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CN-115136741-B - Optimization of load control environment

CN115136741BCN 115136741 BCN115136741 BCN 115136741BCN-115136741-B

Abstract

The load control environment may be controlled by adjusting load control devices, such as lighting intensity levels, levels of cover materials for motorized window treatments, and/or temperature levels, to reduce and/or optimize power consumption. The optimization of the power may include reducing the overall cost and overall consumption of the power while maintaining the occupant's target or minimum comfort level and/or clean cargo coin return. Optimization of the power consumption may be performed by adaptively controlling the load control device to reduce the overall power consumption of the load control environment while maintaining a minimum level of comfort metric that is indicative of a level of occupant comfort and/or the clean cargo coin return associated with the comfort metric.

Inventors

  • B. Prozman
  • R. Sapsa Say
  • C. A. Kasai

Assignees

  • 路创技术有限责任公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20201218
Priority Date
20191218

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A system controller, the system controller comprising: a control circuit configured to: defining a threshold value for a comfort metric, wherein the comfort metric indicates a comfort level based on a plurality of comfort variables in a load control environment; defining a range of power metrics, wherein the power metrics indicate power levels based on a plurality of power parameters in the load control environment; Receiving a respective signal from each of one or more sensors disposed in the load control environment, the signal comprising data representative of at least one of a plurality of comfort variables; receiving a respective signal from each of the one or more power monitoring devices, the signal comprising data indicative of at least one of a plurality of power parameters; determining a value corresponding to the comfort metric based on the received data representative of at least one of a plurality of comfort variables, wherein the at least one of a plurality of comfort variables includes at least one of a value representative of glare in the load control environment, a value representative of ambient light in the load control environment, or a value representative of a window utility position in the load control environment; determining a value corresponding to the power metric based on the received data representing at least one of the plurality of power parameters, and Automatically controlling one or more load control devices in the load control environment to: Maintaining a determined value corresponding to the comfort metric from falling below a defined threshold of the comfort metric, and The determined value corresponding to the power level is maintained within a defined range of the power metric.
  2. 2. The system controller of claim 1, wherein the comfort metric comprises at least one of a lighting level, a daylight glare level, or a thermal comfort level, wherein the lighting level is based at least on an illuminance of the load control environment, wherein the daylight glare level is based at least on direct sunlight to the load control environment, and wherein the thermal comfort level is based at least on direct sunlight to the load control environment, an outdoor temperature, the load control environment temperature, or an occupant temperature.
  3. 3. The system controller of claim 1, wherein the plurality of comfort variables further comprises temperature.
  4. 4. The system controller of claim 1, wherein the power metric comprises at least one of a conductive thermal gain based on at least an outdoor temperature and a load control ambient temperature, a conductive thermal loss based on at least an outdoor temperature and the load control ambient temperature, a radiant thermal gain based on at least solar heat, a radiant thermal loss based on at least solar heat, an occupant heat of a room based on at least an occupant temperature, a photo-thermal of a room based on at least a radiant electrical heat, a plug-in load heat of a room, an appliance heat of a room, or a photo-power based on at least electricity used in the load control environment.
  5. 5. The system controller of claim 1, wherein the one or more load control devices comprise at least one of a lighting controller, a motorized window treatment controller, or a temperature controller.
  6. 6. The system controller of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to: Monitoring the plurality of comfort variables and the plurality of power parameters by receiving data from occupancy sensors in the load control environment to detect whether the load control environment is occupied or unoccupied, and The one or more load control devices are controlled in response to the occupancy sensor.
  7. 7. The system controller of claim 6, wherein when the load control environment is occupied, the control circuitry is configured to command the one or more load control devices to adjust a lighting intensity level to a predefined level to prevent the comfort metric from falling below a defined threshold.
  8. 8. The system controller of claim 6, wherein when the load control environment is occupied, the control circuitry is configured to instruct the one or more load control devices to adjust a window treatment position to a predefined position to prevent the comfort metric from falling below a defined threshold.
  9. 9. The system controller of claim 6, wherein when the load control environment is occupied, the control circuitry is configured to command the one or more load control devices to adjust a temperature level to a predefined level to prevent the comfort metric from falling below a defined threshold.
  10. 10. The system controller of claim 1, wherein the threshold value of the comfort metric is based on a minimum comfort level of the plurality of comfort variables in the load control environment or a target comfort level of the plurality of comfort variables in the load control environment.
  11. 11. The system controller of claim 1, wherein the range of the power metric is a maximum power level in a load control environment or a target power level in a load control environment.
  12. 12. The system controller of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further configured to: Receiving user input to control the one or more load control devices, and The threshold value of the comfort metric is adjusted based on the user input.
  13. 13. A system controller, the system controller comprising: a control circuit configured to: defining a threshold value for a comfort metric, wherein the comfort metric indicates a comfort level based on a plurality of comfort variables in a load control environment; defining a range of power metrics, wherein the power metrics indicate power levels based on a plurality of power parameters in the load control environment; Receiving a respective signal from each of one or more sensors disposed in the load control environment, the signal comprising data representative of at least one of a plurality of comfort variables; receiving a respective signal from each of the one or more power monitoring devices, the signal comprising data indicative of at least one of a plurality of power parameters; determining a value corresponding to the comfort metric based on the received data representative of at least one of a plurality of comfort variables, wherein the at least one of a plurality of comfort variables includes at least one of a value representative of glare in the load control environment, a value representative of ambient light in the load control environment, or a value representative of a window utility position in the load control environment; Determining a value corresponding to the power metric based on the received data representative of at least one of the plurality of power parameters; Automatically controlling one or more load control devices in the load control environment to: Maintaining a determined value corresponding to the comfort metric from falling below a defined threshold of the comfort metric, and Maintaining a determined value corresponding to the power level within a defined range of the power metric; Receiving user input to control the one or more load control devices, and The threshold value of the comfort metric is adjusted based on the user input.
  14. 14. The system controller of claim 13, wherein the control circuit is configured to: Determining the load control device of the one or more load control devices that is controlled by the received user input, and At least one of the one or more load control devices that is not controlled by the received user input is controlled.
  15. 15. The system controller of claim 13, wherein the power metric comprises at least one of a conductive thermal gain based on at least an outdoor temperature and the load control ambient temperature, a conductive thermal loss based on at least an outdoor temperature and a load control ambient temperature, a radiant thermal gain based on at least solar heat, a radiant thermal loss based on at least solar heat, an occupant heat of a room based on at least an occupant temperature, a photo-thermal of a room based on at least a radiant electrical heat, a plug-in load heat of a room, an appliance heat of a room, or a photo-power based on at least electricity used in the load control environment.
  16. 16. The system controller of claim 13, wherein the one or more load control devices further comprise a temperature controller.
  17. 17. The system controller of claim 13, wherein the control circuit is configured to: Monitoring the plurality of comfort variables and the plurality of power parameters by receiving data from occupancy sensors in the load control environment to detect whether the load control environment is occupied or unoccupied, and The one or more load control devices are controlled in response to the occupancy sensor.
  18. 18. The system controller of claim 17, wherein when the load control environment is occupied, the control circuitry is configured to command the one or more load control devices to adjust a lighting intensity level to a predefined level to prevent the comfort metric from falling below a defined threshold.
  19. 19. The system controller of claim 17, wherein when the load control environment is occupied, the control circuitry is configured to instruct the one or more load control devices to adjust a window treatment position to a predefined position to prevent the comfort metric from falling below a defined threshold.
  20. 20. The system controller of claim 17, wherein when the load control environment is occupied, the control circuitry is configured to command the one or more load control devices to adjust a temperature level to a predefined level to prevent the comfort metric from falling below a defined threshold.

