WO2012099588A1

WO2012099588A1 - System, method, and computer program product for detecting and monitoring utility consumption

Info

Publication number: WO2012099588A1
Application number: PCT/US2011/021861
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sean Lafferty; Michael Lafferty; Marwan Hassoun; Anthony RAUHUT; Wallace RITCHIE
Original assignee: Galtronics Telemetry, Inc.
Priority date: 2011-01-20
Filing date: 2011-01-20
Publication date: 2012-07-26

Abstract

A system, method and computer program product for monitoring and controlling utility consumption enables a user to maintain control over certain devices in their home. Sensors may be directly coupled to the devices via plugs or indirectly with power lines in a breaker box. Controllers may be provided to interrupt power when threshold parameters may be exceeded. Various web portals enable consumers, utility companies and administrators to quickly view utility consumption data and learn how to more efficiently utilize the devices. A gateway gathers collected data and sends it in real-time to a monitor for display and transmission to a database monitored by a web server. The data may be transferred to the gateway and monitor via various wireless or wired communication protocols including but not limited to power line communication. Hand held devices may be interfaced with the monitor to view and control operation of the home devices.

Description

SYSTEM, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR MONITORING AND CONTROLLING UTILITY CONSUMPTION

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] Not Applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[0002] Not Applicable.

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

[0003] Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

TECHNICAL FI ELD

[0004] This invention relates generally to the field of utility consumption monitoring systems, more particularly, to a system, method and computer program product for automatically monitoring and remotely controlling utility consumption.

PRIOR ART

[0005] It is known that utility usage is on the rise and it is proportional to climate changes and/or population increase. Utility companies are trying to predicate usage trends so they may be better prepared to meet demands at the present time and going forward. Giving people insight into their energy usage is the first step to reducing the overall consumption of power in the country. When people realize that they are consuming significantly more energy than the average household, they will want to reduce their consumption to save money and the environment. The present disclosure provides such advantages by not only showing consumers that they are consuming too much energy, but it also gives them steps to follow to bring their usage down.

[0006] In addition, regulatory agencies, consumers and utility companies each have unique reasons for wanting to reduce power consumption. The utility companies seek ways to make consumers more energy efficient in order to stem the construction of high price power plants, and to avoid the purchase of expensive peak power. Consumers want to be more efficient in order to save money and to save the environment.

[0007] Regulated utility companies are required, by public service commissions, to attain a certain level of energy saving each year. As an example, demand side management (DSM) goals may be achieved by implementing programs to help participants reduce their power consumption thereby reducing their load on the power grid. To incentivize utility companies, the regulatory agencies may allow the cost of qualifying DSM programs to be recovered by way of rate increases. As long as people save more money than the rate increase would cost them, the program is deemed cost effective.

[0008] Regulated utility companies are further motivated to save power due to conservation goals set by regulatory commissions. In Florida, regulated utility companies have to achieve demand reduction goals, and they are allowed to implement cost recovery practices to offset the cost of implementing their demand side management (DSM) programs. In addition, utility companies are concerned with reducing peak demand on their grid. Demand is measured in watts, and is defined as the amount of power required by all of the customers on the grid in a given instant. The kilowatt demand increases throughout the heat of the day until it peaks. This is referred to as peak demand. [0009] Present day power monitoring systems only show the total amount of energy being consumed by a household. The major power drawing equipment in a house may include: AC, dryer, range, water heater, and pool pump. Current load control systems act as a glorified panic button. When the utility company sees that peak demand is growing too fast, they push the "panic button" and a signal is sent out to turn off all of the water heaters, AC systems, and pool pumps that they can control. Such drastic control mechanisms are often unforgiving to the consumer. The present disclosure provides a solution to such a shortcoming.

[0010] In addition, consumers pay their electric bill without the knowledge of what causes their bill to be so high. The way utility companies currently bill their customers is very similar to how a phone bill would look if call details were not provided. For example, people would get a $500 phone bill and have no idea why. With call details, it is evident that a few lengthy international calls were the problem. After the consumer realizes this, they change their habits. Instead of placing long international phone calls, they begin to correspond via email whenever possible. Soon their phone bills return to the normal $50 per month, for example. The present disclosure applies a similar principle to utility power consumption and control.

[0011] Currently, utility companies may offer their customers energy audits free of charge. An energy audit is scheduled if a customer questions their bill, and wants to know why they spend so much on power. The utility company may pay a dedicated person to drive out to the consumer's home and perform a survey of all of their high power usage appliances. The auditor may ask the homeowner questions about the number of people in the home, how often they wash clothes, how often they wash dishes, if their thermostat is on a schedule, etc. The auditor may then return to their office, where they create a report based on their findings. Since this report is based on averages, it isn't entirely accurate for anyone. There is a large expense to the utility company whenever they are requested to send out an auditor. The present disclosure overcomes the need to send out an auditor and the homeowner will get accurate information about their energy usage. [0012] As another example, utility companies have implemented multiple schemes to curb usage outside the boundaries if they can supply and/or monitor consumption so they may predicate future usage. For example, consumers are charged different rates depending on usage during peak hours verses non-peak hours. Additionally, if consumers exceed peak usage they are penalized by additional charges. The present disclosure helps both consumers and utility companies avoid such drastic consequences of excessive utility consumption.

[0013] Yet another example of conventional ways to curb energy use is via so- called smart technology. An example of utility companies using smart technology may include the usage of smart meters connected to households or businesses. In some instances, utility companies may monitor the usage of certain grids or sectors and determine the usage associated with a particular grid or sector. Other methods implemented by the utility companies may include installing air conditioner (AC) temperature controllers where the utility companies may shut down several AC units when an electric grid is close to capacity.

[0014] The methods discussed above are not sufficient to address all challenges in the utility industry. Accordingly, a need remains for a way to overcome the above- noted shortcomings. The present disclosure satisfies such a need by providing a system, method and computer program product for monitoring and controlling utility usage that is convenient and easy to use, is versatile in its applications, and provides cost-effective solutions for the utility industry.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0015] In view of the foregoing background, it is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide a system, method and computer program product for monitoring and controlling utility usage. These and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention may be provided by a utility management system that monitors utility usage as well as provides automatic power load management from a remote location.

[0016] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a load management system may be provided such that user can effectively maintain control over certain appliances in a consumer's home. By having control over water heaters, AC systems, and pool pumps, utility companies can prevent peak demand from exceeding capacity. As homeowners use less power, the peak demand on the grid will go down as well.

[0017] In addition, a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is preferably designed to log home energy usage in a granular manner, and present it to the consumer in a meaningful way. Homeowners will finally have the needed information to empower them to take action to reduce their energy usage. For example, users receive greater detail regarding utility usage in their utility bill. In addition, a user may learn that their bill is high because the air conditioner may be cycling for longer periods of time than it was before. The present disclosure may also inform the consumer whether their high air conditioner cycle times may be most likely due to leaky ducts or a dirty air filter, for example. With such information, the homeowner can then change their air filter, and then see an immediate impact on the power consumption of their air conditioner.

[0018] The controlling functions of the present disclosure may control when high load devices may be permitted to turn on. For example, the water heater can be controlled so that it never turns on while the AC system may be cooling the house. When the AC system cycles off, the water heater will be allowed to turn on; thereby reducing the peak demand of a house by several kilowatts, for example. Furthermore, the water heater can be told to turn off if the stove or dryer comes on, and the dryer can be prevented from running while the stove may be on, for example.

[0019] The present disclosure also has the ability to break down data usage by appliance (or zone) and thereby allows consumers to see how much energy they may be consuming compared to the local and/or national averages. They will be able to see how changing light bulbs to CFLs instantly reduces energy consumption. Energy wasting problems such as clogged dryer vents, old AC air filters, poorly maintained water heaters, cracked refrigerator seals, leaky windows, and broken duct work will make themselves apparent to homeowners through the transparent flow of utility usage data.

[0020] A non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may perform data acquisition and delivery with at least two types of different current sensors. For example, circuit breaker sensors may be installed on each breaker that supplies power to a major appliance (or zone), and individual data acquisition devices and /or sensors may be installed on other devices in the house that the consumer wishes to monitor (i.e. televisions, computers, and refrigerators, for example). Such sensors may transmit power consumption data back to a display screen in the house. As an example, the data may be stored there, and presented to the consumer through an on-board LCD screen. At scheduled intervals, the data may be uploaded to the web site, where it may be presented to the consumer, utility company and administrator via a graphical user interface.

[0021] In this manner, the web site allows the user to see past energy usage per appliance, and compare that dollar amount to the energy usage of other households in their local community. Goals and alerts can be setup to notify the user if their target energy usage is going to be exceeded, and useful energy savings tips can inform people on how to reduce their energy consumption. [0022] Optionally, a user may choose to participate in a data sharing plan wherein their non-personal data may be made available to other users on the system. Each user's data may be used to calculate localized energy consumption averages for appliances such as HVAC systems, water heaters, and refrigerators. In addition to other users benefiting from seeing how much power similar households may be consuming, the data may also be very valuable to government entities such as the Department of Energy and EnergyStar, for example.

[0023] EnergyStar may be able to see how well appliances perform over time, and how well they perform when they are in a homeowner's control. For example, an energy efficient refrigerator that is turned to its highest setting may consume much more electricity than an inefficient one set at a lower setting. A new water heater that is considered efficient may become inefficient in a matter of a couple of months due to design flaws. The present disclosure is able to identify these trends, and EnergyStar will have relevant field information on which they can base their ratings.

[0024] Similarly, the Department of Energy may be able to use the household statistics to see which areas of the home need the most improvement in terms of efficiency. Users may notice a trend that old water heaters may be one of the biggest problems in homes, or that refrigerators may be consuming more power than expected due to owner negligence. Such information may aid the Department of Energy in formulating awareness programs for homeowners, or even guide them towards writing awards for technology that enhances the longevity of efficiency in appliances.

[0025] In addition, utility companies may be able to utilize the device as an advanced demand management system. With the aid of smart relays, the present disclosure may be able to control appliances such as water heaters and HVAC systems. Utility companies currently incentivize customers to join demand response programs, whereby the utility company may be granted partial control over some of the participant's appliances. The utility company can turn off their water heater, HVAC system, or pool pump during abnormally high peak loads. This saves the utility company money because they do not have to purchase expensive peak power.

[0026] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may fulfill the same role, and offer the utility companies the ability to manage when water heaters may be allowed to turn on in a given area. Water heaters will be managed in a given area to prevent all of the water heaters from turning on at the same time. Schedules may be created to ensure that water heaters turn on at predictable intervals, thereby eliminating unexpected spikes during times of peak demand. A similar principal may be applied to other devices, such as pool pumps.

[0027] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a stand-alone computer software application program (computer program product) may be provided which serves as a website accessible by authorized consumers, utility companies and administers, for monitoring and controlling real-time utility consumption. The term "utility" is not limited to electric power. It is understood that the term "utility" may include oil, gas, water, sewer commodities, for example. The computer software application program preferably allows a user (e.g., consumer, utility company) to monitor and/or control utility consumption. The computer program product preferably allows the user to intelligently understand real-time utility consumption via a graphical user interface (GUI), thereby learning the: who, what, when, where, why and how information of their utility consumption.

[0028] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the computer software application program may be networked among the local or wide area network of an entity allowing multiple users to access and use the website. The enterprise embodiment may allow several sets of consumers and/or utility companies to access information regarding utility consumption in a region, for example. Such a network version of the present disclosure may also include security measures to allow, for example, administrators to login via a separate portal during routine maintenance procedures, for example. [0029] In the above-described exemplary embodiments, the computer software application program may be run, instead of locally or on proprietary equipment, via the global Internet. In such an embodiment, username/password portal would allow access, on a subscriber or pay per-use basis, to monitor and/or control utility consumption via a World-Wide Web (WWW) site on the Internet. Both stand-alone users and enterprise users may subscribe to the utility monitoring and controlling WWW site and subscriber or pay per-use basis.

[0030] Such a website may include a web server that may be communicatively coupled to one or more database(s) that store utility usage/consumption data. Such database(s) may be consistently researched and periodically updated by the service provider (administrator), utility company and/or consumer. The updated utility usage database, in order to provide the desired reliability, may then be distributed to the subscribers (i.e., users) via several different means (e.g., electronic media, Internet or FTP download, automatically upon Internet access, for example).

[0031] In a non-limiting exemplary stand-alone embodiment, a locally-run version of the computer software application program may be executed by employing a personal computer (PC) (e.g., an IBM or compatible PC workstation running the Microsoft Windows 7 or Windows NT operating system, Macintosh computer running the Mac OS operating system, or the like). When the PC is connected to the web server it may execute (i.e., "run") the computer software application program on the PC and during its operation provide users a graphical user interface (GUI) "front-end" screens. In general, the PC may be any processing device including, but not limited to, a desktop computer, laptop, palmtop, workstation, set-top box, personal digital assistant (PDA), android phone, iPhone®, and the like.

[0032] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the computer software application program may be coupled via network connectivity among the various components of the present disclosure. Such an enterprise embodiment may include a web server, which serves as the "back-bone" of the present disclosure. A front-end of the system may be provided by a plurality of PCs. During operation, the PCs provide GUI "front-end" screens to the users.

[0033] The present disclosure (system, process, or any part(s) thereof) may be implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof and may be implemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems. In fact, in one non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure may be directed toward one or more computer systems capable of carrying out the functionality described herein. The computer system may include one or more processor(s), wherein the processor may be connected to a communication interface (e.g., a communications bus, cross-over bar, network, etc). After reading this description, it will become apparent to a person skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement the invention using other computer systems and/or computer architectures.

