Minimum Cost Demand Charge Management by Electric Vehicles

Abstract

This invention has as its objective provision of a method and apparatus to enable the batteries of Electric Vehicles (EV)s to level the electric demand in buildings to reduce demand charges based on instantaneous demand for electric power. This load leveling is done by connecting the EV to the building electrical system by its conventional Alternating Current (AC) recharging connection, and by an additional Direct Current (DC) path supporting intermittent loads. In this way the EV battery stands between the AC energy source and the intermittent load and reduces the electric power drawn from the grid to a constant minimum level, thereby minimizing demand charges.

Claims

1. An electrical integration apparatus comprising: an Electric Vehicle Service Equipment (EVSE) providing Alternating Current (AC) electric energy to recharge an electric vehicle propulsion battery, a Direct Current (DC) connection for direct or indirect access to the vehicle propulsion battery, which with the said EVSE allows bidirectional power flow to and from an electric vehicle by simultaneous connection to both the on board AC battery charger and to the DC battery of the vehicle to provide DC electric power to the building through a circuit protection and control assembly to one or more loads in the building.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the DC connection is made directly with the high voltage main propulsion battery through a DC quick charge port.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the DC connection is made indirectly through the low voltage accessory battery in the electric vehicle, which is in turn charged through an on-board DC-DC converter from the high voltage main propulsion battery.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which a stationary battery of appropriate voltage is connected in parallel with the DC connection to the vehicle to maintain back up power when the vehicle is not present.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the load is a resistive load chosen to have a voltage requirement matched to the voltage of the DC electric power supplied by the vehicle battery.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the circuit protection and control assembly includes one or more circuit protection devices to protect the load and the vehicle battery from electrical overload.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the circuit protection and control assembly includes one or more voltage equalizing subassemblies comprising: a power supply a controller having one or more Pulse Width Modulating (PWM) outputs one or more driver circuits taking the PWM commands and outputting a gate signal to one or more power semiconductors which can interrupt the flow of DC current to provide a DC power output with an effective DC voltage matching the requirements of each resistive load.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 which includes one or more Integrated driver/power semiconductor circuits which can take a PWM signal and provide a DC power output with an effective DC voltage matching the requirements of a resistive load.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 which includes one or more Integrated driver/power semiconductor circuits which can take a PWM signal from the controller and provide an AC power output with an effective AC Voltage matching the requirements of an inductive load

10. The apparatus of claim 7 which includes communication equipment to permit remote control of the apparatus.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 which includes one or more revenue-grade meters.

12. The method of using the apparatus of claim 1 comprising the steps of: Installing the apparatus of claim 1 in relation to a building, simultaneously connecting an electric vehicle via the AC connection to the EVSE and the DC connection to the circuit protection and control assembly of the apparatus, connecting the circuit protection and control assembly of the apparatus to one or more intermittent loads in the building, and using the apparatus to consume a steady amount of AC electric energy from the building and to provide a variable output of DC electric energy to the said intermittent loads.

13. The method of claim 12 in which additionally the circuit protection and control assembly is programmed to advantageously control the timing and amount of energy supplied to the load.

14. The method of claim 12 in which the bidirectional flow of electric energy from the vehicle is dynamically controlled in response to an external signal and used to provide demand mitigation services to the building/vehicle owner by control of the energy supplied to the load.

15. The method of claim 12 in which the bidirectional flow of electric energy from and to the vehicle is dynamically and remotely controlled and used to provide demand mitigation services to the grid and revenue to the building/vehicle owner by control of the energy supplied to the load.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the invention showing an Electric Vehicle connected to a building via a conventional AC EVSE for recharging and a DC connection via the vehicle's quick charge port and a circuit protection and control assembly to supply an intermittent load.

[0032] FIG. 1A shows the same apparatus with the addition of a stationary battery to provide power when the vehicle is not present.

[0033] FIG. 1B shows the internals of the circuit protection and control assembly in the DC connection to serve DC loads.

[0034] FIG. 1C shows the internals of the circuit protection and control assembly to serve AC loads.

