Energy search engine methods and systems

Abstract

Systems and methods dynamically assess energy efficiency by obtaining a minimum energy consumption of a system, receiving in a substantially continuous way a measurement of actual energy consumption of the system, and comparing the minimum energy consumption to the measurement of actual energy consumption to calculate a substantially continuous energy performance assessment. The system further provides at least one of a theoretical minimum energy consumption based at least in part on theoretical performance limits of system components, an achievable minimum energy consumption based at least in part on specifications for high energy efficient equivalents of the system components, and the designed minimum energy consumption based at least in part on specifications for the system components.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method to enhance electrical grid stability for an electrical nanogrid or microgrid associated with a network of facilities, the method comprising:
 automatically receiving in a continuous way with computer hardware a measurement of actual energy consumption of a building, the network of facilities comprising the building;   automatically comparing with the computer hardware the measurement of actual energy consumption of the building with electric grid capacity of the electrical microgrid associated with the network of facilities to calculate a continuous energy assessment for the building;   automatically generating with the computer hardware energy management data for the building based at least in part on the continuous energy assessment, the energy management data configured to provide an energy alert; and   based at least in part on the received continuous measurement of actual energy consumption of the building, automatically determining with the computer hardware an impact of the energy management data.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising receiving in a continuous way data indicative of the electric grid capacity. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the measurement of actual energy consumption includes energy sources. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein automatically receiving in a continuous way the measurement of actual energy consumption comprises receiving the measurement of actual energy consumption at least every 15 minutes. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the energy alert comprises at least one of energy savings recommendations and energy source planning, wherein the energy savings recommendations comprise at least one of load shedding and load shifting, and wherein the energy source planning comprises switching to an alternative energy source. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the alternative energy source comprises at least one of solar energy, wind generated energy, fuel cells, and energy storage system. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the network of facilities comprises one or more of buildings, residences, campuses, nanogrids and microgrids associated with at least one of geographic area, facility owner, weather pattern, climate, utility, carbon market, energy market, power grid, power purchase agreement, and utility rate schedule. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the energy management data provides an indication of an energy demand of the building as a function of an energy demand of the network of facilities. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the energy management data provides an indication of energy costs of the building as a function of energy costs of the network of facilities. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the indication of energy costs comprises at least one of cost/hour and cost/month. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the energy management data provides an indication of carbon emissions of the building as a function of carbon emissions of the network of facilities. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the indication of carbon emissions comprises at least one of carbon emission/hour, carbon emission/month, and total carbon emissions. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising initiating a carbon trade in response to the energy alert. 
     
     
         14 . An apparatus to enhance electrical grid stability for an electrical nanogrid or microgrid associated with a network of facilities, the apparatus comprising:
 an energy search engine comprising computer hardware and configured to automatically receive in a continuous way a measurement of actual energy consumption of a building, the network of facilities comprising the building;   the energy search engine further configured to automatically compare the measurement of actual energy consumption of the building with electric grid capacity of the electrical microgrid associated with the network of facilities to calculate a continuous energy assessment for the building;   the energy search engine further configured to automatically generate energy management data for the building based at least in part on the continuous energy assessment, the energy management data configured to provide an energy alert; and   based at least in part on the received continuous measurement of actual energy consumption of the building, the energy search engine further configured to automatically determine an impact of the energy management data.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the energy search engine is further configured to receive in a continuous way data indicative of the electric grid capacity. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the measurement of actual energy consumption includes energy sources. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein automatically receiving in a continuous way the measurement of actual energy consumption comprises receiving the measurement of actual energy consumption at least every 15 minutes. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the energy alert comprises at least one of energy savings recommendations and energy source planning, wherein the energy savings recommendations comprise at least one of load shedding and load shifting, and wherein the energy source planning comprises switching to an alternative energy source. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the alternative energy source comprises at least one of solar energy, wind generated energy, fuel cells, and energy storage systems. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the network of facilities comprises one or more of buildings, residences, campuses, nanogrids, and microgrids associated with at least one of geographic area, facility owner, weather pattern, climate, utility, carbon market, energy market, power grid, power purchase agreement, and utility rate schedule. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the energy management data provides an indication of energy usage of the building as a function of energy usage of the network of facilities. 
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 21  wherein the indication of energy usage comprises at least one of kWhr and kW at one or more times. 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the energy management data is configured to provide the energy alert based at least in part on the electric grid capacity. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the energy search engine is further configured to send a broadcast message in response to the energy alert. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the energy search engine is further configured to send a command to close a relay in response to the energy alert. 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the energy alert is based at least in part on an availability of energy from at least one of solar cells, thermal solar energy generation, energy storage, wind turbines, fuel cells, and gas power plants. 
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the energy alert is based at least in part on carbon emissions of energy sources supplying electrical energy to the electrical microgrid. 
     
     
         28 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein the energy search engine is further configured to initiate a carbon trade in response to the energy alert.