An improved AC power supply is described. The supply identifies the load through monitoring the current and voltage wave forms and phase relations with the AC Mains. The comparison is done in conditions where the power to the load is programmably varied through use of a control switch located in the line and neutral between the AC mains and the load. The program of controlling the switch is varied to optimize the ability to distinguish similar load types. The switch can be further used to control power to the load that varies according to a set of rules based upon the identity of the load. In a preferred embodiment, the design enables high efficiency with minimal components that may be fully integrated onto silicon.

Provided are a smart outlet for charging an electric vehicle and a charging method utilizing the same. A smart outlet for charging an electric vehicle includes: a cost-charging determining unit which determines whether to charge by comparing a consumed electric energy of an external device corresponding to a plug coupled to the smart outlet and a predetermined allowable electric energy; a short-range wireless communication unit which receives payment information for supplying the power to the external device based on the determination of whether to charge, from a user terminal; and a power supplying unit which supplies the power to the external device.

Methods, Systems, and Computer program products can use grid telemetry to generate a fingerprint. One of these methods includes generating a first grid telemetry fingerprint based on characteristics of an electrical grid. The method also includes verifying a transaction based on the first grid telemetry fingerprint and a second grid telemetry fingerprint associated with the transaction.

A power demand management system includes a plurality of power-prepaid appliances and a power demand management server. Each of the power-prepaid appliances includes an authenticator configured to manage an authentication key, a control setting unit configured to receive a power consumption control signal containing a power reduction amount from the power demand management server and to set control information according to the power reduction amount, and an operation control signal generator configured to generate an operation control signal based on the control information selected by the control setting unit. The power demand management server includes a demand resource allocator configured to allocate the power reduction amount to each power-prepaid appliance, a security unit configured to encrypt the power consumption control signal based on the authentication key of each power-prepaid appliance, and a reduction manager configured to monitor a reduction in power consumption depending on the power consumption control signal.

An apparatus for monitoring an electrical apparatus, the load monitoring apparatus comprising a controller which is configured to capture and process voltage and current data of an electrical apparatus, which is electrically connected with a power supply, to obtain electrical parameters of the electrical apparatus, to store the electrical parameters as measured electrical parameters, to compare the measured electrical parameters with a set of pre-stored electrical parameters, to determine whether the measured electrical parameters match with the stored electrical parameters, and to operate a power switch to turn off power supply to the electrical parameters if the measured electrical parameters do not match with the stored electrical parameters.

A device management method of a device management apparatus that manages information of devices installed in a home, includes: acquiring electric power consumption per unit time in predetermined time intervals, for each of branch circuits of a power distribution board to which the devices can be connected; estimating existence of the devices connected to the branch circuit, based on change of electric power consumption over time, per unit time; condition determining whether or not an estimated device, which is a device regarding which existence has been estimated in the estimating, satisfies a predetermined condition; and transmitting inquiry information to a user in accordance with the predetermined condition, only in a case where determination is made in the condition determining that the estimated device satisfies the predetermined condition.

A multi-port power supply apparatus and a power supplying method thereof are provided. The multi-port power supply apparatus includes a power supply circuit, a plurality of connecting ports, a plurality of power converters, and a common control circuit. The power supply circuit is configured to provide a source electric energy to the power converters. Any one of the power converters converts the source electric energy into an output electric energy and outputs the output electric energy to the corresponding connecting port. The common control circuit dynamically adjusts the source electric energy by controlling the power supply circuit according to a plurality of voltage demands and a plurality of power demands of the connecting ports, so as to enhance voltage conversion efficiency of the multi-port power supply apparatus.

Methods, Systems, and Computer program products can use grid telemetry to generate a fingerprint. One of these methods includes generating a first grid telemetry fingerprint based on characteristics of an electrical grid. The method also includes verifying a transaction based on the first grid telemetry fingerprint and a second grid telemetry fingerprint associated with the transaction.

According to embodiments of the present invention, techniques are provided for producing energy from one or more energy production sources. Energy consumption and energy production sources for an entity in a geographic location are analyzed. Sensor data based on the analysis of the entity is collected, wherein the sensor data includes crowdsourced sensor data. A model is generated based on the collected sensor data and the analysis of the entity, wherein the model includes optimization criteria for energy production. The model is utilized to determine an energy production source and energy production for the entity. Occurrence of a triggering event is detected, and the energy production source is adjusted based on the detected triggering event. The model is updated based on newly collected sensor data.

A process for detecting statistically significant changes in energy consumption patterns by monitoring for changes in the parameters to a parametric energy model. Two parametric models of energy consumption are created: the first being a model providing an initial base line of energy consumption, the second being a test model to be compared to the initial base model. Statistically significant changes are detected by using a difference score that compares the parameters of two models along with the uncertainties of each parameter to determine whether the differences in the parameters of each model indicate a statistically significant deviation in the energy consumption pattern.