JP2006313671A - Fuel cell system, fuel cell system control method, and building - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fuel cell system capable of reducing an electric storing capacity of a storage battery. <P>SOLUTION: This system includes a fuel cell, an electric power load to consume the electric power of the fuel cell, the storage battery to store the electric power of the fuel cell, a demand control part to send electric power demanding information showing an increased amount of an electric power consumption in the case there is necessity of increasing the electric power consumption of the electric power load in advance, and a load control part in which in the case the electric power demanding information is received from the demand control part, on condition that the fuel cell can supply more electric power to the electric power load, based on the increased amount of the electric power consumption and amount of power accumulation of the storage battery shown by the electric power demanding information, timing of the electric power load increasing the electric power consumption is scheduled to have earlier timing than the time when the increased amount of the electric power supplied from the fuel cell reaches the increased amount of the electric power consumption shown by the electric power demanding information, a permission notice to show the scheduled timing is sent, and on condition that the permission notice is received, the electric power consumption of the electric power load is made to be increased by the timing shown by the permission notice. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel cell system, a fuel cell system control method, and a building. In particular, the present invention relates to a fuel cell system that supplies electric power to a load, a fuel cell system control method, and a building.

As a fuel cell system using a fuel cell, there is a system in which a fuel cell provides power consumed by a load device provided in a house and supplies hot water generated along with power generation of the fuel cell to a hot water storage tank provided in the house. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-199254 A

  A load device designed on the assumption that it operates using power supplied from an electric power system may fluctuate power consumption in a time of about 10 milliseconds. On the other hand, generally, it takes about several hundred milliseconds to change the power generation amount of the fuel cell. For this reason, there may be a temporary excess or deficiency of power between the power consumption of the load device and the generated power of the fuel cell. In this case, an excess or deficiency of power can be absorbed by providing a storage battery. However, it is not preferable to provide a storage battery having a larger storage capacity so as to sufficiently absorb the excess or deficiency of power because the installation cost of the storage battery increases.

  Then, this invention aims at providing the fuel cell system which can solve said subject, the fuel cell system control method, and a building. This object is achieved by a combination of features described in the independent claims. The dependent claims define further advantageous specific examples of the present invention.

  The fuel cell system according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a fuel cell, a power load that operates by consuming electric power generated by the fuel cell, and when the power generated by the fuel cell is greater than the power consumption of the power load. A storage battery that stores power of the fuel cell, and that supplies power to the power load by discharging the stored power when power generated by the fuel cell is smaller than power consumption of the power load, and power consumption When it is necessary to increase power, a request control unit that transmits power request information indicating an increase in power consumption in advance, and when the power request information is received from the request control unit, the fuel cell further adds to the power load. From the fuel cell control unit, a fuel cell control unit that transmits a permission notice indicating the timing at which the power load should increase power consumption, provided that power can be supplied A load control unit that increases the power consumption of the power load at a timing indicated by the permission notification on the condition that the permission notification is received, and the fuel cell control unit receives the power request information received from the request control unit The timing at which the power load increases the power consumption based on the amount of increase in power consumption indicated by and the amount of power stored in the storage battery is set to the amount of increase in power consumption indicated by the power request information received from the request control unit. Scheduling is performed at a timing prior to the time when the increase in the amount of power supplied from the fuel cell reaches, and a permission notification indicating the scheduled timing is transmitted.

  The fuel cell control unit increases the amount of generated power supplied from the fuel cell to the amount of increase in power consumption indicated by the power request information received from the request control unit when the storage battery can be further charged. In the rising period until the amount reaches, the timing at which the power load increases the power consumption within the rising period so that the amount of power charged in the storage battery and the amount of power discharged from the storage battery become substantially the same. You can schedule.

  If the fuel cell control unit can further charge the storage battery, whether the storage battery reaches full charge within the start-up period further based on the amount of power that can be stored in the storage battery. And when it is determined that the storage battery reaches full charge during the rising period, the timing at which the power load increases the power consumption is the time when the storage battery reaches full charge during the rising period. You may schedule at an earlier timing.

  The fuel cell control unit has a power difference obtained by subtracting a storage amount of the storage battery at a start time of the rising period from a target storage amount to be stored in the storage battery, exceeding a predetermined reference value. In this case, the power load increases power consumption so that a value obtained by subtracting the amount of power discharged from the storage battery within the rising period from the amount of power charged to the storage battery within the rising period approaches the power difference. You may schedule timing.

  The request control unit transmits period information indicating a period for increasing power consumption in advance together with power request information when it is necessary to increase the power consumption of the power load, and the fuel cell control unit includes the request control unit. When the new request information is received from the request control unit, the power consumption indicated by the period information and the power request information already received from the request control unit and the power load indicated by the permission notification already transmitted is reduced. The total value of power consumption at each time is determined based on the timing to be increased, and the total value of power consumption at each time does not exceed the maximum amount of power that can be supplied from the fuel cell at any time On the condition, it may be determined that the fuel cell can further supply power to the power load.

  The fuel cell control unit is configured to increase the power consumption indicated by the period information and the power request information already received from the request control unit, and the power load indicated by the permission notification already transmitted. On the basis of the power load of the power load is determined and a decrease amount of power consumption at the timing, and in the falling period until the generated power of the fuel cell decreases by the power consumption decrease amount, You may schedule the timing which reduces the electric power generated of the said fuel cell so that the electric energy charged into the said storage battery and the electric energy discharged from the said storage battery may become substantially the same.

  The fuel cell control unit reduces the generated power of the fuel cell by the amount of discharge discharged from the storage battery during a period from the time when the generated power of the fuel cell is reduced to the time when the power consumption of the power load is reduced. You may schedule the timing which reduces the generated electric power of the said fuel cell so that it may become below the amount of electrical storage of the said storage battery in the timing to perform.

  The fuel cell control unit is configured such that a power difference obtained by subtracting a storage amount of the storage battery at a start time of the falling period from a target storage amount to be stored in the storage battery exceeds a predetermined reference value. In addition, the power load is consumed so that a value obtained by subtracting a discharge power amount discharged from the storage battery during the fall period from a charge power amount charged to the storage battery during the fall period approaches the power difference. You may schedule the timing to increase power.

  The power supply history management unit further manages a history of power generation amount of the fuel cell and power consumption of the power load, and the fuel cell control unit is configured to generate power of the fuel cell managed by the power supply history management unit. Based on the power amount and the history of the power consumption of the power load, the required storage amount to be stored in the storage battery is calculated, and when the calculated required storage amount is larger, the power consumption indicated in the permission notification is calculated. The power generation amount of the fuel cell may be increased at an earlier timing from the timing to be increased.

  A home determination unit for determining whether or not the user is at home, wherein the power supply history management unit determines the amount of power generated by the fuel cell and the power load when the home determination unit determines that the user is at home , And the history of the amount of power generated by the fuel cell and the amount of power consumed by the power load when it is determined that it is not at home, the fuel cell control unit is controlled by the home determination unit. If it is determined that the user is at home, the power storage history management unit manages the home history to calculate the required amount of power to be stored in the storage battery, and the home determination unit When it is determined that the user is not at home, the power storage requirement amount that should be stored in the storage battery may be calculated using the non-home history managed by the power supply history management unit.

  The fuel cell control unit notifies the load control unit of an increase in allowable power consumption, and the load control unit receives power consumption within an allowable range received from the fuel cell control unit. May be increased.

  The operation mode table indicating the power consumption of the power load according to the operation mode of the power load is further provided, and the load control unit is configured to change the operation mode capable of transitioning within a range of allowed power consumption. A determination may be made using the operation mode table, and a transition to the operation mode may be made.

  The request control unit refers to the operation mode table to determine the amount of power consumption that needs to be increased compared to the current power consumption when attempting to change the operation mode, and the required increase amount May be transmitted to the fuel cell control unit.

  In the fuel cell system control method according to the second aspect of the present invention, when it is necessary to increase the power consumption of the power load that operates by consuming the power generated by the fuel cell, the power request information indicating the increase in power consumption And a timing at which the power load should increase power consumption on condition that the fuel cell can further supply power to the power load when receiving power request information. A fuel cell control step for transmitting a permission notice to indicate, and a load control step for increasing the power consumption of the power load at a timing indicated by the permission notice on the condition that the permission notice has been received. The step indicates the storage amount of the storage battery that stores the power of the fuel cell and supplies the stored power to the power load, and the power request information. The timing at which the power load increases the power consumption based on the increase amount of power consumption based on the time when the increase amount of power supplied from the fuel cell reaches the increase amount of power consumption indicated by the power request information. Schedule at the previous timing, and send a permission notice indicating the scheduled timing.

  The building according to the third aspect of the present invention includes a fuel cell, a power load that operates by consuming the power generated by the fuel cell, and the power generated by the fuel cell is greater than the power consumption of the power load. A storage battery that stores power of the fuel cell, and that supplies power to the power load by discharging the stored power when the generated power of the fuel cell is smaller than the power consumption of the power load, and power consumption of the power load When the power request information is received from the request control unit and the request control unit that transmits the power request information indicating the increase in power consumption in advance, the fuel cell further supplies power to the power load. A fuel cell control unit that transmits a permission notification indicating a timing at which the power load should increase power consumption, and a permission notification from the fuel cell control unit. And a load control unit that increases the power consumption of the power load at the timing indicated by the permission notice, the fuel cell control unit indicated by the power request information received from the request control unit. Based on the amount of increase in power consumption and the amount of power stored in the storage battery, the timing at which the power load increases power consumption is set to the amount of increase in power consumption indicated by the power request information received from the request control unit. Scheduling is performed at a timing prior to the time when the amount of increase in the power supplied from the battery reaches, and a permission notice indicating the scheduled timing is transmitted.

