JP2014014251A - Controller, network system, control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to simply set a target for controlling power consumption in an electrical apparatus.SOLUTION: A home controller for making an achievement shown by achievement data and a target be displayed on a screen comprises: a power information acquisition unit for acquiring information on power consumption in an electrical apparatus whose power consumption is controlled according to the target; an achievement acquisition unit 315 for acquiring achievement data showing an achievement related to the power consumption from the acquired information on the power consumption; and an operation reception unit 310 for receiving user operation for setting the target.

Description

  The present invention relates to a controller, a network system, a control method, and a program, and more particularly, to a controller, a network system, a control method, and a program for controlling power consumption of an electrical device.

  There is a need for a power saving technique that takes into account fluctuations in the energy supply and demand situation. For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-114355) discloses a method for managing power consumption in an easy-to-understand manner for a user. Specifically, the combination of the user's priority, the priority of the device that it wants to use, and the control priority that defines the overall power consumption control right, makes the device with the highest control priority the individual device. The overall power consumption is controlled by switching the power consumption level.

JP 2011-114355 A

  Regarding power saving, there is a user's request to keep the power consumption of home appliances within a desired range, and accordingly, there is a request to easily set a desired range. In contrast, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for controlling the power consumption according to the priority as described above. However, in order to easily set the range so that the power consumption falls within the range desired by the user. No technology is shown.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a controller, a network system, a control method, and a program that enable a simple target setting for a target for controlling the power consumption of an electric device.

  A controller according to an aspect of the present invention provides a power information acquisition unit for acquiring information related to power consumption of an electric device whose power consumption is controlled according to a target, and a record relating to power consumption from the acquired information related to power consumption. A performance acquisition unit for acquiring performance data to be displayed and an operation reception unit for receiving a user operation for setting a target, and the results and targets indicated by the performance data are displayed on the screen.

  Preferably, the apparatus further includes a target determination unit that determines a target from a preset target value and a reduction ratio set with respect to the preset target value.

  Preferably, the controller further includes a ratio acquisition unit that acquires a ratio from the operation content received by the operation reception unit.

  Preferably, the controller displays an image for indicating a range of values for which the ratio can be set on the screen.

  Preferably, the target is indicated by electricity bill data, and the actual power consumption data includes electricity bill data calculated from the power consumption amount and unit price information of the electricity bill.

  Preferably, the controller displays on the screen an image for indicating a range of values for which a ratio can be set and an image for indicating a range of values for which the ratio cannot be set in association with the image.

  Preferably, the controller determines a value range from the electricity cost data of the acquired performance data and the electricity cost data indicated by the previous target.

  Preferably, the controller further includes a result storage unit for storing power consumption result data for each unit period acquired by the result acquisition unit, and sets a preset target value among the result data of the result storage unit. Obtained from the electricity bill data of the performance data of a predetermined unit period.

  Preferably, the controller further includes a result storage unit for storing the power consumption data for each unit period acquired by the result acquisition unit, and a target storage unit for storing the target for each unit period, The electricity cost data of the performance data for a predetermined unit period in the performance storage unit and the electricity cost data indicated by the target for the predetermined unit period in the electricity cost data and the target storage unit are set in advance. From the difference between

  According to another aspect of the present invention, in a network system including an electrical device and a controller, the controller acquires a power information acquisition unit for acquiring information related to power consumption of the electrical device whose power consumption is controlled according to a target, and acquisition A performance acquisition unit for acquiring performance data indicating a result of power consumption from an information on power consumption to be performed, and an operation reception unit for receiving a user operation for setting a target, The target is displayed on the screen.

  The control method according to still another aspect of the present invention includes a step of obtaining information relating to power consumption of an electric device whose power consumption is controlled according to a target, and result data indicating a result relating to power consumption from the obtained information relating to power consumption. , A step of displaying a result and a target indicated by the result data on a screen, and a step of receiving a user operation for setting the target.

  In still another aspect of the present invention, a program for causing a processor to execute a method for controlling an electric device is provided.

  This program acquires, in a processor, information related to power consumption of an electric device whose power consumption is controlled according to a target, and acquires actual data indicating actual power consumption from the acquired information related to power consumption. This is a program for executing a step of displaying the result and target indicated by the result data on the screen and a step of receiving a user operation for setting the target.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the user can set a target for controlling the power consumption of the electric device by an operation while confirming the screen display.

