Patent Application
20230158918
The disclosure relates generally to charging management methods and systems for electric vehicles, and, more particularly to methods and systems for monitoring the overall electricity consumption of a community in order to provide charging for electric vehicles while maintaining a balanced electricity supply to the community.
Recently, with the rising awareness of environmental protection and electric vehicle technology advances, the development of electric vehicles powered by electrical energy to replace traditional vehicles powered by fossil fuels has gradually become an important goal in the automotive field, thus making electric vehicles become more and more popular. In order to increase the range and willingness to use electric vehicles, many countries or cities have begun to set up charging stations in public places to provide electricity to electric vehicles, and have also begun to plan the deployment of a large number of charging stations in urban areas or scenic areas, so as to make the charging of electric vehicles more convenient.
Generally, the power equipment in the most field has already been constructed. To update the power equipment, such as the capacity of the electric panel, it is expensive and the construction time is long. Often, the number of charging stations that can be installed in a single charging field is limited by the existing maximum load capacity of the field. Therefore, in the case of limited charging stations, the drivers of electric vehicles may have to wait since the charging station may be in use, or need to find other nearby charging stations for charging operations, which causes inconvenience in use, and drives the willingness to adopt electric vehicles.
On the other hand, the charging situation of electric vehicles in a centralized dwelling, such as a community, will be more complicated than that in a typical dwelling. Each dwelling in a community has its own power consumption limit of, such as 75 amps. If an electric vehicle charging station is added to a dwelling, it is possible that the overall power consumption of the dwelling will exceed the original power consumption design. Additionally, the entire community has its own original design limit for power consumption. Some builders may underestimate the overall dwelling power consumption and downsize the community's electrical infrastructure to save costs. As a result, if a large number of dwellings are equipped with electric vehicle charging stations and a large amount of electricity is required, there is a risk that the community's electrical facilities will not be able to handle the overall dwelling power consumption. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the industry to reduce the difficulty of setting up and managing electric vehicle charging stations in the community, while meeting the charging needs of different households.
In an embodiment of a method of electric vehicle charging management for community with energy monitoring, which is suitable for a community including a plurality of dwellings, and each dwelling has an electric vehicle charging station connected to a server through a network, a current transformer is first used to measure the main power lines of the community to obtain a current consumption of the community, wherein the main power line is tapped into a plurality of auxiliary power lines to provide electricity for each of the dwellings. The server determines whether the current consumption of the community meets a predetermined condition of the community, and if so, the server executes at least one energy management scheme, wherein the energy management scheme records a power distribution logic, which is used to control the charging operation of the electric vehicle charging station corresponding to the respective dwelling via the network.
An embodiment of a system of electric vehicle charging management for community with energy monitoring, which is suitable for a community including a plurality of dwellings, comprises a plurality of electric vehicle charging stations, a current transformer, and a server. Each electric vehicle charging station corresponds to one of the dwellings and has a network connection capability, and connects to the server. The current transformer measures main power lines of the community to obtain a current consumption of the community and transmits the current consumption of the community to the server via a network, wherein the main power line is tapped into a plurality of auxiliary power lines to provide electricity for each of the dwellings. The server determines whether the current consumption of the community meets a predetermined condition of the community. When the current consumption of the community meets the predetermined condition of the community, the server executes at least one energy management scheme, wherein the energy management scheme records a power distribution logic, which is used to control the charging operation of the electric vehicle charging station corresponding to the respective dwelling via the network.
In some embodiments, the server determines whether the current consumption of the community meets the predetermined condition of the community by determining whether the current consumption of the community is greater than a predetermined upper limit value determined by a maximum current amount defined by the corresponding community and a power company. When the current consumption of the community is greater than the predetermined upper limit value, it is determined that the current consumption of the community meets the predetermined condition of the community.
In some embodiments, the predetermined upper limit value includes a plurality of sub-limit values and when the current consumption of the community is greater than any of the sub-limit values, the energy management scheme executed by the server is different.
In some embodiments, the server determines whether the current consumption of the community meets the predetermined condition of the community by determining whether a phase difference between a first line current and a second line current within the current consumption of the community is greater than a predetermined difference. When the phase difference is greater than the predetermined difference, it is determined that the current consumption of the community meets the predetermined condition of the community.
In some embodiments, at least one of the auxiliary power lines of the main power line is used to provide electricity for at least one public equipment in the community. The at least one energy management scheme executed by the server preferentially controls the power consumption of the at least one public equipment when the current consumption of the community meets the predetermined condition of the community.
