Akida

eLOK Battery Demand Control

Reduce demand charges & electricity bills with managed battery power

The eLOK Battery Demand Control stacks onto the eLOK Demand Control system to incorporate the management of power draw from a battery. All other features of the eLOK Demand Control system are available with this fully integrated solution.

  1. We offer the only technology in the market that automatically controls the power draw from the battery. This enables you to set a limit of how much power you want to draw from the utility grid. This proprietary technology offers a unique solution where a battery lasts through the full peak-rate period. Automated control of power draw from the battery extends the use of solar power through to the end of the peak demand period. This minimizes demand penalties and maximizes the solar system ROI.
  2. Since the system gives you total control over your battery power, you can maximize the return on your solar system.
  3. Our algorithms continuously calculate when it makes most sense to charge the battery and conserve some solar power so that it can be used to lower the peak as the solar generation decreases to zero.
  4. With adequate battery and solar capacity and including our automated eLOK Demand Control, the system can be configured to reduce grid demand to zero during peak periods.
  5. Most off-the-shelf battery packs and compatible charger can be paired to the system to avoid premium charges for proprietary hardware.
  6. Most grid-tied solar inverters can be paired to the system to avoid specialized high-cost battery inverters. You can even connect to an unused string in an existing grid-tied, solar inverter.
  7. The system is also compatible with many solar-battery inverter/charger systems and off-grid and back-up systems if they allow configuration of power draw settings. When paired with this type of systems, some of the eBATT’s modular components can be eliminated. The eBATT’s software and monitoring based analytics result in a finely controlled battery-power-system that is optimized to maximize utility rate savings.
  8. Our solution constantly monitors your demand to give you notifications and automatically draw a calculated amount of power from your battery to limit the peak to a preset level.
  9. The real time data will help you optimize the system to meet your budgetary requirements.

Additional details on how the eLOK Battery Demand Control works:

  1. The Akida eLOK Battery Demand Control system adds:
    1. Our Battery-Demand Modulator panel (eBATT)
      1. The eBATT is installed next to the battery bank and the grid-tied solar inverter. The battery bank is connected to the eBATT. A compatible charger is connected to power and the charger output is also connected to the eBATT. The eBATT output is connected to the grid-tied solar inverter which is connected to the electrical panel.
      2. The base eBATT system is rated at 2KW and has two monitoring nodes. Additional capacity can be added in 2KW modules.
  2. The EGP software for the eBATT can be used to control many solar-battery inverter/charger systems and off-grid and back-up systems if they allow configuration of power draw settings.
  3. The system’s emp uses CT sensors to measure the total consumption as wells as the solar generation.
  4. The EGP uses the total power usage and solar generation data to limit power draw from the battery:
    1. The goal is to prevent the battery from being totally discharged before the end of the peak period
    2. The power draw from the battery is modulated so that during peak period battery use is maximized and grid demand is minimized
    3. The system monitors renewable power generation and includes this data in calculations
    4. The system controls the charge cycle for the battery with an on-board relay and this optimizes use of solar power during peak period when grid power is most expensive
  5. The EGP uses AI to identify patterns in electricity consumption to maintain enough reserve capacity in the battery to last through the peak period and not allow a spike in the peak demand. Demand charges are often based on one-time peak demand.
  6. Since the EGP also operates our eLOK Demand Control the reduction of total demand, enables the battery to last longer. As mentioned above, the pairing of these two systems can bring peak demand to zero to maximize savings.