1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram showing the structure of the home controller which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the memory content of the memory which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing the structure of the air conditioner which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the function structure which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the control part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the target setting part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the transition of the screen which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen of the top screen which concerns on embodiment of this invention, and a smart power saving. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen of DR and ranking which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen for demonstrating basic user operation which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a general | schematic process flowchart at the time of the smart power saving screen display which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement model which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the transition of the operation mode which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the tendency of the change of the power consumption of the electric equipment which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a whole process flowchart of the control part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the target setting which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the setting of the target of the next month which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the other example of the setting of the target of the next month which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the case where a restriction | limiting is applied to the target's settable range which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the case where the restriction | limiting is not applied to the target setting range which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the case where the target which concerns on embodiment of this invention is set per month or day. It is a figure explaining switching of the display of the performance graph which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the change of the target at the time of DR which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other example of a function structure which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

  In this embodiment mode, the home appliance is an electric device used in a house and refers to an electric device driven by electric power supplied from the outside. A house refers to a house, an office, etc., for example.

[Embodiment 1]
<Overall configuration of network system>
First, the overall configuration of the network system according to the present embodiment will be described. Referring to FIG. 1, the network system according to the present embodiment is installed in, for example, a house or an office. The network system includes home appliances such as a television (abbreviation of television) 200A, illuminators 200B and 200C corresponding to LED (abbreviation of light emitting diode) ceiling lights, and an air conditioner (abbreviation of air conditioner) 200D. The illustrated home appliances are examples, and the present invention is not limited to these. The television 200A, the illuminators 200B and 200C, and the air conditioner 200D may be collectively referred to as home appliances 200A to 200D.

  The network system further includes a solar power generation device 200X, a battery 200Y, and a power conditioner 200Z for controlling them.

  The network system includes a home controller 100 for controlling the home appliances 200A to 200D, the solar power generation device 200X, the battery 200Y, the power conditioner 200Z, and the like. The home controller 100 can perform data communication with the home appliances 200A to 200D, the solar power generation device 200X, the battery 200Y, the power conditioner 200Z, and the like via the wired or wireless network 401, the router 150, and the repeater 160. As the network 401, for example, a wireless local area network (LAN), ZigBee (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), wired LAN, or PLC (Power Line Communications) is used. The home controller 100 may be portable, may be detachable from a base placed on a table, or may be fixed to a wall of a room.

  The router 150 has a function of connecting the network system and various external networks. Therefore, each part of the network system can communicate with an external device (not shown) via the router 150 and an external network.

  In the network system according to the present embodiment, power conditioner 200Z supplies power to battery 200Y, the system, and home appliances 200A to 200D via power line 402. And the power conditioner 200Z acquires electric power from the solar power generation device 200X, the battery 200Y, and a system (such as an electric power system provided by an electric power company) via the power line 402.

  In the network system, the television 200A is connected to the communication device 240A for the television 200A, the illuminator 200B is connected to the communication device 240B for the illuminator 200B, and the illuminator 200C is connected to the communication device 240C for the illuminator 200C. The air conditioner 200D is connected to a communication device 240D for the air conditioner 200D.

  Each of the communication devices 240 </ b> A to 240 </ b> D is connected to the network 401 and to the power line 402. Each of the communication devices 240A to 240D has a function of communicating with the repeater 160 via the network 401 and a function as a measurement device that measures the power consumption of each of the connected home appliances 200A to 200D.

<Hardware configuration of home controller 100>
One aspect of the hardware configuration of home controller 100 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  2, home controller 100 includes a memory 101, a display 102, a tablet 103, buttons 104, a communication interface 105, a speaker 107, a clock 108, and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 110.

  The memory 101 is realized by various types of RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read-Only Memory), a hard disk, and the like. For example, the memory 101 is a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disk-Read Only Memory), which is used via a reading interface. USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, memory card, FD (Flexible Disk), hard disk, magnetic tape, cassette tape, MO (Magnetic Optical Disc), MD (Mini Disc), IC (Integrated Circuit) card (excluding memory cards) It is also realized by a medium for storing a program in a nonvolatile manner such as an optical card, a mask ROM, an EPROM, and an EEPROM (Electronically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

  The memory 101 stores various data including a control program executed by the CPU 110 and data shown in FIG.

  The display 102 is controlled by the CPU 110 to display data on the operating states of the home appliances 200A to 200D and the power conditioner 200Z. The tablet 103 detects a touch operation with a user's finger and outputs touch coordinates and the like to the CPU 110. In addition, the tablet 103 receives a command from a user operation and outputs the received command to the CPU 100.