In some embodiments, the server obtains charging information of a charging operation from each electric vehicle charging station, wherein the charging information includes a charging start time for the charging operation, a charging amount, or a remaining battery amount corresponding to an electric vehicle. The server executes the at least one energy management scheme based on the charging information of the charging operation corresponding to each electric vehicle charging station.
In some embodiments, a plurality of dwelling current transformers is used to measure the auxiliary power lines of each dwelling to obtain a current consumption of the dwelling for each dwelling, and the measured current consumption of the dwelling for each dwelling is transmitted to the server. The server determines whether the current consumption of the dwelling for a specific dwelling is greater than a dwelling threshold value. When the current consumption of the dwelling for the specific dwelling is greater than the dwelling threshold value, the server executes a specific energy management scheme for the electric vehicle charging station corresponding to the specific dwelling, wherein the specific energy management scheme controls the charging operation of the electric vehicle charging station corresponding to the specific dwelling via the network.
In some embodiments, the server executes the at least one energy management scheme based on the current consumption of the dwelling for each dwelling and the current consumption of the community for the community.
In some embodiments, during the execution of the specific energy management scheme, the server transmits a first notification signal to a specific mobile device corresponding to the specific dwelling to notify a user of the specific dwelling that the specific dwelling is executing the specific energy management scheme for controlling the power consumption of the specific dwelling. During the execution of the energy management scheme, the server transmits a second notification signal to a community terminal corresponding to the community to notify a manager of the community that the community is executing the energy management scheme for controlling the power consumption of the community.
Methods of electric vehicle charging management for community with energy monitoring may take the form of a program code embodied in a tangible media. When the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the disclosed method.
The invention will become more fully understood by referring to the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The following description is of the best-contemplated mode of carrying out the invention. This description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and should not be taken in a limiting sense. It should be understood that the embodiments may be realized in software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof.
In some embodiments, the network 120 may be a wired network, a telecommunication network, and a wireless network, such as a Wi-Fi network. The server 130 can respectively receive various data from the first charging station 112E and the second charging station 114E, and transmit related signals to the first charging station 112E and the second charging station 114E. The first charging station 112E and the second charging station 114E can perform related operations according to the signals received from the server 130. For example, when the electric vehicle EV1 is coupled to the first charging station 112E through a charging gun of the first charging station 112E for a charging operation, the first charging station 112E can continuously transmit charging information corresponding the charging operation of the electric vehicle EV1 via the network 120, and the server 130 can receive the charging information of the corresponding charging operation from the first charging station 112E via the network 120. Similarly, when the electric vehicle EV2 is coupled to the second charging station 114E through a charging gun of the second charging station 114E to perform a charging operation, the second charging station 114E can continuously transmit the charging information corresponding the charging operation of the electric vehicle EV2 via the network 120, and the server 130 can receive the charging information of the corresponding charging operation from the second charging station 114E via the network 120. In some embodiments, the charging information may include at least a charging start time, a charging period, an output power, and/or related information indicating whether a load adjustment operation is being performed. The server 130 can know the usage status of the corresponding electric vehicle charging station according to the charging information. In addition, the server 130 may receive relevant data detected by the community current transformer CT1, the dwelling current transformer CT2, and/or the dwelling current transformer CT3 through the network 120, and perform related management operations according to the received data.
It is noted that the user can connect the electric vehicle EV1 and the first charging station 112E to each other, such as inserting a charging gun into the charging port of the electric vehicle to send a charging request corresponding to the first charging station 112E to use the first charging station 112E. The first charging station 112E performs a charging operation for the electric vehicle EV1. Similarly, the user can connect the electric vehicle EV2 and the second charging station 114E to each other, such as inserting a charging gun into the charging port of the electric vehicle to send a charging request corresponding to the second charging station 114E to use the second charging station 114E. It is understood that, in some embodiments, the server 130 may directly or indirectly receive a charging request from a mobile device (not shown in
It is noted that, the device corresponding to the owner of the electric vehicle can be any electronic device capable of Internet access, such as mobile devices, such as mobile phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants, global positioning systems, and notebook computers. In some embodiments, the mobile device can receive status information and notifications of the corresponding charging operation from the cloud management server 130 via the network 120. In some embodiments, the status information and notification may include notifying that the electric vehicle has stopped charging, notifying that the vehicle needed to be moved, and/or notifying that the charging gun of the electric vehicle charging device has been disconnected from the electric vehicle, and so on.