  Note that the above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention, and sub-combinations of these feature groups can also be the invention.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the fuel cell system which can reduce the electrical storage capacity of a storage battery can be provided.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the claimed invention, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are inventions. It is not always essential to the solution.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the fuel cell system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. An object of the present embodiment is to provide a fuel cell system in which fluctuations in power consumption of the entire system are reduced.

  The fuel cell system 30 supplies power and heat to an apartment house that is a building including a plurality of houses (110a to 110c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 110), for example. Here, the apartment house may be one in which a plurality of residences 110 are provided in one building, and each of a plurality of buildings provided in different areas may be the residence 110.

  The dwelling 110b and the dwelling 110c have the same components as the dwelling 110a. By identifying the constituent elements of the dwelling 110b and dwelling 110c with the symbols b and c at the end of each constituent element, the dwelling 110 is identified. That is, the fuel cell system 30 includes a plurality of fuel cells (40a to 40c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 40), a plurality of power loads (44a to 44c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 44), and a plurality of heating devices (48a to 48a). 48c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 48), a plurality of main hot water tanks (42a to 42c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 42), a plurality of thermal loads (54a to 54c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 54), and a plurality of hot water supply history management. Part (60a-60c, generically referred to as 60 hereinafter), a plurality of at-home determination units (62a-62c, generically referred to as 62 below), and a single heating device 48d and sub-hot water storage that the residence 110 does not have. A tank 52 and a fuel cell control unit 50 are provided.

  Hereinafter, the operation of each component of the residence 110a will be described. In the present embodiment, the fuel cell 40a is provided in the residence 110a and supplies power to the heating device 48a. Further, the fuel cell 40 a is provided so that power can be supplied to any power load 44. Therefore, when the fuel cell 40a generates power consumed by one power load 44, the fuel cell 40a also supplies power to the other plurality of power loads 44 even when the fuel cell 40a is in partial load operation. By generating electric power, the fuel cell 40a can be driven with higher operation efficiency. Further, even when the fuel cell 40a does not need to supply power, the fuel cell 40a is not stopped and is kept in a hot idling state in which only auxiliary power for generating the operation of the fuel cell 40a itself is generated. When the electric power required by the electric power load 44 increases, electric power can be supplied more quickly than when the fuel cell 40a is activated. Moreover, even if the fuel cell 40 of another residence 110 fails, electric power can be supplied from the fuel cell 40a. Thus, since the fuel cell 40 is provided with two or more, it can respond to the wide fluctuation | variation of load.

  The fuel cell 40a is, for example, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). The fuel cell 40a may be one that reforms city gas, propane gas, or the like supplied to each residence to generate hydrogen gas as fuel, and uses hydrogen gas supplied from the outside as fuel. It may be a thing. The fuel cell 40a includes a battery, and the battery may be used as a power source for causing the fuel cell system 30 to function in an emergency, and may be used as a power source when starting up the fuel cell system 30. Also good.

  The main hot water storage tank 42a stores hot water heated by the heat generated in the fuel cell 40a and hot water heated by the heating device 48a. The main hot water tank 42a supplies heat to the heat load 54a. The sub hot water tank 52 stores hot water heated by the heating device 48d, and supplies hot water to a hot water facility different from the hot water facility in which the main hot water tank 42a supplies hot water.

  The home determination unit 62a determines whether or not the user is at home. The home determination unit 62a detects, for example, the lock information of the lock provided on the door of the residence 110a, and determines that the home is not home when locked from the outside of the residence 110a, or the inside of the residence 110a. If you are locked from the home. Further, the at-home determination unit 62a may detect whether or not the user is at home by detecting a fluctuation amount of power consumption or heat consumption. For example, it may be assumed that the user is at home when the fluctuation amount of power consumption is larger than a predetermined reference amount, and the user is not at home when the fluctuation amount of power consumption is equal to or less than a predetermined reference amount. The home determination unit 62a may include an infrared sensor, and determine whether or not the user is at home by detecting infrared energy emitted from the human body. In this case, the infrared sensor may be a pyroelectric infrared sensor, for example.

  The hot water supply history management unit 60a manages the consumption of hot water and the history of the amount of hot water produced by the fuel cell 40a. In the present embodiment, the hot water supply history management unit 60a detects the amount of hot water supplied from the main hot water tank 42a as the consumption amount of hot water. In addition, the hot water supply history management unit 60a detects the amount of hot water supplied to the main hot water storage tank 42a as the amount of hot water produced by the fuel cell 40a and the heating device 48a. Further, the day is divided into hourly time zones, and the consumption of hot water and the history of the amount of hot water produced in each time zone are managed.

  The hot water supply history management unit 60a may manage the amount and temperature of hot water as the consumption of hot water and the production amount of hot water by the fuel cell 40a and the heating device 48a. That is, a product obtained by multiplying the hot water temperature of the main hot water storage tank 42a by the water supply temperature and the volume of the hot water supplied from the main hot water storage tank 42a is detected as the hot water consumption.

  Further, the temperature of the hot water supplied from the fuel cell 40a to the main hot water tank 42a is subtracted from the temperature before the fuel cell 40a is cooled by the cooling water supplied to the fuel cell 40a. The product of the volume of hot water supplied to 42a may be detected as the amount of hot water produced by the fuel cell 40a. Further, the temperature of the hot water supplied from the warming device 48a to the main hot water tank 42a is subtracted from the temperature of the hot water supplied to the warming device 48a before the temperature of the hot water supplied from the warming device 48a to the main hot water tank 42a. You may detect what multiplied the volume of the warm water supplied to as a production amount of the warm water by the heating device 48a.

  Further, the hot water supply history management unit 60a uses hot water consumption and production when it is determined that the home determination unit 62a is home, and hot water consumption and production when it is determined that it is not home. Each history is managed.

  The power load 44a is operated by the power generated by the fuel cell 40. The power load 44a requests power from the fuel cell control unit 50 before consuming power. The fuel cell control unit 50 increases the generated power of the fuel cell 40 in advance when power is requested from the power load 44a.

  The operation of each component of the dwelling 110a has been described above, but the operation of each component of the dwelling 110b and the dwelling 110c is the same as the operation of each component of the dwelling 110a.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the heating device 48a. The heating device 48a heats water using surplus power generated by the fuel cell 40a. The heating device 48a is a heat pump 46a that warms water by transferring external heat to water. Since the heat pump 46a warms the water by moving the external heat quantity to the water, a large quantity of heat can be supplied with a small amount of electric power. When the ratio of heat demand to power demand is greater than the ratio of the amount of heat produced by the fuel cell 40a to the power generated by the fuel cell 40a, heat can be efficiently supplied by driving the heat pump 46a using surplus power. . For this reason, the demand amount of electric power and the demand amount of calorie | heat amount can be balanced appropriately.

  Moreover, the heating device 48b of the residence 110b and the heating device 48c of the residence 110c have the same components as the heating device 48a. That is, the heating device 48b and the heating device 48c have a heat pump 46b and a heat pump 46c, respectively. Moreover, since the operation | movement of the heat pump 46b and the heat pump 46c is the same as the heat pump 46a, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the power load 44a. The power load 44a includes a load unit 64a, an operation mode table 56a, a load control unit 58a, and a request control unit 66a. Moreover, the power load 44b of the residence 110b and the power load 44c of the residence 110c have the same components as the power load 44a. By appending b to the end of the code of each component included in the power load 44b and adding c to the end of the code of each component included in the power load 44c, the component of which power load 44 is identified.

  Hereinafter, the operation of each component of the power load 44a will be described. The load unit 64a consumes power supplied from the fuel cell 40. The operation mode table 56a indicates the power consumption of the power load 44a according to the operation mode of the power load 44a. The operation mode table 56a stores power consumption information in association with the operation mode information. For example, when the power load 44a is a cooling device and has an operation mode of rapid cooling and normal cooling, power consumption required to operate in each operation mode in association with each operation mode of rapid cooling and normal cooling Is stored in the operation mode table 56a.

  The request control unit 66a transmits power request information to the fuel cell control unit 50 in advance when it is necessary to increase the power consumption of the power load 44a. At this time, the power consumption that needs to be increased is determined with reference to the operation mode table 56a, and the required increase amount is transmitted to the fuel cell control unit 50 as power request information. Further, the request control unit 66a transmits period information indicating a period for requesting power and time limit information indicating a time limit for starting power consumption to the fuel cell control unit 50 as power request information. At this time, the request control unit 66a may determine the period information and the time limit information based on an instruction or the like by a user who uses the power load 44a. For example, when the power load 44a is a cooling device, the user of the power load 44a instructs the power load 44a about the target temperature and the target time to reach the target temperature. At this time, the request control unit 66a calculates the power consumption to be increased, the time limit for starting power consumption, and the period for power consumption based on the target temperature, the target time, and the current temperature instructed by the user. Then, each is transmitted to the fuel cell control unit 50 as the power consumption, the time limit information, and the period information of the power request information.

