WO2024218717A1 - Determining actual phase connectivity between an electric vehicle (ev) charger and a main electrical panel of an ev charging site - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for determining an actual phase connectivity arrangement of an EV charger and a main electrical panel of an EV charging site comprising: determining a difference between the current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main panel during a first time period and the respective current consumption values measured for each of the phases of the main panel during a second time period subsequent to the first time period to develop a set of difference electrical consumption values for the main panel; comparing the difference current consumption values for the main panel with at least one value indicating the amount of current consumed by at least one phase of the EV charger obtained during the second time period; and supplying the actual phase connectivity arrangement of the EV charger to the main pane which was determined based on the comparing.

Description

DETERMINING ACTUAL PHASE CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) CHARGER AND A MAIN ELECTRICAL PANEL OF AN EV CHARGING SITE

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/497,011 filed on April 19, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The disclosure generally relates to electrical charging of electric vehicles (EVs), and more particularly to systems and methods for generating an actual phase connectivity scheme of actual connectivity order between EV chargers and a main electrical panel of an EV charging site.

BACKGROUND

[0003] In the recent past, an increasing number of people have begun using electric vehicles (EVs). EV chargers are used for charging the EVs’ batteries and are usually installed in private houses, apartment buildings, shopping centers, charging centers, and workplaces.

[0004] Installation and management of EV chargers on a large scale in apartment buildings, shopping centers and workplaces is extremely complicated due to power constraints, complex billing, and infrastructure updates that are typically required.

[0005] Any EV charging site has an electrical infrastructure which is always designed to provide a limited electric power to the site. In many cases there are multiple EV chargers that operate at the same time in an EV charging site, and therefore an efficient allocation of the electric power among the active EV chargers is required to enable a proper charging of the EVs that are connected to various ones of the EV chargers.

[0006] Moreover, in most sites having three-phase based electrical infrastructure, it is impossible to know if the phases of the EV chargers, e.g., three-phase EV chargers, are properly connected to the phases of the main panel. That is, phase 1 of the EV charger should be connected to phase 1 of the main panel, phase 2 of the EV charger should be connected to phase 2 of the main panel, and phase 3 of the EV charger should be connected to phase 3 of the main panel. Unfortunately, in practice errors often occur so that such is not the actual connectivity arrangement. Such errors may occur at any connection point along the path from the main panel to an EV charger, e.g., between main panel to subpanel, between subpanel to EV charger, between main panel to EV charger, and so on.

[0007] Thus, trying to determine the overall building load by measuring the phase load on specific devices, is often extremely difficult. It is even more difficult when trying to determine an overall single-phase load that uses only one of the phases. Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a solution that overcomes the shortcomings of prior art solutions noted above.

SUMMARY

[0008] A summary of several example embodiments of the disclosure follows. This summary is provided for the convenience of the reader to provide a basic understanding of such embodiments and does not wholly define the breadth of the disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all embodiments nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. For convenience, the term “certain embodiments” may be used herein to refer to a single embodiment or multiple embodiments of the disclosure.

[0009] Certain embodiments disclosed herein include a method determining an actual phase connectivity arrangement between an electric vehicle (EV) charger and a main electrical panel of an EV charging site, the EV charger being coupled to the main electrical panel. The method comprises: obtaining, by a management server, using an energy monitoring system (EMS) that is connected to each phase of a main electrical panel of the EV charging site, the main electrical panel of the EV charging site having three phases, a set of electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during a first time period and a set of electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main panel during a second time period that is subsequent to the first time period; obtaining, during the second time period, by the management server, in real-time from a three-phase EV charger connected to the main electrical panel of the EV charging site, a set of electrical current consumption values that includes at least one value indicating an amount of electrical current consumed by at least one phase of the three phase EV charger; determining, by the management server, a difference between the electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the first time period and the respective electrical current consumption values measured for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the second time period to develop a set of difference electrical current consumption values for the main electrical panel; comparing, by the management server, the difference electrical current consumption values for the main electrical panel with the at least one value indicating the amount of electrical current consumed by the at least one phase of the three phase EV charger that was obtained during the second time period; determining, by the management server, an actual connectivity arrangement by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel based on the result of the comparing; and supplying an indication of the actual phase connectivity arrangement which specifies the actual order by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to the three phases of the main electrical panel.