  Note that the display, which is a display screen, is not limited to that provided integrally with the home controller 100, and display image information is transferred to a terminal different from the home controller 100 and displayed on the display of the terminal. It may be done.

  In the present embodiment, the tablet 103 is laid on the surface of the display 102. That is, in the present embodiment, display 102 and tablet 103 constitute touch panel 106. When the user operates the display image on the display 102 with a finger or the like via the tablet 103, the tablet 103 accepts the operation and outputs the accepted operation content (movement distance, movement direction, etc. of the finger) to the CPU 110.

  The button 104 is disposed on the surface of the home controller 100. The button 104 has various buttons and keys operated to give instructions to the CPU 110. The button 104 accepts a user operation of a button / key and outputs the accepted operation content to the CPU 110.

  The communication interface 105 transmits / receives data to / from the home appliances 200 </ b> A to 200 </ b> D via the network 401 by being controlled by the CPU 110. As described above, the communication interface 105 transmits and receives data to and from the home appliances 200 </ b> A to 200 </ b> D by using, for example, a wireless LAN, ZigBee (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), wired LAN, or PLC.

  The speaker 107 outputs sound based on a command from the CPU 110. For example, the CPU 110 causes the speaker 107 to output sound based on the sound data.

The clock 108 outputs the current time data to be measured to the CPU 110.
The CPU 110 executes various types of information processing by executing various programs stored in the memory 101. In other words, the processing in the home controller 100 is realized by each hardware and software executed by the CPU 110. Such software may be stored in the memory 101 in advance. In addition, software may be stored in a storage medium non-temporarily and distributed as a program product. Alternatively, the software may be provided as a program product that can be downloaded by an information provider connected to the so-called Internet.

  Such software is read from the storage medium by using a reading device (not shown), or downloaded by using the communication interface 105 and temporarily stored in the memory 101. The CPU 110 stores the software in the form of an executable program in the memory 101 and then executes the program.

  As storage media, CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disk-Read Only Memory), USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, memory card, FD (Flexible Disk), hard disk , Magnetic tape, cassette tape, MO (Magnetic Optical Disc), MD (Mini Disc), IC (Integrated Circuit) card (excluding memory card), optical card, mask ROM, EPROM, EEPROM (Electronically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) And the like, for example, a medium for storing the program in a nonvolatile manner.

  The program here includes not only a program directly executable by the CPU but also a program in a source program format, a compressed program, an encrypted program, and the like.

<Memory information>
Referring to FIG. 3, a memory 101 mainly includes an area E1 where data read / written by a control unit B1 described later is stored, and an area E2 where data read / written mainly by a target setting unit B2 described later is stored. including.

  The area E1 includes mode data 101A indicating the current operation mode of the home appliance, power consumption data 101B indicating the power consumption of the home appliance, and a value obtained by integrating the difference between the power consumption and the target power consumption (hereinafter, difference integration). Difference integrated value data 101C indicating the value), previous calculated value data 101D indicating the previously calculated difference integrated value, detection period data 101E, and target data 101F indicating the target power consumption.

  Each home appliance according to the present embodiment transmits data indicating its current operation mode (current mode data 201A described later) to home controller 100. Therefore, the home controller 100 can acquire the mode data 101A indicating the current operation mode of each home appliance.

  Control part B1 which concerns on this Embodiment calculates a difference integrated value regularly, and whenever the difference integrated value is calculated, it detects the tendency of the change of the power consumption of a household appliance from the said difference integrated value. Furthermore, the length of a period (hereinafter referred to as a detection interval) from the latest detection of the change tendency to the next detection time is changed. The detection period data 101E includes length data D1 indicating the length of such a detection interval that can be variably set, and time data D2 indicating the detection time (time) of the latest (ie, previous) change trend.

  In the area E2, unit price information 101J indicating the unit price of an electricity bill (hereinafter also referred to as an electricity bill), power consumption information 101K indicating the power consumption of each of the home appliances 200A to 200D, home appliance 200A to 200D, or consumption of the entire home appliance / house Stored is accumulated power amount information 101L indicating a value obtained by integrating the amount of power, actual power cost information 101P indicating the result of electricity charges, and target electricity cost data 101Q indicating a target electricity cost.

  The unit price information 101J is information that the home controller 100 receives from an external server device such as an electric power company via an external network, and indicates the price per unit power consumption. May differ depending on the content of the contract.

  The integrated power consumption information 101L is a record of the power consumption, and indicates the power consumption integrated in units of hours, days, and months.