[0034] There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There may be additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0035] The novel features believed to be characteristic of this invention may be set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0036] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between some of the major electronic components of a single board of the dual current sensor that can monitor 2 Hall Effect sensors for communication back to the primary controller, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0037] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between some of the major electronic components of a standalone acquisition device that may be included on a board that has a communication method, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0038] FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between some of the major electronic components of a power strip containing a plurality of data acquisition devices implemented on a board with a communications interface, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0039] FIG. 4 is a high-level schematic block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between some of the major electronic components of the utility monitoring and primary controller 69, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; [0040] FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between some of the major electronic components of a data acquisition circuit attached to a breaker box for measuring the current remotely from the sensing point, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0041] FIG. 6 is a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of a monitor for displaying data acquired by the data acquisition devices and data acquisition circuit, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0042] FIG. 7 is a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of a home owner's graphical user interface on a website that displays utility consumption data acquired by the system, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0043] FIG. 8 is schematic block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between some of the major electronic components of the primary controller, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0044] FIG. 9 is schematic block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between some of the major electronic components of the gateway, in accordance with a non- limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0045] FIG. 10 is schematic block diagram illustrating the current measurement path between some of the major electronic components of a data acquisition device and/or auxiliary controller without a load control relay, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0046] FIG. 1 1 is schematic block diagram illustrating the current measurement path between some of the major electronic components of a data acquisition device and/or auxiliary controller with a load control relay, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0047] FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between some of the major electronic components of a data acquisition device and/or auxiliary controller that accepts a wide range of voltage levels without a load control relay, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0048] FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between some of the major electronic components of a data acquisition device and/or auxiliary controller that accepts a wide range of voltage levels with a load control relay, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0049] FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between some of the major electronic components of a data acquisition device that has the capability of functioning as a smart web programmable thermostat, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0050] FIG. 15 is a high-level schematic block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between some of the major electronic components of the utility monitoring and primary controller 69, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0051] FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between the gateway(s), database, server side computer program application for managing data sent from consumer home(s) as well as consumer, utility company and administrator web portals, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; [0052] FIG. 17 is a flow chart illustrating a data flow overview of the portal and command structure for performing at least one of the following tasks: receiving reading from devices in the field, sending commands down to hubs in the field, automatically load balancing a number of hubs with the servers and distributing firmware updates to devices in the field, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0053] FIG. 18 is a flow chart illustrating the service tier software program application shown in FIG. 17, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0054] FIG. 19 is a schematic block diagram showing the interrelationship between the major components of the data acquisition circuit and primary controller, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0055] FIG. 20 is a schematic block diagram showing the interrelationship between the major components of the gateway, in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0056] FIGS. 21 -27 are non-limiting exemplary website screen shots illustrating an activation wizard displayed via the consumer graphical user interface;

[0057] FIGS. 28-51 are non-limiting exemplary website screen shots illustrating additional views of the consumer graphical user interface; and

[0058] FIGS. 52-61 are non-limiting exemplary website screen shots illustrating load shed lists displayed via the utility company graphical user interface.

[0059] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the figures may be not intended to be drawn to any particular scale; nor may be the figures intended to illustrate every embodiment of the invention. The invention may be not limited to the exemplary embodiments depicted in the figures or the shapes, relative sizes or proportions shown in the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0060] The present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention may be shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, this embodiment may be provided so that this application will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the true scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the figures.

[0061] The illustrations of the embodiments described herein may be intended to provide a general understanding of the structure of the various embodiments. The illustrations may be not intended to serve as a complete description of all of the elements and features of system and systems that utilize the structures or methods described herein. Many other embodiments may be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the disclosure. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived from the disclosure, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, the illustrations may be merely representational and may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions within the illustrations may be exaggerated, while other proportions may be minimized. Accordingly, the disclosure and the figures may be to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

[0062] One or more embodiments of the disclosure may be referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, by the term "present disclosure" merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any particular invention or inventive concept. Moreover, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any subsequent arrangement designed to achieve the same or similar purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure may be intended to cover any and all subsequent adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the description.

[0063] The Abstract of the Disclosure may be provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. § 1 .72(b) and may be submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, various features may be grouped together or described in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This disclosure may be not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than may be expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter may be directed to less than all of the features of any of the disclosed embodiments. Thus, the following claims may be incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as defining separately claimed subject matter.

[0064] The below disclosed subject matter may be to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended claims may be intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments which fall within the true scope of the present disclosure. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the present disclosure may be to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.

[0065] The system of the present disclosure may be referred to generally in FIGS. 1 -61 by the reference numeral 10 and may be intended to provide a system, method and computer program product for. It should be understood that the system, method and computer program product for monitoring and controlling utility consumption may be used to monitor and control many different types of utility consumption including, but not limited to, electricity, water, gas, coal, solar, wind, hydroelectricity, etc and should not be construed as limited to any particular utility consumption described hereinbelow.

[0066] Referring initially to figure 4, a high-level schematic block diagram of embodiments of the present disclosure may be shown for remotely monitoring and controlling utility consumption in a target zone. A target zone may be defined as an individual area (such as a home) containing at least one electronic device and may be expanded to include an entire geographic region containing thousands of homes, for example. It is noted that the term target zone may be singular or plural and is noted intended to limit the scope of any environment in which the present disclosure is implemented.

[0067] Sensor circuit 67 is communicatively coupled to a primary controller 69 (both of which may be housed at or near a breaker box 13). Data acquisition devices 68 may be communicatively coupled to primary controller 69 along with intelligent device 122 (such as electronic device capable of bi-direction communication with the primary controller 69). Auxiliary controllers 70 may be communicatively coupled to the primary controller and have the capability to interrupt a power supply leading to an electronic device, for example. Such auxiliary controllers 70 may be part of the data acquisition devices 68, for example. A gateway 71 and communication interface 72 are communicatively linked to primary controller 69 wherein acquired utility data is received and transmitted to a website 74 via a device interface 73. The website 74 may be hosted by a web server monitored by a service provider at a location remote from the target zone.

[0068] A utility login 78 and utility interface 77 are communicatively coupled to the website. The utility login permits an individual at the utility company to interface with the system. The utility interface permits multiple computers at the utility company to automatically attain information or modify the power state of devices under their control. [0069] Now referring to figure 1 , a schematic block diagram of a data acquisition device 1 1 may be illustrated in accordance with a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of a data acquisition device 1 1 having at least one sensor 50, 51 such as a Hall Effect sensor, for example. One skilled in the art understands a Hall Effect sensor is a non contact sensor that sits around the wire and measure the magnetic field in the vicinity of the wire to get an indirect measurement of current. Sensors 50, 51 may be coupled to an amplifier 15 to boost the signal. The amplifier function may be incorporated with the sensor function (e.g., sensors 50, 51 ) or the micro-controller unit (MCU) 54, for example. It is noted that the micro-controller units may have a variety of bits and should not be limited to the exemplary embodiment of an 8-bit MCU. The MCU 54 may include circuitry capable of calculating data received from sensors 50, 51 and provide an output corresponding to the amount of current/voltage that may be being sensed by sensors 50, 51 . The calculated output may be stored in memory for future access and/or may be sent to a communication port 56. The communication port 56 may be accessible by the utility company. It is noted that communication port 56 is not limited to any number of pins.

[0070] A circuit protection device 55 may be intermediately coupled between the communication port 56 and MCU 54. Exemplary components of device 55 may include a transient voltage suppressor (TVS) and positive temperature coefficient (PTC), aka resettable fuse, well know in the industry. Power is provided to the data acquisition device via a voltage regulator that may contain a 2-pin power port. It is noted that such power ports are not limited to any number of pins.

[0071] The above-description describes a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of a general flow of data in the data acquisition device 1 1 and may further include a configuration/debug (program/diagnostic) port 53 coupled to the MCU 54. It is noted that the program/diagnostic port 53 is not limited to any number of pins. In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the data acquisition device 1 1 may be configured to sample the sensor data at predetermined intervals. Other modes of configuration may be applied to the data acquisition device 1 1 , e.g., altering a threshold voltage for sampling a voltage/current, and others modes that may be well known one skilled in the art.

[0072] Referring to figure 2, a schematic block diagram illustrates another non- limiting exemplary embodiment of a data acquisition device 1 1 including a sensor 58 that is capable of being coupled to an existing utility metering unit 181 . Sensor 58 may be coupled to a computation unit 59, such as an energy calculation chip. Such a computation unit 59 may be capable of calculating, inter alia, irms - Root Mean Square Current; vrms - Root Mean Square Voltage, ipeak - Peak to Peak Current, vpeak - Peak to Peak Voltage, pf - Power Factor, hz - Hertz, measure of frequency, power - measure of energy over time, energy - integration of instantaneous voltage and current measurements, for example. Of course, the calculation unit 59 may be a general purpose microcontroller or an application specific chip. The computation unit 59 may condition an output of the sensor 58. For example, the computation unit 59 may include an amplifier coupled to the output of the sensor 58, wherein such a computation unit 59 may be operable to compute needed energy values for a system.

[0073] MCU 54 may be coupled with the computation unit 59 and operable to dynamically capture data from the computation unit 59. MCU 54 may be programmed to capture data from the computation unit 59 at predetermined intervals via diagnostic port 61 . Other configuration modes applied to the MCU 54 may be implemented according to the system requirements, for example, threshold alteration, or controlling the system in response to an output of the computation unit 59 may be implemented via port 61 .

[0074] A communication circuit may be coupled to the data acquisition device 1 1 ', wherein the communication circuit may be adapted to communicate data from device 1 1 '. A voltage divider 60 may be communicatively coupled to the calculation unit 59. Also, the communication circuit may be configured to remotely program the data acquisition device 1 1 '. Similar to figure 1 , power is supplied via a power port and voltage regulator 64.

[0075] Referring to figure 3, a schematic block diagram illustrates another non- limiting exemplary embodiment of a data acquisition device 1 1 " that may be in a form of a power strip, for example. Such a data acquisition device 1 1 " preferably includes at least one sensor 65 coupled to an electrical outlet 182, where the sensors 65 may be high accuracy current sensors. As understood to one skilled in the art, high accuracy sensors 65 require breaking into the power line and either measuring the current through a shunt resistor or through other means that enable highly accurate measurement.

[0076] In such an embodiment 1 1 ", a device, such as a TV, stereo, PC, may be coupled to a sensor 65 and the electrical outlet 182. Of course, multiple sensors 65 and devices 66 may be incorporated in the power strip embodiment of the data acquisition device 1 1 ". Thus, the embodiment 1 1 " of figure 3 may represent a power strip including at least one sensor 66 where the power strip may be coupled to an electrical outlet 182 and electronic devices needing electrical power to operate. The power strip preferably monitors power usage and controls power distribution in response to the output of the sensors 65. In one example, when power usage exceeds a programmed range the power strip may issue a warning signal (e.g., audible and/or visual) to alert users of possible power overload. In other examples, the power strip may be configured to automatically turn-off power to an electronic device that may be overloading the system while maintaining power to other electronic devices coupled to the power strip.

[0077] Referring now to figure 5, a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of a portion of the primary controller 69 may be connect to the internet (home router) and power line communication (PLC). In addition, a data acquisition circuit 67 preferably mounts to the breaker box 13 thereby monitoring 1 to 48 sensors within the breaker box 13. The sensors 50, 51 may be non-contact, Hall Effect, snap on sensors for monitoring current flow through the breaker box 13. The data acquisition circuit 67 may be connected to both legs and neutral in the breaker box 13 for power, voltage monitoring, and PLC. Such a circuit 67 may be considered a master control PLC device in the network. Thus, all PLC traffic may be routed through this circuit, for example.

[0078] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, additional data acquisition devices 1 1 , 1 1 ', 1 1 ", may be used with the system such as a plurality of plugs that may be connected to a standard wall outlet. Such plugs may be capable of controlling the power state of a connected electronic device. Such plugs may monitor power state, energy consumed and energy quality metrics, for example. Alternate embodiments of such plugs may function as a thermostat replacement data acquisition device. Such plugs may be web programmable wherein programming can be done through a web server portal communicatively linked to the plugs. Such plugs may also monitor temperature, humidity, trends, and predicted weather (through web sources) to make better decisions on when to run heating/cooling. One or more controllers may also be hard wired in-line with large load appliances for controlling the power state of the electronic appliance. Appliances capable of bi-directional communication with the plug or primary controller 69 may be

[0079] FIG. 6 shows a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of a display 83 that shows a status of the system 10. Such a display may be an application that runs on a computer, smart phone, tablet computer, etc. Alternately, display 83 may be a standalone piece of hardware that is located in the target zone. Such a display 83 may also be a screen image on one of the auxiliary controllers 70, such as a smart thermostat, for example. Display 83 may also be located at an exterior of breaker box 13.

[0080] FIG. 7 is a non-limiting exemplary embodiment illustrating a graphical user interface screen shot of a utility company portal (interface). It is noted that updated screen shots of the utility company portal are also illustrated in FIGS. 52-61 .

[0081] FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate non-limiting exemplary embodiments of primary controller 69 communicatively coupled to data acquisition circuit 67. Both of such components may be located at breaker box 12, for example. In particular, data acquisition circuit 67 may include a variety of sensors configured on a sensor board that has the ability to communication with an input/output interface. An electro static discharge and fuse protection component may be communicatively coupled to data acquisition circuit 67, for shielding the primary controller 69 from electric shock. The primary controller 69 may also be referred to as the main board throughout the present disclosure. The gateway 71 may be referred to as the communication board throughout the present disclosure. MCU 54 is communicatively coupled to fuse protector 55. A diagnostic programming port 61 and computer readable data storage device 85 may also be communicatively coupled to MCU 54. Such an MCU 54 preferably includes a program memory that enables primary controller 69 to perform its intended function. A communication interface 62 is communicatively coupled to MCU 54 for sending data to gateway 71 . Power may be supplied to primary controller 69 via a voltage regulator and power connection interface 63. FIG. 9 illustrates wireless communication between primary controller 69 and various intelligent devices 122, data acquisition devices 1 1 and auxiliary controllers 70 located inside the home (target zone).

[0082] FIGS. 10 and 1 1 illustrate non-limiting exemplary embodiments of the current measurement path at the acquisition device 1 1 and auxiliary controller 70, with and without load control, respectively. For the data acquisition device 1 1 , data is transmitted from a wall connection to a high accuracy current sensor 65 to the electronic device via a connection 66. For the auxiliary controller 70, a load control relay 186 is communicatively coupled between the sensor 65 and connection 66 for interrupting power to the electronic device.

[0083] FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate non-limiting exemplary embodiments of the current measurement path at the acquisition device 1 1 and auxiliary controller 70 that measure a wide range of voltage, with and without load control, respectively. Such embodiments have hard wire connections that are capable of measuring voltage ranging between 65VAC and 380VAC, for example. [0084] FIG. 14 illustrates non-limiting exemplary embodiment of auxiliary controller 70 that may be a programmable thermostat, for example. Such an auxiliary controller 70 may also be referred to as a smart thermostat wherein an MCU 54 is communicatively coupled to a graphic display 96, user interface 97, HVAC unit interface 98, temperature sensor 102 and humidity sensor 101 , for example. A wireless communication interface 95 is also communicatively coupled to the MCU 54 for transmitting data to gateway 71 and primary controller 69.

[0085] FIG. 15 is a non-limiting exemplary embodiment illustrating a high-level schematic block diagram showing the interrelationship between the data acquisition circuit 67, primary controller 69, data acquisition devices 1 1 , auxiliary controllers 70 and gateway 71 , wherein data is transmitted via a PLC link. The gateway 71 transmits the collected data to the website 74 via the internet, for example.

[0086] Referring to FIG. 16, in a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a software platform diagram is illustrated wherein a connection from at least one gateway 71 to the internet may be established through the internet via a standard Ethernet jack, for example. The system may utilize DHCP to obtain IP address information to allow the gateway to connect to the communication platform. After obtaining an IP address, the system preferably opens communication with a communication server that has been programmed into the system's firmware. The system initiates its load balancing algorithm to determine which communication server should serve as the primary and secondary communication server for the particular gateway that has just connected. The system preferably returns the list of communication servers to the gateway (i.e. sc1 and sc2). In this manner, the gateway begins to send readings to sc1 and sc2 simultaneously.

