circuit 226 is configured to receive user preferences, in the form of user input. In some embodiments, the user preferences circuit 226 may receive the user preferences from the load management cloud 122. In other embodiments, the user preferences circuit 226 may receive the user preferences directly from the user device 120. The user preferences may include a preferred on/off time for one or more appliances, a preferred prioritization power sources and/or loads based on time of day, a preferred prioritization of power sources and/or loads based on cost of electricity, a preferred prioritization of power sources and/or loads based on weather, and a preferred prioritization of power sources and/or loads based on operation status of the power management system (e.g., normal operation, emergency operation, vacation operation, inclement weather operation, etc.). It is to be understood that preferences described herein are only meant to be exemplary and not limiting.

[0043] In some embodiments, the priority management circuit 228 is configured to receive the energy profile from the energy profile circuit 222, the load profile from the load profile circuit 224, and/or the user preferences from the user preferences circuit 226. Based on the energy profile, the load profile, and the user preferences, the priority management circuit determines a power configuration to be implemented in the load management module 118 and/or the site 102. In some embodiments, the priority management circuit 228 may be configured to determine the power configuration based on information from OpenADR and weather information. Using the information from OpenADR and weather information allows the priority management circuit 228 to factor in cost and weather conditions when determining a power configuration. In some embodiments, the priority management circuit 228 may determine a power configuration in which multiple appliances and/or devices take turns being the priority over a predetermined time interval. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, there may be a maximum amount of power available 502 at the site 102. Additionally, the amount of power needed for charging a car 504 and the amount of power needed to run the air-conditioning 506 is shown in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 6, the amount of power needed between To and Ti may surpass the maximum amount of power available 502. In such a case, the priority management circuit 228 may prioritize a first appliance (e.g., a AC) for the time interval between To and Ti (e.g., 10 minutes) to allow the first appliance to meet its power needs during a period of time where the combined power needs of both devices would exceed the amount of maximum available power by setting the second device to a lower priority that will disconnect the second device from the power sources for the period time in which the first device needs to accommodate its power needs. For example, an air conditioner has high power requirements when first being activated due to the power needed to start operation of the compressor of the air conditioner. The priority management circuit 228 can determine when the air conditioner is likely to turn on (e.g., due to historical usage, a signal from the air conditioner, temperature information, weather data, etc.) and set an electric vehicle charger to a lower priority so that the air conditioner is connected to the power supplies from To and Ti (e.g., a predetermined amount of time) and the electric vehicle charger is disconnected from the power supplies from To and Ti to allow the air conditioner to meet its power needs. The electric vehicle charger may be reconnected to power after the predetermined amount of time. The electric vehicle charger or other devices with longer term, relatively steady-state power needs can have reduced priority and be disconnected when other devices with transient or instantaneous high power needs, like the air conditioner, need access to increased power levels that would otherwise exceed the maximum available power. For charging devices (e.g., vehicle charger, charger for a battery backup system), the temporary disconnection has limited impact on the overall perform of the device (e.g., charging of the vehicle connected to the vehicle charger will take longer by the duration of time for which the charger is disconnected), but provides a material benefit by allowing the device with the high transient or instantaneous power need like the air conditioner, to meet that transient or instantaneous power need without exceeding the maximum amount of power available. In some embodiments, the priority management circuit 228 may determine a power configuration that may be implemented for a short period of time. For example, in some embodiments, the power configuration may shed a steady/continuous load (e.g., an electric oven, dryer, washer, car charger, etc.) for a few seconds or minutes to take on an instantaneous load (e.g., turning on the AC) and then shed the instantaneous load and reprioritize the steady load. Instantaneous loads refer to loads that have an initial high power demand for a short period of time (e.g., a few second to a few minutes) that initially tapers down to be a steady state load (e.g., same or similar power demand for a long period of time). In some embodiments, the priority management circuit 228 may determine a power configuration that may stagger the priority of one or more instantaneous loads (e.g., starting the AC, starting the furnace, starting the compressor) so as not overwhelm the power management system 100 by having a large power demand from multiple appliances at one time. In some embodiments, shedding the load may include completely turning off either the steady state load or the instantaneous load to ensure both loads are below the maximum power available. In other embodiments, shedding the load may include steadily decreasing either the steady state load and/or the instantaneous load until both loads are below the maximum power available.