  The actual electricity bill information 101P is an electricity charge related to the actual amount of power consumption, and indicates a daily and monthly electricity charge.

<Composition of home appliances>
In the present embodiment, home appliances 200A to 200D generally have the same configuration, and here, air conditioner 200D will be described as a representative.

  Referring to FIG. 4, an air conditioner 200D includes a memory 201, a display unit 202 including an LED (Light Emitting Diode), a button 204 operated by a user to give a command, and a communication interface for communicating via a network 401. 205, an air conditioning unit 207, a clock 208, a sensor 209 for measuring ambient temperature and humidity, and a CPU 210.

  The communication interface 205 transmits and receives data via the network 401 under the control of the CPU 210. The communication interface 205 transmits and receives data by using a wireless LAN, ZigBee (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), wired LAN (Local Area Network), PLC (Power Line Communications), or the like as described above.

  The memory 201 can be realized in the same manner as the memory 101 of the home controller 100. The memory 201 stores a control program executed by the CPU 210, a command input to the air conditioner 200D, an operating state of the air conditioner 200D, and the like. In the present embodiment, air conditioner 200D has a plurality of types of operation modes, CPU 210 detects the current operation mode, and stores current mode data 201A indicating the detected operation mode in memory 201. Each time the operation mode of the air conditioner 200D is switched, the CPU 210 updates (rewrites) the current mode data 201A so as to indicate the operation mode after switching, and transmits the updated current mode data 201A to the home controller 100. Is done.

  Further, when receiving control information described later from the home controller 100, the CPU 210 controls the air conditioning unit 207 in accordance with the control information, and rewrites the current mode data 201A using the operation mode data included in the control information.

<Overall configuration of functions>
With reference to FIG. 5, an outline of a functional configuration of home controller 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  Referring to FIG. 5, CPU 110 receives information on power consumption of home appliances 200 </ b> A to 200 </ b> D (including information on power consumption or power consumption) from repeater 160 via communication interface 105. The power consumption amount calculation unit 302 for calculating the power consumption amounts of the home appliances 200A to 200D based on the received power consumption information, and controls the home appliances 200A to 200D so that the power consumption amount follows the target power consumption amount Control unit B1 for controlling, target setting unit B2 for setting a target for power consumption, and control information such as a command for controlling home appliances from the output of the control unit B1 is transmitted from the communication interface 105 to each home appliance. Control information transmission unit 308, display processing unit for displaying information such as images on display 102 09, record acquisition unit 315, and accepts the operation content from the tablet 103 or button 104 (Type), an operation accepting section 310 that generates and outputs various information including the instructions which follow the operation content. Furthermore, a memory writing unit 311 for writing data to the memory 101 and a memory reading unit 312 for reading data from the memory 101 are provided. The power information reception unit 301 and the power consumption calculation unit 302 correspond to a power information acquisition unit for acquiring information related to the power consumption of the home appliances 200A to 200D for the control unit B1.

  The performance acquisition unit 315 acquires performance data indicating the performance related to the power consumption of the home appliances 200A to 200D for the target setting unit B2.

  The display processing unit 309 has a display memory (not shown). When information is output (stored) to the display memory from the control unit B1 or the target setting unit B2, the display processing unit 309 follows the display memory information. The image is displayed on the display 102.

  The function of each unit shown in FIG. 5 is configured by a program or a combination of a program and a circuit.

<Configuration of control unit B1>
With reference to FIG. 6, the functional configuration of the control unit B1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. The control unit B1 has a function of controlling the home appliance so that the power consumption of the home appliance (or the entire house) changes following the target power consumption. The control function includes smart power saving in which the target is determined by a user operation or the like, and DR (demand response) instructed by a demand in which the target power consumption is received from the outside (for example, an electric power company or the like) via the communication interface 105. ) Including control function.

  Specifically, the control unit B1 calculates the target power consumption using the unit price information 101J from the electricity bill indicated by the target electricity bill data 101Q set by the target setting unit B2, and the home appliances 200A to 200A. For each 200D, a difference integration unit 303 for calculating a difference integrated value from the power consumption calculated by the power consumption calculation unit 302 and the target power consumption calculated by the target calculation unit 313, from the calculated difference integration value , A detection unit 304 for detecting a tendency of change in the power consumption amount of each of the home appliances 200A to 200D, and information such as a command for controlling the home appliance so that the power consumption changes according to the detected tendency of change. A control information generation unit 307 is provided.