[0087] When connecting to the communications server from the internet, the communication server platform may listen on uniform datagram protocol (UDP) port 6599 for incoming data, for example. When data may be received, the communication server platform verifies that the messages conform to the appropriate message format. For example, a conforming format of messages sent from the hubs to the communication platform may be:

SN: OC : PID : TYPE: [COMMUNICATION SERVER:MESSAGE]

[0088] All 16 and 32 bit fields may be in network byte order (i.e. Big Endian). Individual messages have byte orders depending on the message type itself, where:

[0089] Table 1

[0090] Messages may be sent as query/response pairs with the gateway sending the request (via UDP) and the communication platform returning the response. The communication server platform includes the sequence number in the reply. In every instance, communication server may respond to the UDP request with the sequence number. The UDP packets may arrive at either end out of order. If the gateway should have multiple packets in flight at the same time, the sequence numbers may be received in any order. The sequence number may be followed by a 16 octet byte count which indicates the number of octets in the message which immediately follows. The message may be a reply to the message, or a reverse request.

[0091] A reverse request in reply to a message may generally result in a new query response pair that contains the response to the reverse request. The server will respond to the query response pair either with a zero byte message (to indicate the end of the dialog) or a message containing another reverse request. Reverse requests preferably allow communications to remain in the simple UDP query-response paradigm while effectively pushing data to the gateway.

[0092] In normal operation, a gateway may communicate as infrequently as once per 15 minutes (although the communication server front-end may be designed to support 1 minute messages). However, the reverse request may normal establish a shorter interval.

[0093] Table 2

In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, message type 001 may define a suitable sensor reading format. For example,

UTCSEC: UTCFRACTION: SPAN : [LID : RT : MEAN : VAR ]

[0094] Timestamps may be in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) in accordance with energy industry standards for measurement timestamps. UTC may differ from Unix time in that UTC counts seconds from 0 to 60 during a leap second where Unix time duplicates second 59 for an additional second. The readings may be contiguous. For example, there may be no embedded carriage return or separator characters. A single message preferably contains one or more readings (typically up to 24) with a common timestamp and span. Since all readings may be the same fixed size of 10 octets, the parsing may be simplified as the message Octet Count indicates the number of readings contained in the message. Of course, other message types may be used to accommodate variable length readings.

[0095] Reading Type can be one of the following:

Table 3

: I arance o ea ng : j ar ance o ea ng. ero or g

[0096] Referring to figure 17, in a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the communication server platform may be preferably responsible for a variety of tasks. For example, receiving readings from devices in the field. In this manner, readings may be received on UDP ports 6599. The communication server application takes the incoming messages that conform to the above protocol, and dissects the messages to get relevant power information. Based on the firmware version of the sending system, the communication server platform preferably extracts the relevant MAC address information, and readings information. The system then re-formats the information to conform with the services tier PowerReadinglmporter routine. After the readings may be loaded into the database, they may be displayed to users via the portal sending commands down to various hubs in the field. After receiving a reading from the gateway, the communication server platform preferably checks the "outbound command queue" for any commands that have been queued to be sent down to the gateway. If a queued command may be found, the communication server platform parses the command and delivers it to the waiting gateway as part of its reply message. Commands may be placed in the outbound queue either by the user issuing power commands in the portal, or by way of the communication server load balancer issuing commands for certain hubs to change their primary and secondary communication server servers.

[0097] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the communication server platform may further automatically load balance the number of hubs communicating with servers. In this manner, the communication server load balancer may be responsible for making sure that the communication server(s) that may be handling communications may be not being overloaded. For example, whenever a server crosses a threshold of how many systems may be communicating with it, the load balancer issues enough "update_communication server_servers" commands to various hubs in the field to redistribute the communication load over the remaining servers.

[0098] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the communications server platform may further systematically distribute firmware updates to devices in the field. For example, periodically, the systems in the field may communicate with the communication server firmware server to check for new versions of firmware. Alternatively, users and admin users have the ability to force and update to a particular user's gateway which creates a command in the command queue that may be subsequently delivered to the specified gateway.

[0099] Referring to figure 18, in a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the services tier in the application platform may be shown as being responsible for managing the data in the database and connections to the database. One of the roles performed by the services tier preferably includes a readings importer that may be responsible for taking all of the power readings that may be recorded by the communication server platform and loading them into the database. Such a routine may run approximately every 10 seconds. Another role may provide a command delivery service that preferably takes command requests (i.e. turn off TV) from the web portal and writes them out in a format that can be processed by the communication server platform. Yet another role may include implementation of various algorithms designed to alert a user whenever their energy usage may be abnormal. Normal may be defined with a system that allows comparison of energy usage of a user to a calculated average energy usage based on certain criteria (i.e. location of home, size of home, number of people in home). Such comparison may be further explained hereinbelow as power metrics. Yet another role may provide an alerting gateway service to notify users when alerts may be generated for their property. Users may receive these alerts via email and sms, for example.

[00100] The services tier may also provide a weather application that pulls historical weather information from a remote database, and displays such information to the end user so they can understand the correlation between weather and energy usage. Yet another role may include an external system interface to interface outside companies with the present system. Such an interface permits the internal customer relationship management (CRM) system to share information about users. Yet another role may include portal interface that retrieves energy usage information from the database.

[00101] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a house may have a variety of sensors that may report in 15 minute intervals. At an estimate of 20 sensors per property, each home may report 1 ,920 consumption values per day. 10,000 homes would report 19.2 million records per day, 7 billion per year. In a majority of cases, the application may present data at the day, month, of month-to-date level. It may be possible to drill into a day or chart usage over the course of a day.

[00102] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, system preferably has requirements for storage and retrieval of a lot of "value table" type data. This could be a simple list-of-values data such as a list of appliance types, or more complicated such as: EPA power consumption figures for an air conditioner in a 2,000-2,500 square foot home in the southeast U.S. (versus different home sizes in different locations). One or more portions of the computer program application may include the following paramaters:

• value -> EPA Average

• device -> A C Unit

• home size -> 2,000 - 2,500 sq. ft.

• area -> S.E. USA

[00103] Average power consumption for a 2,000-2,500 square foot home in zip code 14086 with 1 -2 people living in it may read as:

• value -> Calculated Average

• home size -> 2,000 - 2,500 sq. ft.

• zip -> 14086

• occupants -> 1 -2

[00104] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, alerts may be generated when customers' usage exceeds certain thresholds. These could be simple conditions (hot water tank uses more than x kw/hrs) or more complex rules (your home uses 20% more power than similarly sized/occupied homes in your region). Audit trail activity may also be logged for future review.

[00105] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a dedicated portal (graphical user interface) may allow utility companies to access data from one or more databases containing utility consumption data. Such data may be queried to obtain aggregated consumption figures.

[00106] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, user may be able to compare the temperature on a given day to power consumption as a way to rule out abnormal consumption. For example, if an HVAC system consumed a lot of power last weekend, when it was 95 degrees, may indicate acceptable consumption. One skilled in the art understands historical weather data may be obtained from a variety of reliable sources such as http://www.weather.gov/xml/. [00107] The graphical user interface may provide a variety of charts. For example, the consumer portal may illustrate a pie chart to show the breakdown of how power may be consumed within a room or the entire house. A stacked bar chart may be used to view consumption trends. In either case, there may be a comparative metric (i.e. consumption for the same day last year, or average consumption in my neighborhood) that may be used to provide context in the chart. Both charts may be viewed at the month or day level. The bar chart may be viewed at an hourly level.

[00108] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a software program application may include the following source code:

"getAvailableMetricsForDeviceType(propertylD:int,deviceTypelD:int,resolution:String): Metric." Such source code preferably queries a list of metrics available for a given device type. A resolution parameter may be optional, and may be one of "DAY", "MONTH", or "HOUR". If supplied, only metrics that match that resolution should be returned.

[00109] Non-limiting exemplary source code may include: "getWholeHomeMetricsForTimeSlice(propertylD:int,metriclD:int,comparisonMetriclD:int, resolutionValue:String):WidgetMetric", which returns a collection of WidgetMetric objects for each sensor and/or device in the home. Devices that may be plugged into wall sensors will need to have their consumption subtracted from their associated breaker's sensor. The breaker_sensor_fk field on the device preferably indicates which breaker sensor may be associated with the outlet. The result set preferably contains one WidgetMetric instance per sensor/device that has a cumulative consumption value for the time span indicated.

[00110] Other non-limiting exemplary source code may include: "getRoomMetricsForTimeSlice(roomlD:int,metriclD:int,comparisonMetriclD:int,resolution Value:String):WidgetMetric", which returns a collection of WidgetMetric objects for all sensors in a given room. Devices that may be plugged into wall sensors may need to have their consumption subtracted from their associated breaker's sensor. The breaker_sensor_fk field on the device preferably indicates which breaker sensor may be associated with the outlet. The result set preferably contains one WidgetMetric instance per sensor/device that has a cumulative consumption value for the time span indicated.

[00111] Other non-limiting exemplary source code may include: "getWholeHomeMetricsForTimeSpan(metriclD,comparisonMetriclD,resolutionValue:Stri ng):WidgetMetric", which returns a collection of WidgetMetric objects for the whole home for a given time span. For example, calling this method for two metrics with a monthly resolution may return records for each day in the identified month at the whole home level. The result collection preferably contains, for example, one WidgetMetric instance per day if the metric may be monthly.

[00112] Other non-limiting exemplary source code may include: "getRoomMetricsForTimeSpan(metriclD,comparisonMetriclD,devicelD:int,resolutionVal ue:String):WidgetMetric", which preferably returns a collection of WidgetMetric objects for a specific room for a given time span. For example, calling this method for two metrics with a monthly resolution may return records for each day in the identified month for the given room. The result collection preferably contains, for example, one WidgetMetric instance per day if the metric may be monthly.

[00113] Other non-limiting exemplary source code may include: "getDeviceMetricsForTimeSpan(metriclD,comparisonMetriclD,devicelD:int,resolutionVal ue:String):WidgetMetric", which preferably returns a collection of WidgetMetric objects for the specified room for a given time span. For example, calling this method for two metrics with a monthly resolution may return records for each day in the identified month for the given device. The result collection preferably contains, for example, one WidgetMetric instance per day if the metric may be monthly. [00114] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the attributes data model allows addition to the data model for a given type of device. This allows the metrics to take advantage of those data points to provide more detailed comparisons between devices.

[00115] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, each attribute may be preferably defined as a finite set of valid values. There may be preferably no free text type attribute available. So instead of defining the size of a home as a precise square footage, range may be defined (under 1000, 1000 - 1500, etc). Users may then select from those valid values instead of keying in the size of their home.

[00116] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the ATTRIBUTE_KEY table preferably defines the available attributes for each device. The ATTRIBUTE_VALUES table defines the valid values for each attribute. The DEVICE ATTRIBUTE VALUES table links a specific instance of a device with an attribute key and an attribute value thereby preferably setting the value of the attribute for that device.

[00117] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, metric definitions may define data groupings by attributes. The METRIC_DEFINITION table record may have ten fields (ATTRIBUTE KEY O through ATTRIBUTE KEY 9) that define attributes that group the metric. For example, to compare water heater consumption by size, populate the ATTRIBUTE_KEY_ID value of the record that defines water heater size in ATTRIBUTE_KEY_0. The routine that calculates the aggregated power preferably groups the records based on the values of that attribute.

[00118] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, power consumption data may be reported by each gateway once every 15 minutes. Each gateway reports consumption for a single home, which will contain readings for multiple sensors. The standard package installed at the breaker box has 16 sensors, and users can purchase additional sensors that monitor consumption for individual devices. A modest rollout across 10,000 customers would generate 640,000 records per hour. Florida Power and Light has 4.5 million customer accounts - a rollout of the standard package with no additional sensors across that single utility company would generate 288 million records per hour or 80,000 records per second.

[00119] There may be several possible approaches to dealing with write scaling. Throughput to the disk may be generally the bottleneck, so breaking up the power consumption data across multiple disks will help raise the ceiling. The most economical solution may be to use partitioning to split the table across disks. This allows us to ramp up throughput in a small scale situation (limited by the number of available disks).

[00120] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, index updates can also contribute to throughput bottlenecks. Each commit may cause the re-computation of the index, adding additional overhead. A staging table may be used to collect incoming records, holding them until the end of the day when a routine moves them in one transaction into a table where they can be reported. Indexes on that table could be dropped and recreated at the end of the data load.

[00121] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, once throughput exceeds those limitations, looking at ways to physically separate the data across multiple servers may be the next step. The first step may be to isolate the power consumption data to its own database server. Taking things one step further, utilize separate databases for groups of customers, assign properties to databases by utility company, state, zip code, etc. This may be known as sharding. Sharding dies carry certain drawbacks, such as making it increasingly difficult to run queries across all of the data. Databases that support this kind of throughput may require an advanced-level database administrator to plan, manage, and implement.

[00122] Maintaining performance reads on a table with a huge number of rows and consistent high-volume of newly inserted rows may be obtained. Partitioning the consumption table may help with read performance as well as write performance. In the portals, most access cases require the data summarized by day. We may maintain a summary table that maintains usage data at the day level, which may serve users' needs.

[00123] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, there may be two possible approaches to maintaining a summary table. First, the summary table may contain data through yesterday. A new record for each day may be inserted as part of the consumption data staging routine. Advantages to this approach may be that very few writes may be performed on the summary table. Second, the summary table preferably contains data through the last reported consumption figures. When new consumption records may be added to the database, the summary table may be updated. The advantage to this approach may be that data may be available for today. Summary records may be updated each time new consumption data may be added, alleviating index-writing concerns on the consumption table.

[00124] If contention on the staging table during the scheduled job execution occurs, two staging tables (online and offline) may be used with a switch between them. Whether or not this approach would yield improvement would depend on the physical organization of the database, i.e. if there may be enough disks to partition two sets of staging tables across, etc.

[00125] Consideration must be given to when and how power consumption costs may be calculated. If homeowners pay for power in a tiered arrangement, knowing the total power consumption since the billing cycle begin date is needed to calculate their power cost. If power consumption data may be maintained with real time availability and real time cost, then calculate consumption costs for each power consumption reading as it comes in, keeping a running tally of the homeowner's power consumption for the billing cycle. Ideally keep this information in-memory due to otherwise having to recompute the consumption every time new records come in (or maintain that data in a table causing increased disk throughput demand). [00126] If there is no need to maintain real time power consumption and/or real time pricing, then how we compute costs may be optimized. For example, computing costs only at a 1 -day resolution, or sequentially computing costs for an entire day's records. Another option may be to defer power cost calculations until users actually request the data. This is helpful because not all homeowners who have the system installed by the utility companies may make regular use of the system.

