A method and device that controls one or more apparatus in relation to the expected time of sunrise and sunset at the location of the apparatus. The operator enters a geographic location identifier, such as a zip code or telephone area code, and the controller computes the expected time of sunrise and sunset at the corresponding geographic location. The controller is configured to translate the entered geographic location code into the offset times, based upon the latitude and longitude of the location. The controller is able to either directly retrieve stored time offsets or it retrieves the latitude and longitude that corresponds to the entered geographic location code and determines the time offset from that latitude and longitude.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority from U.S. Provision Application No. 60/310,388, filed Aug. 6, 2001, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
An electrical distribution system for selectively connecting an electrical power source to a load device uses astronomical calculations. The system comprises a switching device electrically connected between an electrical power source and a load device for selectively delivering electrical power to the load device. A control system controls operation of the switching device. The control system comprises a programmed controller for commanding operation of the switching device in accordance with a scheduling routine stored in a memory. The scheduling routine enables control of the switching device based on sunrise and sunset time. The memory further comprises a database of a plurality of geographic locations and coordinate information for the plurality of geographic locations. The control system further comprises a setup routine comprising a user interface enabling a user to select one of the plurality of geographic locations and a manager routine automatically determining sunrise and sunset times using the coordinate information for the selected geographic location and providing the sunrise and sunset times to the scheduling routine.