  The control information transmission unit 308 generates communication data having the control information from the control information generation unit 307 and transmits the communication data to the corresponding home appliance via the communication interface 105. The display processing unit 309 has a function of outputting the generated control information to the outside. Specifically, display data based on control information from the control information generation unit 307 is generated, and the generated display data is output to the display 102. Thereby, an image based on the control information is displayed on the display 102.

  In addition, the control unit B1 includes a mode receiving unit 306 for receiving data indicating the current operation mode from the home appliances 200A to 200D via the communication interface 105, and a period changing unit for changing the length of the detection interval. 305 is provided.

  Here, the case where the electricity bill changes in units of time zones will be described as a method for calculating the power consumption amount of the target calculation unit 313.

For example, assuming that the electricity bill for one day (24 hours) is M yen and the average electricity bill is m _ave , the amount of power consumed per day can be calculated as E = M / m _ave . Here, if the electricity rates at time zones ta, tb and tc are m _a , m _b and m _c , the average electricity rate is m _ave ((m _ave = am _a + bm _b + cm _c ) / (a + b + c)). However, a, b, and c are arbitrary constants. Information on the electricity charges during these time periods can be obtained by referring to the unit price information 101J.

<Configuration of target setting unit B2>
With reference to FIG. 7, the functional configuration of target setting unit B2 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. The target setting unit B2 provides a function for enabling the user to set the above target. Specifically, the target setting unit B2 includes a screen switching unit 340 that outputs an instruction for switching the screen displayed on the display 102, a setting acquisition unit 341 for acquiring a preset electricity bill, and an operation reception unit. A screen for generating information on a screen to be displayed based on an instruction from a ratio acquisition unit 342 and a screen switching unit 340 for acquiring a ratio related to a reduction fee from a preset electricity bill based on information from 310 A target electricity cost determination unit 350 for determining a target electricity cost based on data acquired by the information generation unit 330, the setting acquisition unit 341, and the ratio acquisition unit 342, and a restriction unit for restricting settings related to the target electricity cost 355, and an electricity cost calculation unit 356 for calculating the electricity cost as a result.

  The screen information generation unit 330 includes a result information generation unit 331 that generates information for displaying the results of power consumption, a setting information generation unit 334 that generates information for displaying setting contents by a user operation, A message generation unit 336 that generates a message, a ranking information generation unit 337 that generates information for displaying a ranking screen to be described later, and information to be displayed when DR (demand response) control is executed A DR information generation unit 338.

  The target electricity cost determination unit 350 includes a monthly electricity cost calculation unit 351 for calculating a monthly target electricity cost, and a daily electricity cost calculation unit 352 for calculating a target electricity cost for one day.

  The performance information generation unit 331 includes a binary graph generation unit 332 for generating information of a bipartite graph from the power consumption information 101K and a bar graph generation unit 333 for generating bar graph information from the integrated power amount information 101L. The 2-minute graph is a graph showing a change over time of the actual power consumption from the present to the previous 2 minutes. Note that the time of the graph is not limited to 2 minutes as long as the time change is from the present to a predetermined time ago.

  In the present embodiment, a binary graph and a bar graph are illustrated to show the time change of the actual results regarding power consumption, but the graph for showing the time change of the actual results is not limited thereto.

  The electricity bill calculation unit 356 calculates the daily and monthly electricity bills from the predetermined conversion formula using the unit price information 101J from the daily and monthly power consumptions indicated by the integrated power amount information 101L. The electricity bill is stored in the memory 101 as actual electricity bill information 101P.

<Detection of power consumption of home appliances>
In the present embodiment, the home controller 100 acquires information on the power consumption of home appliances and stores it in the memory 101. Specifically, each of the communication devices 240A to 240D measures the power consumption (unit: W) of each of the connected home appliances 200A to 200D, and transmits the measured power consumption data to the repeater 160. When receiving the report request from the home controller 100, the repeater 160 transmits the power consumption data of the home appliances 200 </ b> A to 200 </ b> D to the home controller 100 as a response. The power information receiving unit 301 of the home controller 100 receives power consumption data of each of the home appliances 200A to 200D.

  The power consumption calculation unit 302 integrates the power consumption of each of the home appliances 200A to 200D indicated by the reception data of the power information reception unit 301 using time data input from the clock 108 (unit: Wh). Is calculated. The hourly power consumption, the daily power consumption, and the monthly power consumption calculated by the power consumption calculation unit 302 are stored in the memory 101 as power consumption data 101B.