[0035] FIG. 2 shows this invention with the DC connection made through the 12 V accessory battery of the electric vehicle thereby tapping the energy stored in the main propulsion battery indirectly through the onboard DC-DC converter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION: THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0036] FIG. 1 shows an electric vehicle 10 with a main propulsion battery 12 having a capacity of 20-60 kWh at approximately 360V DC. Battery 12 is recharged by on-board charger 14 with AC energy from SAE J1772-compliant plug and receptacle 22 and Electric Vehicle Service Equipment 26. EVSE 26 receives its energy from distribution panel 38 connected to the electric grid through meter 36. The AC power flow for recharging is controlled by on-board charger 14 in the usual way to supply constant (maximum) current up to a high battery state of charge. The current is then reduced to complete the charge at constant voltage. There may be other steps programmed into 14 by the vehicle manufacturer. This invention does not modify or control the charging process, which proceeds as if the vehicle were otherwise unattached.

[0037] In applying this invention battery 12 additionally supplies DC electric energy through quick charge port 20, which will conform to standard DC quick charge protocols such as the Japanese CHAdeMO, US/European CCS or Tesla Supercharger standards. The DC electric energy flows through circuit protection and control assembly 24 to intermittent load 40 containing resistive heater 39. The electrical energy demand of load 40 is still controlled by its internal control, such as a thermostat, which is in series with the output of control assembly 24. The result is that the intermittent large demands of load 40 are supplied by a constant AC supply from panel 38 through EVSE 26 plug 22 and charger 14 with battery 12 acting to average the load and avoid costly peaks in demand for AC power.

[0038] For example if load 40 is a water heater in a commercial building with a capacity of 10 kW and during the eight hour day the building uses 10 gallons of hot water per hour, the heater will be on for fifteen minutes in every hour and with a typical demand charge of $10 per kW, the associated demand charge will be $100 per month. With 10 kWh of battery storage the average power can be reduced to a steady 2.5 kW for a monthly saving of $75. With 60 kWh of storage the entire 20 kWh load can be spread over 24 hours for an average power of 0.83 kW and a saving of $91.70 in demand charge. If in the example the heater is on all the time during the day and off at night a vehicle battery with a capacity of 60 kWh can still cut the demand charge by 66% provided that it is connected all day, recharged at night and run only morning and evening.

[0039] In FIG. 1A stationary battery 28 is added to the input of load 40 to provide energy when vehicle 10 is away from its recharging station. Battery 28 must be rated at the same voltage as battery 12, and ideally could be a used vehicle battery of the same type and voltage but less capacity because of age and prior use. Battery 28 is recharged in parallel with vehicle propulsion battery 12.

[0040] Additional intermittent loads may be connected in parallel with intermittent load 40. As many loads can be supplied as the vehicle battery and supplementary battery 28 can support. The power capability of the EV battery is over 100 kW and the quick charge port is rated at least at 50 kW. Over the course of a day the energy limit is imposed by the onboard charger, which has to make up the average of the intermittent load as well as the vehicle recharge requirement based on miles driven. Typical on board chargers are rated at 6.7 kW and above.

[0041] In FIG. 1B the internals of circuit protection and control assembly 24 are shown schematically. In the case where heater 39 is a DC heater with a voltage rating equal to the voltage of battery 12 or can be chosen to be so, control unit 24 may comprise only fuses 42 to provide circuit protection to the heater or other DC load. Fuses 42 may be any DC rated fuse such as UL rated Class CC fuses rated at 500 V DC and up to 30 Amps (10.8 kW at 360 V).

[0042] In cases where heater 39 cannot readily be matched to the voltage of battery 12, circuit and protection unit 24 contains control unit 46 which acts as a Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) generator to power semiconductor 44 which interrupts current in the DC circuit to lower its effective voltage below that of the vehicle battery voltage. Semiconductor switch 44 may be either a Power MOSFET or an Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) such as the International Rectifier IRG4PC450 UD series rated at 600 V and 40 Amps. IGBTs are preferred in this slow switching, high voltage application.