[0044] In some embodiments, the priority management circuit 228 may be configured to use machine learning and/or Al to determine the power configuration. For example, the priority management circuit 228 may use past power usage data of a first appliance (e.g., how much power was required to start up the appliance, how much power was required for steady state operation of the appliance, etc.) to train the machine learning portion of the priority management circuit 228 to determine the other appliances to turn off and on during operation of the first appliance. In some embodiments, the machine learning data may be stored as part of the energy profiles and the load profiles. In some embodiments, the priority management circuit 228 may include a load prioritization model that may be used to determine the priority within different loads. The load prioritization model may be a machine learning model (e.g., a neural network, random forest, a support vector machine, etc.).

[0045] Referring now to FIG. 4, a diagram of a user device 120 is shown according to an exemplary embodiment. The user device 120 may be a mobile device or any computing device associated with a user. In this configuration, the user may be an occupant of the site 102 or an installer of power equipment at the site 102. The user device 120 may be configured to exchange data through the load management cloud 122 or the wireless gateway 114, execute software applications, access websites, generate graphical user interfaces, and perform other operations described herein. The user device 120 may include one or more of a smartphone or other cellular device, a wearable computing device, a tablet, a laptop, a desktop, a portable computing device, etc.

[0046] In some embodiments, the user device 120 includes a screen or display 302, a graphical user interface (“GUI”) circuit 304, a client application 306, an input/output (“I/O”) circuit 308, and a user device network circuit 310. The user device network circuit 310 enables the user device 120 to connect to and to exchange information (e.g., data, signals, etc.) to the load management cloud 122 and/or the wireless gateway 114. The I/O circuit 308 includes hardware and associated logic (e.g., modules, code, etc.) configured to facilitate exchanging information with a user and other devices. An input aspect of the I/O circuit 308 allows the user to provide information to the user device 120, and may include, for example, a keyboard, a touchscreen, a microphone, a camera, a sensor, a fingerprint scanner, or any user input device capable of engaging with the user device 120. An output aspect of the I/O circuit 308 allows the user to receive information from the user device 120, and may include, for example, a digital display, a speaker, illuminating icons, LEDs, among others. The I/O circuit 308 may include systems, components, devices, and apparatuses that serve both input and output functions, allowing the load management controller 116 and/or the load management cloud 122 to exchange information with the user device 120. Such systems, components, devices, and apparatuses may include, for example, radiofrequency transceivers (e.g., RF or NFC-based transceivers, etc.) and other short range wireless transceivers (e.g., Bluetooth®, etc.)

[0047] The client application 306 is structured to provide displays to the user device 120 that enable the user to manage the power management system 100. Accordingly, the client application 306 is communicably coupled to the load management cloud 122 and/or the load management controller 116. In some embodiments, the client application 306 may be incorporated with an existing application in use by a provider of smart home systems or smart appliance systems. In other embodiments, the client application 306 is a separate software application implemented on the user device 120. The client application 306 may be downloaded by the user device 120 prior to its usage, hard coded into the memory of the user device 120, or be a web-based interface application such that the user device 120 may provide a web browser to the application, which may be executed remotely from the user device 120. In the latter instance, the user may have to log onto or access the web-based interface before usage of the applications. Further, and in this regard, the client application 306 may be supported by a separate computing system including one or more servers, processors, network interface circuits, etc. that transmit applications for use to the user device 120. In certain embodiments, the client application 306 includes an API and/or a software development kit (SDK) that facilitate the integration of other applications with the client application 306. For example, the client application 306 may include or be coupled to an API (e.g., API 126) that facilitates the receipt of information from load management cloud 122.

[0048] The GUI circuit 304 of the user device 120 may be structured to present, control, and otherwise manage displays or graphical user interfaces on the user device 120. In some embodiments, the GUI circuit 304 may present, control, or manage information generated and stored by the power management system 100. For example, the GUI circuit 304 may generate a user interface (e.g., via the client application 306) that facilitates the input of user preferences. The user interface may be provided to the user device 120 to be displayed on the screen 302 via the GUI circuit 304. Input received by the screen 302 of the user device 120 may be transmitted to the load management cloud 122 and/or the load management controller 116.

