US20030176952A1 — Energy information and control system

Claim 1

Independent Claim 132 words

1 . An energy information and control system for monitoring and analyzing the power consumption at a plurality of locations, the system comprising: a computer network facilitating the passage of electronic information between devices connected to the network; at least one building server connected to the network, the building server being connected to at least one energy meter, the building server being able to transmit energy usage information received from the energy meter across the network; a primary server coupled to the network for receiving the energy usage information transmitted across the network, the primary server compiling the energy usage information received from the building server into energy consumption statistics; and at least one monitoring station connected to the network to receive and display the energy consumption statistics from the primary server.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 132 words

1 . An energy information and control system for monitoring and analyzing the power consumption at a plurality of locations, the system comprising: a computer network facilitating the passage of electronic information between devices connected to the network; at least one building server connected to the network, the building server being connected to at least one energy meter, the building server being able to transmit energy usage information received from the energy meter across the network; a primary server coupled to the network for receiving the energy usage information transmitted across the network, the primary server compiling the energy usage information received from the building server into energy consumption statistics; and at least one monitoring station connected to the network to receive and display the energy consumption statistics from the primary server.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 30 words

2 . The energy information and control system of claim 1 wherein the primary server includes a power database for storing the energy usage information received from the building server.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 29 words

3 . The energy information and control system of claim 1 wherein the primary server interrogates the building server to receive the energy usage information from the building server.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 36 words

4 . The energy information and control system of claim 1 further comprising at least one smart energy meter coupled directly to the network for transmitting energy usage information to the primary server across the network.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 41 words

5 . The energy information and control system of claim 2 wherein the primary server includes a translating program that converts the energy usage information transmitted across the network into historical power data that can be stored in the power database.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 55 words

6 . The energy information and control system of claim 1 , wherein the system includes a plurality of building servers each physically located in a different building, such that the primary server compiles energy usage information from the plurality of building servers and combines the energy usage information into a single energy consumption statistic.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 115 words

7 . An energy information and control system for monitoring and analyzing the power consumption at a plurality of locations, the system comprising: a computer network for allowing the passage of electronic information across the network; a plurality of energy meters coupled to the network, the energy meters transmitting energy usage information across the network; a primary server coupled to the network for receiving the energy usage information transmitted across the network, the primary server combining the energy usage information from the plurality of energy meters into energy consumption statistics for the plurality of locations; and at least one monitoring station coupled to the network to access the energy consumption statistics from the primary server.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 115 words

7 . An energy information and control system for monitoring and analyzing the power consumption at a plurality of locations, the system comprising: a computer network for allowing the passage of electronic information across the network; a plurality of energy meters coupled to the network, the energy meters transmitting energy usage information across the network; a primary server coupled to the network for receiving the energy usage information transmitted across the network, the primary server combining the energy usage information from the plurality of energy meters into energy consumption statistics for the plurality of locations; and at least one monitoring station coupled to the network to access the energy consumption statistics from the primary server.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 51 words

8 . The energy information and control system of claim 7 further comprising at least one building server connected to the network and at least one of the energy meters for converting a signal from the energy meter into the energy usage information that can be transmitted across the computer network.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 31 words

9 . The energy information and control system of claim 7 wherein the primary server combines the energy usage information from the plurality of energy meters into the energy consumption statistics.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 38 words

10 . The energy information and control system of claim 7 wherein each of the energy meters includes a distinct address such that the primary server can communicate with each power meter across the network through the address.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 36 words

11 . The energy information and control system of claim 7 further comprising a generator connected to the network, wherein the primary server generates an indicator signal when the energy consumption statistics exceed an upper limit.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 137 words

12 . A method of monitoring and analyzing the power consumption at a plurality of distinct locations the method comprising the steps of: connecting a primary server to a computer network; coupling a plurality of energy meters to the computer network, each energy meter being capable of transmitting energy usage information across the network; triggering the energy meters to transmit the energy usage information across the network; receiving the energy usage information from the plurality of energy meters in the primary server; storing the energy usage information in a power database coupled to the primary server; processing the stored energy usage information received from the plurality of energy meters into combined energy consumption statistics; and accessing the primary server with a remote monitoring station connected to the network to receive and display the combined energy consumption statistics.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 137 words

12 . A method of monitoring and analyzing the power consumption at a plurality of distinct locations the method comprising the steps of: connecting a primary server to a computer network; coupling a plurality of energy meters to the computer network, each energy meter being capable of transmitting energy usage information across the network; triggering the energy meters to transmit the energy usage information across the network; receiving the energy usage information from the plurality of energy meters in the primary server; storing the energy usage information in a power database coupled to the primary server; processing the stored energy usage information received from the plurality of energy meters into combined energy consumption statistics; and accessing the primary server with a remote monitoring station connected to the network to receive and display the combined energy consumption statistics.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 27 words

13 . The method of claim 12 wherein the combined energy consumption statistics are a sum of the energy consumption measured by the plurality of energy meters.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 51 words

14 . The method of claim 12 wherein all of the energy meters in a single location are each connected to a building server that is connected to the network, the building server receiving the energy usage information from the energy meters and transmitting the energy usage information across the network.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 47 words

15 . The method of claim 12 wherein the step of storing the energy usage information includes translating the energy usage information from a first form used to transmit the information over the network to a second form used to process the information in the primary server.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 22 words

16 . The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of assigning a distinct address to each of the energy meters.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 28 words

17 . The method of claim 12 wherein the energy meters are triggered by the primary server to transmit the energy user information at a selected time interval.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 54 words

18 . The method of claim 12 further comprising the steps of: coupling a revenue meter directly to the computer network, the revenue meter including a control card capable of communicating across the computer network; and configuring the revenue meter to automatically transmit energy usage information at selected time intervals across the computer network.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 121 words

19 . An energy information and control system for monitoring and analyzing the power consumption at a plurality of locations, the system comprising: a computer network for allowing the passage of electronic information across the network; at least one energy meter coupled to the network, the energy meter transmitting energy usage information across the network; a primary server coupled to the network for receiving the energy usage information transmitted across the network, the primary server compiling the energy usage information into energy consumption statistics; and an energy generator coupled to the network, wherein the primary server generates an indicator signal when the energy consumption statistics reach an upper limit, such that the energy generator can be operated to generate supplemental energy.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 121 words

19 . An energy information and control system for monitoring and analyzing the power consumption at a plurality of locations, the system comprising: a computer network for allowing the passage of electronic information across the network; at least one energy meter coupled to the network, the energy meter transmitting energy usage information across the network; a primary server coupled to the network for receiving the energy usage information transmitted across the network, the primary server compiling the energy usage information into energy consumption statistics; and an energy generator coupled to the network, wherein the primary server generates an indicator signal when the energy consumption statistics reach an upper limit, such that the energy generator can be operated to generate supplemental energy.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 38 words

20 . The energy information and control system of claim 19 wherein the energy generator is configured such that the energy generator can be activated by the primary server when the energy consumption statistics reach the upper limit.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 53 words

21 . The energy information and control system of claim 19 further comprising at least one building server connected to the network, the building server being coupled to at least one energy meter for converting a signal from the energy meter into energy usage information that can be transmitted across the computer network.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 42 words

22 . The energy information and control system of claim 19 wherein the energy meter and the generator have a distinct address such that the primary server can communicate with the energy meter and generator across the network by the distinct address.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 37 words

23 . The energy information and control system of claim 19 further comprising at least one monitoring station coupled to the network such that the monitoring station can access the energy consumption statistics from the primary server.

Energy information and control system

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