Virginia Patent of the Month – July 2021

As the world heads towards a higher degree of energy conservation, the need for utilities that better support it are needed. For instance, electric utilities have come under pressure to reduce the need to fire up polluting power plants to serve peak demand times. One industry standard method to “smooth out” energy demands while maintaining energy conservation involves “demand side management”. This refers to selectively reducing energy demand in peak times. This type of utility control is usually quite rudimentary. GridPoint, Inc. has developed a more sophisticated utility control console.

The utility console receives measurements from a variety of energy management controllers, each of which has stored energy. Measurements of the energy production and storage capacity are sent to the utility console, processed, and displayed. Commands are then transmitted to a set of energy management controllers to direct the units to discharge their stored energy into a power grid through an inverter. The controller can then curtail the load of power consuming devices as needed. The development of GridPoint’s effective automated demand response technology helps to maximize load reduction across a variety of industries  or markets. The use of asset-level load monitoring and multi-site building controls best manages load reduction across a wide geographic area. 

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Recent Posts