Apparatuses and methods to connect power sources to an electric power system
AssigneeTigo Energy, Inc.
InventorsEarl G. Powell, Ron Hadar
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatuses and methods to firewall distributed energy sources. In one aspect, an apparatus includes: a first connector configured to interface with a distributed energy source; a second connector configured to interface with a connection point of an electric power system; at least one switch coupled between the first connector and the second connector; at least one sensor coupled with the switch; and a controller coupled with the at least one switch, the controller to use the at least one switch to selectively connect or disconnect an electric path between the first connector and the second connector based on signals from the at least one sensor.
Claims19
An apparatus, comprising:
- a first connector configured to interface with a distributed energy source;
- a second connector configured to interface with a connection point of an electric power system;
- at least one switch coupled between the first connector and the second connector;
- at least one sensor coupled with the switch;
- and
- a controller coupled with the at least one switch, the controller to use the at least one switch to selectively connect or disconnect an electric path between the first connector and the second connector based on signals from the at least one sensor;
- wherein, after opening the switch in response to an output of the distributed energy source being outside a predetermined range, the controller is to hold off a period of time according to a set of rules and constraints prior to resetting.
A method implemented in a controller, the method comprising:
- monitoring an output of a distributed energy source using the controller;
- determining whether the output of the distributed energy source is in a predetermined range;
- controlling at least one switch to selectively couple or decouple the output of the distributed energy source to or from an electric power system based on whether the output of the distributed energy source is within a predetermined range;
- and
- holding off a period of time according to a set of rules and constraints prior to resetting, after opening the switch in response to the output of the distributed energy source being outside the predetermined range.
A non-transitory machine readable medium storing instructions, the instructions causing a controller to perform a method, the method comprising:
- monitoring an output of a distributed energy source using the controller;
- determining whether the output of the distributed energy source is in a predetermined range;
- controlling at least one switch to selectively couple or decouple the output of the distributed energy source to or from an electric power system based on whether the output of the distributed energy source is within a predetermined range;
- and
- holding off a period of time according to a set of rules and constraints prior to resetting, after opening the switch in response to the output of the distributed energy source being outside the predetermined range.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.