[00010] Certain embodiments disclosed herein include non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing processing circuity to execute a process for determining an actual phase connectivity arrangement between an electric vehicle (EV) charger and a main electrical panel of an EV charging site, the EV charger being coupled to the main electrical panel, the process comprising: obtaining, by a management server, using an energy monitoring system (EMS) that is connected to each phase of a main electrical panel of the EV charging site, the main electrical panel of the EV charging site having three phases, a set of electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during a first time period and a set of electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main panel during a second time period that is subsequent to the first time period; obtaining, during the second time period, by the management server, in real-time from a three-phase EV charger connected to the main electrical panel of the EV charging site, a set of electrical current consumption values that includes at least one value indicating an amount of electrical current consumed by at least one phase of the three phase EV charger; determining, by the management server, a difference between the electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the first time period and the respective electrical current consumption values measured for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the second time period to develop a set of difference electrical current consumption values for the main electrical panel; comparing, by the management server, the difference electrical current consumption values for the main electrical panel with the at least one value indicating the amount of electrical current consumed by the at least one phase of the three phase EV charger that was obtained during the second time period; determining, by the management server, an actual connectivity arrangement by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel based on the result of the comparing; and supplying an indication of the actual phase connectivity arrangement which specifies the actual order by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to the three phases of the main electrical panel.

[00011] Certain embodiments disclosed herein include a system for determining an actual phase connectivity arrangement between an electric vehicle (EV) charger and a main electrical panel of an EV charging site, the EV charger being coupled to the main electrical panel, the system comprising: a processing system; and a memory, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processing system, configure the system to: obtain, using an energy monitoring system (EMS) that is connected to each phase of a main electrical panel of the EV charging site, the main electrical panel of the EV charging site having three phases, a set of electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during a first time period and a set of electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main panel during a second time period that is subsequent to the first time period; obtain, during the second time period, by the management server, in real-time from a three phase EV charger connected to the main electrical panel of the EV charging site, a set of electrical current consumption values that includes at least one value indicating an amount of electrical current consumed by at least one phase of the three phase EV charger; determine, by the management server, a difference between the electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the first time period and the respective electrical current consumption values measured for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the second time period to develop a set of difference electrical current consumption values for the main electrical panel; compare, by the management server, the difference electrical current consumption values for the main electrical panel with the at least one value indicating the amount of electrical current consumed by the at least one phase of the three phase EV charger that was obtained during the second time period; determine, by the management server, an actual connectivity arrangement by which each phase of the three phase EV charger is connected to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel based on the result of the comparing; and supply an indication of the actual phase connectivity arrangement which specifies the actual order by which each phase of the three phase EV charger is connected to the three phases of the main electrical panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[00012] In the drawing:

[00013] FIG. 1 shows an illustrative network diagram;

[00014] FIG. 2 is an illustrative diagram of a management server 120 according to an embodiment;

[00015] FIG. 3 shows an illustrative diagram demonstrating an actual phase connectivity arrangement between EV chargers and a main electrical panel of an EV charging site, according to an embodiment; and

[00016] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart 400 of an illustrative method for determining the actual phase connectivity arrangement between EV chargers and a main electrical panel of an EV charging site, according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[00017] It is important to note that the embodiments disclosed herein are only examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein. In general, statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily limit any of the various claimed embodiments. Moreover, some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others. In general, unless otherwise indicated, singular elements may be in plural and vice versa with no loss of generality. In the drawings, like numerals refer to like parts through several views.

[00018] The disclosed method is utilized for generating an actual phase connectivity scheme of actual connectivity order between electric vehicle (EV) chargers and a main electrical panel of an EV charging site. A set of current consumption values for the main electrical panel is measured for each of the three phases of a main electrical panel during a first time period and a set of current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel is measured during a second time period that is subsequent to the first time period. In addition, a set of current consumption values that includes at least one value indicating the amount of electrical current consumed by at least one phase of the three-phase EV charger that is connected to the main electrical panel, is collected in real-time. A difference between respective current consumption values for each phase of the main electrical panel during the first period and during the second period are determined to develop a set of difference current consumption values for the main electrical panel and these difference current consumption values for the main electrical panel are compared with the at least one value indicating the amount of electrical current consumed by at least one phase of the three-phase EV charger that was measured during the second period, and the comparison is used as the basis on which the actual connectivity of at last one phase of the three-phase EV charger to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel is determined.