[0049] Referring now to FIG. 5, a process or method 400 for determining a power configuration for distributing power at a site is shown according to an exemplary embodiment. In some embodiments, the method 400 may be completed by the load management controller 116. The method 400 starts at step 402 with the load management controller 116 receiving a user input. The user input may include one or more user preferences as described herein. The user input may be entered by a user to the user device 120. In some embodiments the load management controller 116 may receive a user input directly from the user device 120. In other embodiments, the load management controller 116 may receive the user input from load management cloud 122.

[0050] At step 404, the load management controller 116 receives an energy profile from the load management cloud 122. As described herein, the load management cloud 122 may store one or more energy profiles in the power database 124. As described herein, the energy profiles may be described as the amount of power available from each of the power sources (e.g., solar panel 104, power grid 106, battery 108, and generator 110) at different times of operation. In some embodiments, the energy profile may be based on the user input received at step 402. In some embodiments, the energy profiles may also include additional information about the power sources.

[0051] At step 406, the load management controller 116 receives a load profile from the load management cloud 122. As described herein, the load management cloud 122 may store one or more load profiles in the power database 124. The load profiles may be described as the distribution of power as received from the power sources (e.g., solar panel 104, power grid 106, battery 108, and generator 110) to a variety of electrical loads (e.g., appliances 131, smart devices 138, etc.) at the site 102. In some embodiments, the load profile may be based on the user input received at step 402.

[0052] At step 408, the load management controller 116 determines a power configuration based on the energy profile received at step 404 and the load profile received at step 406. The power configuration may be defined as one or more control settings (e.g., transfer switch positions, smart breaker settings, smart plug settings, etc.) that can be implemented in the load management module 118 and/or at the site 102. The load management controller 116 may determine a power configuration based on an energy profile for the power management system 100, a load profile for the power management system 100, and one or more user preferences entered through the user device 120. More specifically, the load management controller 116 uses the user preferences, the power available as described in the energy profile, and the power demand for the electrical loads as described by the energy profile as constraints to determine the power configuration. In some embodiments, the load management controller 116 may also utilize other factors including cost of electricity, weather, and blackout/brownout forecasts to determine the power configuration. In some embodiments, the load management controller 116 may also utilize machine learning to determine a power configuration.

[0053] At step 410, the load management controller 116 controls operation of one or more power management system 100 devices to implement the power configuration. For example, the load management controller 116 may send the power configuration to the load management module 118 that may control the operation of the switching circuitry within the load management module 118. For example, one or more of the transfer switches 119 may move from a first position to a second position to control which loads (e.g., appliances 131/devices 138) are supplied with power. As another example, the load management controller 116 may send the power configuration to the inverter 112, and the inverter 112 may control which power sources are used to supply power to the electrical loads at the site 102. In some embodiments, the load management controller 116 may also send the power configuration to appliances 131 and the smart devices 138 to control operation of the appliances 131 and the smart devices 138.

[0054] Although this description may discuss a specific order of method steps, the order of the steps may differ from what is outlined. Also, two or more steps may be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence. Such variation will depend on the software and hardware systems chosen and on designer choice. All such variations are within the scope of the disclosure. Likewise, software implementations could be accomplished with standard programming techniques with rule-based logic and other logic to accomplish the various connection steps, processing steps, comparison steps, and decision steps.

[0055] As utilized herein with respect to numerical ranges, the terms “approximately,” “about,” “substantially,” and similar terms generally mean +/- 10% of the disclosed values. When the terms “approximately,” “about,” “substantially,” and similar terms are applied to a structural feature (e.g., to describe its shape, size, orientation, direction, etc.), these terms are meant to cover minor variations in structure that may result from, for example, the manufacturing or assembly process and are intended to have a broad meaning in harmony with the common and accepted usage by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the subject matter of this disclosure pertains. Accordingly, these terms should be interpreted as indicating that insubstantial or inconsequential modifications or alterations of the subject matter described and claimed are considered to be within the scope of the disclosure as recited in the appended claims.

