Building management and appliance control system

A smart energy storage unit for managing a load balance on a consumer side of an electric grid, the smart energy storage unit for storing and supplying energy from and to a local electrical circuit, the smart energy storage unit including a housing for retaining a set of components of the smart energy storage unit, the set of components being at least partially retained within the housing, the set of components comprising:

• a combined electrical input and output associated with the housing, the combined electrical input and output for being electrically coupled to the local electrical circuit, the combined input and output being configured for receiving and supplying electricity from and to the local electrical circuit on the consumer side of the electric grid;
• a plurality of energy storage cells electrically coupled to the combined electrical input and output and configured for receiving and storing a first amount of AC electricity received from the local electrical circuit by the combined electrical input and output at a first time, and further configured for supplying a second amount of AC electricity to the local electrical circuit by the combined electrical input and output at a second time;
• a battery management system coupled to the plurality of energy storage cells and for monitoring the storing of the first amount of AC electricity in and the releasing of the second amount of AC electricity from the energy storage cells;
• a grid flexible converter (GFC) coupled to one or more of the battery management system and the plurality of energy storage cells for performing a first conversion operation at the first time for converting the first amount AC electricity to DC electricity prior to storage within the plurality of energy storage cells, and for performing a second conversion operation at the second time for converting DC electricity from the energy storage cells to the second amount of AC electricity prior to supplying the second amount of AC electricity to the local electrical circuit;
• a control unit coupled to the grid flexible converter, the control unit for controlling the first time when the first amount of AC electricity will be received by the electrical input from the local electrical circuit and stored within the plurality of energy storage cells, and for controlling the second time when the second amount of AC electricity will be supplied to the local electrical circuit.

A method for augmenting a local electrical circuit on a consumer side of an electric grid that distributes electricity to a room in a house in a geographical region, the method comprising:

• deploying one or more smart energy storage units in one or more rooms throughout a house in a geographical region for augmenting a local electrical circuit that distributes electricity to the room in the house, the local electrical circuit being coupled to an electrical outlet, each of the one or more smart energy storage units comprising:
• a housing defined by one or more walls, the housing at least partially containing within the one or more walls:
• a combined electrical input and output having a plug for being coupled to the local electrical circuit by being plugged into the electrical outlet, the electrical input for receiving, at a first time, a first amount of electricity from the local electrical circuit via the electrical outlet, and the electrical output for receiving, at a second time, a second amount of electricity for supply, via the electrical outlet, to the local electrical circuit;
• a plurality of energy storage cells electrically coupled to the combined electrical input and output for receiving and storing the first amount of electricity received from the local electrical circuit by the electrical input, at the first time, and for supplying the second amount of electricity, at the second time, to the local electrical circuit via the electrical output;
• a battery management system coupled to the plurality of energy storage cells for monitoring the storing of the first amount of electricity in and the releasing of the second amount of electricity from the plurality of energy storage cells;
• a grid flexible converter coupled to one or more of the battery management system and the plurality of energy storage cells, the grid flexible converter for receiving the first amount of electricity at the first time and performing a first conversion operation on the electricity prior to storage, the first conversions operation including converting AC electricity to DC electricity, and further for receiving the second amount of electricity at the second time subsequent to storage and performing a second conversion operation on the electricity prior to transmission to the local electrical circuit, the second conversion operation including converting DC electricity to AC electricity;
• a control unit coupled to the grid flexible converter, the control unit for controlling the first time when the first amount of electricity will be received by the electrical input from the local electrical circuit and stored within the plurality of energy storage cells, and for controlling the second time when the second amount of electricity will be output from the plurality of energy storage cells and supplied to the local electrical circuit via the electrical output;
• determining the first time, the first time representing a time when a load on the local electrical circuit is not in need of supply of electricity, and determining the second time, the second time representing a time when the load on the local electrical circuit is in need of supply of electricity;
• controlling, in response to the determining of the first time, at least one control unit of at least one of the one or more smart energy storage units, the controlling comprising directing the GFC to receive the first amount of electricity from the local electrical circuit when there is low demand for electricity;
• and
• controlling, in response to the determining of the second time, at least one control unit of at least one of the one or more smart energy storage units, the controlling comprising directing each respective GFC to supply the second amount of electricity to the local electrical circuit when there is a high demand for electricity.