[00019] FIG. 1 shows an illustrative network diagram 100. In FIG. 1 , a management server 120, EV chargers 130-1 through 130-M, where M is an integer equal to or greater than 1 , hereinafter referred to as EV charger 130 or EV chargers 130, merely for simplicity, a main electrical service panel 140, a smart meter 145, an energy monitoring system (EMS) 147, and a database 170 are communicatively connected to a network 110. The network 110 may be, for example, a wireless network, a wide area network (WAN), local area network (LAN), or any other kind of applicable network, as well as any combination thereof.

[00020] The management server 120 may include hardware and software that enable the management server 120 to collect data and analyze data, receive information, send instructions, and the like. The components of the management server 120 are further described with respect to FIG. 2. In an embodiment, the management server 120 is deployed in a cloud computing platform, such as Amazon® AWS or Microsoft® Azure.

[00021] The EV charger 130 is a piece of equipment that supplies electrical power for charging plug-in EVs. EV chargers are usually connected to the main panel, e.g., the main electrical service panel 140 of a site, or to a subpanel, e.g., as shown in FIG. 3. The EV charger may be a multi-phase EV charger, e.g., a three-phase EV charger. The local electrical service panel is connected to a grid power supply, such as the grid power supply 150, from which the electric power is provided to the EV charger 130. The main electrical service panel 140 is a central distribution point that connects the external wires coming from the grid power supply 150 with the internal electrical wires of the electrical system of the EV charging site. The grid power supply 150 is an interconnected network for delivery of electricity from electricity producers to electricity consumers. One or more subpanels, shown in FIG. 3, may be connected directly or indirectly to the main panel 140. The EV charger 130 may be connected to a subpanel and the subpanel may be connected directly to the main panel 140 or to at least one more subpanel which is connected to the main panel 140.

[00022] The smart meter 145 may be connected to the main electrical service panel 140. The smart meter 145 is a piece of equipment can be used to measure and record electricity consumption at the site. The smart meter 145 may be configured to communicate with the management server 120 over the network 110 using a network interface.

[00023] The energy monitoring system (EMS) 147 is a system that measures and records the current and voltage in one or more electrical circuits. The EMS 147 may include one or more smart ammeters. The EMS 147 may be configured to communicate with the management server 120 over the network 110 using a network interface. In an embodiment, the EMS 147 may include three smart ammeters. According to the same embodiment each of the smart ammeters may be connected to one phase of the main panel 140.

[00024] In addition to the EV chargers 130, a plurality of non-EV devices 160 may be connected to the main electrical service panel 140 which is connected to the grid power supply 150. The non-EV devices 160 may include, for example, household appliances, elevators, lighting systems, and the like, of a site, e.g., a building. The electrical power consumed by the non-EV devices 160 is referred to as a non-EV load. That is, the non- EV load represents the electrical power that is consumed by electrical devices, i.e. , the non-EV devices 160, excluding the EV chargers 130.

[00025] The EV chargers 130 further include a network interface (not shown) by which the EV chargers 130 are able to communicate with, for example, the management server 120. EV chargers are usually located at shopping centers, government facilities, residences, workplaces, and hotels.

[00026] The database 170 is a data warehouse that is configured to store, for example, data regarding electrical load capacity of the charging site, time of congestion, electrical current consumption of an EV load, electrical current consumption of non-EV load, and so on. The database 170 may be a centralized database, a cloud database, and the like.

[00027] FIG. 2 is an illustrative diagram of a management server 120 according to an embodiment. The management server 120 includes a processing circuitry 121 coupled to a memory 123, a storage 125, and a network interface 127. In the embodiment, the components of the management server 120 may be communicatively connected via a bus 128.

[00028] The processing circuitry 121 may be realized as one or more hardware logic components and circuits. For example, illustrative types of hardware logic components that can be used, include field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), Application-specific standard products (ASSPs), system-on-a-chip systems (SOCs), general-purpose microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), and the like, or any other hardware logic components that can perform calculations or other manipulations of information. [00029] The memory 123 may be volatile, e.g., RAM, etc., non-volatile, e.g., ROM, flash memory, etc., or a combination thereof. In one configuration, computer readable instructions to implement one or more embodiments disclosed herein may be stored in the storage 125.

