EP-4742480-A1 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING ELECTRICAL DEVICES AS PART OF ELECTRIC NETWORK

EP4742480A1EP 4742480 A1EP4742480 A1EP 4742480A1EP-4742480-A1

Abstract

A system and a method for energy management are provided. The method comprises detecting device types based on sensor data received from the devices, the sensor data comprising information about power usage of said devices. Suitability of the detected devices for various energy management operations is determined based on the detected device types, one or more criteria and received energy management signals from external devices. Thereafter, energy consumption of the devices is controlled by a control device based on suitability of the devices for the respective energy management operation.

Inventors

KARVINEN, Miska

Assignees

Riot Innovations Oy

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20241112

Claims (15)

An energy management system, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the energy management system at least to: receive, from sensors configured to monitor a plurality of electrical devices, data comprising at least current and voltage values of the plurality of electrical devices; store the received data for analysis of device types of the plurality of electrical devices; analyse the stored data of each of the plurality of electrical devices using harmonic analysis and statistical analysis to obtain indications of the device type and an energy consumption profile of the respective electrical device; determine, by comparing the indications of the device type and the energy consumption profile to reference data, the device type of the electrical device; add the electrical device to one or more control groups based on the determined device type, the energy consumption profile and one or more criteria; receive, from one or more external sources, signals associated with electric grid balancing; determine, based on the received signals, control instructions for one or more of the control groups to at least one of increase or decrease energy usage; and transmit the determined control instructions to control devices of the plurality of electrical devices based the one or more control groups in which the respective electrical device belongs to.
The energy management system of claim 1, wherein the energy management system is caused to: calculate, based on the received data, at least one of energy usage, harmonic distortion or usage times of the electrical device with respect to time; obtain the indications of the device type based on the calculated data, wherein the indications comprise at least one of an indication of a continuous load type, an indication of a cyclic load type, harmonic characteristics, usage times or a ratio of harmonic components of the electrical device; calculate probabilities of the device type based on the indications of the device type, the energy consumption profile and the reference data; determine the device type based on the probability being above a certain threshold; and at least one of repeat the analysis after a certain period when new data is received from the sensors or transmit the data to a cloud server device for further analysis performed using one or more machine learning models configured for identification of device types when it is determined that the calculated probabilities are below the certain threshold.
The energy management system of any preceding claim, wherein the control instructions cause the electrical devices included in the control group to apply one of a normal operation mode of the electrical device, to apply an energy saving operation mode, to increase energy usage based on available renewable energy, or to participate in the electric grid balancing by decreasing energy usage for a certain time period based on the instructions received from the energy management system.
The energy management system of any preceding claim, wherein at least one of the control groups is configured to provide reserve capacity for the electric grid and the signals associated with electric grid balancing comprise a signal indicative of a need to activate the reserve capacity for balancing the electric grid; and wherein the control instructions transmitted to the at least one control group configured to provide reserve capacity comprise instructions to reduce energy consumption in response to the received signal indicative of the need to activate the reserve capacity.
The energy management system of any preceding claim, further caused to: verify, based on the data received after the transmitted control instructions, that the energy usage of the electrical devices has increased or decreased according to the transmitted control instructions; and adjust at least one of the control groups or the control instructions based on results of the verification.
The energy management system of any preceding claim, wherein the energy management system is caused to determine, based on the data received from the electrical device, at least one of: harmonic distortion of the electrical device; a power factor and phase angle between the current and the voltage; load impedance at different frequencies; and determine the device type of the respective electrical device based on the power factor, the phase angle and the load impedance.
The energy management system of claim 6, caused to: determine that the device type corresponds to resistive load when at least one of the power factor is approximately one, the phase angle between the current and the voltage is approximately zero, the amount of harmonic distortion is below a first threshold, or impedance is approximately constant; determine that the device type corresponds to inductive load when at least one of the power factor is less than one, the phase angle between the current and the voltage is positive, the amount of harmonic distortion is above the first threshold, or the impedance increases with respect to frequency; and determine that the device type corresponds to capacitive load when at least one of the power factor is less than zero, the phase angle between the current and the voltage is negative, the amount of harmonic distortion is above the first threshold, or the impedance decreases with respect to frequency.
The energy management system of any preceding claim, wherein the energy management system is further configured to: after the device type is determined, monitor the received data to detect changes in behaviour of the respective electrical device; detect that the changes in behaviour of the electrical device are indicative of at least one of a malfunction of the electrical device or changed device type; and remove the electrical device from the one or more control groups based on the detected malfunction or change the control group of the electrical device based on the detected change of a device type.
The energy management system of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more criteria comprise at least one of: - a current operation mode of the electrical device; - priority set by a user for balancing the electric grid, reducing energy usage of a property of the user or increasing usage of renewable energy sources; - the signal associated with electric grid balancing being below one or more set thresholds; - the signal associated with electric grid balancing being above the one or more set thresholds; - predictions about the electric grid balance indicating a need to increase or decrease energy usage; - criticality of operation of the electrical device; - data received from sensors indicative of a presence of user in the property; - operating environment of the electrical device; - operational limitations of the device type; - response time of the device type to load changes; - capacity of the electrical device for energy consumption adjustments; or - a share of renewable energy available for use by the electrical devices.
