A system may include a non-intrusive sensor circuitry configured to provide electrical measurement data, including, for example, current data, voltage data, power factor data, active power consumption data, reactive power consumption data, or a combination thereof. A transient event detector may sweep the electrical measurement data with a first window and a second window, the first window adjacent to the second window. The transient event detector may identify a start and end of transient activity based on electrical measurement data referenced by separate adjacent windows. The transient event detector may capture a transient activity data segment comprising a portion of the electrical measurement data between first index and the second index.

In a method of checking normal input power and load of a programmable AC power distributor in its power-on state, indicator lights are installed in an output ON button and an output OFF button. During power ON, a master switch is switched to an ON position to detect the input power and obtain a detection result through a change of the indicator light in the output OFF button, and then the output ON button is pressed to check the power-on state of the load and obtain a detection result by outputting the change of the indicator light of the button. Therefore, users can instantly know whether the input power and load are in a normal state during the operation of turning on the power distributor, and this method makes the operation of the power distributor safer and more convenient, and ensures a high quality of power supply.

An electricity meter includes a power line interface circuit configured to generate measurements of parameters for at least two electricity transmission paths. The meter also includes a balance determination circuit configured to generate at least one balance metric that indicates a balance between the electricity transmission paths from the generated measurements. The meter further includes a communications circuit configured to transmit balance information to an external recipient responsive to the at least one balance metric.

A heating ventilating or air conditioning (HVAC) system includes a unit configured for use in a heating or a cooling operation for an environment. The unit includes an interface configured to receive electric energy from an alternative energy source and a controller configured to perform an optimization of an objective function for the unit to determine a first amount of electric energy to receive from an energy grid and a second amount of the electric energy from the alternative energy source for use in the heating or cooling operation at each time step of an optimization period in response to a cost characteristic of the electric energy received from the energy grid. The unit is configured to use the first amount and the second amount for the heating or cooling operation.

In embodiments, it is provided an integrated device for providing a measure of a quantity dependent on current through an electrical conductor, having: a sensing and processing sub-system; an electrical conductor to conduct a current; an insulating material encapsulating the sensing and processing sub-system and maintaining the electrical conductor in a fixed and spaced relationship to the sensing and processing sub-system, wherein the insulating material is configured to insulate the electrical conductor from the sensing and processing sub-system; sensing circuitry comprising a plurality of magnetic field sensing elements arranged on the sensing and processing sub-system adjacent to the electrical conductor, wherein the sensing circuitry is configured to provide a measure of the quantity as a weighted sum and/or difference of outputs of the magnetic field sensing elements caused by the current flowing through the electrical conductor adjacent to the plurality of magnetic field sensing elements; a voltage sensing input for sensing a measure of voltage associated with the current conductor; and output circuitry on the sensing and processing sub-system arranged to provide an output measure of the quantity from the sensed measure of current and sensed measure of voltage.

A meter apparatus is provided for determining parameters of an AC electric signal in first and second wires, the AC signal including an AC electric current and an AC electric voltage, the apparatus including a measurement section to provide first and second measure signals each one indicative of the AC voltage based on a first capacitive coupling with the first wire and on a second capacitive coupling with the second wire, the first and second measure signals depending on capacitance values of the first and second capacitive couplings, and a control unit to determine said capacitance values of the first and second capacitive couplings according to the first and second measure signals, and determining the amplitude of the AC voltage according to the first or second measure signal, and to the capacitance values of the first and second capacitive couplings.

Apparatus for disaggregating a plurality of aggregated electrical devices that receive power via a same power node, the apparatus comprising: a memory having values of at least one power feature for each of the aggregated electrical devices that characterizes power consumption of the device; and a processor configured to: receive a measure of a value for the at least one power feature of node power distributed to the aggregated devices via the power node; determine an optimum probability mass function (PMF) based on the values for the at least one power feature for each of the electrical devices that is optimized to provide an optimum disaggregation state vector for the aggregated electrical devices that satisfies a predetermined criterion to provide a value for the at least one power feature that agrees with the received measure of the at least one power feature.

In a method of checking normal input power and load of a programmable AC power distributor in its power-on state, indicator lights are installed in an output ON button and an output OFF button. During power ON, a master switch is switched to an ON position to detect the input power and obtain a detection result through a change of the indicator light in the output OFF button, and then the output ON button is pressed to check the power-on state of the load and obtain a detection result by outputting the change of the indicator light of the button. Therefore, users can instantly know whether the input power and load are in a normal state during the operation of turning on the power distributor, and this method makes the operation of the power distributor safer and more convenient, and ensures a high quality of power supply.

A method and apparatus are disclosed for indicating one or more characteristics associated with a power factor for a power line. The apparatus includes at least one feedback element for coupling to a power line that delivers electrical power from an Alternating Current (AC) source to a load and for providing a first feedback voltage that represents a voltage provided by the power line; at least one further feedback element for coupling to the power line for providing a further feedback voltage that represents a current provided by the power line; and at least one impedance element, having an electrical impedance, wherein a first potential difference across the impedance element that is responsive to a potential difference between the first feedback voltage and the further feedback voltage, indicates a characteristic associated with a power factor for the power line.

Activity sensing in the home has a variety of important applications, including healthcare, entertainment, home automation, energy monitoring and post-occupancy research studies. Many existing systems for detecting occupant activity require large numbers of sensors, invasive vision systems, or extensive installation procedures. Disclosed is an approach that uses a single plug-in sensor to detect a variety of electrical events throughout the home. This sensor detects the electrical noise on residential power tines created by the abrupt switching of electrical devices and the noise created by certain devices while in operation. Machine learning techniques are used to recognize electrically noisy events such as turning on or off a particular light switch, a television set, or an electric stove. The system has been tested to evaluate system performance over time and in different types of houses. Results indicate that various electrical events can be learned and classified with accuracies ranging from 85-90%.