[00030] In another embodiment, the memory 123 is configured to store software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean any type of instructions, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, or hardware description language. Instructions may include code in formats such as source code, binary code, executable code, or any other suitable format of code. The instructions, when executed by the one or more processing circuitry 121 , cause the processing circuitry 121 to perform the various processes described herein.

[00031] The storage 125 may be magnetic storage, optical storage, and the like, and may be realized, for example, as flash memory or other memory technology, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information.

[00032] The network interface 127 is configured to connect to a network, e.g., the network 110. The network interface 127 allows the management server 120 to communicate with at least the energy monitoring system (EMS) 147, the smart meter 145, the EV chargers 130, the DB 170, and the like. The network interface 127 may include, but is not limited to a wireless port, e.g., an 802.11 compliant Wi-Fi circuitry, configured to connect to a network.

[00033] It should be understood that the embodiments described herein are not limited to the specific architecture illustrated in FIG. 2, and other architectures may be equally used without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments.

[00034] In an embodiment, the management server 120 monitors, using the EMS 147 that is connected to each phase of three phases of the main electrical panel 140, a current consumption value is measured for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel 140 for a first time period, thus developing first a set of current consumption values for the main electrical panel 140. It should be noted that the main electrical panel 140 relates to a specific site, e.g., a building. During the first time period non-EV load, created by non-EV devices 160, is measured as during the first time period, the EV chargers 130 that are deployed at the charging site, e.g., building, are not active and therefore no indication of power consumption is received from the EV chargers regarding active EV charging.

[00035] During a second time period that is subsequent to the first time period at least a portion of the EV chargers 130 that are deployed at the charging site are active and therefore an indication of power consumption may be received from at least one EV charger regarding active EV charging. That is, when an indication of power consumption is received by the management server 120, from an EV charger 130, thus indicating that the EV charger started to consume electric power, the first time period ends and the second time period begins. It should be noted that the indications received by the management server 120 from the EV chargers 130 may include information that is measured in near real-time for the current consumption of each phase of the EV charger 130.

[00036] In an embodiment, the management server 120 collects in real-time, from a three-phase EV charger, e.g., one of EV chargers 130, of the plurality of three-phase EV chargers 130 that are connected to the main electrical panel 140, a set of current consumption values each value of which indicates the amount of electrical current consumed by at least one phase of the three-phase EV charger, e.g., the EV charger 130. The EV charger current consumption value set is collected during the second time period which is a period during which the first three-phase EV charger 130 charges an EV to which it is connected. It should be noted that the EV charger 130 may send the management server 120 an indication of when charging begins, e.g., to trigger the beginning of the second time period.

[00037] That is, while the management server 120 monitors the current consumption value of each phase of the three phases of the main electrical panel 140, during the first time period and during the second time period, the amount of electrical current consumed by one or more of the phases of the EV charger is collected and monitored only during the second time period that is subsequent to the first time period.

[00038] In an embodiment, the management server 120 determines a difference between respective current consumption values for each phase of the main electrical panel during the first period and during the second period to develop a set of difference current consumption values for the main electrical panel. These difference current consumption values for the main electrical panel are compared with the at least one value indicating the amount of electrical current consumed by at least one phase of the three-phase EV charger that was measured during the second period, and the comparison is used as the basis on which the actual connectivity of at last one phase of the three-phase EV charger to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel is determined. The comparison facilitates detecting correlation between current consumed by a phase of the main panel and current consumed by a phase of the EV charger.