[00127] In cases where users' power consumption costs may be tiered based on usage, the system may collect a "seed" value for billing period start date. From that point onwards, the system may assume a billing period start date, unless the user supplies a new one. When users run the bill analysis wizard, they may be prompted to enter an exact start and end date. The wizard may write these values to the user's profile. If the user is on a tiered plan, and the actual start date may be different than the assumed start date, then we may need to recalculate power costs from that point forward for that user.

[00128] The software program application may execute one or more functions described hereinbelow: utilize a staging table to accommodate incoming records; use partitioning to increase I/O throughput; use a scheduled job to populate the power readings available to the application; tune the execution frequency of the job to balance database performance with data availability; provide a margin of safety if the database bogs down; compute power cost at this time, leverage the ability to keep a running total of a homeowner's consumption for tiered pricing situations. Records in the power readings table may be available to the application, but only queried when users request data at a finer resolution than one day. Minimize index recalculation; use a summary table to speed most data access. If the summarization routine can be run frequently enough, then the entire operation of receiving records from the gateway, summarizing, and calculating power consumption may be kept in memory. [00129] Queries could go through the summary table. This may eliminate source code related to accessing the power readings themselves. Consumption computations may be minimized in frequency, and can leverage running totals of consumption for efficiency. The originating files from the gateway may be backed up in case the data was needed at a later date. Storage requirements may be significantly reduced. As an example, a utility company's customer base may require about 47 tetra bytes of storage for one year's data at 15-minute resolution. If the summarization routine can be run frequently enough, then the entire operation of receiving records from the gateway, summarizing, and calculating power consumption could be kept in memory.

[00130] Tools may be available for MySQL to assist with this abstraction (GreenCloud, GigaSpaces). Consumption data and routines may run on a separate machine or cluster of machines without the issues associated with typical database sharing, because no application-accessed data may be distributed. All application- required data could reside in one database at the daily frequency level. The database approach may change slightly in this case, as the power readings table would no longer be necessary.

[00131] Comparative analysis of power consumption figures may be the core functionality of at least one web portal. The system relies on aggregation and analysis of power usage across a variety of attributes. The system may also be designed to support easy addition of new attributes and metrics. Consumption metrics may fall into three categories: metrics generated from a single user's own data, metrics generated by aggregating and averaging a group of users' data, and metrics that may be predefined, such as department of energy (DOE) figures.

[00132] A metric may be a SQL statement that calculates an average figure for a certain set of criteria. A metric may always be applicable to a device type (whole home may be a device type), and have a time component (resolution). The resolution defines whether the metric may be to be aggregated over an hour, day, or month. Pre- calculated metrics. The data model supports storing metrics grouped by up to ten fields or keys, for example.

[00133] As an example, calculation of average power consumption made be performed for the hot water tank for each month of the year, based on the number of people living in the home. An administrator may create a SQL query to extract the data from the data model. The results of the query must fit the structure of the stored metrics table so that we can insert the results of the query into the stored metrics table. A non- limiting exemplary portion of a software application program may include the following source code:

[00134] SELECT NULL as id,

metrics. id as metric_fk,

month as resolution_value,

occupants as key_1_value,

NULL as key_2_value,

NULL as key_3_value,

NULL as key_4_value,

NULL as key_5_value,

NULL as key_6_value,

NULL as key_7_value,

NULL as key_8_value,

NULL as key_9_value,

NULL as key_10_value,

avg(consumption) as consumption,

avg(cost) as cost,

FROM (

SELECT sum(consumption) as consumption,

sum(cost) as cost,

TO_CHAR(month(daily_power_readings.timest

amp)) as month,

(SELECT metric_value

FROM profile

WHERE property_fk = devices. property_fk

AND

profile_key = OCCUPANTS'

) as occupants

FROM devices, daily_power_readings

WHERE devices.device_type = metrics.device_type_fk

AND

devices. sensor_serial_nunnber =

daily_power_readings.sensor_serial_nunnber

GROUP devices. property_fk,

BY

occupants,

year(daily_power_readings.timestannp),

month(daily_power_readings.tinnestannp)

) monthly_values,

metrics

GROUP BY month, occupants

[00135] Of course, metrics may probably be derived across more complicated criteria, such as hot water tank consumption for each month of the year by zip code, home size, and number of occupants. If this job aggregates data across all users' data, it may be run as a scheduled job. The metrics table record for this task may include the following source code: label: "Monthly Usage, Similar Occupants"

description: "Average usage by month of year, by number of occupants"

resolution: "MONTHLY"

device_type_fk <hot water tank's id>

default_comparison_metric: NULL

calculation_sql: NULL

is_scheduled: TRUE

is_external: FALSE

updateJob_sql: <above SQL>

result_key_1 : "OCCUPANTS"

the rest of the result_key_x fields may be unused and should be filled with NULL.

[00136] User metrics may be calculations performed on only the current user's consumption data. The metrics table record may be defined similarly, however the SQL may be inserted in the calculation_sql field, not the updateJob_sql field, and

is_scheduled may be false. The SQL needs to follow the same format as the scheduled job queries, so that data can be compared between similar metrics. For example, compare the current user's monthly hot water tank usage against other homes with a similar number of occupants.

[00137] A non-limiting exemplary portion of a software application program may include the following SQL query for the user's consumption:

SELECT NULL as id,

%1 as metric_fk,

TO_CHAR(month(daily_power_readings.timestamp)) as

resolution_value,

( SELECT metric_value

FROM profile

WHERE property_fk = devices. property_fk AND

profile_key = 'OCCUPANTS'

) as key_1_value,

NULL as key_2_value,

NULL as key_3_value,

NULL as key_4_value,

NULL as key_5_value,

NULL as key_6_value,

NULL as key_7_value,

NULL as key_8_value,

NULL as key_9_value,

NULL as key_10_value,

sum(consumption) as consumption,

sum(cost) as cost,

FROM devices,

daily_power_readings

WHERE devices.device_type = metrics.device_type_fk AND

devices. sensor_serial_number =

daily_power_readings.sensor_serial_number

GROUP BY key_1_value,

Month (daily_power_readings.timestamp

[00138] A non-limiting exemplary portion of a software application program may include the following source code for a generic comparison:

SELECT resolution_value,

user.consumption as consumption,

user.cost as cost, storedjnetrics. consumption as compare_consumption,

stored_metrics.cost as compare_cost

FROM (<user query>) as user,

stored_metrics

WHERE stored_metrics.metric_fk = %1 AND

user.resolution_value = stored_metrics. AND

user.key_1_value = stored_metrics.key_1_value AND

user.key_2_value = storedjnetrics. key_2_value AND

user.key_3_value = storedjnetrics. key_3_value AND

user.key_4_value = storedjnetrics. key_4_value AND

user.key 5_value = storedjnetrics. key 5_value AND

user.key 3_value = storedjnetrics. key 3_value AND

user.key_7_value = storedjnetrics. key_7_value AND

user.key 3_value = storedjnetrics. key 3_value AND

user.key_9_value = storedjnetrics. key_9_value AND

user.key_10_value = storedjnetrics. key_10_value

ORDER BY resolution value

[00139] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the default comparison metric field can be used on the metric record to indicate which metric should be used as the default comparison. The user interface (Ul) may use this metric to determine if a widget's data point should be green, orange, or red.

[00140] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, using the metrics engine to store externally sourced data may be a matter of defining a metric that represents it, and then loading in the data. If the Department of Energy data exists for hot water tank usage by month and number of occupants, we can define a row in the metrics table for it. For such a function, a non-limiting exemplary portion of a software application program may include the following source code: label: "DOE Monthly Usage, Similar Occupants"

description: "Average usage by month of year, by number of occupants from the

Department of Energy "

resolution: "MONTHLY"

device_type_fk <hot water tank's id>

default_comparisonjnetric: NULL

calculation _sql: NULL

is scheduled: FALSE is_external: TRUE

updateJob_sql: <above SQL>

result_key_1 : OCCUPANTS"

[00141] The is _external flag may tell the metrics engine that this data may be not calculated for a user, and may be also not a scheduled refresh. Generally it should only be necessary to update the most current time slice of a particular metric on an ongoing basis. On occasion, the entire metric may need to be computed. The recompute_all_sql field may be intended to be used in that case. However this may be more for self- documentation purposes than anything. The system may not make use of the recompute_all_sql on an automated basis.

[00142] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the software application program preferably organizes all power consumption data under an instance of a device. Appliances, sensors, plugs, data acquisition devices, power strips, etc may be a device; intelligent devices, as perhaps best shown in figure 4. The "whole home" may be an intelligent device that relates to the sensors on the mains in the home. Rooms may be a type of system device that organize the sensors related to other devices. Whenever a request may be made for information from the system, that request may be made for a given device, timeframe (starting on 1/1/2010 00:00:00 for 31 days), and metric, for example.

[00143] Metrics may define the "what" of the request - whether the user needs current consumption, last month's consumption, EPA data, etc. The metric may also define the frequency of reporting data, and the type of device the metric relates to. The data on the metric preferably defines which items can be compared to one another. For example, a metric defined for an air conditioner at monthly resolution can be compared against other metrics defined for air conditioners at monthly resolutions - but not to microwaves at monthly resolutions or to air conditioners at daily resolutions.

[00144] Additionally the metric may define which attribute results may be grouped. This allows us to narrow comparisons to more relevant data. For example, you may want to compare homes with a similar size, or water heaters with a similar capacity. These items may be defined in the fields labeled ATTRIBUTE_KEY_0 - ATTRIBUTE_KEY_9. The values in these fields relate to the attribute definitions defined in ATTRIBUTE_KEYS table. When the metrics define attribute keys to be used for grouping, devices may have a value for that key in order to be included in the calculations. If you define a metric that groups water heaters based on capacity, and a user has not yet provided the system with the capacity of his water heater, then that device may not be included in the metric calculation.

[00145] Locations may be handled separately from attributes. A Boolean called AREA_BREAKDOWN indicates that the metric groups values by zip code. A "usage metric" may be a request by a client for its own data. When a user looks at their own power consumption, they may be looking at usage metrics.

[00146] The values of the metrics may be sourced directly out of the following tables:

Table 4

Table

SUB_HOUR_POWER_VALUES Power consumption values for 15-minute intervals of time. A given row contains four 15-minute measurements and relates up to an HOUR POWER VALUES record

SUB_HOUR_COST_VALUES Costs for power in 15 minute intervals of time. A given row contains four 15-minute values and relates up to an HOUR COST VALUES record

HOUR_POWER_VALUES Power consumption values for 1 hour intervals of time. A given row contains 24 values and rolls up to a DA I LY_P OWE R_TOTA L record

HOUR_COST_VALUES Power consumption values for 1 hour intervals of time. A given row contains 24 values and rolls up to a DA I LY_P OWE R_TOTA L record

DAI LY_POWER_TOTALS Power consumption amounts for a single day. These records roll up to and cost

MONTHLY DEVICE POWER TOTAL record

MONTHLY_DEVICE_POWER_TOTALS Power consumption and cost values for a month. This record relates to a device, and allows us t< walk the chain down to finer-grained values.

[00147] The USAGE METRICS table contains the definition of a usage metric. It associates a label with a resolution (daily, monthly, etc) and an offset. For example, a metric comparing daily usage against the previous month may define a daily resolution metric labeled "previous month" and define an offset of 1 month:

[00148] Field Value

Label previous month

Timespan 3 (day)

Offset Count

Offset Timespan 4 (month)

[00149] An additional field, USE_IN_CHART, may describe if the metric may be available for use in charting. Calculated metrics may be aggregated across the power reading tables and stored for quick reuse. This allows the system to report on things like "my area" without having to calculate averages on the fly. Based on the metric definitions, the system can run calculations at off-peak times to calculate the aggregated amounts across the system. The values may be stored in the AGGREGATED METRICS table.

[00150] Stored metrics may behave the same way as calculated metrics, except that they aren't recalculated by the system. Data may be manually stacked into the table in the format described by the metric definition. Stored metrics can be grouped by attribute values or zip codes the same as any calculated metric. A flag on the metric definition may indicate the system should find data for that metric on the STORED METRICS table.

[00151] One of the application requirements may be the ability to arbitrarily add parameters to the user's profile, with a view towards expanding the number of metrics that may be available for power consumption analysis. This requirement can be broken down into the following implementation tasks: define generic storage for attaching attributes to the profile; and define a mechanism for presenting valid values for each attribute to the user. Profile attributes may fall into buckets - e.g. home size: less than 500 sq. ft., 500 - 1000 sq. ft, 1000 - 1500 sq ft, etc. Define a mechanism for attaching attributes to device types. The same attribute may be applicable to multiple device types. For example, the number of people living in a home may affect both overall consumption (whole home) and hot water tank usage. Present the profile-related data to the user. We may build a dynamic profile form. The activation wizard may also need to be flexible to accommodate the varying data model.

[00152] A four-table data model may define and structure storage for the profile data. A profile keys table defines the list of available profile items. Each key functions as primary key, so the key values may be unique. A label may be attached to each key for form-based presentation, and a prompt to be utilized by the activation wizard. The software program application may include the following non-limiting source code: key: OCCUPANTS

label: # of Occupants

prompt: How many people live in this home?

[00153] The values for each key may be stored in the profile table. Each record links a property with a profile key and assigns the user-entered value to it. A third table links profile keys to device types. In our previous example of the number of occupants impacting both the whole home and the hot water tank, two link table records may be inserted to connect the key with both device types.

[00154] The software program application may make direct use of the profile data through maintenance forms, so our data model for the application may be specific to that application. The following services may be required: "NstProfileData(propertylD, deviceTypelD):ProfileObject", which may return profile data related to a property for a given device type "updateProfile(ProfileObject", which takes a list of profile records and updates their values. It may be OK for the Ul to send profile objects with null valid values lists to keep transport size down.

[00155] Profile objects may need to encapsulate the profile data, label, prompt, and valid values list. The software program application may include the following non- limiting source code:

id : int profileKey:String

label:String

promp String

selectedValueProfileMetricValue

validValuesProfileMetricValue

Each metric value may be an instance of ProfileMetricValue:

id :int

profileKey:String

valueDesc:String

[00156] Referring to figure 19, in a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the calibration termination may be a single wire that jumps two pins together on the final sensor in a chain. The function of this wire may be to complete the calibration circuit loop so calibration can be run on all sensors in a chain. If this termination is missing, the data acquisition circuit 67 may be incomplete and no calibration can be performed.

[00157] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the sensors may be comprised of a split ferrite ring, a Hall Effect sensor, an input and output data acquisition device, and a calibration wire that may be wrapped around the ferrite ring. The Hall Effect sensor directly measures the magnetic energy in the ring. The amount of magnetic energy may be proportional to the current flowing in the wire that may be being measured. The calibration circuit may be a wire wrapped around the ferrite ring to induce a magnetic field with a known current value. This may be used to calibrate out errors introduced by driving a current through the wire to induce a magnetic field within the ferrite. That field may be measured by the Hall Effect sensor. The relationship between the known current and the number of wraps of wire allows us to calibrate out the difference in the windings.