The energy management system of claim 9, caused to: determine weighting factors for the one or more criteria with respect to each of the control groups; calculate points for each control group based on the determined weighting factors; and determine the control instructions based on the control group having the highest points.
The energy management system of any preceding claim, wherein the control group of the electrical device is changed dynamically based on updated information associated with the one or more criteria or the signals associated with the electric grid balancing.
The energy management system of any preceding claim, wherein the energy management system comprises: one or more edge processing devices configured to perform the data monitoring, data analysis using the harmonic analysis and statistical analysis and transmission of control instructions; and a cloud server device communicatively coupled with the one or more edge processing devices and configured to provide for the one or more edge processing devices at least one of predictions of electric grid balance, a communication link for the signals associated with electric grid balancing, or device type analysis using one or more machine learning models.
The energy management system of claim 12, wherein the data monitoring, data analysis using the harmonic analysis and statistical analysis, and control operations are performed by different edge processing devices, the different edge processing devices being communicatively coupled with each other and forming a modular structure.
The energy management system of claim 12 or 13, further caused to: determine that the device type cannot be determined by the edge processing device based on the received data using the harmonic analysis and statistical analysis; and at least one of perform, by the edge processing device, the device type analysis again after a predetermined interval based on new data received for the respective electrical device or transmit the data to the cloud server device to be analyzed using the one or more machine learning models.
A method for energy management, comprising: receiving, from sensors configured to monitor a plurality of electrical devices, data comprising at least current and voltage values of the plurality of electrical devices; storing the received data for analysis of device types of the plurality of electrical devices; analysing the stored data of each of the plurality of electrical devices using harmonic analysis and statistical analysis to obtain indications of the device type and an energy consumption profile of the respective electrical device; determining, by comparing the indications of the device type and the energy consumption profile to reference data, the device type of the electrical device; adding the electrical device to one or more control groups based on the determined device type, the energy consumption profile and one or more criteria; receiving, from one or more external sources, signals associated with electric grid balancing; determining, based on the received signals, control instructions for one or more of the control groups to at least one of increase or decrease energy usage; and transmitting the determined control instructions to control devices of the plurality of electrical devices based the one or more control groups in which the respective electrical device belongs to.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD Various example embodiments generally relate to the field of energy management. Some example embodiments relate to detection and management of electrical devices, such as household appliances and other electrical devices located in buildings, as part of flexible electric network participating in grid balancing operations. BACKGROUND Multiple factors, such as an amount of renewable energy sources connected to the grid, targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and large fluctuations in the price of electricity increase a demand for new ways to manage electricity consumption and demand. SUMMARY This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Example embodiments of the present disclosure enable the detection of different types of devices applicable for energy management, and management of said devices to participate in grid balancing and other energy management operations. This and other benefits may be achieved by the features of the independent claims. Further example embodiments are provided in the dependent claims, the description, and the drawings. According to a first aspect, an energy management system is disclosed. The energy management system may comprise: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the energy management system at least to: receive, from sensors configured to monitor a plurality of electrical devices, data comprising at least current and voltage values of the plurality of electrical devices; store the received data for analysis of device types of the plurality of electrical devices; analyse the stored data of each of the plurality of electrical devices using harmonic analysis and statistical analysis to obtain indications of the device type and an energy consumption profile of the respective electrical device; determine, by comparing the indications of the device type and the energy consumption profile to reference data, the device type of the electrical device; add the electrical device to one or more control groups based on the determined device type, the energy consumption profile and one or more criteria; receive, from one or more external sources, signals associated with electric grid balancing; determine, based on the received signals, control instructions for one or more of the control groups to at least one of increase or decrease energy usage; and transmit the determined control instructions to control devices of the plurality of electrical devices based the one or more control groups in which the respective electrical device belongs to. According to an example embodiment of the first aspect, the energy management system is caused to: calculate, based on the received data, at least one of energy usage, harmonic distortion or usage times of the electrical device with respect to time; obtain the indications of the device type based on the calculated data, wherein the indications comprise at least one of an indication of a continuous load type, an indication of a cyclic load type, harmonic characteristics, usage times or a ratio of harmonic components of the electrical device; calculate probabilities of the device type based on the indications of the device type, the energy consumption profile and the reference data; determine the device type based on the probability being above a certain threshold; and at least one of repeat the analysis after a certain period when new data is received from the sensors or transmit the data to a cloud server device for further analysis performed using one or more machine learning models configured for identification of device types when it is determined that the calculated probabilities are below the certain threshold. According to an example embodiment of the first aspect, the control instructions cause the electrical devices included in the control group to apply one of a normal operation mode of the electrical device, to apply an energy saving operation mode, to increase energy usage based on available renewable energy, or to participate in the electric grid balancing by decreasing energy usage for a certain time period based on the instructions received from the energy management system. According to an example embodiment of the first aspect, at least one of the control groups is configured to provide reserve capacity for the electric grid and the signals associated with electric grid balancing comprise a signal indicative of a need to activate the reserve capacity for balancing the electric grid; and wherein the control instructions transmitted to the at least one control group configured to provide reserve capacity comprise instructions to reduce energy co