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US 12,387,281 B2Granted
Systems and methods for grid appliances
AssigneeTrane International Inc.
InventorsMichael Sean Day, Matthew M. Corulli, Stephen A. Kujak, Ronald Maurice Cosby, II
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments of systems and methods for power demand management are described herein. More specifically, embodiments comprise systems and methods for powering, controlling, and/or operating various types of controllable load for integration with power fluctuations from intermittent power generation plants, such as photovoltaic arrays and wind turbine farms.
Claims18
A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) apparatus comprising:
- a system comprising
- an inverter, wherein
- the inverter is configured to;
- receive direct current power from an intermittent generation asset,
- convert the direct current power into alternating current power, and
- output the alternating current power to a motor of an auxiliary HVAC system configured to provide an additional thermal capacity to an HVAC system to which the HVAC apparatus is coupled, and
- the intermittent generation asset comprises a renewable energy system,
- a motor controller, wherein
- the motor controller is configured to control an electrical load presented to the intermittent generation asset, at least in part, by controlling the electrical load presented by the motor, and
- a communication link between the inverter and the motor controller, wherein
- the inverter is configured to send inverter data as a data input to the motor controller,
- the motor controller is communicatively coupled to receive the data input from the inverter via the communication link,
- the inverter data is representative of an amount of output power that is available from the intermittent generation asset as the direct current power, and
- the motor controller is further configured to;
- change the electrical load in response to a change in power produced by the intermittent generation asset,
- determine whether a rate of change of power output of the intermittent generation asset exceeds a rate of change of the auxiliary HVAC system, and
- in response to a determination that the rate of change of the power output of the intermittent generation asset exceeds the rate of change of the auxiliary HVAC system, reduce the electrical load presented to the intermittent generation asset by the motor.
14 more elements
A method comprising:
- receiving inverter data at a motor controller, wherein
- the inverter data is received from an inverter of an HVAC apparatus via a communications link of the HVAC apparatus,
- the inverter is configured to
- receive direct current power from an intermittent generation asset,
- convert the direct current power into alternating current power, and
- output the alternating current power to a motor of an auxiliary HVAC system that is coupled to the HVAC apparatus, the auxiliary HVAC system configured to provide additional thermal capacity to an HVAC system, and
- the inverter data is representative of an amount of output power that is available from the intermittent generation asset as the direct current power, and
- the intermittent generation asset comprises a renewable energy system;
- and
- controlling an electrical load presented to the intermittent generation asset, at least in part, by controlling the electrical load presented by the motor, wherein
- the electrical load presented by the motor is controlled, at least in part, by adapting an amount of electrical power drawn by the motor based, at least in part, on the inverter data:
- determining whether a rate of change of power output of the intermittent generation asset exceeds a rate of change of the auxiliary HVAC system;
- and
- in response to a determination that the rate of change of the power output of the intermittent generation asset exceeds the rate of change of the auxiliary HVAC system, changing the electrical load presented to the intermittent generation asset by the motor.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.