  In addition, the result acquisition unit 315 receives power consumption (unit: W) data of the home appliances 200 </ b> A to 200 </ b> D from the repeater 160 via the communication interface 105. Then, by calculating the power consumption indicated by the received data by unit time (hour, day, month) determined in advance using time data input from the clock 108, the power consumption (unit: Wh) is calculated, The accumulated power amount information 101L is stored in the memory 101.

  Alternatively, the result acquisition unit 315 may receive from the repeater 160 without calculating the power consumption. That is, the repeater 160 receives the power consumption data of the home appliances 200 </ b> A to 200 </ b> D and calculates the power consumption. The repeater 160 transmits power consumption or power consumption data according to the type of report request. As a result, the result acquisition unit 315 acquires power consumption data via the communication interface 105 and stores the data in the memory 101 as the integrated power amount information 101L.

  Therefore, the communication interface 105 corresponds to a power information acquisition unit for acquiring information (power consumption or power consumption information) regarding the power consumption of the home appliances 200A to 200D for the result acquisition unit 315. It operates so as to acquire performance data indicating the performance related to power consumption from the acquired information regarding power consumption.

  The power consumption data received by the power information receiving unit 301 is stored in time series as the power consumption information 101K.

  Here, in order to simplify the description, a power acquisition and power consumption acquisition path (a path including the power information reception unit 301 and the power consumption calculation unit 302) for the control unit B1, and a target setting unit B2 Power acquisition and power consumption acquisition paths (paths including the result acquisition unit 315) are individually provided, but may be shared. That is, the power consumption amount calculation unit 302 may perform the function of the result acquisition unit 315.

<Screen transition>
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a basic screen transition in the display 102 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The screen basically includes a top screen 1D, a smart power saving screen 2D, a ranking screen 3D, and a DR screen 4D. These screen transitions are executed by the screen switching unit 340.

  The screen switching unit 340 outputs a screen switching instruction to the screen information generation unit 330 in accordance with the output from the operation reception unit 310. The screen information generation unit 330 generates information on an image to be displayed according to the switching instruction, and outputs the information to the display memory of the display processing unit 309.

  In screen switching, it is first assumed that the top screen 1D is displayed on the display 102. In this case, the top screen 1D is switched to the smart power saving screen 2D by operating the “smart power saving” icon 400 (see FIG. 9A) on the top screen (see FIG. 9B). When the “ranking” icon 501 is operated on the smart power saving screen 2D, the smart power saving screen 2D is switched to the ranking screen 3D (see FIG. 10A).

  Further, when DR control is started even when “smart power saving” is being executed, the smart power saving screen 2D is switched to the DR screen 4D (see FIG. 10B). During the DR control, the DR screen 4D is displayed.

-Top screen When the top screen is displayed, the CPU 110 receives, from the power conditioner 200Z, information indicating the power generated by the solar power generation device 200X, the power purchased and sold to the grid, and the power discharged to the battery 200Y. . The CPU 110 causes the display 102 to display information on the total amount of power generated by the solar power generation device 200X, the power sold to the system, and the remaining battery level based on the discharged power to the battery 200Y via the display processing unit 309.

Smart Power Saving Screen Referring to FIG. 9B, on the smart power saving screen 2D, an image of results related to power consumption is mainly displayed in the left area of the screen. Specifically, the current power consumption is acquired from the power consumption information 101K of the memory 101 by the record information generation unit 331, and data 508 indicating the current power consumption is displayed. In addition, the binary graph generation unit 332 generates a line graph 507 indicating the time change of the power consumption under the control of the control unit B1 in the period from the current power consumption information 101K to the current to two minutes ago. A binary graph according to the generated data is displayed on the display 102.

  In the right area, actual electricity cost data 502 up to the present of the current electricity cost (electricity charge) acquired by the actual information generating unit 331 from the actual electricity cost information 101P of the memory 101 is displayed. Further, data 503 indicating target electricity cost data 101Q that can be variably set by the user, and a controller image 504 for target setting according to information generated by the controller information generation unit 335 are displayed.

  The controller image 504 is a semicircular image that is displayed in order to set a ratio (unit:%) regarding a reduction with respect to a preset electricity bill. A scale (maximum value (100%) to minimum value (50%)) for indicating the range in which the numerical value of the ratio can be input is attached to the outer circumference of the semicircle in 10% increments. The width can be changed variably. Further, in relation to the controller image 504, an arrow mark 505 for indicating the ratio set on the semicircular image for indicating the scale is displayed. Note that the shape of the controller image 504 is not limited to a semicircular shape.

