# US 11,309,712 B2 · Methods and apparatus including an energy management system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,309,712 B2 - Document ID: US11309712B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/083,061 - Filed: 2020-10-28 - Published: 2021-04-29 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2019-10-28 - Assignees: Enphase Energy, Inc. - Applicants: Enphase Energy, Inc. - Inventors: Mohammad Bozchalui - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11309712B2 ## CPC - H02J 3/381: {Dispersed generators} - H02J 13/14: the power network being locally controlled, e.g. home energy management systems [HEMS] - H02J 3/28: Arrangements for balancing of the load in networks by storage of energy - H02J 7/35: with light sensitive cells - H02J 9/062: {for AC powered loads} - H02J 13/1335: {involving a local wireless network, e.g. Wi-Fi®, ZigBee® or Bluetooth®} - H02J 13/34: the equipment being switches, relays or circuit breakers - H02J 2101/24: Photovoltaics - H02J 2103/35: Grid-level management of power transmission or distribution systems, e.g. load flow analysis or active network management - H02J 2105/12: supplying households or buildings - Y02B 10/70: Hybrid systems, e.g. uninterruptible or back-up power supplies integrating renewable energies - Y02E 10/56: Power conversion systems, e.g. maximum power point trackers - Y02E 60/00: Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation - Y04S 20/248: UPS systems or standby or emergency generators - H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY - Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS - Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION - Y04S: SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS ## Abstract An energy management system is provided and includes a smart switch includes an input that is configured to connect to one of meter at a service entrance or a main load panel; a storage system connected to the smart switch; and a combiner connected to one of the smart switch or the main load panel and one or more photovoltaics (PVs). ## Claims ### Claim 1 An energy management system comprising: a smart switch including an input that is configured to connect to one of a meter at a service entrance or a main load panel; a storage system connected to the smart switch; and a combiner connected to one of the smart switch or the main load panel and one or more photovoltaics (PVs), wherein the combiner is communicatively connected to the storage system for at least one of sending control signals to the storage system or receiving data comprising status information from the storage system. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the smart switch is configured to consolidate interconnection equipment into a single enclosure and includes a pre-wired solution including input circuits for at least one of the one or more PVs, the storage system, and a generator configured to connect to the smart switch. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the energy management system is configured as a kit and includes: the smart switch; the storage system comprising at least one of a single-phase AC-coupled battery or a three-phase AC-coupled battery; and the combiner comprises a wireless communication kit that transmits over a frequency of about 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the smart switch, storage system, and combiner are connected via an AC power wire, wherein the one or more PVs communicate with the combiner via a power line communication (PLC) over the AC power wire, wherein the storage system, the combiner communicate, and the smart switch communicate with each other via a gateway using a wireless connection. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the smart switch is configured to connect to a grid at the service entrance, automatically detect grid outages, and transition to backup. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the smart switch is configured to connect to one or more loads. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the smart switch comprises centered mounting brackets to support mounting to one or more mounting surfaces. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the smart switch is configured to support conduit entry from at least one of a bottom, a bottom left side, or bottom right side. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the smart switch is configured to support one of whole home backup, partial home backup, and subpanel backup, and wherein the smart switch is configured to can provide up to 200 A main breaker support and includes a neutral-forming transformer for split phase 120/240V backup operation. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the smart switch is configured to manage load imbalance of one or more loads. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, further comprising a second smart switch, wherein each of the smart switch and the second smart switch is configured to connect to corresponding 200 A main load panels, and wherein each of the smart switch and the second smart switch comprise corresponding communication gateways and are configured as independent systems in backup mode. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the energy management system is configured for 3-phase applications. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the energy management system is configured for single phase applications. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, further comprising a generator including hardware and software capability. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the storage system comprises one of at least four three-phase AC-coupled batteries or twelve single-phase AC-coupled batteries that are connected to the smart switch, wherein the four three-phase AC-coupled batteries or twelve single-phase AC-coupled batteries provide up to 40 kWh. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the storage system comprises two three-phase AC-coupled batteries that are daisy chained to each other and connected to the smart switch. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the storage system comprises a three-phase AC-coupled battery with 10.08 kWh of usable energy capacity, the three-phase AC-coupled battery comprising three single AC-coupled battery base units each with 3.36 kWh of usable energy capacity, and if one of the single AC-coupled battery base units fails, the storage system is configured to continue to provide backup power with the remaining AC-coupled battery base units. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the storage system comprises a single-phase AC-coupled battery including four integrated microinverters, lithium ferrous phosphate (LFP) battery cells, and a battery management unit, and wherein if one integrated microinverter of the four integrated microinverters fails the storage system is configured to continue to operate and provide backup with the remaining microinverters. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the smart switch comprises a plurality of breakers including a main breaker and the smart switch is configured such that the plurality of the breakers need to be opened to de-energize the energy management system, and by opening the main breaker the energy management system is configured to shut down. ### Claim 20 An energy management system comprising: a smart switch including an input that is configured to connect to one of a meter at a service entrance or a main load panel, wherein the smart switch is configured to support one of whole home backup, partial home backup, and subpanel backup; a storage system connected to the smart switch, wherein the storage system comprises one of a three-phase AC-coupled battery or a single-phase AC-coupled battery that are connected to the smart switch; and a combiner connected to one of the smart switch or the main load panel and one or more photovoltaics (PVs), wherein the combiner is communicatively connected to the storage system for at least one of sending control signals to the storage system or receiving data comprising status information from the storage system. ### Claim 21 An energy management system comprising: a smart switch including an input that is configured to connect to one of a meter at a service entrance or a main load panel; a storage system connected to the smart switch; and a combiner connected to one of the smart switch or the main load panel and one or more photovoltaics (PVs), wherein the combiner is communicatively connected to the storage system for at least one of sending control signals to the storage system or receiving data comprising status information and performance data from the storage system. ### Claim 22 An energy management system comprising: a smart switch including an input that is configured to connect to one of a meter at a service entrance or a main load panel; a storage system connected to the smart switch; and a combiner connected to one of the smart switch or the main load panel and one or more photovoltaics (PVs), wherein the combiner is communicatively connected to the storage system for at least one of sending control signals comprising configurable battery profiles for at least one of self-consumption, time-of-use, or mode of operation, to the storage system or receiving data comprising at least one of status information or performance data from the storage system.