[00158] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, jumpers between sensors may be 3.5" to 8" long depending on where they may be used in the system. These may be eight conductor cables wired in a 1 to 1 fashion. The cable between the first sensor and breaker box may be 36" to 48" long depending on the system. Again this may be a 1 to 1 connection of eight conductors.

[00159] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the data acquisition circuit unit may be made up of a sensor array board and the main board. The sensor array may contain twelve plugs to go to sensor chains with up to four sensors per chain. Thus, a maximum of three sensors may be employed. Every three ports may be monitored by one digital signal processor (DSP) to convert the Hall Effect sensor readings into current, energy, power, power factor, etc. readings as required. These chips collect this data and report to the main board every second.

[00160] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the main board (primary controller) 69 preferably contains the power line communication modem, the off line power supply, and the voltage measurement circuit. The power supply input may be 85VAC to 265VAC 45 to 70 Hz with an output power of 9W. This supply generates +17V non-isolated, +17V isolated, and +3.3V non isolated. The non-isolated voltages may be used on the main board and the isolated voltages may be used on the sensor array. The voltage measurement circuit preferably uses a voltage divider, esd protection, and an op amp to present the line voltage to the DSP at a level it can use.

[00161] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the PLC circuit preferably contains the DSP, power line front end, and system memory. The system memory may be used to backup firmware programs for the DSP and to maintain any readings should the internet connection or PLC connection go down. The power line front end contains the filters and amplifiers used to read the signal off of the power line as well as the high current line drivers required to push the communication signal onto the power line.

[00162] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, power connections to the breaker box may require at least 2 connections (white and black) to both power the system and provide a way to measure the line voltage. In homes with split phase wiring (as in the North American market), the red wire may be used to measure the other voltage phase and to enable PLC on the other phase. [00163] Referring to figure 20, in a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of gateway 71 , the power supply may be 85 to 265 VAC input and yields 3.3VDC and 17VDC isolated supplies to the system boards. The average power supplied may be 3.5W with a peak power output of 9W. It may couple to the line using a 1 :1 transformer to maintain line voltage isolation.

[00164] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, an ARM7 MCU may be used to interface to an existing Ethernet system within the installation location. The gateway may further include an, RJ45 jack, flash memory, and supporting hardware for both devices. Serial communication may be used to communicate with the PLC modem. The flash memory may be used to maintain backup images of firmware in case of bad/incorrect operation of new flash firmware. This gateway preferably communicates with the touch panel through an SPI interface to maintain the user interface on the top cover of the gateway.

[00165] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the cap touch board may include a processor used to calculate when a touch has occurred on a capacitive sense pad on the circuit board. Based on the touch, the processor may then change the state of eight LEDs on the board. The LED states may be used to inform the user as to the state of the PLC network, Ethernet connection, brightness levels, home/away mode, pairing mode, etc. Of course, the gateway may use a standard female RJ45 jack with two LEDs to indicate activity and link. The gateway may also contain a standard C5 type female connector to be used with a standard power cord for connection to a wall outlet.

[00166] FIGS. 21 -27 show non-limiting exemplary screen shots of an activation wizard that a consumer may use to set up an account on the website, via the graphical user interface. FIGS. 28-51 show non-limiting exemplary screen shots of the consumer graphical user interface that allows the consumer to monitor their utility consumption. FIGS. 52-61 show non-limiting exemplary screen shots of the utility company graphical user interface that allows the utility company to monitor and control utility consumption in the target zone by shed load peaks.

[00167] Referring to back to figures 1 -20, in a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the sensors may be installed by clipping onto wires via split core mechanism. The sensors have a split ferrite core design. This allows the sensor to be clipped around the wire without removing it from the breaker. This may be used as a cost reduction for the installation process. In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the sensors may have two halves of rings so that consumer can install the sensors. This may require removing the front panel of the breaker box but no wires have to be removed from the breakers. Simply snap the sensor in place and the install may be complete. Advantageously, such a method may allow installation without cutting power to the home. For example, split ring sensors allow the wires to stay connected at all times. This allows the installation to be performed without the need to physically disconnect the breaker panel from the source or any of the loads from the breaker panel.

[00168] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the sensors may be clipped to wires. A simple snap lock clip may be employed to allow single handed installation in tight areas. In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the method for sharing Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) sub-carriers may solve the problem of the power-line extending between homes. For example, a residential communication media extends not only within a particular housing unit (home or apartment) but between homes as well. This results in the potential for interference.

[00169] When energy management systems may be widely deployed, especially in multi-unit housing, a large number of systems may potentially share the medium and the spectrum of signals impressed on that media. Existing power line communication systems, e.g. X10, deal with the issue by adopting a listen before transmit approach and by embedding "house codes" for each separate system. X10, for example, defines 16 house codes which can be used to separate signals. This approach has a number of problems, among them limited bandwidth, the need for manual coordination, the lack of security, etc. Other systems, e.g. European systems based on CENELEC standards use a common channel access protocol. This allows coexistence of systems both within and without the home, as long as each station obeys the channel access protocol. Further, the spectrum suitable for power-line communication can be broadly divided into two segments. One may be the spectrum above 1 MHz which may be well suited for broadband applications. The other may be the segment from roughly 10KHz - 500KHz which may be suited for narrowband applications. Due to differing regulatory requirements in different countries, several individual band segments may be potentially available.

[00170] Several conventional approaches may be in common use for power-line communication. These include simple on-off keying (OOK), single and multiple frequency-shift keying (FSK) and phase-shift keying (PSK), Differential Code Shift Keying (DCSK), Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), and many others. Some of these modulation schemes result in signals across the entire band. OFDM allows high speed signals to be sent as many lower speed signals that share a common phase reference and symbol alignment. This provides a number of advantages. Some OFDM schemes use many dozens of sub-carriers which occupy most of the available spectrum. Some OFDM schemes also include non-OFDM modulation e.g. linear chirps that result in occasional wide-band signals.

[00171] OFDM with many channels may be computationally intensive but offers the potential for relatively high speed. Continuous coordination, however, may be generally required for coexistence on the same media. OFDM can also be used with a relatively small number of channels. While this results in lower speeds for each system, the particular sub-carrier used by a signal can be made non-overlapping with other systems. As long as no common sub-carriers may be used, multiple OFDM signals can occupy the same medium without interference. The use of low-channel count OFDM by multiple systems in close proximity can result in efficient sharing of the medium while reducing the complexity of individual stations. This maximizes the total bandwidth available for all potentially interfering systems, especially the total bandwidth per millions of instructions per second (MIP), which allows mobile device users to move from one network to another while maintaining a permanent IP address, for example.

[00172] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, low channel count OFDM based systems require over-all coordination with adjacent systems. This can take place automatically using the methods described hereinbelow. In the following description the OFDM symbol may be defined with 128 bins (tones, sub-carriers, channels) but it should be understood that few or larger number of tones may be involved. The number need not be an integer power of 2 but often may be to permit the use of the inverse Fast Fourier Transfer (IFFT).

[00173] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the sampling frequency may be 312.5 kHz which results in a 128 equally spaced tones. Each sub-carrier may have a modulation (e.g. DPSK, QPSK, etc.) and methods of bit-interleaving, redundancy, forward error correction, and error detection may be applied resulting in the transport of error-free data frames over the set of tones.

[00174] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, one set of tones may be predefined for use by the frequency coordination method. This set always includes the common frequency (134KHz) used by CENELEC channel access protocol, well known by one skilled in the art. The inclusion of this frequency permits access to the CENELEC C band in accordance with regulation. This allows the channel plan to include sub-carriers that lie within the C band.

[00175] OFDM transmissions may include a sequence of symbols. Each symbol may include a set of tones. Each tone set may include N pairs of tones, one odd and one even. During preambles, only the even tones may be transmitted. This results in symmetry in the OFDM time domain signal that can be exploited to aid symbol alignment. Generally, 2 to 6 pairs (4 to 12 tones) may be used in each frequency set.

[00176] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, each network may be controlled by a master station which may be normally located in the load center which may be closest to any external stations. All master stations may participate in a common network that may be used exclusively for frequency coordination. The CN (Coordination Network) operates on a dedicated tone set and may include 4 tones, for example.

[00177] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, all non-master stations may participate in a single network using the tones selected by their Master station. Non- master stations may only monitor the CN when they have lost communication with their Master. Monitoring the CN allows them to determine the tone set and operational parameters in use by their corresponding Master. The CN network may operate passively, i.e. individual Master stations do not communicate with each other but rather inform all other stations of their state. Each Master station may independently select the tone set used in its own network based on information it receives from other Master stations.

[00178] In addition to coordinating tone sets, the CN also coordinates TDM timeslots. Time division multiplexing permits the same tone set to be used by different networks at different times adding an additional dimension. TDM may be based on alignment to real-time UTC seconds. A maximum of 12 time slots may be defined. Stations can be allocated to transmit in 1 , 2, 3, 4, 6, or all 12 timeslots. This provides from 8% to 100% utilization. It should be noted that the timeslots apply to transmission by both the master and slave stations on a network.

[00179] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, every master station may have a population of frequency sets that it may choose. Each section selects at least one set as primary and another set as secondary. The primary set may be generally used for the network. Other master stations avoid selection of that frequency set as master except as a last resort. Generally, the primary set may be allocated all timeslots. This remains the case until the master station detects another network also using the set as primary.

[00180] A master station that chooses a frequency set already in use a primary by another station may assign select time-slots equal to half the current usage. The master station currently overlapping with this usage can be expected to reduce its timeslots once it recognizes the conflict.

[00181] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, alternate tone sets may be selected to improve performance. Generally, an alternate tone set may be allocated a single time slot. The primary purpose of an alternate tone set may be to measure performance of that tone set as a potential replacement for or supplement to the current primary tone set. Generally, a tone set may not be selected as a primary tone set until the alternate tone set has been in use for a minimum period.

[00182] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, an alternate tone set may be promoted to primary if not in use as an alternate on another network. A network may have up to three primary tone sets and three alternate tone sets.

[00183] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, stations may use Beacon Frames to inform their peers and their subordinates of the frequency and timeslot allocations in use. Beacon Frames may be transmitted on the CN using the dedicated tone set and using the CENELEC channel access procedures. CN Beacon Frames may be normally transmitted approximately one per minute aligned on the UTC minute boundary. Each station chooses to begin transmission at a time following the boundary that may be based on a hash of its MAC address.

[00184] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, neutral assisted calibration may be employed to solve the problem of power measurement error. Prior art devices often have several potential sources of power measurement error. While some errors may be correctable through active calibration circuits, some error sources remain. These can be reduced by the disclosed method. While Hall Effect sensors have extremely good linearity and accuracy, much greater errors exist in the magnetic flux. With sensors on the A and B legs, a few percent difference between the two may be present. Furthermore, there may be no information to indicate whether a particular leg may be measuring current higher or lower than actual.

[00185] To solve such prior art shortcomings, a non-limiting exemplary embodiment employs installed meters that advantageously provide a potential mechanism to calibrate total power. The meter measures the combined energy delivered over both legs. This can be compared with the total power as measured by the system. The totalized power measured by the meter can be captured by a camera phone. The picture of the meter can be uploaded to the web portal and the reading automatically measured by optical recognition. By installing an additional current sensor on the neutral lead, we have an additional measurement of the difference in current between two legs. For balanced loads, the neutral current may be zero and any difference between the current in the two legs reflects a difference in the error of the two sensors. When the load may be unbalanced, the neutral current may be non-zero and equal to the difference in current between the two legs. When the load on one leg may be zero, any difference between the current in the other leg and neutral must be due to an error between sensors.

[00186] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, base measurements for current sensor calculations may be: k(n)^*i(n),

k(a)^*i(a), and

k(b)^* i(b).

[00187] Each of the k factors may be a constant. The objective may be to determine the relative values of each k, i.e. k(a)/k(b) and k(a)/k(n). Once these may be determined, they can be related to a common factor for current. At any given instant, the current in the neutral must be equal to the difference between the current flowing in the two legs. It may be possible for the load or portion of the load on either or both legs to contain half wave loads. Such loads may be unbalanced between positive and negative portions of the sinusoid. Current in the neutral flows in the opposite direction on each half cycle but the direction of current flow in the neutral may be always the same. The average current in the neutral may be equal to the sum of the average current of both legs. While the difference of the average current in the A and B legs may be zero, the neutral current may be equal to the sum. In other words, while the neutral carries loads unbalanced between the phases it also carries half wave loads from each phase.

[00188] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the objective may be to measure inaccuracies in the current measurements. For this, we may be concerned with the instantaneous currents that we measure. The sign of the current, while not relevant to power measurements, may be critical to determining the relative error of the current sensors.

[00189] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, consider a balanced load e.g. a 240 resistive heating element. For such a load, there may be no neutral current (and in fact there may be no connection at all to neutral). In this case, the current in each leg may be always equal to an opposite. Any difference may be due to an error in the sensors. If we knew that in fact that this was the nature of the present load, we could determine the ratio of measurement between the two sensors. If we also knew the measured power of both legs and the total power we could then derive the ratio to actual current.

[00190] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the nature of the load from the neutral current may be determined. For example, in half wave loads, a two diode rectifier may use the neutral as a center tap. In this configuration, one diode conducts for a portion of the positive cycle on its leg and the other diode conducts during positive portion on the other leg. The return current in the neutral may be always opposite. In this case the neutral carries the total current and each live leg carriers half the current. In fact, the neutral current in this case may be higher (by twice) than the current in either leg.

[00191] The current in the neutral at any instant may be equal to the algebraic sum of currents in the two legs. When the circuit may be balanced, the sum may be zero. When the circuit may be completely unbalanced, the sum may be equal to the active leg. Now the algebraic sum of currents should be the neutral current and compared to the measured neutral current, the relative error between the neutral current sensor and the average of the sensors on the hot legs may be determined.

[00192] When the neutral current may be low, the difference between the current sensors reflects different error between the two sensors. This provides an indication the relative error of the current sensors on the hot legs. In this manner, the ratio between a/b and the ratio between (a+b)/n, provides the relative error of each sensor. Such errors may be stated relative to k(n) i.e. normalized for k(n).

[00193] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, Hall Effect current sensors may be calibrated to meet the needs of the application. Automatic phase detection may also be employed to detect what leg/phase a sensor may be monitoring. In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, firmware may detect that a sensor may be plugged or unplugged.

[00194] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, RFID may be used to power and communicate with sensors. Also, RFID may be used to display debugging, status, and monitoring of each component of the present system onto a hand-held device such as a smart phone, well known by one skilled in the art. [00195] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, RF visibility may include a ZIGBEE/RF/BT/WiFi/etc. repeater in the outlet faceplate. An antenna may be located in the faceplate and switch. Energy may be harvested on the faceplate. Thus, energy may be harvested to power to control air vents, blades, bladders, etc.