  When receiving the permission notification from the fuel cell control unit 50, the load control unit 58a increases the power consumption of the power load 44a within the allowable range. At this time, the load control unit 58a uses the operation mode table 56a to determine an operation mode that can be changed within the allowable power consumption range, and controls the load unit 64a to change to the operation mode. . The load control unit 58a, the request control unit 66a, and the fuel cell control unit 50 are connected by a communication network such as Ethernet (registered trademark). As another method, a data communication signal between the load control unit 58a, the request control unit 66a, and the fuel cell control unit 50 is modulated to a frequency sufficiently higher than the frequency of the power source and superimposed on the power source line. May be.

  The operation of each component of the power load 44a has been described above, but each component of the power load 44b and the power load 44b operates in the same manner as each component of the power load 44a, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  In the fuel cell system 30 of the present embodiment, when the fuel cell control unit 50 receives the request information from the request control unit 66, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines the amount of increase in power consumption that can be allowed when power can be supplied. The load control unit 58 is notified as a permission notification. The fuel cell control unit 50 transmits a permission notice to the load control unit 58 when the power generation efficiency of the fuel cell 40 can be made higher than a predetermined power generation efficiency.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the relationship between the generated power and the power generation efficiency in the plurality of fuel cells 40. In general, the power generation efficiency of the fuel cell 40 depends on the power generated by the fuel cell 40. For this reason, even in a system in which a plurality of fuel cells 40 are connected, the overall power generation efficiency depends on the generated power as shown in FIG. In a system in which a plurality of fuel cells 40 are connected, when the reference efficiency that is the lower limit of the overall power generation efficiency is determined, the total range of the amount of power that the fuel cell 40 should generate is determined. For example, the total power generated by the fuel cell 40 is between the first lower limit power (P1) and the first upper limit power (P2), between the second lower limit power (P3) and the second upper limit power (P4), or If it is either between the third lower limit power (P5) and the third upper limit power (P6), the power generation efficiency is equal to or higher than the reference efficiency.

  Therefore, the fuel cell control unit 50 controls the power generation amount of the plurality of fuel cells 40 so that the sum of the power generated by the plurality of fuel cells 40 is within a predetermined power range. The power generation efficiency can be greater than or equal to a predetermined power generation efficiency. That is, the fuel cell control unit 50 is a case where the required power is less than the maximum generated power that can be generated by the fuel cell 40, and the total amount of power generated by the fuel cell 40 when the required power is generated. However, the fuel cell control unit 50 transmits a permission notice to the load control unit 58 when the power is within a predetermined range of power generation efficiency.

  FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating a communication sequence in which the power load 44 requests power. The request control unit 66b transmits power request information to the fuel cell control unit 50 when it is necessary to increase the power consumption of the power load 44b (S200).

  The fuel cell control unit 50 makes a request determination based on the power request information from the request control unit 66b (S202). If it is determined in S202 that the output of the fuel cell 40b needs to be increased, the output of the fuel cell 40b is increased (S204). When the output of the fuel cell 40b increases and the preparation for supplying the requested power is completed (S206), a permission notice indicating that the power consumption may be increased is transmitted to the load control unit 58b (S208). When the load control unit 58b receives the permission notification, the load control unit 58b controls the load unit 64b to consume the power amount within the allowed range, so that the power load 44b starts to consume power (S209).

  When it is necessary to increase the power consumption of the power load 44a, the request control unit 66a transmits power request information to the fuel cell control unit 50 (S210). The fuel cell control unit 50 makes a request determination based on the power request information from the request control unit 66a (S212). If it is determined in S212 that the fuel cell 40a needs to be activated, the fuel cell 40a is activated (S214). When the fuel cell 40a is activated and preparation for supplying the requested power is completed (S216), a permission notice indicating that the power consumption may be increased is transmitted to the load control unit 58a (S218). When the load control unit 58a receives the permission notification, the load control unit 58a controls the load unit 64a to consume the power amount within the allowable range, so that the power load 44a starts power consumption (S219).

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing details of the operation of the fuel cell control unit 50 when the power request information is received. The fuel cell control unit 50 determines whether power can be supplied for a specified period based on the request information from the request control unit 66 (S230). If power can be supplied, a permission notice is transmitted to the load control unit 58 (S234), and the process ends.

  If power cannot be supplied in S230, whether or not preparation for supplying power with generated power that is higher than the power generation efficiency determined in advance by the consumption start time limit is ready based on the power request information from the request control unit 66 Is determined (S232). When it is ready to supply power in S232, the output of the fuel cell 40 is increased (S236). If it is necessary to start the fuel cell 40 in S236, the fuel cell 40 is started. Further, the fuel cell control unit 50 transmits a conditional permission notice to the load control unit 58 based on the output of the fuel cell 40 (S238). The conditional permission notification transmitted in S238 may include information indicating the time when the fuel cell 40 can supply power and the amount of power. For example, the conditional permission notice when the fuel cell 40 is activated in S236 may include a time when the requested power can be supplied, and also includes an amount of power that can be supplied at the present time. Also good.

  If it is not ready to supply power in S232, it is determined whether or not the power load 44 can be tolerated even if the power is less than the requested power (S240). In S <b> 240, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines whether the power load 44 can be tolerated based on the power request information from the request control unit 66 even if the power is less than the requested power. For example, the request control unit 66 transmits information indicating whether or not the power load 44 can operate with lower power than the requested power to the fuel cell control unit 50 together with the requested power as power request information. Further, the request control unit 66 may refer to the operation mode table 56 and transmit the lower limit power at which the power load 44 can operate as power request information to the fuel cell control unit 50 together with the requested power. Accordingly, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines whether or not the power load 44 can be tolerated even if the power is less than the requested power.

  In S240, if the power load 44 cannot tolerate less power than the requested power, the process of S236 is performed, and a permission notice indicating a conditional determination result or a conditional permission notice is sent to the load control unit 58 in S238. Send and finish the process. The permission notification indicating the conditional determination result transmitted in S238 may include information indicating the time when the fuel cell 40 can supply power and the amount of power. For example, the permission notice indicating the conditional determination result is a time when the fuel cell 40 can start the supply of power when supplying the requested power while generating power with the generated power higher than the predetermined power generation efficiency. It may also include the amount of power that can be supplied at the present time or before the deadline. Further, the conditional permission notification transmitted in S238 may include information indicating the time when the fuel cell 40 can supply power and the amount of power. For example, the conditional permission notice when the fuel cell 40 is started in S236 may include a time when the requested power can be supplied, and also include an amount of power that can be supplied by the present time or before the deadline. It may be.

  If the power load 44 can be tolerated even if the power is less than the power requested in S240, a permission notification indicating a conditional determination result or a conditional permission notification is transmitted to the load control unit 58 in S242, and the process is performed. finish. The permission notification indicating the conditional determination result transmitted in S242 may include information indicating the time when the fuel cell 40 can supply power and the amount of power. For example, the permission notice indicating the conditional determination result is a time when the fuel cell 40 can start the supply of power when supplying the requested power while generating power with the generated power higher than the predetermined power generation efficiency. In addition, the fuel cell 40 may include the amount of power that can be supplied by the present time or before the deadline while generating power with generated power that is higher than a predetermined power generation efficiency. In addition, the conditional permission notification transmitted in S242 may include information indicating the amount of power that the fuel cell 40 can supply. For example, the conditional permission notification may include the amount of power that can be supplied by the present time or before the deadline while the fuel cell 40 generates power with generated power that is higher than a predetermined power generation efficiency.

  When the load control unit 58 receives a permission notification indicating a conditional determination result or a conditional permission notification from the fuel cell control unit 50, the range of allowable power notified by the permission notification. The operation mode that can be changed in the operation mode may be determined from the operation mode table 56 to change to the operation mode. Further, the load control unit 58 may control the load unit 64 to start power consumption at a specified time based on the time when the power can be received notified by the permission notification.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a management table managed by the fuel cell control unit 50. In the management table, state information, time information, time limit information, period information, and power information related to the power load 44 are stored in association with the power load 44. In the state information, either a request or consumption state indicating the power consumption state of the power load 44 is stored. The time information stores the time when the supply of power to the power load 44 is started or the time when power is requested from the power load 44. The time limit information stores a time limit for starting power consumption when power is requested from the power load 44. The period information stores a period during which the power load 44 consumes power. In the power information, the power consumed by the power load 44 is stored.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of time development of the generated power generated by the fuel cell 40. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents the total amount of power generated by the fuel cell 40. When it is necessary to increase the power consumption, the request control unit 66 of the power load 44 supplies the fuel cell control unit 50 with request information indicating that power is consumed at a time (t0) earlier than the time when the power consumption is increased. Send. The request control unit 66 of the power load 44 uses the time limit for starting power consumption (time t1), the period during which power is consumed (period when time t2 and time t1 are reduced), and the power to be increased as fuel information as request information. It transmits to the battery control part 50. Based on the request information from the request control unit 66a, the fuel cell control unit 50 performs a specified period of time (a period obtained by subtracting the time t2 and the time t1) until the specified time limit (time t1). To increase the power generated by the fuel cell 40.

