Energy management of a portable solar lighting tower
AssigneeNational Signal LLC
InventorGuadalupe Martinez
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for the energy management of a portable solar lighting tower is disclosed. The portable solar lighting tower may have multiple modes and functions to adjust the power of the light and adapt the demanded energy of the lighting tower to overlap with the supply of solar energy during the days. Such modes and functions may easily be set and modified using a control panel on the portable solar lighting tower or on an external computer, such as a computer tablet. Additionally, an energy management graph may be displayed on the control panel accessed via the computer tablet that further allows a user to determine whether there exists enough solar energy for the desired power output of the portable solar lighting tower.
Claims17
A portable solar lighting tower for use at a construction site, comprising:
- a frame;
- a plurality of LED lights attached to the frame;
- a rechargeable battery mounted to the frame and in electrical communication to the LED lights for powering the lights;
- a solar panel attached to the frame and in electrical communication with the rechargeable battery for charging the rechargeable battery;
- a control panel in electrical communication with the LED lights, rechargeable battery, and solar panel for controlling operation thereof:
- a first set of buttons in electrical communication with the LED lights for choosing which of the plurality of LED lights should be turned on or off;
- a second set of buttons in electrical communication with the LED lights for adjusting a brightness of the plurality of LED lights;
- a third set of buttons in electrical communication with the LED lights for timing when the lights turn on and off;
- an eco-mode button for setting the brightness of the plurality of LED lights to a fraction of a set brightness of the plurality of LED lights;
- and
- a motion mode button for dimming the plurality of LED lights based on absence of motion near the frame.
A method for managing a power output of a portable solar lighting tower used at a construction site, comprising:
- connecting the computer to a control panel of the portable solar lighting tower, a computer receiving data relating to power demand settings of the portable solar lighting tower from the control panel;
- generating a demand curve based on the power demand settings of the portable solar lighting tower;
- downloading a solar pattern based on a location of the portable solar lighting tower;
- generating a supply curve based on the downloaded solar pattern;
- turning off functions of the portable solar lighting tower when the supply curve is lower than the demand curve to bring the demand curve lower than the supply curve.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.