  When setting the above ratio, the user inputs a desired numerical value from the button 104 within the range of the scale of the controller image 504. Alternatively, the tablet 103 is operated to move the mark 505 on the controller image 504 to a desired numerical scale. In this way, the numerical value input via the button 104 or the numerical value of the scale corresponding to the position of the moved mark 505 is acquired by the operation receiving unit 310. Thereby, the user can set (input) the ratio with respect to the preset electricity bill. In FIG. 9B, data 506 indicating the set ratio is displayed, and a mark 505 is displayed at a scale position indicating the ratio.

  In order to determine the target electricity bill, the setting acquisition unit 341 acquires a preset electricity bill, and the ratio acquisition unit 342 inputs the above ratio from the operation reception unit 310. The monthly electricity bill calculation unit 351 of the target electricity bill determination unit 350 is configured to calculate (preset electricity bill × ratio) from the ratio input from the ratio acquisition unit 342 and the preset electricity bill input from the setting acquisition unit 341. ) Is determined as the monthly target electricity bill.

  That is, the target electricity bill determining unit 350 sets a target (target electricity bill) as a target value set in advance (preset electricity bill) and a reduction ratio set for the preset target value. It corresponds to the target determination unit determined from

  Therefore, when the ratio is set to 100%, the preset electricity bill is calculated as the target electricity bill as it is, and the reduction rate from the preset electricity bill is 0%. When the ratio is set to 75%, 75% of the preset electricity bill is calculated as the target electricity bill, resulting in a reduction rate of 25%. The target electricity bill determined in this way is displayed as data 503 and stored in the memory 101 as target electricity bill data 101Q. The details of the above “preset electricity bill” will be described later.

  In the present embodiment, the above-described performance data related to power consumption and target data that can be set by the user are displayed side by side on the same screen of the display 102 so that the user can check both at the same time. When 100 has two displays, for example, when there are a plurality of displays such as a foldable terminal, the results and targets may be displayed side by side on separate displays instead of the same display. Good. Even in that case, the user can change the setting of the target while confirming the result and the target at the same time.

  In addition, the display mode of results and targets is not limited to a mode in which both can be confirmed at the same time. For example, an aspect in which both can be easily compared and confirmed by an operation such as scrolling or flick / tab switching may be used.

Ranking screen Referring to FIG. 10A, on the ranking screen 3D, according to the information generated by the ranking information generation unit 337, on the left side of the screen, data 702 indicating the power consumption of the user's home, purchase of the user's home Data 703 indicating the amount of electricity and the amount of electricity sold, and a graph 704 are displayed. On the right side of the screen, information 701 on the electricity sale ranking of each house in a neighborhood or region designated in advance is displayed.

  When the ranking screen 3D is displayed, the ranking information generation unit 337 generates data 702 from the memory power consumption information 101K. Moreover, the information which shows the electric power generated by the solar power generation device 200X and the electric power traded to the system | strain is received from the power conditioner 200Z, and the data 703 and the graph 704 are produced | generated from the received information. Also, a ranking index is received from an external server (not shown) via the communication interface 105, and information 701 for display is generated from the received index. The generated information is displayed on the display 102, whereby the ranking screen 3D is displayed.

  When the ranking screen 3D is displayed, if the DR control is being performed, an icon 700 for notifying that the DR control is being performed is displayed, and the start time of the time on the horizontal axis of the graph 704 is set to the DR control start time. Switch to match the timing.

  In addition to the graph 704 indicating the performance of the user's home, a power sales performance graph of another user's home selected from the ranking information 701 can also be displayed. FIG. 10A shows a case where “TANAKA”, the first place, is designated, for example. When designated, the power trading result information of “TANAKA” is acquired from the external server, the ranking information generation unit 337 generates a graph indicating the time change of power trading from the acquired information, and the display processing unit 309 Display the generated graph. At this time, the result graph of “TANAKA” 's house may be displayed so as to overlap the time axis of the graph 704 of the user's house.

DR screen During DR control, the DR screen 4D in FIG. 10B is displayed by the information generated by the DR information generation unit 338. On the right side of the DR screen, a binary graph 507 indicating the power consumption since the start of DR control is displayed. On the right side of the screen, information for notifying that DR control is being performed is displayed. The Further, the DR control may be stopped by operating a “release” button 601 displayed on the screen.