As mentioned above, the community 110 has a power limit. The server 130 can perform a load adjustment operation for the electric vehicle charging stations of the corresponding individual dwellings in the community 110 according to at least one energy management scheme. Specifically, the server 130 can generate an instruction and send the instruction to the respective charging station (112E, 114E) via the network 120 to control the charging station to output power for charging with a specified power parameter, such as a specified amperage, during a specific period of time to the electric vehicle connected to the station, or to prohibit the charging station from outputting power to the electric vehicle. It is noted that, in some embodiments, when the server 130 receives the charging requests from the charging stations, a charging scheduling operation may be performed for the charging requests. In some embodiments, the charging scheduling operation may be performed in conjunction with a time-of use (TOU) rate. For example, when the electric vehicle and the charging station are connected to each other, for example, after the charging gun is inserted into the charging port of the electric vehicle, the corresponding charging operation will not be executed immediately. The server will schedule the charging operation for the respective electric vehicles according to the TOU rate, the power limit of the charging field, and the electric vehicles that needs to be charged, determine an appropriate charging time point for each charging operation, and accordingly execute the respective charging operations with the lowest electricity cost.
The electric vehicle charging station 200 at least comprises a storage unit 212, a network connection unit 214, a charging gun 216, a card reading unit 218, and a processing unit 220. The storage unit 212 may be a memory or a database for storing and recording related data. The data may be related information such as charging station ID of the electric vehicle charging station and charging requests. It should be noted that the aforementioned information is only example, and the invention is not limited thereto. The network connection unit 214 can use a network, such as a wired network, a telecommunications network, and a wireless network, such as a Wi-Fi network, to receive, download, or update various parameters and information required for charging management operations. The charging gun 216 may include one or more charging connectors that meet the same charging interface specification or meet different charging interface specifications, and are electrically connected to the corresponding electric vehicle. The card reading unit 218 may be an RFID reading unit for sensing information of a physical card, such as RFID card. The information sensed from the RFID card may be a user identification code or a card identification code of the physical card.
The processing unit 220 can control the operations of related software and hardware in the electric vehicle charging station 200, and cooperate with the server 130 to execute the methods of the invention. Related details will be described later. It is noted that, in some embodiments, the processing unit 220 may be a general-purpose controller, a Micro-Control Unit, MCU, or a Digital Signal Processor, DSP, etc., to provide functions of data analysis, processing and calculation, but the present invention is not limited to this. In one embodiment, the processing unit 220 may use the network connection unit 214 to transmit the power state of the corresponding electric vehicle through a network for a cloud management server, such as the cloud server 130, for subsequent charging management. In another embodiment, the processing unit 220 can obtain the power parameter of a charging operation from the server 130, determine the output power according to the power parameter received from the server 130, and output the power to at least one electric vehicle through the charging gun 216 to perform the charging operation.
It is understood that, the electric vehicle charging station 200 has an upper power limit value and a lower power limit value. Specifically, the electric vehicle charging station 200 can use the upper power limit value as the power parameter at the highest to output power to the electric vehicle during a charging operation. On the other hand, the electric vehicle charging station 200 needs to use the lower power limit value as the power parameter at least to output power to the electric vehicle during a charging operation. It must be noted that, charging stations of different brands and models may have different upper power limit values for output power and lower power limit values for output power. The present invention is not limited to any value, and the value may be different for different charging stations.
The storage unit 132 may be a memory, which can store and record related data, such as various data of the electric vehicle charging stations. It is noted that, the storage unit 132 may include at least one energy management scheme EMP. The energy management scheme EMP records a power distribution logic for controlling a charging operation of each electric vehicle charging station. It is reminded that, the power distribution logic is configured to determine the execution order of the individual charging requests (charging operations) of the corresponding charging stations, and the corresponding target power parameter value during the respective charging operations under the power limitation of the charging field. It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the storage unit 132 may include a time setting table for setting at least one peak period and one off-peak period, and a corresponding TOU rate. Through the network connection unit 134, the server 130 can be coupled to and communicates with the electric vehicle charging stations (112E, 114E) via the network 120, such as a wired network, a telecommunications network, and a wireless network, such as a Wi-Fi network, and transmits related data/signals/commands to different electric vehicle charging stations via the network 120 to control whether the electric vehicle charging stations output power, and specify power parameters for outputting power to electric vehicles. The processor 136 can control the operations of related software and hardware in the server 130, and execute the methods of the invention. The relevant details will be described later. It is reminded that, when the server has multiple energy management schemes EMPs, the processor 136 can select one of the energy management schemes EMPs, and execute a load adjustment operation for the charging field according to the selected energy management scheme EMP. It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the processor 136 may be a general-purpose controller, a microcontroller, or a digital signal controller, etc., for providing data analysis, processing and computing functions, but the present invention is not limited to this. It should be reminded that, as mentioned above, the server may execute a charging scheduling operation for the charging requests of the electric vehicle charging stations. In some embodiments, the charging scheduling operation can be performed with the TOU rate, so that all charging operations can be performed with the lowest electricity cost.