  According to the fuel cell system 30 of the present embodiment, when the request control unit 66 needs to increase the power consumption of the power load 44, the power load 44 increases the power consumption because the power request information is transmitted in advance. Before starting, the power generation amount of the fuel cell 40 can be increased in advance. Further, the request control unit 66 refers to the operation mode table 56 to determine the amount of power consumption that needs to be increased compared to the current power consumption when attempting to change the operation mode, and increases the power consumption. Since the required amount is transmitted to the fuel cell control unit 50, the power generation amount of the fuel cell 40 can be increased in advance by the amount of power consumption required by the power load 44. In addition, since the request control unit 66 transmits period information indicating a period for requesting power to the fuel cell control unit 50, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines in advance the time to decrease after the power consumption of the power load 44 increases. I can know. For this reason, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not the power generation amount of the fuel cell 40 should be increased or decreased.

  Further, since the load control unit 58 increases the power consumption of the power load 44 on the condition that the permission notification that the power consumption may be increased is received from the fuel cell control unit 50, the power consumption of the entire system is increased. The fluctuation of becomes smaller. For this reason, even a relatively small fuel cell 40 can stably supply electric power. Further, since the load control unit 58 increases the power consumption within the allowable range received from the fuel cell control unit 50, even if the power generation amount that can be increased by the fuel cell 40 is small, the load control unit 58 increases the power consumption. The amount of power generation can be used effectively. Further, the load control unit 58 uses the operation mode table 56 to determine an operation mode that can be changed within the allowable power consumption range, and at this time, the operation mode is changed to an operable operation mode. The most preferred mode of operation can be selected within the range of power to be used.

  Furthermore, in the fuel cell system 30 of the present embodiment, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines the power consumption of the other power load 44 in order to increase the power consumption of the other power load 44 at the timing when the power consumption of one power load 44 decreases. A permission notice is transmitted to the load control unit 58. At this time, the fuel cell control unit 50 may receive a notification that the power consumption is reduced from the request control unit 66 in advance, and may increase the power consumption of the other power load 44 when the power consumption of the power load 44 decreases. . As another method, the fuel cell control unit 50 detects that the power consumption of the power load 44 has decreased by decreasing the output voltage or output current, and in that case A permission notice may be sent. Thereby, the fluctuation | variation of the power consumption of the whole system can be made small. For this reason, the fluctuation | variation of the electric power generation amount by the fuel cell 40 becomes small, and the loss of the energy which arises when changing an electric power generation amount can be reduced by extension. Further, the fuel cell 40 can be continuously driven with high efficiency.

  For example, the power consumption may change in a time of about 10 milliseconds, but generally a time of about several hundred milliseconds is required to change the amount of power generated by the fuel cell 40. Therefore, if the generated power of the fuel cell 40 is changed, the power generated until the generated power value of the fuel cell 40 reaches the demand power value is wasted. That is, when the power generated by the fuel cell 40 is increased in order to cope with the increase in power consumption of the power load 44, the power generated by the fuel cell 40 is until the power required by the power load 44 is reached. Since the power load 44 cannot effectively consume the power, the power generated by the fuel cell 40 during that time is wasted. Further, when the power generated by the fuel cell 40 is reduced in order to cope with the reduction in the power consumption of the power load 44, the power generated by the fuel cell 40 is generated until the reduced power consumption is reached. Electricity is wasted without being consumed. In addition, when it is necessary to newly start the fuel cell 40 in accordance with fluctuations in power demand, the energy for raising the temperature of the reformer before the fuel cell 40 having the reformer is started from the stop state. is required. Therefore, if the variation in the amount of power generated by the fuel cell 40 is large, energy is wasted. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce the fluctuation in the amount of power generated by the fuel cell 40 while controlling the fuel cell 40 so as to exceed a predetermined power generation efficiency. The fuel cell 40 can be operated in this state.

  In addition, the fuel cell control unit 50 calculates in advance the time when the power consumption of the power load 44 decreases based on the period information received from the request control unit 66, and indicates that the power consumption may be increased at this time. The notification is transmitted to the load control unit 58 of the other power load 44. Further, when the fuel cell control unit 50 receives the power request information and the period information from the plurality of request control units 66, the fuel cell control unit 50 schedules the timing at which the power load 44 increases the power consumption so that the fluctuation of the output power becomes small. Then, the permission notification is transmitted to the load control unit 58 so that each power load 44 increases the power consumption at the scheduled timing. At this time, the fuel cell control unit 50 notifies the load control unit 58 of information indicating the time at which power can be supplied to the power load 44.

  For example, the fuel cell control unit 50 associates the amount of power consumed by the power load 44, the start time of power consumption, and the power consumption period with the power load 44 based on the power request information received from the request control unit 66. Manage. Thereby, since the time when the power consumption of the power load 44 decreases can be calculated in advance, the fuel cell control unit 50 schedules the timing for increasing the power consumption of the power load 44 so that the fluctuation of the output power becomes small. it can. Information indicating the time to start power consumption is transmitted to the load control unit 58 together with the permission notice so that each power load 44 increases the power consumption at the scheduled timing.

  In this way, the fuel cell control unit 50 can control the load to continuously consume power. For this reason, the fluctuation | variation of the power consumption of the fuel cell system 30 whole becomes small. Moreover, since the load whose power consumption approximates can be operated continuously, the fluctuation of the power consumption of the entire fuel cell system 30 is further reduced.

  Also, the fuel cell control unit 50 uses the heating device 48 to heat the water by using the heating device 48 until the power consumption of the power load 44 increases after the permission notification is transmitted to the load control unit 58. To do. In addition, the fuel cell control unit 50 starts up the fuel cell 40 and consumes power by using the heating device 48 until the power can be actually supplied to the power load 44 to heat the water. It's okay. Thereby, even when the response of the power load 44 is slow, it is possible to prevent the power consumption of the entire fuel cell system 30 from fluctuating during that time.

  Another modification of the fuel cell system 30 is a system in which the fuel cell 40 in the above embodiment is a device that simultaneously generates power and supplies heat using fossil fuel or hydrogen gas as fuel. Such equipment is, for example, a gas engine or a gas turbine. Also in this modification, it is clear that the same effect as the effect described in the above embodiment can be obtained.

  In still another modification of the fuel cell system 30, the request control unit 66 of the power load 44 requests the fuel cell control unit 50 for power required for the power load 44 to perform a desired series of operations. . At this time, the fuel cell control unit 50 indicates that the power may be consumed by the load control unit 58 when the fuel cell 40 can supply the power necessary for performing the intended operation of the power load 44. Send a notification. The power load 44 stores in advance a power consumption pattern necessary for performing a target operation as a power value for each period and each period.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a consumption pattern of power consumed by the power load 44. In the consumption pattern 1 shown in FIG. 9, the power load 44 consumes power of w2 during the period from time u0 to time u1 with u0 as the reference time. Further, the power consumption is changed at time u1, and the power of w4 is consumed for the period up to time u2. Further, in the consumption pattern 2, the power load 44 consumes power of w3 during a period from time u3 to time u4 with u3 as a reference time. Further, the power consumption is changed at time u4, and power w1 is consumed until time u5. The power load 44 may store the power consumption pattern in each operation mode in the operation mode table 56. In addition, when the power load 44 can perform some operations and other operations at intervals in order to perform a target operation, a plurality of consumptions for performing the target operation are performed. A pattern may be stored. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 9, when some operations and other operations consume power indicated by the consumption pattern 1 and the consumption pattern 2 in order to perform a target operation, When the operation and the other operation can be performed at intervals, the consumption pattern 1 and the consumption pattern 2 may be stored.

  When the power load 44 performs a target operation, the request control unit 66 selects a consumption pattern necessary for the target operation, and transmits request information indicating the power consumption pattern to the fuel cell control unit 50 in advance. To do. In addition, the request control unit 66 transmits a time limit until the start of power consumption indicated by the consumption pattern to the fuel cell control unit 50. When the fuel cell control unit 50 receives the request information from the plurality of request control units 66, the fuel cell control unit 50 follows the power consumption pattern indicated by the request information based on the power consumption for each period indicated by the request information. When the supply of power is started by the requested deadline, the total amount of power consumed by the power load 44 exceeds the maximum amount of power that can be supplied by the fuel cell 40 at any time indicated by the request information. Determine whether or not. When the total amount of power consumed by the power load 44 does not exceed the maximum amount of power that can be supplied by the fuel cell 40 at any time, the fuel cell control unit 50 starts consuming the power indicated by the consumption pattern. Determine the time of day. Further, the fuel cell control unit 50 transmits a permission notification indicating the time at which power consumption is started to the load control unit 58. When the total value of the power consumed by the power load 44 exceeds the maximum amount of power that can be supplied by the fuel cell 40 at any time, the fuel cell control unit 50 does not transmit a permission notice to the load control unit 58. .

  The load control unit 58 starts consuming electric power on condition that the permission notification is received from the fuel cell control unit 50. At this time, the consumption of power indicated by the consumption pattern is started at the time when the consumption of power received from the fuel cell control unit 50 is started. In this way, the power load 44 can consume power for performing the intended operation.

