Distributed energy management system

Abstract

An apparatus for supplying power to a set of drivers that charge and discharge a set of electrochromic devices is described. One apparatus includes a multi-source power supply with at least a set of batteries, a driver interface to supply the power to the set of drivers and controller circuitry. The controller circuit determines a power state of the multi-source power supply. The controller circuit limits the set of drivers to a first total amount of power or a second total amount of power, supplied by the multi-source power supply in a switching state of at least one of the set of electrochromic devices, while the multi-source power supply is in a first power state or a second power state, respectively.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus comprising:
 a multi-source power supply comprising at least a set of batteries;   a driver interface to supply power to a set of drivers that charge and discharge a set of electrochromic devices; and   controller circuitry coupled the multi-source power supply and the driver interface, wherein the controller circuitry is to:
 determine a power state of the multi-source power supply using at least a charge capacity of the set of batteries; 
 limit the set of drivers to a first total amount of power supplied by the multi-source power supply in a switching state of at least one of the set of electrochromic devices while the multi-source power supply is in a first power state; and 
 limit the set of drivers to a second total amount of power supplied by the multi-source power supply in the switching state of at least one of the set of electrochromic devices while the multi-source power supply is in a second power state that is a lower power state than the first power state, wherein the first total amount of power is greater than the second total amount of power. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a gateway operatively coupled to a cloud computing system; and   a communication subsystem to communicate with the set of drivers and the gateway.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the controller circuitry is to:
 send configuration data to the set of drivers via the communication subsystem, wherein the configuration data specifies the first total amount of power that is available in the first power state and the second total amount of power that is available in the second power state; and   send an indicator of the power state to the set of drivers via the communication subsystem, the indicator causing the set of drivers to operate in the first power state or the second power state.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the controller circuitry comprises:
 a battery manager device coupled the multi-source power supply, wherein the battery manager device is to control charging and discharging the set of batteries; and   a distributed power supply controller coupled to the battery manager device and the communication subsystem, wherein the distributed power supply controller is to:
 send a first control signal to the battery manager device to connect the multi-source power supply to the driver interface in the switching state while in the first power state; and 
 send a second control signal to the battery manager device to connect the multi-source power supply to the driver interface in the switching state while in the second power state. 
   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the controller circuitry is further to:
 detect a power loss event; and   send a power loss indicator to at least one of the gateway or the set of drivers via the communication subsystem.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller circuitry is further to:
 determine that the charge capacity of the multi-source power supply is a first amount of charge;   determine whether the first amount of charge satisfies a threshold criterion;   responsive to the first amount of charge satisfying the threshold criterion, determine that the multi-source power supply is in the first power state; and   responsive to the first amount of charge not satisfying the threshold criterion, determine that the multi-source power supply is in the second power state.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller circuitry is further to:
 determine that the charge capacity of the multi-source power supply is a first amount of charge;   determine whether the first amount of charge satisfies a threshold criterion;   responsive to the first amount of charge satisfying the threshold criterion, determine that the multi-source power supply is in the second power state; and   responsive to the first amount of charge not satisfying the threshold criterion, determine that the multi-source power supply is in the first power state.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller circuitry is further to:
 determine that the charge capacity of the multi-source power supply is a first amount of charge; and   determine whether the first amount of charge is in a first range corresponding to the first power state or in a second range corresponding to the second power state.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller circuitry is further to:
 determine that the charge capacity of the multi-source power supply is a first amount of charge; and   determine whether the first amount of charge is in a first range corresponding to the first power state, in a second range corresponding to the second power state, or in a third range corresponding to a third power state.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a gateway operatively coupled to a cloud computing system; and   a communication subsystem to communicate with the set of drivers and the gateway, wherein the communication subsystem comprises a radio, wherein the radio is to wirelessly communicate with the set of drivers and the gateway via a mesh network protocol, wherein the controller circuitry is further to send the indicator of the power state by broadcasting a message via the mesh network protocol, wherein the message comprises a bit mask that identifies a group comprising the set of drivers and the gateway.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a gateway operatively coupled to a cloud computing system; and   a communication subsystem to communicate with the set of drivers and the gateway, wherein the controller circuitry is further to:   store historical usage data regarding the multi-source power supply; and   send the historical usage data to the gateway via the communication subsystem.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller circuitry is further to:
 receive a switch control signal from a tint selector via the communication subsystem while in the second power state; and   switch the power state of the multi-source power supply from the second power state to the first power state.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the set of electrochromic devices comprises an electrochromic window. 
     
     
         14 . A method comprising:
 supplying power to a set of drivers that charge and discharge a set of electrochromic devices;   determining a power state of a multi-source power supply using at least a charge capacity of a set of batteries of the multi-source power supply;   limiting the set of drivers to a first total amount of power supplied by the multi-source power supply in a switching state of at least one of the set of electrochromic devices while the multi-source power supply is in a first power state; and   limiting the set of drivers to a second total amount of power supplied by the multi-source power supply in the switching state of at least one of the set of electrochromic devices while the multi-source power supply is in a second power state that is a lower power state than the first power state.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 sending configuration data to the set of drivers, the configuration data specifying the first total amount of power that is available in the first power state and the second total amount of power that is available in the second power state;   determining the charge capacity of the multi-source power supply; and   sending an indicator of the power state to the set of drivers via a communication subsystem, the indicator causing the set of drivers to operate in the first power state or the second power state.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the sending the indicator comprises broadcasting a message via a mesh network protocol, wherein the message comprises a bit mask that identifies a group comprising at least one of the set of drivers or a gateway operatively coupled to a cloud computing system. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 detecting a power loss event; and   sending a power loss indicator to at least one of a gateway or the set of drivers.   
     
     
         18 . A system comprising:
 a set of electrochromic devices; and   a cabinet comprising:
 a set of drivers; 
 a multi-source power supply comprising a set of batteries and an external power supply interface to couple to an external power supply; and 
 controller circuitry coupled to the multi-source power supply, wherein the controller circuitry is to:
 determine a power state of the multi-source power supply using at least a charge capacity of the set of batteries; 
 limit the set of drivers to a first total amount of power supplied by the multi-source power supply in a switching state of at least one of the set of electrochromic devices while the multi-source power supply is in a first power state; and 
 limit the set of drivers to a second total amount of power supplied by the multi-source power supply in the switching state of at least one of the set of electrochromic devices while the multi-source power supply is in a second power state that is a lower power state than the first power state, wherein the first total amount of power is greater than the second total amount of power. 
 
   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , further comprising a tint selector wirelessly coupled to the controller circuitry. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18 , further comprising a communication subsystem to communicate with the set of drivers, wherein the controller circuitry is to:
 send configuration data to the set of drivers via the communication subsystem, wherein the configuration data specifies the first total amount of power that is available in the first power state and the second total amount of power that is available in the second power state; and   send an indicator of the power state to the set of drivers via the communication subsystem, the indicator causing the set of drivers to operate in the first power state or the second power state.