[00039] For example, the first current consumption value measured for the first phase of the main panel 140 during the first time period is 20 amperes, the current consumption value of the second phase of the main panel 140 during the first time period is 10 amperes, and the current consumption value of the third phase of the main panel 140 during the first time period is 50 amperes. At some point, at least one of the three-phase EV chargers 130 starts charging and at that point the first time period ends and the second time period begins. The EMS 147 indicates that, during the second time period, the current consumption value of the first phase of the main panel 140 is 24 amperes, the current consumption value of the second phase of the main panel 140 is 13 amperes, and the current consumption value of the third phase of the main panel 140 is 59 amperes. In addition, the second current consumption value as measured during the second time period for the first phase of the three-phase EV charger 130 is 9 amperes, the second phase of the three-phase EV charger 130 consumed 3 amperes and the third phase of the three-phase EV charger 130 consumed 4 amperes. Thus, a high correlation level is detected between (a) the first phase of the EV charger 130 and the third phase of the main panel 140, i.e. , the matching changes of 9 amperes, (b) the second phase of the EV charger 130 and the second phase of the main panel 140, i.e., the matching changes of 3 amperes, and (c) the third phase of the EV charger 130 and the first phase of the main panel 140, i.e., the matching changes of 4 amperes. That is, while the second phase of the EV charger 130 is properly connected to the second phase of the main panel 140, the first phase of the EV charger 130 is actually connected to the third phase of the main panel 140 and the third phase of the EV charger 130 is actually connected to the first phase of the main panel 140., which can be seen because the change of current consumption by the third phase of the main panel matches the change in current consumption of the first phase of the EV charger 130 and the change of current consumption by the first phase of the main panel matches the change in current consumption of the third phase of the EV charger 130, and the change of current consumption for the second phase of both the main panel and the EV charger 130 matches.

[00040] In an embodiment, the management server 120 determines, based on the result of the comparison, that the actual connectivity by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger 130 is connected to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel 140. As noted above, the actual connectivity order may differ from the required connectivity order.

[00041] For example, according to the proper connectivity order, the first phase of the EV charger 130 should be connected to first phase of the main panel 140, the second phase of the EV charger 130 should be connected to the second phase of the main panel 140, and the third phase of the EV charger 130 should be connected to the third phase of the main panel 140. According to example above, the management server 120 determines, based on the result of the comparison, that the connections are in error because the first phase of the EV charger 130 is actually connected to the third phase of the main panel 140 and third phase of the EV charger 130 is actually connected to the first phase of the main panel 140. Only the second phase of the EV charger 130 is properly connected to the second phase of the main panel 140.

[00042] It should be noted that the process of determining the actual connectivity order by which the phases of the EV charger 130 are connected to the phases of the main panel 140, may be performed multiple times. For example, whenever a new EV charger 130 is installed at the site, the management server 120 may start the process described herein to determine the actual connectivity arrangement by which the new EV charger 130 is connected to the main panel 140.

[00043] In an embodiment, the management server 120 validates the determined actual connectivity order by which each phase of the EV charger 130 is connected to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel 140. The validation may occur upon determination that the correlation level between the phases of the EV charger 130 and the main panel 140 is relatively low, for example, below a predetermined threshold value. [00044] Validating the determined actual connectivity arrangement may include repeating the process of monitoring the first current consumption value through the first and second time periods, collecting the second current consumption value, comparing the collected information, and determining the actual connectivity order once again. In an embodiment, the management server 120 may be configured to repeat the process through a predetermined number of cycles. According to further embodiment, the management server 120 may be configured to execute the validation process always, and not upon determination that the correlation level between the phases of the EV charger 130 and the main panel 140 is low.

[00045] In an embodiment, the management server 120 generates an actual phase connectivity scheme indicating the actual arrangement by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger 130 is connected to the three phases of the main electrical panel 140. An illustrative diagram presenting an actual phase connectivity scheme is shown in FIG. 3. The actual phase connectivity scheme may be stored in the database 170 and updated from time to time when for example, new EV chargers are added to the site, when connectivity order changes, and so on. It should be noted that detecting the actual order by which each phase of a plurality of EV chargers 130 is connected to the phases of the main electrical panel 140, is crucial for determining and controlling the actual electrical load on each phase of the main electrical panel.

[00046] In an embodiment, the management server 120 determines, based on the actual phase connectivity, the current consumption values of each phase of the plurality of EV chargers 130. For example, three EV chargers are deployed at the site and connected to the electrical infrastructure of the site, e.g., main panel and subpanels. According to this example, based on the actual phase connectivity, the management server 120 determines in real-time that the first phase of the first EV charger is consuming 10 amperes via the first phase of the main panel 140, the second phase of the second EV charger is consuming 12 amperes via the first phase of the main panel 140, and the second phase of the third EV charger is consuming 16 amperes via the first phase of the main panel 140. Thus, according to this example, the management server 120 determines that the electrical power consumed by all three EV chargers 130 in real-time, via the first phase of the main panel 140 is 38 amperes. It should be noted that the management server 120 determines the current consumption value of all the phases of the plurality of EV chargers 130.