  In addition, when the power load 44 can perform a part of the operation and another operation in order to perform the target operation, the request control unit 66 performs the part of the operation. Request information indicating a power consumption pattern necessary for the operation and request information indicating a power consumption pattern necessary for performing another operation are transmitted to the fuel cell control unit 50. Further, the request control unit 66 transmits to the fuel cell control unit 50 a time limit until the start of power consumption indicated by each consumption pattern. When the fuel cell control unit 50 newly receives request information indicating a plurality of consumption patterns from the request control unit 66, the fuel cell control unit 50 performs the period indicated by the request information based on the request information already received from the request control unit 66. Calculate the power consumption. Further, the fuel cell control unit 50 is consumed at any time when the supply of power is started in accordance with a plurality of consumption patterns indicated by the new request information by the time limit for starting the consumption of power. The time at which power consumption indicated by each consumption pattern is started is determined so that the total power value does not exceed the maximum amount of power that can be supplied by the fuel cell 40. Furthermore, the fuel cell control unit 50 transmits a permission notification indicating the time at which power consumption indicated by each consumption pattern can be started to the load control unit 58.

  In this way, the power load 44 consumes the amount of power required for each of a part of the operations that can be executed at intervals and the other operations in the time zone in which the fuel cell 40 can supply, thereby achieving the purpose. Can be performed.

  According to such a modification of the fuel cell system 30, it is possible to prevent the operation from being stopped due to a shortage of power generated by the fuel cell 40 during the period in which the power load 44 performs the intended operation.

  In still another modification of the fuel cell system 30, the fuel cell system 30 further includes a storage battery that accumulates electric power generated by the fuel cell 40 and supplies electric power to the electric power load 44. The apartment house may include one storage battery, and each of the plurality of residences 110 may include a storage battery. Each fuel cell 40 may include a storage battery. When the fuel cell control unit 50 receives the request information from the request control unit 66 of the power load 44 and the fuel cell 40 cannot supply the requested amount of power, the storage battery determines the amount of power that the fuel cell 40 cannot supply. A permission notice is transmitted to the load control unit 58 on the condition that it can be supplied.

  Further, when the fuel cell control unit 50 cannot supply the amount of power required by the power load 44 by the time limit requested by the request control unit 66, the storage battery can supply the power from the fuel cell 40. Control is performed so that the power is supplied from the storage battery until the fuel cell 40 can supply power, on condition that the amount of power can be supplied within the time limit. Further, the fuel cell control unit 50 transmits a permission notification indicating that power may be consumed to the load control unit 58.

  Further, the storage battery includes a request control unit 66 and a load control unit 58, and transmits request information to request power to the fuel cell control unit 50 when the storage amount stored in the storage battery is lower than a predetermined storage amount. . At this time, the amount of electric power necessary for charging the storage battery is transmitted to the fuel cell control unit 50. When the fuel cell control unit 50 receives the request information from the storage battery request control unit 66, the fuel cell control unit 50 receives the amount of power consumed by the power load 44 and the period during which the power is consumed, received from the request control unit 66 of the power load 44. Thus, the time when the power consumption of the power load 44 decreases is determined, and it is determined at which time the power for charging is supplied to the storage battery. That is, the fuel cell control unit 50 transmits a permission notice for charging the storage battery at the time when the power consumption of the power load 44 decreases. In addition, when the fuel cell control unit 50 receives the request information from the storage battery request control unit 66, the fuel cell control unit 50 receives the amount of power consumed by the power load 44 and the period during which the power is consumed, received from the request control unit 66 of the power load 44. The power generation efficiency of the fuel cell 40 is determined based on the predetermined efficiency by determining the time when the power consumed by the power load 44 decreases and charging the storage battery at the time when the power consumed by the power load 44 decreases. When it becomes high, the permission notification that power is supplied to the storage battery is transmitted to the load control unit 58 of the storage battery. By such control, it is possible to schedule the electric power generated by the fuel cell 40 to be substantially constant in time, so that the fuel cell 40 can be operated efficiently. Further, the fuel cell 40 can be operated with higher efficiency than the predetermined efficiency.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of time evolution of power consumed by the power load 44 and the storage battery. The power load 44c consumes power P7 at time u6. The total amount P8 of the amount of power consumed by the power load 44b and the power load 44c at the time u6 is the maximum value of the amount of power that can be generated by the fuel cell 40. The power load 44b temporarily stops the power consumption at a time u7 after the time u6, and resumes the consumption of the same amount of power as the power consumed at the time u7 from the subsequent time u9. Is scheduled. The power load 44a requests the same amount of power as the power consumed by the power load 44b at the time u6 with the time u6 as the deadline. In this case, the fuel cell 40 cannot supply power to the power load 44a at least during the period from time u6 to time u7. At this time, the fuel cell control unit 50 controls to supply power from the storage battery to the power load 44a. Further, the fuel cell control unit 50 sets a time at which discharge is started at time u6 so that the amount of power discharged from the storage battery is minimized, and loads a permission notice indicating that power consumption starts from time u6. It transmits to the control part 58a.

  In addition, the fuel cell control unit 50 is scheduled in advance so that the power load 44a ends the consumption of power at time u8 before time u9 based on the request information received from the request control unit 66a. From time to time u9, a permission notice indicating that power may be consumed is transmitted to the load control unit 58 of the storage battery so as to charge the storage battery. In this way, the amount of power generated by the fuel cell 40 is maintained substantially constant at the power P8.

  According to such a modification of the fuel cell system 30, even when the fuel cell 40 cannot supply the power required by the power load 44, the power load 44 operates by supplying power from the storage battery. be able to. Further, since the fuel cell control unit 50 can determine in advance whether or not the storage battery can supply the power required by the power load 44, the power load 44 can be prevented from consuming the power of the storage battery unnecessarily. Further, since the fuel cell control unit 50 controls the time for supplying power from the storage battery to the power load 44 so that the total amount of power supplied from the storage battery to the power load 44 is minimized, the capacity of the storage battery is reduced. be able to.

  In still another modification of the fuel cell system 30, when the fuel cell control unit 50 receives the request information, the fuel cell 40 has a minimum power transmission loss from the fuel cell 40 to the power load 44. Determine the amount of power generated by.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the power path. The fuel cell 40 and the power load 44 are each connected to a power line 74. The power relay device 76 connects a plurality of power lines 74. The power relay device 76 transmits power between the plurality of connected power lines 74. A power path is formed by the power line 74 and the power relay device 76 so that power can be supplied from the fuel cell 40 to any power load 44. The power relay device 76 connects a plurality of power lines 74, such as a transformer. The power relay device 76 connects power lines 74 having different power loss rates.

  The fuel cell control unit 50 stores in advance position information on the power path of the fuel cell 40 and the power relay device 76. That is, the fuel cell control unit 50 stores information for identifying the power line 74 connected to each fuel cell 40 in association with the fuel cell 40. Further, the fuel cell control unit 50 stores information for identifying all the power lines 74 connected to the power relay device 76 and the power loss rate in the power relay device 76 in association with the power relay device 76. The fuel cell control unit 50 further stores the power loss rate in all the power lines 74 in association with the power lines 74.

  In this way, the fuel cell control unit 50 stores the positional information on the power path of the fuel cell 40 and the power relay device 76 in advance, so that when the power line 74 connected to the power load 44 is given, the fuel cell control unit 50 The power path from 40 to the power load 44 can be known. For example, in a route search of a car navigation system, as is well known, a route from a starting point to a destination based on node information indicating a road-to-road connection point and link information indicating a road connecting each node. Search for. Similarly, the fuel cell control unit 50 traces the power path from the fuel cell 40 (departure point) to the power load 44 (destination) through the power relay device 76 (node) and the power line 74 (link) stored in advance. You can search with Further, the fuel cell control unit 50 can calculate the amount of power transmission loss from the power loss rate in the power line 74 and the power relay device 76 on the retrieved power path and the amount of power to be transmitted.

  The power load 44 stores information for identifying the power line 74 to which the power load 44 is connected as position information on its power path. When the power consumed by the power load 44 is increased, the request control unit 66 transmits, to the fuel cell control unit 50, positional information on the power path of the power load 44 together with request information indicating the amount of power consumed. . When the fuel cell control unit 50 receives the request information and the position information of the power load 44 from the request control unit 66, the fuel cell control unit 50 searches each fuel cell 40 for a power path for supplying power to the power load 44, and The power loss rate in the power path is calculated by determining the power line 74 and the power relay device 76 that form the power line. The fuel cell control unit 50 calculates the amount of power transmission loss in the power path based on the power loss rate in the power path and the increase amount of power received from the request control unit 66. The fuel cell control unit 50 increases the amount of power generated by the plurality of fuel cells 40 so that the total amount of power transmission loss on the power path is minimized.

  Further, when the fuel cell control unit 50 receives the request information and the position information indicating the position of the power load 44 on the power path from the request control unit 66, the fuel cell control unit 50 and the power path requested from the request control unit 66 The electric power generated by the fuel cell 40 is increased by the total amount with the upper power transmission loss.

  Further, when there are a plurality of power paths for supplying power from the fuel cell 40 to the power load 44, the fuel cell control unit 50 calculates a power transmission loss when power is transmitted using each power path, Select the power path that minimizes the loss. For example, when power is transmitted over a long distance, when power transmission loss can be minimized by transmitting power using a high-voltage power path, power is transmitted using a high-voltage path.