[00196] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, RF may be strayed from a power point to the faceplate. The switch or faceplate or outlet may tap into programmed logic control (PLC). As an example, the present system may receive only programmed logic control on light bulbs.

[00197] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present system may account for unmonitored energy usage in a defined environment (such as a house) thereby representing how much energy may be consumed by appliances that were not monitored. Most conventional homes have two separate power domains. For example, appliances may reside on one power domain or on both. Each power domain may have its own source that enters the house. A sensor may be in communication with the source of each power domain and some additional sensors may be in communication with the loads of each power domain. In this manner, determining the amount of unmonitored power may be achieved by taking the sum of the sensors on the sources for each domain and subtracting the sum of the loads.

[00198] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a computer software program may include the following source codes for determining the unmonitored power.

(sourcel + source2) - (load3 + load4 + load5) = unmonitored load (mainCircuitl + mainCircuit2) - (HVAC + Water Heater + Dryer) = unmonitored load

[00199] Differentiating between a source sensor and a load sensor may be achieved by identifying the two largest loads in the box. Notably, each load sensor may be aware of which domain it may be in. In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the source code may include:

(largestload of domainA) + (largestload of domainB) - (sum of remaining loads) = unmonitored load

[00200] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a device may be housed inside a fuse box (breaker box) of the house. For example, the device may be mounted completely within the breaker box. All sensors, power connections, and cabling may be contained within the breaker box. This may be done to reduce installation costs and complexity of the installation.

[00201] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a non-contact Hall Effect current sensor/boards may be employed. Such sensors may be non-contact and thereby do not touch the conductor of the wire they may be measuring. In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a ferrite ring may be located inside the sensor that may be used to concentrate the lines of magnetic flux around the wire. This magnetic flux may be directly measured by a Hall Effect sensor. The amount of magnetic flux may be proportional to the amount of current flow in the wire, thus yielding a mechanism of measuring the current in the wire.

[00202] The magnetic flux measurements from the Hall Effect sensor may be output as a voltage from the sensor. This voltage may be measured by a digital signal processor (DSP) to yield a digital value that may be proportional to the voltage reading. The digital value may be looked up in a piece wise linear (PWL) calibration table to get a scale factor and an offset required for this particular measurement range. The scale factor may equal "a^*x + b" where "a" may be the scale factor, "x" may be the digital reading of the voltage and "b" may be the offset calibration value. The equation "a^*x + b" yields the current flowing through the sensor.

[00203] The sensors offer a digitized, scaled, and calibrated output reading for the current versus a standard analog output for the typical current sensor available in the market. This enables the communications between the power line communication device and the sensor to be simplified because noise on the lines potentially corrupting the analog values on the wires may be no longer a concern. This also allows one sensor device to potentially monitor several power lines or current readings and transmit the readings over the same wires thus enabling cost reduction.

[00204] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the digital signal processor/micro controller unit (DSP/MCU) inside the sensor may not be 100% utilized. To further utilize the processing power that exists, extra sensors may be added to the same DSP/MCU within the sensor. The sensors themselves may output an analog voltage/current that may be connected to the DSP/MCU by a connecting interface to be measured by the DSP/MCU.

[00205] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a smart sensor that calculates performance on measured data may be employed by the present system. For example, such sensors analyze the quality of the current flowing through the wire by analyzing the current readings and comparing them to known good behavior. Anomalies in the readings can be communicated back to the controlling device. Additional information, such as voltage readings on the line that the current may be being measured on, may also be provided. With the voltage and current measurements, other power quality and energy values can be computed.

[00206] Exemplary sensors preferably measure environmental conditions for reporting, calculations and diagnostics. Such sensors measure environmental conditions where they may be physically located. Temperature, humidity, vibration, etc can be measured and used to further calibrate the output readings, provide diagnostics information on the health of the system, and/or provide information back to the primary controller 69 on the health/safety of the environment of the sensors. For example, high humidity (system may be getting wet) or high temperature (there may be a fire) or high vibration (earthquake, structural instability, or somebody/something may be moving the sensors manually) can be detected and reported to the primary controller 69.

[00207] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, voltage may be sensed by a tap to connect to wire (for example wrapping). The sensor normally may only measure current in the non-contact sense. A small wire (<= 30 AWG wire) may be added to the sensor. Such a small wire may be wrapped around the wire that goes into the breaker. This allows the sensor to measure the voltage and current information thereby directly enabling the sensor to calculate power quality and energy without input from the primary controller 69.

[00208] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the sensors may communicate via wireless protocols to the main board inside of fuse box or to the central unit or smart sensor outside the beaker box thereby eliminating the need for wires inside of breaker box. Such sensors may have a small antenna, use a current calibration circuit, or use the current measurement circuit to communicate directly with the primary controller 69 inside the breaker box. Such an exemplary embodiment may use an extremely low energy wireless technology to allow the communication over short distances; about 1 meter.

[00209] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present system may eliminate the electronics from sensor other than ferrite core or other direct sensing mechanisms and putting the electronics on the main board. To minimize cost in the sensors, all electronics can be mounted in the primary controller 69 thereby leaving the direct mechanism of measuring the current or the magnetic flux directly.

[00210] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a device that monitors the power consumption of a single device may be employed; data acquisition device 1 1 . Such a device may plug into a wall outlet. This device 1 1 has the ability to communicate with the primary controller 69 in the home. The device 1 1 may or may not have the ability to control the power state of the device connected to it. The device 1 1 can measure power quality and energy consumption or generation of the devices connected to it. That information may be relayed up to the primary controller 69. The primary controller 69 may be able to communicate with this device 1 1 to control power state (if supported) and to modify the behavior of the device 1 1 if required. Of course, such a device 1 1 may be installed with system 10 or installed by a manufacturer of appliances or other intelligent devices 122.

[00211] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the data acquisition device 1 1 can have blades on it to enable it to be plugged into any standard outlet or the device can be hard wired into an appliance. The device 1 1 may be capable of power line communications (PLC) to the primary controller 69. It can control the power state of the device (if supported). It can compute power quality, power factor, apparent power, reactive power, fundamental power, energy consumed over time, frequency, transient analysis or any other computations supported in the rest of the system.

[00212] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the sensors 50, 51 , for example, can be self powered from the power lines by way of energy harvesting. Energy can be gathered from power line noise, and current flow through the wires in the home. This energy can be gathered by the sensors to enable the device to operate as expected. This may eliminate the need of wiring the sensors to the controlling device.

[00213] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, primary controller 69 may be housed inside the breaker box 13. Such a primary controller 69 may be mounted completely within the breaker box. All sensors, power connections, and cabling may be contained within the breaker box 13. This may be done to reduce installation cost and complexity of the installation.

[00214] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the primary controller 69 in the breaker box 13 may be capable of sensing many power lines. This enables one primary controller 69 to monitor up to every power line in the breaker box 13.

[00215] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, one connection on primary controller 69 may be capable of communicating with multiple sensors per connection. This may be done to reduce the amount of cabling inside the breaker box 13. For example, the primary controller 69 may communicate through power line networking and wireless/wired networking including but not limited WiFi, ZIGBEE, HOMEPLUG, BLUETOOTH, wireless USB and other RF means including cell towers, for example. The communication interface between the primary controller 69 and other devices in the home network as well as the communications up to the system servers may utilize many forms of communication. The standard devices auxiliary controllers on PLC, ZIGBEE, and RF. The devices can use any other communications method as may be required.

[00216] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the primary controller 69 can record all sensor readings (current, voltage, temp, etc) at programmed intervals and store the data for a minimum of 30 days, for example. Data compression methods may be used to further expand the recording time to years.

[00217] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, voltage, frequency, power factor, apparent power, reactive power, fundamental power may be all measured and recorded by the primary controller 69. All information may be sent up to the servers through communications interfaces for analysis and display.

[00218] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, such a primary controller 69 may be able to sense temperature, humidity, vibration, etc in order to report environmental conditions in the breaker box (or where ever it may be installed). This information can be used to report on the status of the data acquisition circuit 67, to better calibrate the measurement systems, or to detect problems such as fire, water infiltration, earthquake, or incursion. [00219] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, measuring intervals may be programmable based on events (transients, devices turning on/off, time of day, etc). Intervals can be programmed differently per line. Sensor data can be programmed to be read differently at different times of day or with respect to different events occurring. Thus, sensor data can be combined differently based on programmed intervals or events.

[00220] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, system 10 preferably synchronizes with network time protocol (NTP) servers using the simple network time protocol (SNTP) to align the power measurement numbers with standard time.

[00221] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, calibration from the internet based device to the NTP servers may use standard SNTP protocol. Calibration across the power line network preferably requires a modification to the SNTP method in order to get calibration across a non standard network.

[00222] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the primary controller 69 may communicate with data acquisition devices through different communication protocols. For example, conventional data acquisition devices 1 1 typically use ZIGBEE for communication. The primary controller 69 either directly or through remote devices such as data acquisition devices 1 1 may be capable of communication via the power line or through RF protocols such as ZIGBEE to communicate with primary controller 69 and gateway 71 and report that information upstream to the server or as a mechanism of calibrating the sensors within the sym systems.

[00223] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, display 83 may be employed to monitor activities, performance data and any other diagnostics. This display 83 can be touch screen and might have keyboard attachments and provides the ability to program the main board 69 and/or system. The display 83 may include a software interface such as an iphone/android application and/or a hardware device tablet type computer, smart thermostat with other read back functions, dedicated hardware device, for example. Such a display 83 may be able to communicate with the servers and/or directly with the primary controller 69 to display alerts, warnings, status, power consumption, etc. This display 83 may serve as a user interface and may be able to display messages sent from the servers that may contain advertising information, information from the local utility, emergency broadcast information, etc.

[00224] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the display 83 may be built into a breaker form factor. The breaker itself may contain all electronics for voltage measurement, power line communications, and sensor communications.

[00225] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the system 10 may include a power option to power inductively so that there may be no direct contact to current enabling consumer to easily install entire system. The device may be normally powered from a direct connection to one of the power phases in the breaker box 13, but the device can be powered from a non-contact inductively coupled connection to the main power supply to the breaker box 13. This allows a simpler installation because no wiring needs to be added or cut in the breaker box 13.

[00226] In a non-limiting exemplary wireless embodiment, the primary controller 69 may include an antenna mounted on the outside of the breaker box 13. To do this, the antenna may be wired to the primary controller 69 then connect to an antenna that may be mounted in a knockout of the breaker box 13. Another solution may be to mount the primary controller 69 outside of the breaker box 13 with an antenna that may be connected directly to the breaker box 13. This may require power and sensor connections from the device to the breaker box 13 to be routed through conduits between the two devices.

[00227] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a mechanism may be employed to eliminate utility meters by collecting power usage in a home in a fashion to enable the utility companies to bill the consumers and calculate energy consumption. The gateway 71 has the ability to communicate information to the web server. A data acquisition device 1 1 can be used to communicate with the utility meter on the side of the building. The device 1 1 then reports that information to the gateway 71 which in turn forwards that information to the web server. That information may be forwarded to the utility company so they can bill the home owner.

[00228] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, communication may be achieved through power line networking and wireless/wired networking including but not limited WiFi, ZIGBEE, HOMEPLUG, BLUETOOTH, wireless USB and other RF means including cell towers, for example.

[00229] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the gateway 71 may be the home communication to the world communication gateway. Advantageously, the gateway may be capable of communicating with the PLC along with ZIGBEE, HOMEPLUG, BLUETOOTH, RF, WiFi, USB, etc within the home and Ethernet, cell towers, pager networks, satellite communications outside of the home.

[00230] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the gateway 71 may communicate with the primary controller 69 or directly to data acquisition devices 1 1 . This allows the gateway 71 to act as the connection between the world and all intelligent devices (appliances) 122, auxiliary controllers 70 and data acquisition devices 1 1 within the home.

[00231] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a mechanism may display information on TV to see power usage for non-computer users. For example, a user may go to a specific channel to see the information. One method may be via a transmitter that broadcasts the signal to a specific frequency that the TV can directly pick up and display. For example, the present disclosure may utilize an existing television within the home to display all energy information that would normally be displayed on the website or other method for user interaction. The television device could use TV frequency modulation, RCA jacks, component video, s-video, HDMI connections or similar communication interfaces.

[00232] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure may employ a regulator to take voltage from 65V - 380V and convert to DC voltage (example 3.3V). A power supply may be built into the gateway that can use 65V - 380V AC or DC power and convert it to 3.0 VDC to 24 VDC for use within the device. The power supply may provide isolation from the PLC circuits so the signal would not be destroyed by the power supply and the power supply would be regulated to avoid causing interference while PLC reception may be occurring.

[00233] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the power line networking may be integrated into the voltage regulator. For example, a gateway device form factor can be built into a wall data acquisition device adapter. The adapter can then communicate via Ethernet, PLC, and through a serial communications protocol to an appliance that supports serial communication for diagnostics, energy consumption, or other requirement. The gateway 1 1 may also be capable of using various communications methods as specified above.

[00234] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present system 10 may include communications board(s) (gateway 71 ), main board(s) (primary controller 69) and sensor board(s) (data acquisition circuit 67), for example. Such sensor boards 67 may sense and collect data. The main board 69 may collect data from each sensor board 67, and the communications board 71 may transmit collected data to a central or distributed location. The sensor boards 67 may communicate directly with the main board 69 to transfer data collection and/or other data. The main board 69 may communicate directly with the sensor boards 67 as well as other main boards 69 and communications boards 71 that may exist on the PLC or other network. The communications board 71 may communicate directly with the main boards 69 and other communications boards 71 that may exist on the PLC or other network.

[00235] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a handheld diagnostics device may be used to gather and visually and/or audibly convey diagnostic information from any or all devices 69, 1 1 , 79, 71 in the system. Such a handheld diagnostic device may be able to communicate directly to the device under diagnostics to retrieve diagnostic information.

[00236] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the system 10 may be able to support and communicate with multiple main boards 69 and sensors within a network. Multiple communications boards 71 , main boards 69, and data acquisition devices 1 1 may coexist on the same network. The network may have multiple main boards 69 and devices 1 1 which communicate to the only communications board 71 to comprise a single system, or multiple main boards 69 and device 1 1 may communicate to separate communications boards 71 to comprise multiple systems.

[00237] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, various protocols may be employed for communicating and diagnostic data acquisition; i.e., Ethernet, ZIGBEE, BLUETOOTH, direct communications links, etc. The separate components of the system may communicate collected data and/or diagnostic information to each other by means of direct connection, power-line communication, Ethernet, ZIGBEE, BLUETOOTH, or other wired or wireless technology.