[00047] In an embodiment, the management server 120 determines in real-time, for the main panel, an aggregated total current consumption value consumed by each respective one of the first phase, the second phase, and the third phase of all EV chargers that are currently charging or ready to charge. Ready to charge means the charger is already active and consumes electric power from its source, i.e. , a main panel or a sub panel, but is not yet actually charging the EV. The time between being ready to charge and actually charging can be as small as a matter of milliseconds. As an example of the aggregated total current consumption value consumed by each respective one of the phases at the main panel, it may be found that the first phase of all the EV chargers in the site consume together 56 amperes, the second phase of all the EV chargers in the site consume together 0 amperes, and third phase of all the EV chargers in the site consume together 24 amperes.

[00048] In an embodiment, the management server 120 selects at least one mitigation action upon determination that the aggregated total current consumption values consumed by each of the first phases, second phases and third phases of the plurality of three-phase EV chargers 130, indicate a difference that is above a predetermined threshold value. The mitigation action is an act that is initiated, executed, and controlled by the management server 120 and impacts at least one EV charger 130.

[00049] For example, the aggregated total current consumption value of the first phase of each of the plurality of three-phase EV chargers 130 is 0 amperes, the aggregated total current consumption value of each of the second phases of the plurality of three-phase EV chargers 130 is 52 amperes, and the aggregated total current consumption value of each of the third phases of the plurality of three-phase EV chargers 130 is 33 amperes. According to this example, the mitigation action may cause two, e.g., out of ten, EV chargers 130, that are currently charging or ready to charge, that are currently using the second phase of the EV chargers 130, to replace the second phase and use instead the first phase. By replacing the one or more of the phases that are used by some of the EV chargers 130, the available electricity power utilization at the site may be increased since the electrical load on the phases of the main panel 140 may be better balanced. Thus, a more stable and reliable electric power consumption is achieved and the likelihood of an electric overload at the site decreases.

[00050] According to further embodiment, the mitigation action may be selected by applying one or more rules to the aggregated total current consumption values of each of first phase, second phase and third phase of all EV chargers that are currently charging or ready to charge. For example, a rule may dictate that the difference between the aggregated total current consumption values consumed by each of the first phases, second phases and third phases of the EV chargers 130, must be below 10%. The management server 120 may be configured to control at least one of the EV chargers 130 by sending at least one instruction to one or more EV chargers 130 over the network 110, based on the selected mitigation action.

[00051] In one embodiment, the mitigation action may be for the management server 120 to disable one or more of the EV chargers 130 so that none of the phases at the main electrical panel 140 draws more electrical current from the main electrical panel 140 than a prescribed safe maximum.

[00052] FIG. 3 shows an illustrative diagram demonstrating an actual phase connectivity arrangement between EV chargers and a main electrical panel of an EV charging site 300, according to an embodiment. Shown in FIG. 3 is a main electrical panel 310 of charging site 300, subpanel A 320, subpanel B 330 and an EV charger 340, which may be the same as or similar to the EV charger 130 shown in FIG. 1. The EV charger 340 has three phases, which should be connected to the main panel in accordance with a specific connectivity arrangement, e.g., according to an electrical code, by which the first phase, i.e., phase 1 , of the EV charger 340 is connected to the first phase, i.e., phase 1 , of the main panel 310, the second phase, i.e., phase 2, of the EV charger 340 is connected to the phase 2 of the main panel 310, and the third phase, i.e., phase 3, of the EV charger 340 is connected to the phase 3 of the main panel 310. However, as shown in the diagram, the actual connectivity may not conform to the required order. Indeed, in FIG. 3, phase 1 of the EV charger 340 is connected to phase 2 of the subpanel B 330, phase 2 of the subpanel B 330 is connected to phase 2 of the subpanel A 320, and phase 2 of subpanel A 320 is connected to phase 3 of the main panel 310. Thus, phase 1 of the EV charger 340 is connected to phase 3 of the main panel 310, while the proper connectivity arrangement is different and dictates that phase

1 of the EV charger 340 should be connected to phase 1 of the main panel 310. Phases

2 and phase 3 of the EV charger 340 are also connected to the main panel 310 in an incorrect order.