  According to such a modification of the fuel cell system 30, transmission loss from the fuel cell 40 to the power load 44 can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to prevent the amount of power received by the power load 44 from being insufficient due to power transmission loss.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the fuel cell system 30 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The fuel cell system 30 of the present embodiment schedules the timing when the power load 44 consumes power. The fuel cell system 30 of this embodiment supplies electric power and heat to an apartment house that is a building including a plurality of houses (110a to 110c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 110), for example. In addition, the residence 110b and the residence 110c have the same component as the residence 110a. By identifying the constituent elements of the dwelling 110b and dwelling 110c with the symbols b and c at the end of each constituent element, the dwelling 110 is identified.

  The fuel cell system 30 of this embodiment includes a plurality of fuel cells (40a to 40c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 40), a plurality of power loads (44a to 44c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 44), and a plurality of heating devices ( 48a to 48c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 48), a plurality of main hot water storage tanks (42a to 42c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 42), a plurality of thermal loads (54a to 54c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 54), and a plurality of hot water supplies. History management unit (60a-60c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 60), a plurality of at-home determination units (62a-62c, hereinafter referred to as 62), a plurality of storage batteries (82a-82c, hereinafter referred to as 82), A plurality of power supply history management units (84a to 84c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 84), a plurality of power meters (86a to 86c, hereinafter collectively referred to as 86), and a single heating device that the dwelling 110 does not have 48d and sub It comprises a tundish 52 and the fuel cell controller 50,. Of the elements provided in the fuel cell system 30 shown in the figure, elements denoted by the same reference numerals as those provided in the fuel cell system 30 shown in FIG. 1 correspond to those described with reference to FIGS. Since it has substantially the same function and configuration as the element, its description is omitted except for the differences.

  The storage battery 82 stores the power of the fuel cell 40 when the power generated by the fuel cell 40 is larger than the power consumed by the power load 44, and stores the power when the power generated by the fuel cell 40 is smaller than the power consumed by the power load 44. Electric power is supplied to the electric power load 44 by discharging the generated electric power. The storage battery 82 is provided for each fuel cell 40. The storage battery 82 may be a secondary battery such as a lead storage battery, or may be a power storage device such as a capacitor or a capacitor. The storage battery 82 is provided so as to be charged by power from any of the fuel cells 40. Note that the amount of power stored in the storage battery 82 is detected based on, for example, the voltage between the output terminals of the storage battery 82.

  When the fuel cell control unit 50 receives power request information from the request control unit 66, the power load 44 increases the power consumption on condition that the fuel cell 40 can further supply power to the power load 44. A permission notice indicating the timing to be transmitted is transmitted. Specifically, the fuel cell control unit 50 transmits to the load control unit 58 the time when the power load 44 should increase the power consumption in the permission notification. At this time, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines the timing at which the power load 44 increases the power consumption based on the increase amount of power consumption indicated by the power request information received from the request control unit 66 and the storage amount of the storage battery 82. A permission notification that schedules the timing before the time when the amount of increase in power supplied from the fuel cell 40 reaches the amount of increase in power consumption indicated by the power request information received from the request control unit 66, and indicates the scheduled timing Send. Then, on condition that the permission notification is received from the fuel cell control unit 50, the load control unit 58 increases the power consumption of the power load 44 at the timing indicated by the permission notification.

  When the fuel cell control unit 50 can further store power in the storage battery 82, the amount of generated power supplied from the fuel cell 40 to the increase in power consumption indicated by the power request information received from the request control unit 66. In the rising period until the amount of increase reaches the amount of power, the power load 44 increases the power consumption within the rising period so that the amount of power charged in the storage battery 82 and the amount of power discharged from the storage battery 82 are substantially the same. To schedule. Thereby, since the temporal fluctuation amount of the storage amount of the storage battery 82 can be reduced, the capacity of the storage battery 82 can be reduced. Therefore, the power supply cost can be reduced.

  In addition, when the fuel cell control unit 50 can further store electricity in the storage battery 82, the storage battery 82 reaches full charge within the rising period based on the amount of power that can be stored in the storage battery 82 further. Determine whether or not. When it is determined that the storage battery 82 reaches full charge during the start-up period, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines the timing at which the power load 44 increases power consumption, and the time when the storage battery 82 reaches full charge during the start-up period. Schedule earlier. In this case, since the power load 44 starts to consume power near the time when the storage battery 82 reaches near full charge, it is possible to prevent the generated power of the fuel cell 40 from becoming excessive.

  The fuel cell control unit 50 is configured such that the power difference obtained by subtracting the storage amount of the storage battery 82 at the start time of the rising period from the target storage amount to be stored in the storage battery 82 exceeds a predetermined reference value. Furthermore, the timing at which the power load 44 increases the power consumption is scheduled so that the value obtained by subtracting the amount of power discharged from the storage battery 82 within the rising period from the amount of power charged in the storage battery 82 within the rising period approaches the power difference. To do. In this case, the amount of electricity stored in the storage battery 82 can be shifted in time near the target amount of electricity stored, so that the capacity of the storage battery 82 can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the power supply cost and to secure an appropriate amount of power storage.

  When the power consumption of the power load 44 needs to be increased, the request control unit 66 transmits period information indicating a period for increasing the power consumption in advance together with the power request information. When the fuel cell control unit 50 receives new power request information from the request control unit 66, the fuel cell control unit 50 has already received the period information and the amount of increase in power consumption indicated by the power request information received from the request control unit 66. Based on the timing at which the power load 44 indicated by the transmitted permission notice should increase the power consumption, the total power consumption at each time is determined, and the total power consumption at each time is supplied from the fuel cell 40. It is determined that the fuel cell 40 can further supply power to the power load 44 on condition that the maximum amount of power that can be obtained is not exceeded at any time. In this way, the fuel cell control unit 50 can determine the total value of the power consumption permitted to the power load 44 at each time, so that the fuel cell 40 can respond to the newly requested power request. It is possible to appropriately determine whether or not it is possible.

  Then, the fuel cell control unit 50 increases the power consumption indicated by the period information and the power request information already received from the request control unit 66 and the power load 44 indicated by the permission notification already transmitted. Based on the power timing, the timing at which the power consumption of the power load 44 decreases and the amount of power consumption reduction at that timing are determined, and the fall period until the power generated by the fuel cell 40 decreases by the amount of power consumption reduction , The timing for reducing the generated power of the fuel cell 40 is scheduled so that the amount of power charged in the storage battery 82 and the amount of power discharged from the storage battery 82 are substantially the same. Since the fuel cell control unit 50 can determine the timing when the power consumption of the power load 44 decreases, before and after the falling period of the generated power of the fuel cell 40 including the timing when the power consumption of the power load 44 decreases. In this case, the storage amount of the storage battery 82 can be made substantially the same.

  Further, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines that the amount of discharge discharged from the storage battery 82 during the period from the timing when the generated power of the fuel cell 40 is reduced to the timing when the power consumption of the power load 44 is reduced is the generated power of the fuel cell 40. The timing at which the generated power of the fuel cell 40 is reduced is scheduled so as to be less than or equal to the amount of electricity stored in the storage battery 82 at the timing at which the battery is reduced. For this reason, even when the storage amount of the storage battery 82 is close to the lower limit value, the charging of the storage battery 82 is started when the power load 44 ends the consumption of power near the time when the storage battery 82 completes discharging.

  Further, the fuel cell control unit 50 has a power difference obtained by subtracting the storage amount of the storage battery 82 at the start time of the falling period from the target storage amount to be stored in the storage battery 82, exceeding a predetermined reference value. In this case, the power load 44 consumes power so that a value obtained by subtracting the amount of discharge power discharged from the storage battery 82 within the fall period from the amount of charge power charged in the storage battery 82 within the fall period approaches the power difference. Schedule when to increase. In this case, since the amount of electricity stored in the storage battery 82 can be shifted close to the target amount of electricity stored, the capacity of the storage battery 82 can be reduced. Therefore, the power cost can be reduced, and an appropriate amount of power can be secured in advance.

  The wattmeter 86 measures the power consumption of each power load 44. The power supply history management unit 84 manages the history of the power generation amount of the fuel cell 40 and the power consumption amount of the power load 44. Then, the fuel cell control unit 50 needs to store power in the storage battery 82 based on the history of the power generation amount of the fuel cell 40 and the power consumption amount of the power load 44 managed by the power supply history management unit 84. The amount of power is calculated, and when the calculated required amount of power storage is larger, the power generation amount of the fuel cell 40 is increased at an earlier timing from the timing at which the power consumption indicated by the permission notification should be increased. For this reason, when it is predicted that a larger amount of power storage will be required in the future, the power storage amount of the storage battery 82 can be increased in advance.

  The power supply history management unit 84 determines the amount of power generated by the fuel cell 40 and the amount of power consumed by the power load 44 when it is determined by the home determination unit 62 that it is home, and the fuel when it is determined that it is not home. The history of the power generation amount of the battery 40 and the power consumption amount of the power load 44 is respectively managed. When it is determined by the home determination unit 62 that the fuel cell control unit 50 is at home, the fuel cell control unit 50 stores power in the storage battery 82 using the home history managed by the power supply history management unit 84. Calculate the required amount of electricity to be stored. When it is determined by the home determination unit 62 that the fuel cell control unit 50 is not at home, the fuel cell control unit 50 stores power in the storage battery 82 using the non-home history managed by the power supply history management unit 84. Calculate the power storage requirement. For this reason, it is possible to secure a desirable storage amount in the storage battery 82 at each time of being at home and when not at home.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the time evolution of the power consumption of the power load 44, the generated power of the fuel cell 40, and the storage amount of the storage battery 82. The fuel cell control unit 50 acquires the increase amount ΔP150 of power that is increased by the power load 44 requested by the power request information, and the rising period (t153 to t151) of the fuel cell 40 required to increase the power of ΔP150. ) Is calculated. Then, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines the time t152 to be consumed by the power load 44 so that the charge amount and the discharge amount to the storage battery 82 become substantially the same during the rising period.

