An electrical power outlet including a computer processor having a memory operably connected thereto storing computer instruction code, a control module for controlling the supply of electrical power from the outlet upon receipt of a control signal from the computer processor, and a communications module for connection with a plurality of external electrical power outlets, wherein the computer instruction code, when executed by the computer processor, causes the computer processor to control the supply of electrical power from the outlet according to predetermined conditions stored in the computer memory, and transmit contents of the computer memory to the plurality of external electrical power outlets and receive memory contents from a plurality of external electrical power outlets.

An electrical appliance control device for controlling power supplied to an electrical appliance, comprises: an output unit configured to output a predetermined event for each predetermined period during an operation mode; a determination unit configured to determine whether predetermined information is inputted by a user in response to the predetermined event; and a control unit configured to control power supplied to the electrical appliance corresponding to whether the predetermined information is inputted.

The invention essentially relates to a facility for charge current control of storage units in an electrical energy supply grid including, among others, distributed generators and distributed storage units, in which a logic unit is present such that, a storage charge current value can be determined for the storage unit as a function of control variables transferred via a communication system of measurement variables determined at the storage and of locally held internal control variables. This represents an important component for achieving the optimum possible overall utilization of the distributed and multiple-use energy storage.

An automation system including a plurality of peripheral devices, each configured to perform at least one function relating to energy consumption in a facility and an automation controller in communication with the plurality of peripheral devices and providing for the control of the performance of the function by each device. An external network resource such as at least a virtual private network server is configured to enable communication with the automation controller. The automation controller is configured, such as by executing virtual private network software, to establish and maintain a secure data link with the virtual private network server and to enable oversight and/or control of the automation controller via the virtual private network server.

Some embodiments include electric power demand stabilization methods and systems that may include receiving an indication that a specific controllable device will have a high power draw event; retrieving a power draw profile for the specific controllable device that includes at least a maximum power draw and an event duration; identifying a plurality of low priority controllable devices with a combined power draw that is substantially equal to the maximum power draw of the specific controllable device; and turning off the plurality of low priority controllable devices for a time period substantially equal to the event duration.

Methods and apparatus are discloses for position a vehicle. In one aspect, an apparatus for positioning a vehicle is provided. The apparatus comprises a plurality of receive, each configured to generate a respective voltage signal from a wireless magnetic field generated by a field generator. The apparatus further comprises a processor configured to determine a first set of data based on the respective voltage signals generated by the plurality of receive coils, and reduce the first set of data to a second set of data that is substantially constant regardless of relative rotation between the plurality of receive coils and the field generator. The apparatus is further configured to determine a plurality of candidate positions based upon the second set of data, which are used to determine a position and an orientation with respect to the field generator based on the first set of data.

The present invention relates to a system and a method for controlling photovoltaic balancing, the system comprising: photovoltaic modules wherein the photovoltaic modules are connected in series with each other; node balancing control units for blocking and switching the connected photovoltaic modules when measured data fall below current, voltage, and power control data set to control; a gateway unit for storing the measured data; a real-time control module for classifying, comparing, and analyzing the measured data, storing same in a database, and transmitting a control command to the gateway unit; and an integrated information server for monitoring photovoltaic component devices and measured values, analyzing and processing profile information of the component devices, and providing same to the real-time control module.

A method for characterizing power quality events in an electrical system includes deriving electrical measurement data for at least one first virtual meter in an electrical system from (a) electrical measurement data from or derived from energy-related signals captured by at least one first IED in the electrical system, and (b) electrical measurement data from or derived from energy-related signals captured by at least one second IED in the electrical system. In embodiments, the at least one first IED is installed at a first metering point in the electrical system, the at least one second IED is installed at a second metering point in the electrical system, and the at least one first virtual meter is derived or located at a third metering point in the electrical system. The derived electrical measurement data may be used to generate or update a dynamic tolerance curve associated with the third metering point.

The present disclosure relates to a capacitor bank control system that uses a combination of line post sensors and wireless current sensors for control operations. For example, a capacitor bank controller may include one or more inputs that electrically couple to a line post sensor to allow the capacitor bank controller to obtain line post sensor measurements. The capacitor bank controller may include a transceiver that receives wireless current sensor measurements from first and second wireless current sensors. The capacitor bank controller may include a processor that controls one or more switching devices of a capacitor bank based at least in part on a combination of line post sensor measurements and wireless current sensor measurements.

A solar system installed at a house or building, which may include solar panels and a solar inverter. When the solar system is installed at the house or building, the power load associated with the solar system might overload an electrical panel. This might force the owner of the house or building to spend thousands of dollars on an electrical panel upgrade. To avoid such an expensive upgrade, a smart load manager (SLM) is disclosed that can communicate with the solar inverter and can control it. The SLM can function as a real-time load shedding device, thereby avoiding the cost of a load center/panel upgrade, while enabling a safe and cost-effective solar system installation.