[0043] Control unit 46 may be any eight-bit programmable controller with capabilities equivalent to an Arduino that can provide a PWM signal to turn on IGBT 44. The ATMEGA AVR series or the Microchip ADM series are suitable. A gate driver 47 to amplify the gate signal to 15 V such as the ZETEX ZXGD3005E6 will be needed. Energy from the DC circuit through fuse-protected power supply 45 will need to deliver 25 V to driver 47 and 5 V to controller 46 and to switch 50, if installed. Power supply 45 could be powered by 120 V AC from panel 38 or other means than the high voltage DC circuit shown. To match the EV battery voltage to the load requirement the PWM function will need to provide a pulse width equal to the ratio of either the 240 V or 120 V rating of heater 39 to the EV battery voltage. For example; Pulse width=240/360=67%.

[0044] The pulse width output on many controllers can be controlled by a variable resistive input to the controllers. Two such inputs are shown in FIG. 1B. Potentiometer 48 provides for an adjustable PWM output and effective DC voltage output from control assembly 24. Voltage divider 49 can provide a fixed PWM output with the individual resistors chosen so that R1 is proportional to 240 V and R1+R2 is proportional to EV battery voltage. Control unit 46 can supply several output drivers to support loads at different voltages if desired.

[0045] Control unit 46 can be programmed to operate load 40 at any time desired to provide for the needs of the building or to minimize demand during peak load hours. Controller 46 can also be controlled dynamically by communication device 50 in response to signals sent over connection 52. Control assembly 24 can cause load 40 to consume more energy at times of high availability and low cost and consume less in times of deficient capacity and high cost, in accordance with data made available over connection 52. Communication device 50 may be an Ethernet interface board compatible with controller 46 and connection 52 may be an Ethernet cable to a router, a WiFi antenna, or a cell phone receiver.

[0046] FIG. 1C shows the same apparatus configured to serve AC loads. IGBT drivers such as the ON Semiconductor STK5Q4U362J-E are available with six IGBTs embedded in them, which can put out three phase AC from a DC input. They can even improve on conventional inverters by providing variable frequency AC power to drive pumps and compressors more efficiently.

Other Embodiments

[0047] FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1A except that the DC connection is made through 12 V accessory battery 16 and DC-DC converter 18 of Vehicle 10. This approach provides a universal means of DC connection to any EV, but with the power from the vehicle limited to approximately one kW at 12 V. This may be acceptable if battery 28 can provide the power required by intermittent load 39 while the energy required is less than the 24 kWh per day that can be supplied via the accessory battery. Accessory battery voltages are slated to rise to as much as 48 V in future years.

[0048] Available vehicle battery storage provides a back up power source for the building in the event of a grid outage. Evaluating this is difficult but for many buildings, such as health care facilities, it is essential and must be provided in some fashion. Again, the fact that the vehicle battery is already paid for can provide major cost saving.

PRIOR ART

[0049] The idea of battery storage to provide the various advantages listed above is by no means novel. There are recent US patents awarded for demand charge management. Chow and Turney cited above are primarily concerned with predicting demand and planning to meet it optimally, without specifying the methods or apparatus to do that.

[0050] There are a number of patents in which bidirectional energy flow from a vehicle is described, but many of them involve a stationary inverter to convert DC to AC as in Huang and Yang above. Frohman describes a similar system with the inverter on-board the vehicle and AC power flowing to and from the vehicle. Choi shows a similar system with a stationary converter and DC power flowing from and to the vehicle.

[0051] This invention discloses a specific method of connecting an electric vehicle to a building to utilize its battery for demand charge management and other purposes, and specific apparatus to do so. The unique features of his invention are believed to be:

1. Simultaneous connection to the vehicle via a preexisting J-1772 AC charging port and either a standard quick charge bidirectional DC port such a the Japanese CHAdeMO standard or the CCS US-European standard, or through the 12 V auxiliary battery system of the EV.
2. Provision of electric energy to a building as DC to operate voltage-matched resistive loads without the necessity for an inverter to provide AC power or a DC-DC converter to match voltage.
3. Extremely low cost power electronics to match DC voltage or to supply an AC load.

[0052] While the drawings and descriptions in this application are intended to be comprehensive, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that there are similar means to achieve the same ends, which fall within the claimed scope of this invention.