[00238] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, removable performance and data storage mechanisms like a USB card or SIM card may be provided (slots on communications board) for debug purposes. Examples may be a failed communications board where user can take the card out and data acquisition device into a PC for download or transmitting via email or other means to manufacturer or utility company for support on communications board(s), and/or main board(s). [00239] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the removable data storage mechanisms facilitate retrieval of diagnostic information from system components, even when the components may be failing to communicate. Regardless of the method of data retrieval, the diagnostic information could be transferred to the manufacture or utility company via email or other conventional communication links, well known by one skilled in the art.

[00240] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present system 10 may be capable of servicing and communicating with the data acquisition devices 1 1 , gateway 71 , and primary controller 69 other than the networking ports. This may be for when a technician or user wants to debug or access information directly via a PC or a hand held diagnostics device. A device and its data may be accessed directly or indirectly without accessing remote data storage. A handheld device may be used to directly communicate with a specific device to retrieve data and/or diagnostic information by wireless, direct connection, or other conventional communication links. A computer or other internet-enabled device may be able to connect to the device by a local area network, in a manner well known by one skilled in the art.

[00241] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present system 10 may communicate with smart devices 122 conforming to the smart energy profile specification or a variant thereof by means of ZIGBEE or other conventional communication links, in a manner well known by one skilled in the art.

[00242] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure may include a method for communicating to consumers from utility companies via communication links and displays available in the system. For example, warnings about weather, load, upcoming watering schedule, pricing changes, real-time pricing changes, etc. may be communications to consumers. In this manner, the consumer's utility company may be able to communicate information directly to the consumer through the system. The system may be able to display information from the utility company with a color-changing light, or other type of display. This allows the utility company to communicate warnings about weather, excessive load on power distribution network, watering restrictions, static or time-of-use pricing, or other information.

[00243] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, information gathered by the present system may be displayed on other unrelated devices, which may include computers, internet-enabled devices, mobile phones, wireless devices, web portals, or other similar devices.

[00244] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present system 10 may monitor water usage. A sensor appropriate for collecting data for irrigation, pool, and other water usages may communicate with the system. The sensor may be able to communicate to the system by one of more of the same communication links listed hereinabove. Also, the sensor may be able to control the flow of water.

[00245] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, water utility companies may be able to control days of irrigation and water usage during periods of drought. For example, a water sensor which may be able to control the flow of water may be subject to oversight by a local utility company. The utility company may be able to control when the water flow may be open or closed. This may facilitate enforcement of the utility company's existing restrictions, and provide further control during periods of drought.

[00246] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present system 10 may monitor gas usage including gas tank status and an alert signal to fill up may be directly transmitted to a gas provider. For example, a sensor appropriate for collecting data from gas tanks or pipes may communicate with the system. The sensor may be able to communicate to the system by one of more of the same communication links listed hereinabove. The sensor may be able to control the flow of gas. The sensor may be able to, through the system, directly notify a gas provider of the status of a monitored device. This may provide a mechanism that enables the gas provider to detect when the monitored device may be near empty or requires service.

[00247] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present system 10 may monitor oil (heating) usage including oil tank status and an alert to fill up directly to oil provider. A sensor (or data acquisition device 1 1 ) appropriate for collecting data from household oil tanks or pipes may communicate with the system. The sensor may be able to communicate with the system by one of more of the same communication links listed hereinabove. The sensor may be able to control the flow of oil. The sensor may be able to, through the system, directly notify an oil provider of the status of a monitored device. This may provide a mechanism that enables the oil provider to detect when the monitored device may be near empty or requires service.

[00248] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the system may continuously or periodically monitor various sensors. Over time, collection of these readings may generate many useful diagnostic statistics such as energy usages, water temperature usages, and usage patterns. Monitoring the available statistics, diagnostic information may be generated, such as appliance health/maintenance or the detailed cost to use an appliance.

[00249] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure may include a control irrigation system based on input from utility companies and/or based on weather forecast and usage patterns. For example, irrigation and other similar systems equipped with control may be automatically or manually overridden by the local utility company or controlled based on moisture levels or weather forecasts.

[00250] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure may provide similar control mechanisms for water companies and other utilities. For example, lowering demand by throttling back demand based on demand and/or other restrictions.

[00251] Water, gas, oil, and other sensors may be monitored and controlled by their respective supplying utility company. The utility company may have the ability to control the flow through these channels during times of excessive demand to ensure all customers may be able to receive a certain level of utility. The utility company may also use this control to enforce existing restrictions.

[00252] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure may include an alert and alarm system based on instantaneous consumption and average consumption. For example, programmable and learning mechanisms for learning a consumer's usage pattern may be employed to predict faults. A component in the system may have a mechanism that may display a visual or sound an audible alert. These alerts may be used to convey information such as excessive instantaneous or average power, water, gas, oil, or other consumption. The device may have user programmable alarm/alert settings or contain a mechanism which learns usage patterns to automatically set the alarm/alert settings parameters. This can quickly identify failures, degradation, or other problems with objects equipped with sensors on the system.

[00253] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present system may be interfaced with a telephone company's infrastructure as a mechanism to communicate between the communications board and the remote server(s) (i.e. low-end cable/dsl modem).

[00254] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, other user-installable devices may be compatible with the present system. Examples of such devices may include inline plugs, power strips, etc.

[00255] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, exemplary sensors may clip on branch circuits powered inductively. For example, branch circuit sensors may be powered using inductive energy from the branch power wire which it may be monitoring.

[00256] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the main board 69 preferably clips onto mains and thereby powered inductively. For example, main circuit sensors may be powered using inductive energy from the main power wire which it may be monitoring.

[00257] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, communication to communications board(s) 71 located inside the house may be achieved via a variety of communication links described above (wireless, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, etc.). Any component in the system may communicate with the communications board(s) via power-line communication, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or other wired or wireless technology.

[00258] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, communication may be transmitted to a router and a PC device with software display such that the PC may replace communications board(s) function. For example, in the situation where the system may communicate with a local area network without a communications board, a PC (computer) may be used to directly communicate to the system. This may allow the end user to display data and control the entire system without the requirement of a communications board.

[00259] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the web server may access collected data on a website such as, www.mvpowerbill.com, for example. Such a website has a graphical user interface that displays data to a user such as a consumer, utility company, administrator, etc. Various computer program applications provide corresponding web algorithms to perform the intend functions of the website.

[00260] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, users may have the ability to fill out information in an online profile that impacts how they use energy. For example, a user can specify that they have 4 people in their house, the two parents work from 9am to 5pm, they live in Florida, their house may be made out of concrete block. All of these metrics may be used by the application to compare energy usage of similar homes, and to identify statistical trends that relate energy usage to the various metrics represented by the system. The same metrics may be also used by the application to make recommended power schedules for controllable appliances in the house such as air conditioners and water heaters.

[00261] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a computer program application may include an executable algorithm to combine several profiles and produce a single profile instead of filling out a single profile that represents an entire family. For example, users may have the choice to enter in their individual profile information; such as age, work hours, preferred AC setting, etc. The algorithm may then take these individual profiles and combine them into a "family" profile. The resulting profile may be used by the computer program application to compare energy usage of similar homes, and to identify statistical trends that relate energy usage to the various metrics represented by the system. The same metrics may be also used by the computer program application to make recommended power schedules for controllable appliances in the house such as air conditioners and water heaters. Individual profiles may also be used by the system to automatically set appliances in the house to match the preferences of the people currently in the home.

[00262] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a computer program application may include an executable algorithm to optionally change combination profiles based on presence in house (by any mechanism, automatic or manual) or controlled physical space. For example, the system may detect which people may be currently in the house by way of detecting if their smart phone may be currently in the house. The smart phone may be identified as in the house based on either its GPS coordinates which would be sent to the web application by way of a smart phone application, or by way of connecting to the user's home WIFI network, which would leverage the same smart phone application to tell the web application that the smart phone may be in the house.

[00263] When a phone may be determined to be in the house, the user's profile, which may be associated with the detected smart phone, may be checked for user preferences for various appliances that may be used in the home. For example, if the user sets a preference in their profile for the AC to be set at 75 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and 70 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, then the computer software application would automatically set all controllable appliances in the house in accordance with the user's profile. If more than one registered phone may be on the network, the system may merge the profiles to come up with a series of settings that would work for both parties, for instance if one profile wants the AC set to 80, and the other profile prefers 75, then the system may automatically set the AC to 78 in an effort to please both parties.

[00264] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the computer program application may include an executable algorithm that automatically detects the presence of individuals in house and thereafter produces an appropriate profile. For example, automatic detection via cell phone, Wi-Fi connection of wireless device, or other RFID mechanism may be employed. Examples may include a key fob, RFID collar for a pet, or implantable devices.

[00265] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, load management may be based on the users' profiles. For example, load management may describe how an air conditioner responds to different user profiles. The system may have the ability to shutoff systems based on profiles and/or based on alarms and alerts to the system from the utility company or from the device itself. In addition, appliances and devices can be controlled manually, or automatically based on a variety of methods, well known by one skilled in the art.

[00266] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, if a user specifies in their profile that they work from 9 am to 5 pm, the system may make a recommendation of which appliances in the house should be turned off while the user may be away from the house. If the user accepts this recommendation, the system may create power schedules to turn off (or turn down the AC) various appliances while the user may be away.

[00267] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a user can specify how much money they may be willing to spend on a monthly basis for individual appliances and devices in the house. When that budget may be met, the device can be forced to the off position. An example may be if a family only wants to spend $5/month on electricity for their home entertainment equipment. When the $5 budget has been met, and alert would be sent to the user, and the data acquisition device 1 1 that may be attached to the home entertainment equipment would prevent the devices from being turned on for the remainder of the month.

[00268] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, consumers who participate in a utility load shed program may allow utility companies to shut off their appliances in times of high energy demand. Utility companies may have the option to manually initiate a load shed event, or set thresholds in the system that automatically initiate a shed event when certain conditions may be met. For example, if AC load > 1 .5 MW, turn off 10% of the AC systems under load control agreements starting with systems that haven't been shed in the past 7 days.

[00269] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, various computer software applications with our auxiliary controllers 70 and plug-type data acquisition devices 1 1 may automatically detect when dangerously abnormal power fluctuations may be occurring. Such conditions include extreme over/under voltage, harmonic distortion, and phase alignment problems. When a significant event may be detected, the controlled appliance may shut itself down for 5 minutes in order to protect the appliance. Before powering back on, the auxiliary controllers 70 or plug-type data acquisition devices 1 1 may check for power stability and then allow the appliance/device to power on.

[00270] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, various computer software applications may include the ability to change settings (throttle back or up) based on various operating parameters; i.e., a dropping thermostat or a dropping water heater temperature, etc. Instead of turning the appliance off, the system could simply change the thermostat setting on the water heater or air conditioner. [00271] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, various computer software applications may include the ability to preemptively control loads based on eminent failure via monitoring frequency fluctuations, environmental conditions (weather), etc. Such functions may also include the ability to adjust the thermostat settings of an air conditioner based on weather. For example, a utility company would have more liberty to shut off air conditioners when the outside temperature of a home may be below 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

[00272] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a computer software application may include an executable algorithm for suggesting an update to a user profile based on usage patterns in the home, in the neighborhood, in similar size houses and in similar climates (or any other combinations thereof). From time to time, a user's profile may become inaccurate. For example, if a user specifies that they work from 9 am to 5 pm and the system realizes that there may be significant energy usage during those hours, the system may ask the user if their profile information may be correct. If not, the user may be led to fix any of the inaccurate information so that the algorithms in the system can continue to make good recommendations for the user.

[00273] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a computer software application may include an executable algorithm to suggest remedies for degraded performance of devices based on above profiles and averages. For example, open fridge door, changing air filters, calking windows, etc. A set of services run in the background of the computer software application that may be designed to detect anomalies in energy usage for appliances and energy usage creep. When the algorithm detects that a refrigerator's energy usage may be creeping up by 10% per month, the user may be notified that there may be a potential issue. The issue could be a result of bad seals, clogged air intake, or an open door, etc.

[00274] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a computer software application may include an executable algorithm for discerning whether a problem requires service by a professional or any other means. The system provides suggestions to the user. If the user indicates that they have exhausted all recommended methods of correcting the issue but the problem still remains, the system may automatically give a recommendation for the homeowner to contact a service professional in their area to address the situation. The system may even recommend specific service companies in the user's area to address the issue.

[00275] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a computer software application may include an executable algorithm for determining the appropriate service professional to help resolve the problem. For example, when the need for a professional may be identified, the system may cross-reference the location of the property and the troubled appliance with a database of registered service professionals that may be in close proximity to the property and may be capable of working on the troubled appliance.

[00276] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a computer software application may include the ability to create an automatic demand profile (peak management) to un- overlap power state of large current drawing devices; i.e., don't turn water heater on at the same time as AC. Such a function may be beneficial for utility companies because utility companies have a strong desire to minimize the number of high current drawing appliances that may be operating at the same time. By utilizing intelligent devices 122, the home energy management function of the present disclosure may be able to coordinate when specific appliances turn on with respect to other appliances. For example, a rule in the system may prevent a water heater from turning on when a dryer or stove may be in use.

[00277] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a computer software application may include the ability to harnessing information from diagnostics sensors; i.e., temperature differences between AC airflow and temperature sensors at source and outlet. For example, the architecture of the present system allows for expandable sensor address space and allows software/computational/display processing of data from as many sensors as the user implements.

[00278] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, additional diagnostic sensors may be used to further identify energy efficiency problems. For example, temperature sensors installed throughout the house can be used to identify whether an AC duct layout needs to be improved. Airflow sensors installed at each air vent of an AC system may be used to determine if airflow may be degrading over time. This would indicate problems with the ductwork or the air handler.

[00279] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a battery operated clip may be attached to sensors for different devices (airflow sensors, temperature sensors, etc.).

[00280] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present system may include a full time power factor detection and warning for homeowner and utility. Power factor causes everything to run hotter or less efficient.

[00281] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure may include a method for monitoring the power factor of each house and notifying the homeowner and utility company of potential issues.

[00282] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a computer software application may include an executable algorithm for correcting power factor issues by load shedding based on any of the methods described above (throttling, shutdowns, etc.) when power factor issues may be detected for a house. For example, a recommended solution may be to use the auxiliary controllers 70 and other load control mechanisms to limit the number of motor loads simultaneously running in the house. As another example, ceiling fans can be turned off while the pool pump may be running. As another example, the irrigation pump may be turned off when the pool pump may be running. In this manner, the present system may automatically recommend a schedule that would minimize the number of motors running at any one time in the house. Of course, the graphical user interface on the website (www.mypowerbill.com) may display such data, diagnostics, alerts, alarms, etc. [00283] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of making parts of the present system, printed circuit boards may be ordered with the necessary traces already in place in a manner well know in the industry. Operators may apply solder paste to the boards, and load them into an automatic pick and place machine for component placement, in a manner well known in the industry. As an example, in one hour, three pick and place machines may be able to place the components for 30 complete systems. The operator may then move the boards to a solder oven where the boards may be heated up until the solder paste activates. After allowing the boards to cool, ten components may need to be manually placed on each system. Once these components may be secure, the boards may pass over a solder wave machine to solder the manually placed components. The board may cool again, and any long leads on the bottom of the board may be trimmed back. At this stage, the system may have all of the necessary electronic components to function.