[00053] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart 400 of an illustrative method for determining the actual phase connectivity arrangement between EV chargers and a main electrical panel of an EV charging site, according to an embodiment. The disclosed method may be executed by the management server 120 of FIG. 2.

[00054] At S410, a current consumption value of each phase of a main electrical panel of a site is monitored over each of a first time period and a second time period, the second time period is subsequent to the first time period. Each current consumption value is measured using an energy monitoring system (EMS) that is connected to each phase of the three phases of the main electrical panel of the EV charging site. As a result, a set of current consumption values for the main electrical panel is obtained for each of the three phases of a main panel during the first time period and another set of current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main panel is obtained during the second time period that is subsequent to the first time period.

[00055] At S420, a set of current consumption values that includes at least one value indicating the amount of electrical current consumed by at least one phase of the three-phase EV charger of a plurality of three-phase EV chargers that are connected to the main panel, is collected in real-time during the second time period, i.e. , a period after the first three-phase EV charger commences charging an EV. Note that when there is no charger that is charging or ready to charge the second period end and a new first period begins.

[00056] At S430, the difference between the current consumption values measured for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the first time period and the current consumption values measured for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the second time period are determined to develop a set of difference current consumption values for the main electrical panel.

[00057] At S440, the actual connectivity arrangement by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel is determined. To this end, the difference between respective current consumption values for each phase of the main electrical panel during the first period and during the second period are compared with the at least one value indicating the amount of electrical current consumed by at least one phase of the three-phase EV charger that was measured during the second period, and the comparison is used as the basis on which the actual connectivity of at last one phase of the three-phase EV charger to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel is determined.

[00058] At S450, an actual phase connectivity scheme indicating the actual order by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to the three phases of the main electrical panel is supplied as an output.

[00059] The various embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as hardware, firmware, firmware executing on hardware, software, software executing on hardware, or any combination thereof. Moreover, the software is implemented tangibly embodied on a program storage unit or computer readable medium consisting of parts, or of certain devices and/or a combination of devices. The application program may be uploaded to, and executed by, a machine comprising any suitable architecture. Preferably, the machine is implemented on a computer platform having hardware such as one or more central processing units (CPUs), a memory, and input/output interfaces. The computer platform may also include an operating system and microinstruction code. The various processes and functions described herein may be implemented as either part of the microinstruction code or part of the application program, or any combination thereof, which may be executed by a CPU, whether or not such a computer or processor is explicitly shown. In addition, various other peripheral units may be connected to the computer platform such as an additional data storage unit and a printing unit. Furthermore, a non-transitory computer readable medium is any computer readable medium except for a transitory propagating signal.

[00060] All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the disclosed embodiment and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the disclosed embodiments, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.

[00061] It should be understood that any reference to an element herein using a designation such as “first,” “second,” and so forth does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, these designations are generally used herein as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to first and second elements does not mean that only two elements may be employed there or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner. Also, unless stated otherwise, a set of elements comprises one or more elements.