[0056] It should be understood that while the use of words such as desirable or suitable utilized in the description above indicate that the feature so described may be more desirable, it nonetheless may not be necessary and embodiments lacking the same may be contemplated as within the scope of the invention, the scope being defined by the claims that follow. In reading the claims, it is intended that when words such as "a," "an," or "at least one" are used there is no intention to limit the claim to only one item unless specifically stated to the contrary in the claim.

[0057] It should be noted that the term “exemplary” as used herein to describe various embodiments is intended to indicate that such embodiments are possible examples, representations, and/or illustrations of possible embodiments (and such term is not intended to connote that such embodiments are necessarily extraordinary or superlative examples).

[0058] The terms “coupled,” “connected,” and the like, as used herein, mean the joining of two members directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary (e.g., permanent, etc.) or moveable (e.g., removable, releasable, etc.). Such joining may be achieved with the two members or the two members and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two members or the two members and any additional intermediate members being attached to one another.

[0059] References herein to the positions of elements (e.g., “top,” “bottom,” “above,” “below,” “between,” etc.) are merely used to describe the orientation of various elements in the figures. It should be noted that the orientation of various elements may differ according to other exemplary embodiments, and that such variations are intended to be encompassed by the present disclosure.

[0060] As used herein, the term “circuit” or “circuitry” may include hardware structured to execute the functions described herein. In some embodiments, each respective “circuit” may include machine-readable media for configuring the hardware to execute the functions described herein. The circuit may be embodied as one or more circuitry components including, but not limited to, processing circuitry, network interfaces, peripheral devices, input devices, output devices, sensors, etc. In some embodiments, a circuit may take the form of one or more analog circuits, electronic circuits (e.g., integrated circuits (IC), discrete circuits, system on a chip (SOCs) circuits, etc.), telecommunication circuits, hybrid circuits, and any other type of “circuit.” In this regard, the “circuit” may include any type of component for accomplishing or facilitating achievement of the operations described herein. For example, a circuit as described herein may include one or more transistors, logic gates (e.g., NAND, AND, NOR, OR, XOR, NOT, XNOR, etc.), resistors, multiplexers, registers, capacitors, inductors, diodes, wiring, and so on). [0061] The “circuit” may also include one or more processors communicably coupled to one or more memory or memory devices. In this regard, the one or more processors may execute instructions stored in the memory or may execute instructions otherwise accessible to the one or more processors. In some embodiments, the one or more processors may be embodied in various ways. The one or more processors may be constructed in a manner sufficient to perform at least the operations described herein. In some embodiments, the one or more processors may be shared by multiple circuits (e.g., circuit A and circuit B may comprise or otherwise share the same processor which, in some example embodiments, may execute instructions stored, or otherwise accessed, via different areas of memory). Alternatively, or additionally, the one or more processors may be structured to perform or otherwise execute certain operations independent of one or more co-processors. In other example embodiments, two or more processors may be coupled via a bus to enable independent, parallel, pipelined, or multi-threaded instruction execution. Each processor may be implemented as one or more general-purpose processors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or other suitable electronic data processing components structured to execute instructions provided by memory. The one or more processors may take the form of a single core processor, multicore processor (e.g., a dual core processor, triple core processor, quad core processor, etc.), microprocessor, etc. In some embodiments, the one or more processors may be external to the apparatus, for example the one or more processors may be a remote processor (e.g., a cloud based processor). Alternatively, or additionally, the one or more processors may be internal and/or local to the apparatus. In this regard, a given circuit or components thereof may be disposed locally (e.g., as part of a local server, a local computing system, etc.) or remotely (e.g., as part of a remote server such as a cloud based server). To that end, a “circuit” as described herein may include components that are distributed across one or more locations.

[0062] The construction and arrangement of the suspension as shown in the exemplary embodiments is illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example, elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple parts or elements. It should be noted that the elements and/or assemblies of the components described herein may be constructed from any of a wide variety of materials that provide sufficient strength or durability, in any of a wide variety of colors, textures, and combinations. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present inventions. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the preferred and other exemplary embodiments without departing from scope of the present disclosure or from the spirit of the appended claims.