  In addition, the fuel cell control unit 50 calculates the falling period (t156 to t154) of the fuel cell 40 required to reduce the power of ΔP150. Then, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines a time t154 at which the generated power of the fuel cell 40 starts to be reduced so that the charge amount and the discharge amount to the storage battery 82 become substantially the same during the fall period. The falling period may be a period until the amount of hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell 40 reaches an amount corresponding to the target generated power by the fuel cell 40. As described above, the storage amount of the storage battery 82 can be made substantially the same before and after the rising period and / or the falling period of the power generated by the fuel cell 40.

  The fuel cell control unit 50 may store in advance the time evolution of the generated power when the generated power of the fuel cell 40 is increased for each fuel cell 40 in association with the amount of increase in the generated power. The time evolution of the generated power when the generated power of the battery 40 is reduced may be stored in advance for each fuel cell 40 in association with the amount of decrease in the generated power. In addition, the fuel cell control unit 50 measures the time evolution of the generated power when the power generation amount of the fuel cell 40 is increased, and associates the actual measurement result with the increase amount of the generated power for each fuel cell 40. May be stored. Thereby, the fuel cell control unit 50 can appropriately estimate the time evolution of the charging power to the storage battery 82 and the discharging power from the storage battery 82.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating another example of the time development of the power consumption of the power load 44, the generated power of the fuel cell 40, and the amount of electricity stored in the storage battery 82. In this figure, when the amount of electricity stored in the storage battery 82 is near the upper limit value Qmax at time t161 when the generated power of the fuel cell 40 is raised, and when the amount of electricity stored in the storage battery 82 is reduced at time t163 when the generated power of the fuel cell 40 is lowered. An operation of the fuel cell control unit 50 in the vicinity of the upper limit value Qmin will be described. When it is determined that the stored amount of the storage battery 82 reaches Qmax within the rising period of the generated power of the fuel cell 40, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines the power load near the time t162 that is predicted to reach Qmax. A permission notice is transmitted to start the power consumption of 44. Further, when it is determined that the amount of power stored in the storage battery 82 reaches Qmin within the falling period of the generated power of the fuel cell 40, the fuel cell control unit 50 is in the vicinity of time t164 that is predicted to reach Qmin. The time t163 at which the generated power of the fuel cell 40 is reduced is determined so as to start the reduction of the generated power of the fuel cell 40.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram showing still another example of the time development of the power consumption of the power load 44, the generated power of the fuel cell 40, and the amount of electricity stored in the storage battery 82. In this example, the fuel cell control unit 50 sets the power storage amount of the storage battery 82 at the time t173 when the power generation power of the fuel cell 40 rises from the power storage amount of the storage battery 82 at the time t171 when the power generation power of the fuel cell 40 is started up. Approach the quantity Qt. In this case, the fuel cell control unit 50 subtracts the amount of discharge power from the storage battery 82 during the period from time t172 to time t173 from the amount of charge power to the storage battery 82 during the period from time t171 to time t172. The time t172 at which the power consumption of the power load 44 is started is determined so as to approach a value obtained by subtracting the power storage amount Q171 of the storage battery 82 at the time t171 from the target power storage amount Qt. As a result, the fuel cell control unit 50 can cause the storage amount of the storage battery 82 to change in the vicinity of the target storage amount Qt.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram showing still another example of the time development of the power consumption of the power load 44, the generated power of the fuel cell 40, and the storage amount of the storage battery 82. In this example, the fuel cell control unit 50 targets the amount of electricity stored in the storage battery 82 at time t183 when the generated power of the fuel cell 40 rises from the amount of electricity stored Q181 of the storage battery 82 at time t181 when the generated power of the fuel cell 40 falls. The power load 44 schedules a time t182 at which the power consumption is increased in order to approach the charged amount Qt. In this case, the fuel cell control unit 50 subtracts the amount of discharge power from the storage battery 82 during the period from time t181 to time t182 from the amount of charge power to the storage battery 82 during the period from time t182 to time t183. The time 181 at which the generated power of the fuel cell 40 is lowered is determined so as to approach the value obtained by subtracting the charged amount Q181 of the storage battery 82 at the time t181 from the target charged amount Qt. As a result, the fuel cell control unit 50 can cause the storage amount of the storage battery 82 to change in the vicinity of the target storage amount Qt.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of data managed by the power supply history management unit 84 in a table format. The power supply history management unit 84 divides a day into time zones every 10 minutes, and stores the average value of the generated power of the fuel cell 40 and the power consumption of the power load 44 in each time zone. The power supply history management unit 84 may store the average value of the power generated by the fuel cell 40 and the power consumption of the power load 44 in a predetermined number of days. Then, the power supply history management unit 84 divides the generated power of the fuel cell 40 and the power consumption of the power load 44 into a case where the home determination unit 62 determines that it is home and a case where it is determined that it is not home. Manage your history.

  Then, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines the storage battery 82 after a predetermined time based on the difference between the generated power amount and the consumed power amount for each time period stored in the power supply history management unit 84 and the storage amount of the storage battery 82. Predict the amount of electricity stored. Then, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines that a larger amount of power storage is necessary when the value obtained by subtracting a predetermined reference power storage amount from the power storage amount of the storage battery 82 after a predetermined predetermined time is smaller. To do. In this case, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines the timing at which the power load 44 starts power consumption so as to increase the net amount of power stored in the storage battery 82 during the rising period of the generated power of the fuel cell 40. Further, the fuel cell control unit 50 determines the timing for reducing the amount of power generated by the fuel cell 40 in order to increase the net amount of power stored in the storage battery 82 during the falling period of the power generated by the fuel cell 40. .

  In addition, when the home battery determination unit 62 determines that the fuel cell control unit 50 is home, the storage amount of the storage battery 82 after a predetermined time using the home history data managed by the power supply history management unit 84. If the home determination unit 62 determines that the battery is not at home, the storage amount of the storage battery 82 after a predetermined time is predicted using the non-home history data managed by the power supply history management unit 84. You can do it. For this reason, the fuel cell control unit 50 can appropriately predict the amount of electricity stored in the storage battery 82 depending on whether the user is at home or not.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a computer 500 included in each of the fuel cell control unit 50, the request control unit 66, and the load control unit 58. In this example, the computer 500 stores a program that causes the fuel cell system 30 to function as the fuel cell system 30 described with reference to FIGS.

  The computer 500 includes a CPU 700, a ROM 702, a RAM 704, a communication interface 706, a hard disk drive 710, a flexible disk drive 712, and a CD-ROM drive 714. The CPU 700 operates based on programs stored in the ROM 702, the RAM 704, the hard disk drive 710, the flexible disk 720, and / or the CD-ROM 722.

  For example, a program for causing the fuel cell system 30 to function causes the computer 500 to function as the fuel cell control unit 50, the request control unit 66, and the load control unit 58 described with reference to FIGS. To work. Further, the computer 500 included in each of the fuel cell control unit 50, the request control unit 66, and the load control unit 58 causes the corresponding fuel cell control unit 50, the request control unit 66, and the load control unit 58 to function. May be stored.

  When the flexible disk 720 stores a program, the flexible disk drive 712 reads the program from the flexible disk 720 and provides it to the CPU 700. When the CD-ROM 722 stores a program, the CD-ROM drive 714 reads the program from the CD-ROM 722 and provides it to the CPU 700.

  Further, the program may be read directly from the recording medium into the RAM and executed, or once installed in the hard disk drive 710, the program may be read into the RAM 704 and executed. Further, the program may be stored in a single recording medium or a plurality of recording media. The program stored in the recording medium may provide each function in cooperation with the operating system. For example, the program may request the operating system to perform a part or all of the function and provide the function based on a response from the operating system.

