Control system with incentive-based control of building equipment

Abstract

A control system includes building equipment configured to consume electrical energy and generate thermal energy, electrical energy storage configured to store and discharge electrical energy, and a controller. The controller is configured to determine, for a plurality of time steps within a time horizon, an amount of electrical energy to store in the electrical energy storage or discharge from the electrical energy storage using a value function. The value function includes an expected revenue from participating in an incentive-based demand response (IBDR) program, an expected cost of participating in the IBDR program, and a penalty cost based on an amount by which a predicted output of the building equipment or the electrical energy storage changes between time steps within the time horizon. The controller is configured to control the electrical energy storage to store or discharge the amount of electrical energy determined using the value function.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A control system comprising:
 building equipment configured to consume electrical energy and generate thermal energy;   electrical energy storage configured to store and discharge electrical energy; and   a controller configured to determine, for a plurality of time steps within a time horizon, an amount of electrical energy to store in the electrical energy storage or discharge from the electrical energy storage using a value function comprising:
 an expected revenue from participating in an incentive-based demand response (IBDR) program; 
 an expected cost of participating in the IBDR program; and 
 a penalty cost based on an amount by which a predicted output of the building equipment or the electrical energy storage changes between time steps within the time horizon; 
   the controller configured to control the electrical energy storage to store or discharge the amount of electrical energy determined using the value function.   
     
     
         2 . The control system of  claim 1 , wherein the expected revenue from participating in the IBDR program comprises revenue gained by selling electrical energy stored in the electrical energy storage to an energy grid. 
     
     
         3 . The control system of  claim 1 , wherein the expected cost of participating in the IBDR program is based on an estimated amount of electrical energy consumed by the building equipment in order to participate in the IBDR program. 
     
     
         4 . The control system of  claim 1 , wherein the value function further comprises a monetized cost of capacity loss for the electrical energy storage. 
     
     
         5 . The control system of  claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to estimate the monetized cost of capacity loss for the electrical energy storage as a function of the amount of electrical energy to store in the electrical energy storage or discharge from the electrical energy storage determined using the value function. 
     
     
         6 . The control system of  claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to estimate the monetized cost of capacity loss for the electrical energy storage using a battery capacity loss model. 
     
     
         7 . The control system of  claim 1 , wherein the value function further comprises a penalty cost of equipment degradation. 
     
     
         8 . The control system of  claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to estimate the penalty cost of equipment degradation as a function of an estimated number of on/off commands provided to the building equipment within the time horizon. 
     
     
         9 . The control system of  claim 1 , further comprising thermal energy storage configured to store and discharge at least a portion of the thermal energy generated by the building equipment. 
     
     
         10 . A method for controlling electrical energy storage, the method comprising:
 determining, for a plurality of time steps within a time horizon, an amount of electrical energy to store in the electrical energy storage or discharge from the electrical energy storage using a value function comprising:
 an expected revenue from participating in an incentive-based demand response (IBDR) program; 
 an expected cost of participating in the IBDR program; and 
 a penalty cost based on an amount by which a predicted output of the electrical energy storage changes between time steps within the time horizon; and 
   controlling the electrical energy storage to store or discharge the amount of electrical energy determined using the value function.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the expected revenue from participating in the IBDR program comprises revenue gained by selling electrical energy stored in the electrical energy storage to an energy grid. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the expected cost of participating in the IBDR program is based on an estimated amount of electrical energy consumed by the building equipment in order to participate in the IBDR program. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the value function further comprises a monetized cost of capacity loss for the electrical energy storage. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising estimating the monetized cost of capacity loss for the electrical energy storage as a function of the amount of electrical energy to store in the electrical energy storage or discharge from the electrical energy storage determined using the value function. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising estimating the monetized cost of capacity loss for the electrical energy storage using a battery capacity loss model. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the value function further comprises a penalty cost of equipment degradation. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising estimating the penalty cost of equipment degradation as a function of an estimated number of on/off commands provided to building equipment within the time horizon. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising operating building equipment;
 wherein the penalty cost is based on an amount by which a predicted output of the building equipment changes between time steps within the time horizon.   
     
     
         19 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 estimating an expected revenue from participating in an incentive based demand response (IBDR) program;   estimating an expected cost of participating in the IBDR program;   estimating a penalty cost based on an amount by which a predicted output of controllable equipment changes between time steps within a time horizon;   determining whether to participate in the IBDR program based on the expected revenue and at least one of the expected cost or the penalty cost; and   operating the controllable equipment to participate in the IBDR program or not participate in the IBDR program based on a result of the determining.   
     
     
         20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 19 , wherein the controllable equipment comprises at least one of:
 building equipment configured to consume electrical energy and generate thermal energy;   electrical energy storage configured to store and discharge electrical energy; or   thermal energy storage configured to store and discharge thermal energy.