[00284] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of making parts of the present system, after the soldering stages, the full boards may need to be visually inspected and cut up into individual components. Each board may include 13 main boards (circuits), 13 communication boards (hubs), and 8 sensor boards. Once the dicing may be complete, a total of 30 communication boards and 240 sensor boards may be positioned into plastic cases. Exemplary plastic cases may be shown in figures 1 -xxxx.

[00285] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of making parts of the present system, when dicing and stuffing may be complete, the systems may be moved over to a programming and calibration rig that may write the firmware onto the systems. This station may also test the current sensors and calibrate them. In addition to programming and calibration, all of the systems may be electronically tested to verify that they function as expected.

[00286] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the circuit may be housed in the breaker box. The main board 69 may be connected to the data acquisition circuit 67. Once each sensor may be installed, the main board may be secured to the exterior of the breaker box. A three-conductor ribbon cable connects each sensor with the main board. The main board may 69 receive its power from two newly installed circuit breakers that may be directly connected to a screw-down terminal on the main board 69.

[00287] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a plurality of auxiliary controllers 70 may be installed on the AC system, water heater, and pool pump. The water heater and pool pump auxiliary controllers may be hard-wired into the power lines that supply the appliances. The AC system's control may be wired into the low volt lines that control the unit.

[00288] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the circuit inside the breaker box 13 and the auxiliary controllers 70 may communicate via HOMEPLUG to the gateway. One skilled in the art understands that HOMEPLUG's power line communication protocols can be used to by home area networks to communicate via the power lines. More information about power line communications may be found at www.HOMEPLUG.org. The gateway may be placed near the user's broadband Internet connection. If the user does not may have broadband Internet, the gateway may be placed near a phone jack. Upon powering the circuit, the gateway 71 may be paired with the circuit in the breaker box 13 as well as the auxiliary controllers so they can communicate, in a manner well known in the industry.

[00289] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, managing installation of the system components may be achieved via an installer network of electricians throughout the country, or an existing installer network of the utility companies. Of course, on-line training for installers as well as detailed documentation on how to install the system may be provided.

[00290] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the circuit breaker data acquisition device 1 1 may be installed in the breaker box 13. Such a unit may have sensors that loop around the existing power lines that come out of each breaker in the box. Larger sensors may be installed on the main lines that come into the breaker box from the street. The sensors may have wires which run back to a circuit board containing the hardware that logs the energy usage per circuit branch. This data may be then transmitted via wireless or HOMEPLUG communication protocols back to the monitor for storage and transmission to the web server.

[00291] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, each data acquisition device 1 1 may be a device that monitors the power consumption of a single device or appliance. The data acquisition device 1 1 can be installed by manufacturers in their appliances, or it can be used as a stand-alone add-on that communicates back to the monitor. Each data acquisition device may include a sensor for monitoring power usage, and some additional circuitry for handling network communication back to the monitor. The networking communication protocol may be HOMEPLUG, for example.

[00292] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the primary controller 69 may be installed at the consumer's site. All data that may be acquired by the data acquisition devices 1 1 and data acquisition circuit 67 may be transmitted to the monitor. The primary controller 69 may store the data in onboard memory, and transmit it at regular intervals to the web server. The primary controller 69 may also have a limited user interface in the form of an LCD with control buttons. This interface may allow the consumer to see real time energy usage by device or zone. Such a monitor may have several ports on it including; USB, RJ-1 1 , and RJ-45. HOMEPLUG may be one communication protocol that the monitor can use to gather information from the data acquisition devices and circuits. Such data may be transmitted to the web via an onboard modem, or through the use of the consumer's home network, for example.

[00293] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a website, www.mypowerbill.com, may present energy usage data to the user in an intuitive manner. The data may be collected from the monitors, and stored in a database that may have a web 2.0 graphical user interface. The graphical user interface may be robust enough to show the user all of the data it has collected through the use of graphs and charts. Options such as alerts and targets can be setup to help people achieve energy saving goals. Email alerts can be sent out when certain thresholds may have been exceeded such as, when the AC system has consumed over "x" amount of dollars, for example. Comparative data may be readily available to users so they can determine whether they may be using more energy than the average household their size.

[00294] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the power-monitoring devices may record power usage at each zone in a house. A zone may be defined as an area of the building that may be one physical breaker in a breaker box. Examples of zones may include: indoor AC unit, outdoor AC unit, dryer, water heater, kitchen appliances, bathroom(s), bedroom(s). In addition to zones, data acquisition device sensors can also be plugged into a wall, and a device (TV, stereo, computer, etc.) can be plugged into the sensor. The power monitor may record usage data from all sensors in the house and transmit that data on a regular interval back to a database server that may be accessible by the Internet, for example. An authorized user (such as the homeowner, utility company, etc.) can login to their respective portal at www.powermybill.com to see details of their power bill.

[00295] A non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the website may provide a graphical user interface that allows authorized users to view electric usage data for the entire house, each zone as well as by time throughout the day. For example, when an authorized user views the power consumption of their AC system, the website may show the power usage and compares it to a national average and local average.

[00296] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a suggestion engine may be provided to look at a user's comparison data, and if it may be above the normal range, the user may be provided with tips and suggestions on how to bring down their power usage. The system may ask a series of questions (age of house, size of water heater, do you use CFLs?, etc) to build a profile of the house. Recommendations may be provided based upon the answers to the questions.

[00297] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a customer profile screen may be provided wherein information of the user's home may be displayed (square footage, number of people in the home, make/model of appliances, CFLs, seer rating of AC, etc.). The suggestion may gather such information displayed on the screen.

[00298] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a lead generation system may be provided for supplementing the suggestion engine. Such a system enables the user to solicit help from a professional. As a non-limiting example, a link may be provided to generate a request for a callback from someone who can help the user determine the cause of high power consumption. For example, when a user clicks on the "call me" button, the system may send a lead to a list of qualified service technicians in the user's area. Such technicians may be HVAC repair companies, plumbers, solar suppliers, etc. depending on the nature of the request. Distribution of such leads may be tracked and service providers may be charged a fee for accepted leads. Such service providers may log into a separate portal to view and accept leads.

[00299] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, utility companies may log into a separate portal to view their customers' power consumption during peak hours, for example.

[00300] There may be several different types of users that may be accessing the system for different reasons. In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, customers may access the web site on a regular basis to see how much electricity their appliances may be consuming. They may want to be able to get as much information as possible from their graphical user interface and may have the ability to drill down into the usage data for each appliance. Their usage data may be displayed in an interactive graph that allows them to toggle the various appliances in their home. They may be able to change the time window they may be viewing.

[00301] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the ability to compare two different time points may be also critical. This may enable homeowners to compare the current month's electric usage with that of last month. When the system notices that a particular appliance may be using more electricity than the average, the suggestion engine may notify the user on some steps that can be taken to reduce their electricity. If the suggestion engine cannot provide a feasible solution, the lead generation system may ask the user if they may be like to be contacted by a local service professional. If the user chooses to accept, they may key their contact number into a field, and the lead may be dispatched to a list of local referral partners.

[00302] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, communication may be established between referral partners. Referral partners may be companies that provide sales, service, support, and installation for the following areas: home appliances, HVAC, insulation, home energy evaluations, solar power, wind power, etc. These partners may be registered, and pay an annual membership fee. In exchange, leads may be sent to such partners whenever a user clicks on the link to have a service professional contact them. The partner may use the web site to manage their account information, such as billing info, location, preferred lead notification method (email, text message, phone call, page, etc.). They may also be required to login to their portal to accept or decline the lead. Users may be able to rate their experience with a particular service provider. These ratings may help determine which referral partners get the most leads.

[00303] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a utility company graphical user interface may also be provided where the utility company can login and monitor their customer's utility consumption.

[00304] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, as noted hereinabove, Hall Effect Sensor 1 and 2 monitor 2 different branch lines in the breaker box (or the data acquisition device.) The small signals may be then amplified to maximize the analog-to- digital (A D) range in the 8-bit MCU. The MCU samples the 2 devices along with power supply divided by two (VDD/2) to remove the carrier signal from the amplified sensor voltages. Instantaneous readings may be collected in the MCU then root mean square (RMS) may be computed and stored for reading by the main board. The main board may requests the data from the sensors on a programmed interval for transmission to the communications board.

[00305] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the main board preferably collects the data from all sensor boards inside the breaker box. Such data may be stored with approximately 8 seconds worth of RMS current and time information for all sensors in the system. The data may be reformatted and transferred to the communications board by PLC or ZIGBEE communications, for example.

[00306] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the communications board preferably collects data from sensors distributed throughout the location. Such data may be logged over a period of time and uploaded to the servers for insertion to the database. The system may also live stream the data to smart devices or to other customer equipment for real time display.

[00307] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the sensors preferably collect true billing quality energy consumption information for critical locations. In a preferred embodiment, a Hall Effect sensor may be used versus a shunt to minimize wasted energy in the measurement of the current flowing to the circuit. The Hall Effect sensor and the voltage divider preferably generate small signal inputs to the energy measurement chip which computes all of the needed energy values for the system. Such data may be read at regular intervals by the MCU and sent to the main board or if implemented directly to the communications board through other communication protocols, for example. [00308] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, each data acquisition device 1 1 may be a single power outlet device that can be plugged in to any outlet in the home to get accurate energy information for any devices plugged into it. For example, a wall wart, or corded type device may be employed that uses the high accuracy sensor from above to measure the energy consumed by any device plugged into it. The information may be then sent back across the network to the communications board to be sent to the servers in communications with at least one database.

[00309] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the data acquisition device 1 1 may be a single power outlet device with load control auxiliary controllers 70 that can switch the load on/off as required. For example, such data acquisition devices may include a load control auxiliary controllers 70 controlled by a signal from the high accuracy sensor board that may originate from the high accuracy board needed to shut the circuit down or from user limits set via the graphical user interface of the aforementioned web site.

[00310] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the data acquisition device 1 1 may be hard wired for high voltage devices and thereby may provide high accuracy power measurements for hardwired devices within the home (water heater, HVAC, etc.). For example, such a data acquisition device may be enclosed in an approved UL circuit box and may support single or double pole designs to enable reading of 120V or 240V based home appliances. The high accuracy sensor 65 may be also modified to allow current sensing to 100A.

[00311] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the hard wired version of the data acquisition device 1 1 for high voltage devices may be provided with an optional load control function to allow load control of hardwired appliances throughout the home. For example, single or double pole auxiliary controllers may be added to allow control of hardwired circuits. The devices may be built with varying interrupting currents to reduce cost, in a manner well known in the industry.

[00312] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a multiple outlet (power strip) version of the data acquisition device 1 1 and optional load control function may be employed to provide a power monitoring/control solution for areas of high device density (home entertainment area). For example, a power strip device may have the ability to monitor each outlet separately and optionally to be able to control each outlet separately through the use of a load control auxiliary controllers 70. A power strip can alarm may also be provided for over recommended current conditions, or sensed excessive voltage drop and load shed devices thereby alerting the homeowner of the issue.

[00313] In a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a thermostat may be integrated to the system to provide smart control for the home HVAC system. For example, such a thermostat may utilize real weather information from the web to predict how to modify the current run cycles of the HVAC system. For example, if night time may be approaching and the temperature may be dropping, the HVAC system cycle time may be reduced to limit how long it runs. An online programming method for may be employed via the graphical user interface that asks the homeowner questions about when people may be in the home to generate a customized AC program. Humidity and temperature information may also be utilized to calculate how the temperature feels to the occupants to better understand when to cycle the HVAC system.

[00314] While the invention has been described with respect to a certain specific embodiment, it will be appreciated that many modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It may be intended, therefore, by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. In particular, with respect to the above description, it may be to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the present disclosure may include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation.

Claims

What may be claimed may be:

1 . A system for monitoring utility consumption within a target zone, said utility consumption monitoring system comprising:

a plurality of data acquisition devices adapted to be communicatively coupled to existing power lines located proximate to the target zone, said data acquisition devices being capable of acquiring a first set of utility consumption data from the power lines; and

a controller communicatively coupled to said data acquisition devices and adapted to be communicatively coupled to an existing breaker box located proximate to the target zone, said controller being capable of acquiring a second set of utility consumption data from the power lines;

wherein said controller analyzes said first and second sets of utility consumption data based upon predefined operating parameters.

2. The utility consumption monitoring system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a gateway communicatively coupled to said data sensing devices and said controller respectively; and

a web server communicatively coupled to said gateway;

wherein said controller transmits said first and second sets of utility consumption data to said gateway;

wherein said gateway transmits said first and second sets of utility consumption data to said web server;

wherein said web server formats and displays said first and second sets of utility consumption data in a graphical format.

3. The utility consumption monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein said data acquisition devices comprise: a plurality of first sensors.

4. The utility consumption monitoring system of claim 3, wherein said controller comprises: a data acquisition circuit including a plurality of second sensors capable of being communicatively coupled to the power lines within the existing breaker box.

5. The utility consumption monitoring system of claim 4, wherein at least one of said first and second sensors are Hall Effect sensors.

6. The utility consumption monitoring system of claim 4, wherein at least one of said first and second sensors are hardwired to the power lines.

7. The utility consumption monitoring system of claim 4, wherein at least one of said first and second sensors are in wireless communication with the power lines.

8. The utility consumption monitoring system of claim 4, wherein said second sensors are capable of being inductively powered by the power lines.

9. A method of utilizing a system for monitoring utility consumption within a target zone, said method comprising the steps of:

providing and communicatively coupling a plurality of data sensing devices to existing power lines located proximate to the target zone;

providing and communicatively coupling a controller to said data sensing devices;

communicatively coupling said controller to an existing breaker box located proximate to the target zone;

said data sensing devices acquiring a first set of utility consumption data from the power lines;

said controller acquiring a second set of utility consumption data from the power lines;

said controller analyzing said first and second sets of utility consumption data based upon predefined operating parameters.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

providing and communicatively coupling a gateway to said data sensing devices and said controller respectively;

providing and communicatively coupling a web server to said gateway;

said controller transmitting said first and second sets of utility consumption data to said gateway;

said gateway transmitting said first and second sets of utility consumption data to said web server; and

said web server formatting and displaying said first and second sets of utility consumption data in a graphical format.

1 1 . A computer program product for displaying utility consumption data on a display screen, said computer program product comprising:

a computer readable medium including software instructions that cause said display screen to display acquired utility consumption data in a graphical format such that a user is able to remotely manipulate utility consumption loads peeks occurring at a target zone.