Described is a method of controlling a cooking appliance which includes at least one electrical load and a controller. The electrical load is variably connected to at least one of a plurality of phases of a power connection. The phase is selected from among the plurality of phases. Furthermore, a cooking appliance and a heating element are described.

A charging control system includes a lawn mower that includes a battery and performs a lawn mowing work while traveling autonomously, and a charging station for charging the battery. The lawn mower includes a superimposing unit for superimposing, on a charging current, a current indicating period information for defining a shutoff period of supply power to be supplied from the charging station. The charging station includes a current detector for detecting the charging current, an information acquisition unit for acquiring period information based on a detection result of the current detector, a switch for shutting off the supply power, and a shutoff controller for controlling the operation of the switch. The shutoff controller releases the shutoff of supply of power to the lawn mower based on the period information acquired by the information acquisition unit. Therefore, the power consumption of the lawn mower can be reduced.

A control device is connected to power loads installed in a consumer facility so as to be able to communicate with the power loads. The control device includes: a control unit; and a display unit. The control unit determines the power loads and predicted power consumption when the power loads are used, determines at least one usable power load out of the power loads based on a remaining amount of available electric power in the consumer facility and the predicted power consumption, displays the usable power load on the display unit such that the usable power load is selectable, and controls use of the selected power load.

An apparatus in an illustrative embodiment comprises at least one processing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory. The processing device is configured to receive power consumption data relating to at least one monitored device, and to classify the monitored device based at least in part on the power consumption data. The processing device is further configured to select a power policy for the classified device, and to control application of power to the classified device in accordance with the selected power policy. For example, controlling application of power to the classified device in accordance with the selected power policy may comprise determining contextual information for the classified device, generating a control signal based at least in part on the contextual information and the selected power policy, and transmitting the control signal to at least one node of a node network. Other illustrative embodiments include methods and computer program products.

A DC supply and distribution system includes an AC-DC converter for converting an AC power input from an AC power line to DC powers having a plurality of different voltages and outputting the converted DC powers; and a voltage controller for controlling the different voltages of the DC powers to be output from the AC-DC converter. The output DC powers are distributed to the plurality of loads through a plurality of respective DC lines connected from the output terminals of the AC-DC converter.

Described are systems, methods, and apparatus that enable power management and reduction at both the individual and group level to help reduce the overall power demand on a power system. One or more sensors may be positioned at different locations that collect and provide various sensor data to a remote computing system, referred to herein as a management system. The management system maintains location profiles for each location, user profiles for users at the various locations, and may also receive third party data, such as weather patterns, power system load, etc. The management system utilizes the received data to determine one or more energy saving actions that may be performed at the location(s) to reduce energy consumption and lower the demand on the power system.

Systems and methods for verifying correct completion of a power control sequence in a switchgear provide a commissioning agent that can automatically verify correct completion of the power control sequence. The commissioning agent includes a sequence verification tool that can initiate performance of a power control sequence in the switchgear and immediately compare the sequence actually performed to the sequence intended to be performed. If the two sequences do not match in order and timing, the verification tool reports the mismatch and identifies the error. In some embodiments, the commissioning agent further includes a log viewer that captures the sequence actually performed in the switchgear and displays the result for viewing. Such an arrangement provides a faster and more reliable way to double-check the system integrity of the switchgear during initial engineering and after factory and/or field modifications.

A load control device may be used to control and deliver power to an electrical load. The load control device may comprise a control circuit for controlling the power delivered to the electrical load. The load control device may comprise multiple actuators, where each of the actuators is connected between a terminal of the control circuit and a current regulating device. The number of the actuators may be greater than the number of the terminals. The control circuit may measure signals at the terminals and determine a state configuration for the actuators based on the measured signals. The control circuit may compare the state configuration to a predetermined dataset to detect a ghosting condition.

The present invention relates to a device and method for simulating the power consumption by a power load, which uses data collected over a long period of time on the inclined insolation, the horizontal insolation, the external temperature, the photovoltaic module temperature, the solar power generation facilities and generated solar power corresponding to the solar power generation facilities for each region. The device and method of the present invention simulates or estimates the power consumption by power loads provided by a user and shows a result of the simulation when a user desires to design or build a renewable solar power energy system.

A photovoltaic air conditioning system startup method, a controller, and a photovoltaic air conditioning system. The photovoltaic air conditioning system starting method includes: when a photovoltaic device meets a preset power generation condition, controlling a bidirectional converter to enter an operating state; and when the bidirectional converter enters the operating state, controlling a direct current-direct current converter connected to the photovoltaic device to enter an operating state, so that the photovoltaic device provides electric energy to an air-conditioning device by means of the direct current-direct current converter.