Customer side power management system including auxiliary fuel cell for reducing potential peak load upon utilities and providing electric power for auxiliary equipment

Claim 1

A customer side electrical power management system comprising: a main distribution panel, located at a customer location, for receiving electric power from a public electric utility via a plurality of phase lines or wires, said distribution panel for thereafter distributing the received electric power toward a plurality of loads at the customer location; at least one hydrocarbon-powered fuel cell located at the customer location that receives hydrocarbon fuel and transforms said hydrocarbon fuel into electric power to be directed to said loads; a power distribution circuit including a threshold level setting circuit located at the customer location, said threshold level setting circuit for allowing the customer to set a maximum power level of power from said utility that the customer wishes to receive and pay for, in order to reduce peak demand charges; a comparator for determining when the amount of power being received by the customer from said utility reaches said maximum power level; means, in operative relation with said comparator, for causing all additional power required by the customer that is above said level to be generated by said at least one fuel cell and to be directed from said at least one fuel cell to said loads; wherein said power distribution circuit includes means for receiving an input directly from said main distribution panel, said input being indicative of power being derived by the loads from said public electric utility; said comparator including means for comparing the level of a signal of said input with a predetermined threshold level set by said threshold setting circuit; a switch in said power distribution circuit, said switch being in communication with said comparator and said switch being selectively opened and closed as a function of output from said comparator; and means for opening said switch when said comparator determines that said signal of said input has reached said predetermined threshold level thereby allowing power from said fuel cell to aid in supplying power to the loads.