Description

Optimization of load control environment Cross Reference to Related Applications The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/949,541 filed on 12 months 18 of 2019, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Background The load control system may be installed in a building to regulate the power consumption of electrical loads in the building, such as lighting systems, heating and cooling systems, and/or motorized window treatment systems. In a building, there may be many factors that affect the consumption of electricity. For example, shining sunlight through a room window may allow the load control system to reduce the intensity of the lighting load, thereby allowing the lighting load to use less power. However, sunlight provides thermal energy to the room and may increase the amount of power consumed by cooling the room temperature, resulting in the load control system consuming more power from heating and cooling. Historically, load control systems have focused on reducing power consumption by reducing the amount of power consumed by lighting, heating and cooling devices, or motorized window treatments. For example, some load control systems have provided a "load shedding" capability in which the power consumed by the electrical load is reduced, for example, by reducing the intensity of the lighting load by a fixed amount or percentage in response to an input provided to the system. Other load control systems have provided control of electrical lighting loads to control the amount of artificial light in a load control environment and control of motorized window treatments to control the amount of sunlight entering a space. Such load control systems have been operated to achieve a desired lighting intensity in a load control environment while maximizing the contribution of sunlight provided in space. Also, other load control systems have provided control of electrical lighting loads, heating and cooling systems, and motorized window treatments to produce power savings in response to demand response commands. In demand response programs, power consumers agree to offload during peak demand in exchange for incentive measures, such as reducing billing rates or saving power. Such load control systems attempt to reduce the amount of power consumed by the overall load control system by independently adjusting the power consumed by the various components of the load control system, regardless of the impact such adjustments have on other components of the load control system or on occupant comfort. This may lead to greater power consumption by tangential effects. For example, adjusting the power consumed by individual components of the load control system may cause the load control system to consume power from other sources, thereby increasing the total amount of power consumed. Furthermore, adjusting the load control system in an attempt to consume less power may cause discomfort to occupants within the building due to the effects of the adjustment on other components. This may result in an occupant manually adjusting the load control system, which may result in increased power consumption of the load control system. Disclosure of Invention As described herein, a system controller for a load control environment (e.g., a room, space, or building) having a load control device (such as a lighting control system, heating and cooling system, and/or motorized window treatment system) may be configured to control the load control device by adjusting a lighting intensity level, a level of a covering material for the motorized window treatment, and/or a temperature level to reduce and/or optimize power consumption. Optimization of power may include reducing the overall cost and overall consumption of power while maintaining a target or minimum performance level for multiple comfort metrics. Optimization of power consumption may include the system controller predictively and/or adaptively controlling the lighting intensity of the lighting load, the location of the cover material for the motorized window treatment, and/or the temperature of the load control environment using the data to reduce the overall power consumption of the load control environment while maintaining a minimum level of comfort metrics and power metrics. The data may be predefined, real-time, historical, and/or collected data. The minimum performance level of the comfort measure may be achieved by balancing temperature levels, window treatments levels, and/or lighting levels in the load control environment. By balancing temperature levels, window level, and/or lighting levels in a load control environment, a minimum amount of power may be consumed altogether while maintaining a minimum or target comfort level. A system controller or power consumer (such as a building manager or an occupant of a load control environment) may utilize one or more comfort metrics of the load control enviro