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US 12,345,424 B2Granted
System, apparatus and method for efficient use of solar photovoltaic energy
AssigneeRheem Australia Pty Limited
InventorsGrant Stepa, Peter Kerr
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A solar photovoltaic (PV) water heating system includes a tank including at least a first heating unit having at least first and second heating elements, at least one of which is switchable; a PV solar collector; an inverter adapted to convert the output from the PV collector to an alternating power supply; a modulator to modulate the alternating power supply from the inverter; a controller adapted to control the modulator and the switching of the or each switchable heating element; wherein the controller is adapted to control the modulator and the switchable heating elements to maximize the energy drawn from the PV collector.
Claims20
A system comprising:
- a water heating device having at least three heating elements;
- a modulator configured to supply energy to a first heating element of the at least three heating elements;
- a first switch configured to supply energy to a second heating element of the at least three heating elements;
- a second switch configured to supply energy to a third heating element of the at least three heating element;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- receive a signal indicative of an outflow of VRE energy from a variable renewable energy (VRE) source to a utility grid;
- in response to the signal, direct via the modulator at least some of the VRE energy to the first heating element, and
- in response to determining that a modulator output is at full power and receiving the signal indicative of an outflow of VRE energy to the utility grid, reduce the modulator output of VRE energy to the first heating element and close the first switch to direct at least some of the VRE energy to the second heating element.
6 more elements
A system comprising:
- a water heating device having at least two heating elements;
- a modulator configured to supply energy to a first heating element of the at least two heating elements;
- a first switch configured to supply energy to a second heating element of the at least two heating elements;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- receive a signal indicative of an outflow of VRE energy from a variable renewable energy (VRE) source to a utility grid;
- in response to the signal, direct via the modulator at least some of the VRE energy to the first heating element, and
- in response to determining that a modulator output is at full power and receiving the signal indicative of an outflow of VRE energy to the utility grid, reduce the modulator output of VRE energy to the first heating element and close the first switch to direct at least some of the VRE energy to the second heating element,
- wherein:
- the first heating element has a first energy input rating,
- the second heating element has a second energy input rating, and
- a first energy input overlap is formed between the first energy input rating and the summation of the first and second energy input ratings.
9 more elements
A controller for managing an inflow of variable renewable energy (VRE) power from a VRE source and utility energy from a utility grid, the controller configured to:
- receive a signal indicative of an outflow of VRE energy from a VRE source to the utility grid;
- receive data indicating that a temperature of water in a tank of a water heater is less than a water temperature threshold;
- in response to the signal, direct via a modulator at least some of the VRE energy to a first heating element in the water heater;
- in response to determining that (i) the modulator output is at full power and (ii) the temperature of the water in the tank of the water heater is less than the water temperature threshold, reduce the modulator output of VRE energy to the first heating element and close a first switch to direct at least some of the VRE energy to a second heating element of the water heater;
- in response to determining that (i) the modulator output is at full power, (ii) the first switch is closed, and (iii) receiving the signal indicative of an outflow of VRE energy to the utility grid, reduce the modulator output of VRE energy to the first heating element, open the first switch to reduce the output of VRE energy to the second heating element to zero, and close a second switch to direct at least some of the VRE energy to a third heating element of the water heater;
- in response to determining that (i) the modulator output is at full power, (ii) the second switch is closed, (iii) the first switch is open, and (iv) receiving the signal indicative of an outflow of VRE energy to the utility grid, reduce the modulator output of VRE energy to the first heating element and close the first switch to direct at least some of the VRE energy to the second heating element.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.