  As a recording medium for storing the program, in addition to a flexible disk and a CD-ROM, an optical recording medium such as DVD and PD, a magneto-optical recording medium such as MD, a tape medium, a magnetic recording medium, a flash memory, an IC card, A semiconductor memory such as a miniature card can be used. A storage device such as a hard disk or a RAM provided in a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet may be used as a recording medium.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. Various modifications or improvements can be added to the above embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

It is a figure showing an example of composition of fuel cell system 30 concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the heating apparatus 48a. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the electric power load 44a. It is a figure which shows an example of the relationship between generated electric power and electric power generation efficiency in the some fuel cell. It is a sequence diagram which shows the communication sequence which the electric power load 44 requests | requires electric power. 4 is a flowchart showing details of operation of the fuel cell control unit 50 when power request information is received. It is a figure which shows an example of the management table which the fuel cell control part 50 manages. It is a figure which shows an example of the time development of the electric power generated by the fuel cell. It is a figure which shows an example of the consumption pattern of the power which the electric power load 44 consumes. It is a figure which shows an example of the time development of the electric power which the electric power load and the storage battery consume. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of an electric power path | route. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the fuel cell system 30 which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the time evolution of the power consumption of the electric power load 44, the electric power generated of the fuel cell, and the electrical storage amount of the storage battery. It is a figure which shows another example of the time development of the power consumption of the electric power load 44, the electric power generated of the fuel cell 40, and the electrical storage amount of the storage battery. It is a figure which shows another example of the time development of the power consumption of the electric power load 44, the electric power generation of the fuel cell, and the electrical storage amount of the storage battery. It is a figure which shows another example of the time development of the power consumption of the electric power load 44, the electric power generation of the fuel cell, and the electrical storage amount of the storage battery. It is a figure which shows an example of the data which the power supply log | history management part 84 manages in a table format. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a computer 500 included in each of a fuel cell control unit 50, a request control unit 66, and a load control unit 58. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 40 ... Fuel cell, 42 ... Main hot water tank, 44 ... Electric power load, 46 ... Heat pump, 48 ... Heating device, 50 ... Fuel cell control part, 52 ... Sub Hot water storage tank, 56 ... operation mode table, 58 ... load control unit, 60 ... hot water supply history management unit, 62 ... home determination unit, 66 ... request control unit, 82 ... storage battery, 84: Power supply history management unit, 30 ... Fuel cell system

Claims (15)

A fuel cell;
An electric load that operates by consuming electric power generated by the fuel cell;
When the power generated by the fuel cell is greater than the power consumption of the power load, the power of the fuel cell is stored. When the power generated by the fuel cell is lower than the power consumption of the power load, the stored power is discharged. A storage battery for supplying power to the power load by
When it is necessary to increase the power consumption of the power load, a request control unit that transmits in advance power request information indicating an increase in power consumption; and
When receiving power request information from the request control unit, a permission notification indicating a timing at which the power load should increase power consumption is provided on condition that the fuel cell can further supply power to the power load. A fuel cell control unit to transmit;
A load control unit that increases the power consumption of the power load at a timing indicated by the permission notification on the condition that the permission notification is received from the fuel cell control unit;
The fuel cell control unit determines the timing at which the power load increases the power consumption based on the increase amount of power consumption indicated by the power request information received from the request control unit and the storage amount of the storage battery. Schedule before the time when the increase in power supplied from the fuel cell reaches the increase in power consumption indicated by the power request information received from the control unit, and send a permission notice indicating the scheduled timing Fuel cell system. The fuel cell control unit increases the amount of generated power supplied from the fuel cell to the amount of increase in power consumption indicated by the power request information received from the request control unit when the storage battery can be further charged. In the rising period until the amount reaches, the timing at which the power load increases the power consumption within the rising period so that the amount of power charged in the storage battery and the amount of power discharged from the storage battery become substantially the same. The fuel cell system according to claim 1, which is scheduled. If the fuel cell control unit can further charge the storage battery, whether the storage battery reaches full charge within the start-up period further based on the amount of power that can be stored in the storage battery. And when it is determined that the storage battery reaches full charge during the rising period, the timing at which the power load increases the power consumption is the time when the storage battery reaches full charge during the rising period. The fuel cell system according to claim 2, which is scheduled at an earlier timing. The fuel cell control unit has a power difference obtained by subtracting a storage amount of the storage battery at a start time of the rising period from a target storage amount to be stored in the storage battery, exceeding a predetermined reference value. In this case, the power load increases power consumption so that a value obtained by subtracting the amount of power discharged from the storage battery within the rising period from the amount of power charged to the storage battery within the rising period approaches the power difference. The fuel cell system according to claim 3, wherein timing is scheduled. The request control unit, when it is necessary to increase the power consumption of the power load, transmits period information indicating a period for increasing the power consumption in advance together with the power request information,
When the fuel cell control unit receives new request information from the request control unit, the amount of increase in power consumption indicated by the period information and the power request information already received from the request control unit, and the permission already transmitted Based on the timing at which the power load indicated by the notification should increase the power consumption, the total value of the power consumption for each time can be determined, and the total value of the power consumption for each time can be supplied from the fuel cell. 3. The fuel cell system according to claim 2, wherein the fuel cell system determines that the fuel cell can further supply power to the power load on condition that the maximum amount of power is not exceeded at any time. The fuel cell control unit is configured to increase the power consumption indicated by the period information and the power request information already received from the request control unit, and the power load indicated by the permission notification already transmitted. On the basis of the power load of the power load is determined and a decrease amount of power consumption at the timing, and in the falling period until the generated power of the fuel cell decreases by the power consumption decrease amount, 6. The fuel cell system according to claim 5, wherein the timing for reducing the generated power of the fuel cell is scheduled so that the amount of power charged in the storage battery is substantially the same as the amount of power discharged from the storage battery. The fuel cell control unit reduces the generated power of the fuel cell by the amount of discharge discharged from the storage battery during a period from the time when the generated power of the fuel cell is reduced to the time when the power consumption of the power load is reduced. The fuel cell system according to claim 6, wherein a timing at which the generated power of the fuel cell is reduced is scheduled so as to be equal to or less than a storage amount of the storage battery at a timing to be performed. The fuel cell control unit is configured such that a power difference obtained by subtracting a storage amount of the storage battery at a start time of the falling period from a target storage amount to be stored in the storage battery exceeds a predetermined reference value. In addition, the power load is consumed so that a value obtained by subtracting a discharge power amount discharged from the storage battery during the fall period from a charge power amount charged to the storage battery during the fall period approaches the power difference. The fuel cell system according to claim 7, wherein a timing for increasing electric power is scheduled. A power supply history management unit for managing the history of the amount of power generated by the fuel cell and the amount of power consumed by the power load;
The fuel cell control unit is configured to determine a necessary storage amount to be stored in the storage battery based on a history of the generated power amount of the fuel cell and the consumed power amount of the power load managed by the feeding history management unit. 5. The fuel cell system according to claim 4, wherein the power generation amount of the fuel cell is increased at an earlier timing from the timing at which the power consumption indicated by the permission notification should be increased when the calculated required storage amount is larger. A home determination unit for determining whether the user is at home,
The power supply history management unit is the amount of power generated by the fuel cell and the amount of power consumed by the power load when it is determined by the home determination unit that it is home, and the time when it is determined that it is not home. Manage the history of the amount of power generated by the fuel cell and the amount of power consumed by the power load,
The fuel cell control unit should store power in the storage battery using the home history managed by the power supply history management unit when it is determined that the home determination unit is at home. Calculate the required amount of power storage, and if it is determined by the home determination unit that it is not home, it should be stored in the storage battery using the non-home history managed by the power supply history management unit The fuel cell system according to claim 9, wherein the required amount of electricity storage is calculated. The fuel cell control unit notifies the load control unit of an increase in allowable power consumption,
The fuel cell system according to claim 1, wherein the load control unit increases power consumption within an allowable range received from the fuel cell control unit. An operation mode table indicating the power consumption of the power load according to the operation mode of the power load;
The fuel cell system according to claim 11, wherein the load control unit determines an operation mode that can be changed within a range of allowable power consumption using the operation mode table, and makes a transition to the operation mode. The request control unit refers to the operation mode table to determine the amount of power consumption that needs to be increased compared to the current power consumption when attempting to change the operation mode, and the required increase amount The fuel cell system according to claim 12, wherein the fuel cell system is transmitted to the fuel cell control unit. When it is necessary to increase the power consumption of the power load that operates by consuming the power generated by the fuel cell, a request control step for transmitting in advance power request information indicating the amount of increase in power consumption;
Fuel cell control for transmitting a permission notice indicating a timing at which the power load should increase power consumption on condition that the fuel cell can further supply power to the power load when power request information is received Steps,
A load control step for increasing the power consumption of the power load at a timing indicated by the permission notification on the condition that the permission notification is received;
The fuel cell control step stores the power of the fuel cell, and based on a storage amount of the storage battery that supplies the stored power to the power load, and an increase amount of power consumption indicated by power request information. The timing at which the load increases the power consumption is scheduled before the time when the increase in power supplied from the fuel cell reaches the increase in power consumption indicated by the power request information. The fuel cell system control method which transmits the permission notice shown. A fuel cell;
An electric load that operates by consuming electric power generated by the fuel cell;
When the power generated by the fuel cell is greater than the power consumption of the power load, the power of the fuel cell is stored. When the power generated by the fuel cell is lower than the power consumption of the power load, the stored power is discharged. A storage battery for supplying power to the power load by
When it is necessary to increase the power consumption of the power load, a request control unit that transmits in advance power request information indicating an increase in power consumption; and
When receiving power request information from the request control unit, a permission notification indicating a timing at which the power load should increase power consumption is provided on condition that the fuel cell can further supply power to the power load. A fuel cell control unit to transmit;
A load control unit that increases the power consumption of the power load at a timing indicated by the permission notification on the condition that the permission notification is received from the fuel cell control unit;
The fuel cell control unit determines the timing at which the power load increases the power consumption based on the increase amount of power consumption indicated by the power request information received from the request control unit and the storage amount of the storage battery. Schedule before the time when the increase in power supplied from the fuel cell reaches the increase in power consumption indicated by the power request information received from the control unit, and send a permission notice indicating the scheduled timing To be built.

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