First, in step S410, a current transformer is first used to measure a main power line of the community to obtain a current consumption of the community. Note that the main power line can be tapped into multiple auxiliary power lines to provide electricity for each of the dwellings. In step S420, the current transformer transmits the measured current consumption of the community to the server via the network. In step S430, the server determines whether the current consumption of the community meets a predetermined condition of the community. It should be noted that each community can have its own set of conditions depending on its needs and circumstances. Related details will be described later. When the current consumption of the community does not meet the predetermined condition of the community (No for step S440), the process returns to step S410. When the current consumption of the community meets a predetermined condition of the community (Yes for step S440), in step S450, the server executes at least one energy management scheme. It is noted that the energy management scheme may record a power distribution logic, which is used to control the charging operation of the electric vehicle charging station corresponding to the respective dwelling via the network. It is reminded that, the power distribution logic is configured to determine the execution order of the individual charging requests (charging operations) of the corresponding charging stations, and the corresponding target power parameter value during the charging operation under the power limitation of the charging field. For example, when the current consumption of the community meets the predetermined condition of the community, a total number of the electric vehicle charging stations that need to perform charging operations and/or the output power of each electric vehicle charging station will be scaled down, so that the total current consumption of the community does not reach the predetermined condition. In some embodiments, in step S460, during the execution of the energy management scheme, the server transmits a notification signal to a community terminal corresponding to the community to notify a manager of the community that the community is executing the energy management scheme for controlling the power consumption of the community. It is noted that, in some embodiments, the server may stop the execution of the energy management scheme when the current consumption of the community does not meet the predetermined condition of the community.
As mentioned above, in addition to the community current transformer in the community, each dwelling can also be provided with a corresponding dwelling current transformer to detect the power consumption of the individual dwelling.
First, in step S710, a plurality of dwelling current transformers are used to measure the auxiliary power lines of each dwelling to obtain a current consumption of the dwelling for each dwelling, and in step S720, the measured current consumption of the dwelling for each dwelling is transmitted to the server through the network by respective dwelling current transformer. In step S730, the server determines whether the current consumption of the dwelling for a specific dwelling is greater than a dwelling threshold value. It is reminded that, in some embodiments, the dwelling threshold value may be set to 90%˜95% of the upper limit value of the power consumption of the dwelling. When the current consumption of the dwelling for the specific dwelling is not greater than the dwelling threshold value (No in step S740), the process returns to step S710. When the current consumption of the dwelling for the specific dwelling is greater than the dwelling threshold value (Yes in step S740), in step S750, the server executes a specific energy management scheme on the electric vehicle charging station corresponding to the specific dwelling, wherein the specific energy management scheme controls the charging operation of the electric vehicle charging station corresponding to the specific dwelling via the network. For example, when the current consumption of the dwelling for the specific dwelling is greater than the dwelling threshold value, the charging operation of the electric vehicle will be suspended/delayed, or the power output of the electric vehicle charging station will be reduced, so that the current consumption of the dwelling will not be greater than the dwelling threshold value. In some embodiments, in step S760, when the specific energy management scheme is being executed, the server transmits a notification signal to a specific mobile device corresponding to the specific dwelling to notify a user of the specific dwelling that the specific dwelling is executing the specific energy management scheme for controlling the power consumption of the specific dwelling. Thereafter, the process returns to step S710. It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the server may stop executing the specific energy management scheme when the current consumption of the dwelling for the specific dwelling is not greater than the dwelling threshold value. It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the embodiment of
It should be reminded that the execution methods of the energy management schemes are disclosed in the foregoing embodiments, however, the present invention is not limited thereto. Any mechanism that can control and manage the energy of the electric vehicle charging station can be applied to the present application. Therefore, through the methods and systems of electric vehicle charging management for community with energy monitoring of the present invention, the overall power consumption of the community can be monitored, so as to provide charging operations for electric vehicles while maintaining the balance of power supply in the community, and at the same time ensuring the safety of power consumption in the community.
Methods of electric vehicle charging management for community with energy monitoring, may take the form of a program code (i.e., executable instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMS, hard drives, or any other machine-readable storage medium, wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine thereby becomes an apparatus for executing the methods. The methods may also be embodied in the form of a program code transmitted over some transmission medium, such as electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via any other form of transmission, wherein, when the program code is received and loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for executing the disclosed methods. When implemented on a general-purpose processor, the program code combines with the processor to provide a unique apparatus that operates analogously to application specific logic circuits.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those who are skilled in this technology can still make various alterations and modifications without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention shall be defined and protected by the following claims and their equivalent.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 110144054 | Nov 2021 | TW | national |