[00062] As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” followed by a listing of items means that any of the listed items can be utilized individually, or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be utilized. For example, if a system is described as including “at least one of A, B, and C,” the system can include A alone; B alone; C alone; 2A; 2B; 2C; 3A; A and B in combination; B and C in combination; A and C in combination; A, B, and C in combination; 2A and C in combination; A, 3B, and 2C in combination; and the like.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method for determining an actual phase connectivity arrangement between an electric vehicle (EV) charger and a main electrical panel of an EV charging site, the EV charger being coupled to the main electrical panel, the method comprising: obtaining, by a management server, using an energy monitoring system (EMS) that is connected to each phase of a main electrical panel of the EV charging site, the main electrical panel of the EV charging site having three phases, a set of electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during a first time period and a set of electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main panel during a second time period that is subsequent to the first time period; obtaining, during the second time period, by the management server, in real-time from a three-phase EV charger connected to the main electrical panel of the EV charging site, a set of electrical current consumption values that includes at least one value indicating an amount of electrical current consumed by at least one phase of the three phase EV charger; determining, by the management server, a difference between the electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the first time period and the respective electrical current consumption values measured for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the second time period to develop a set of difference electrical current consumption values for the main electrical panel; comparing, by the management server, the difference electrical current consumption values for the main electrical panel with the at least one value indicating the amount of electrical current consumed by the at least one phase of the three phase EV charger that was obtained during the second time period; determining, by the management server, an actual connectivity arrangement by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel based on the result of the comparing; and supplying an indication of the actual phase connectivity arrangement which specifies the actual order by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to the three phases of the main electrical panel.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: validating the determined actual connectivity order by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: aggregating based on the actual phase connectivity scheme the electrical current consumption values of each phase of the plurality of three-phase EV chargers at the main electrical panel.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: determining in real-time an aggregated total electrical current consumption value consumed by each of the first phase, second phase and third phase of the plurality of three-phase EV chargers.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: selecting at least one mitigation action upon determination that the aggregated total electrical current consumption values consumed by each of the first phase, second phase and third phase of the plurality of three-phase EV chargers, indicate a difference amongst them that is above a predetermined threshold value.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: controlling at least one three-phase EV charger of the plurality of three-phase EV chargers based on the at least one mitigation action.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing processing circuity to execute a process for determining an actual phase connectivity arrangement between an electric vehicle (EV) charger and a main electrical panel of an EV charging site, the EV charger being coupled to the main electrical panel, the process comprising: obtaining, by a management server, using an energy monitoring system (EMS) that is connected to each phase of a main electrical panel of the EV charging site, the main electrical panel of the EV charging site having three phases, a set of electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during a first time period and a set of electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main panel during a second time period that is subsequent to the first time period; obtaining, during the second time period, by the management server, in real-time from a three-phase EV charger connected to the main electrical panel of the EV charging site, a set of electrical current consumption values that includes at least one value indicating an amount of electrical current consumed by at least one phase of the three phase EV charger; determining, by the management server, a difference between the electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the first time period and the respective electrical current consumption values measured for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the second time period to develop a set of difference electrical current consumption values for the main electrical panel; comparing, by the management server, the difference electrical current consumption values for the main electrical panel with the at least one value indicating the amount of electrical current consumed by the at least one phase of the three phase EV charger that was obtained during the second time period; determining, by the management server, an actual connectivity arrangement by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel based on the result of the comparing; and supplying an indication of the actual phase connectivity arrangement which specifies the actual order by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to the three phases of the main electrical panel.

8. A system for determining an actual phase connectivity arrangement between an electric vehicle (EV) charger and a main electrical panel of an EV charging site, the EV charger being coupled to the main electrical panel, the system comprising: a processing system; and a memory, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processing system, configure the system to: obtain, using an energy monitoring system (EMS) that is connected to each phase of a main electrical panel of the EV charging site, the main electrical panel of the EV charging site having three phases, a set of electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during a first time period and a set of electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main panel during a second time period that is subsequent to the first time period; obtain, during the second time period, in real-time from a three-phase EV charger connected to the main electrical panel of the EV charging site, a set of electrical current consumption values that includes at least one value indicating an amount of electrical current consumed by at least one phase of the three phase EV charger; determine a difference between the electrical current consumption values for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the first time period and the respective electrical current consumption values measured for each of the three phases of the main electrical panel during the second time period to develop a set of difference electrical current consumption values for the main electrical panel; compare the difference electrical current consumption values for the main electrical panel with the at least one value indicating the amount of electrical current consumed by the at least one phase of the three phase EV charger that was obtained during the second time period; determine an actual connectivity arrangement by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel based on the result of the comparing; and supply an indication of the actual phase connectivity arrangement which specifies the actual order by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to the three phases of the main electrical panel.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising: validate the determined actual connectivity order by which each phase of the three-phase EV charger is connected to one of the three phases of the main electrical panel.

10. The system of claim 8, further comprising: aggregate based on the actual phase connectivity scheme the electrical current consumption values of each phase of the plurality of three-phase EV chargers at the main electrical panel.

11 . The system of claim 10, further comprising: determine in real-time an aggregated total electrical current consumption value consumed by each of the first phase, second phase and third phase of the plurality of three-phase EV chargers.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising: select at least one mitigation action upon determination that the aggregated total electrical current consumption values consumed by each of the first phase, second phase and third phase of the plurality of three-phase EV chargers, indicate a difference amongst them that is above a predetermined threshold value.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising: control at least one three-phase EV charger of the plurality of three-phase EV chargers based on the at least one mitigation action.