Patent ID: 8522077

Claim:
A method of operating a grid switch coupled to a power supply and first and second power grids comprising: determining whether the first and the second power grids are providing power; if the first power grid is providing power and the second power grid is not providing power, coupling the first power grid to the power supply; if the first power grid is not providing power and the second power grid is providing power, coupling the second power grid to the power supply; if both the first and second power grids are providing power, coupling either the first or second power grid to the power supply based on a policy provided by a management module if the management module provided the policy; measuring power flowing through the grid switch; transmitting an indication of power flowing through the grid switch to the management module; and receiving from the management module a policy to switch to either the first or second power grids based on a load balancing metric determined by the management module.