US 11,581,741 B2Granted

Design, deployment, and operation of modular microgrid with intelligent energy management

AssigneeBoxPower Inc.

InventorsAngelo V. Campus, Michele Nesbit, Gary Campus, Jim Crawford, Brian Bookout, Alexander Asante

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A rapidly deployable modular microgrid including a plurality of renewable and other energy generation technologies, energy storage technologies, energy distribution networks, and intelligent control systems capable of managing the flow of electrical energy between one or more locations of energy generation, storage, and consumption are disclosed. The aforementioned microgrid may be delivered and rapidly deployed to provide primary or secondary electricity for a variety of purposes; including but not limited to household electrification, commercial or industrial productivity, grid resiliency, water pumping, telecommunication systems, medical facilities, and disaster relief efforts.

Claims53

Dependent claims

A modular microgrid, comprising:

two or more energy storage systems, each energy storage system of the two or more energy storage systems comprising:
one or more sources of renewable energy generation,
one or more batteries coupled to the one or more sources of renewable energy generation, and
one or more sources of nonrenewable energy generation;
a local distribution network configured to be in communication with the two or more energy storage systems and one or more loads, the local distribution network configured to transmit electrical energy between the two or more energy storage systems and further transmit electrical energy between the two or more energy storage systems and the one or more loads;
and
a microgrid control system in communication with the local distribution network, the microgrid control system configured to determine generation, distribution, and consumption of the electrical energy within the local distribution network, the microgrid control system comprising an impedance balance controller and a power controller,
wherein the impedance balance controller is configured to:
receive one or more load impedances, a load impedance corresponding to a respective load of the one or more loads;
determine, at an application integrated circuit, an average impedance based on the one or more load impedances;
determine, at a proportional integral controller, one or more balanced load impedances based on the average impedance and the one or more load impedances;
and
send the one or more balanced load impedances to the power controller.

10 more elements

A modular microgrid, comprising:

two or more energy storage systems, each energy storage system of the two or more energy storage systems comprising:
one or more sources of renewable energy generation,
one or more batteries coupled to the one or more sources of renewable energy generation, and
one or more sources of nonrenewable energy generation;
a local distribution network configured to be in communication with the two or more energy storage systems and one or more loads, the local distribution network configured to transmit electrical energy between the two or more energy storage systems and further transmit electrical energy between the two or more energy storage systems and the one or more loads;
and
a microgrid control system in communication with the local distribution network, the microgrid control system configured to determine generation, distribution, and consumption of the electrical energy within the local distribution network, the microgrid control system comprising a power controller,
wherein the power controller is configured to:
determine, for a first energy storage system of the two or more energy storage systems, at least one of a first voltage, a first phase, and a first frequency;
send, to a second energy storage system of the two or more energy storage systems, one or more reference values corresponding to the at least one of the first voltage, the first phase, and the first frequency;
and
synchronize at least one of a second voltage, a second phase, and a second frequency of the second energy storage system to match the at least one of the first voltage, first phase, and first frequency.

9 more elements

A modular microgrid, comprising:

two or more energy storage systems, each energy storage system of the two or more energy storage systems comprising:
one or more sources of renewable energy generation,
one or more batteries coupled to the one or more sources of renewable energy generation, and
one or more sources of nonrenewable energy generation;
a local distribution network configured to be in communication with the two or more energy storage systems and one or more loads, the local distribution network configured to transmit electrical energy between the two or more energy storage systems and further transmit electrical energy between the two or more energy storage systems and the one or more loads;
and
a microgrid control system in communication with the local distribution network, the microgrid control system configured to determine generation, distribution, and consumption of the electrical energy within the local distribution network,
wherein determining the generation, the distribution, and the consumption of energy comprises, for a first energy storage system and a second energy storage system of the two or more energy storage systems:
receiving energy levels associated with a first battery of the first energy storage system and a second battery of the second energy storage system;
receiving renewable energy production levels associated with a first source of renewable energy of the first energy storage system and a second source of renewable energy generation of the second energy storage system;
receiving projected renewable energy production levels associated with the first source of renewable energy of the first energy storage system and the second source of renewable energy generation of the second energy storage system;
receiving nonrenewable energy production levels associated with a first source of nonrenewable energy of the first energy storage system and a second source of nonrenewable energy generation of the second energy storage system;
receiving projected nonrenewable energy production levels associated with the first source of nonrenewable energy of the first energy storage system and the second source of nonrenewable energy generation of the second energy storage system;
receiving a load level associated with a first load of the one or more loads;
receiving a projected load associated with the first load;
and
basing the generation, the distribution, and the consumption of the electrical energy within the local distribution network on the energy levels, the renewable energy production levels, the projected renewable energy production levels, the nonrenewable energy production levels, the projected nonrenewable energy production levels, the load level, and the projected load.

14 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/676,282Filed 6 Nov 2019 · us provisional application
Priority: 6 Nov 2018
Published: US 2020/0144824 A17 May 2020
Granted: 14 Feb 2023
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification29 codes

H02J 3/381
Arrangements for feeding a single network from two or more generators or sources in parallel; Arrangements for feeding already energised…
G05B 19/042
Program control other than numerical control, i.e. in sequence controllers or logic controllers: using digital processors
H02J 3/388
Arrangements for feeding a single network from two or more generators or sources in parallel; Arrangements for feeding already energised…
H02S 10/10
PV power plants; Combinations of PV energy systems with other systems for the generation of electric power: including a supplementary source of…