<Basic user operations>
A basic user operation for setting a target electricity bill will be described with reference to the smart power saving screen of FIG. In the screen of FIG. 11A, no reduction is made with respect to “preliminarily set electricity bill”, that is, when the ratio is set to 100%, the target electricity bill of data 503 is “preset electricity bill”. ".

  On the other hand, when the ratio is changed from 100% to 85%, as shown in FIG. 11B, using “preset electricity bill” (6360 yen) and a ratio of 85% ( 6400 × 85/100) is determined anew as the target electricity cost, and is displayed as data 503.

  When the ratio is changed from 100% to 85%, the target calculation unit 313 of the control unit B1 calculates the target power consumption from the target electricity cost after the change of the target electricity cost data 101Q, and the target data 101F is obtained. Store in the memory 101. Then, the home appliance is controlled so as to be the target power consumption indicated by the target data 101F, that is, the ideal reduction power consumption. In the binary graph 507A showing the actual power consumption shown in FIG. 11B, after the ratio related to reduction is changed from 100% to 85%, the home appliance is controlled by the control unit B1 according to the changed target, and the power consumption is increased. A state in which the amount is decreasing is shown (see region 507B of graph 507A). Thus, whenever the ratio for determining the ideal reduced power consumption amount of the target data 101F is changed or every time the “preset electricity bill” is changed, the target electricity bill data 101Q is updated and updated. The target data 101F is calculated from the subsequent target electricity bill data 101Q, and the home appliance is controlled so that the power consumption changes according to the calculated target data 101F.

  Here, with reference to FIG. 12, the outline of the process at the time of the smart power-saving screen display of the target setting part B2 is demonstrated. The flowchart in FIG. 12 is stored in advance in the memory 101 as a program, read by the CPU 110, and executed. CPU110 performs the process of FIG. 12 regularly.

  First, the CPU 110 determines whether or not the smart power saving screen 2D is being displayed (step T100). When not being displayed (NO in step T100), the process proceeds to processing of another screen (step T700).

  If it is determined that the smart power saving screen 2D is being displayed (YES in step T100), information on power consumption is acquired (step T200), and information of a binary graph or a bar graph is generated from the acquired information, and user operation Information such as the target electricity bill is acquired from the contents (step T300). The set target electricity bill is stored in the memory 101 as the target electricity bill data 101Q (step T400). Thereafter, an image based on the information acquired / set in step T300 is displayed on the smart power saving screen 2D of the display 102 (step T500).

  Then, the screen switching unit 340 determines whether or not to switch from the smart power saving screen 2D to another screen (step T600). If it is determined that another screen is to be switched (YES in step T600), the process proceeds to step T700, but if it is determined not to be switched (NO in step T600), the process returns to step T100.

  As described above, while the smart power saving screen 2D is being displayed, the graph regarding the power consumption results is displayed while being sequentially updated, and the user can variably set the target electricity cost while checking the results.

<Operation of Control Unit B1>
Next, a specific example of home appliance control by the control unit B1 will be described with reference to FIGS. The control unit B1 controls the home appliance so that the target power consumption of the target data 101F calculated from the target electricity bill data 503, that is, the ideal reduction power consumption is obtained. Here, in order to simplify the description, it is assumed that the home appliance to be controlled is an air conditioner 200D.

<Outline of power consumption control>
In the graph of FIG. 13, the change in the integrated power consumption (thin line graph L1) according to the target data 101F (ideal reduction power amount curve: thick line graph L2) of the air conditioner 200D and the operation mode of the air conditioner 200D associated with the change ( A switching method of the graph L3) is shown. In the graph, the horizontal axis represents the elapsed time (min: min) from when the home controller 100 starts controlling the power consumption according to the target power consumption of the air conditioner 200D, and the vertical axis on the left side of the screen represents the vertical axis. Is the accumulated power consumption (unit: Wh), and the vertical axis on the right side of the screen indicates the type of operation mode (Normal mode, EcoA mode, EcoB mode) of the air conditioner 200D.

  Here, the target data 101F indicating the ideal reduction power amount curve is determined from the target electricity cost data 101Q that is variably set by the user via the setting unit B2, as described above.

  FIG. 13 shows a case where, for example, the total power consumption per three hours (integrated power consumption) is set to 2 kWh as an ideal reduction power consumption curve (target). The home controller 100 switches and controls the operation mode of the air conditioner 200D so that the accumulated power consumption of the air conditioner 200D changes according to the ideal reduced power consumption curve (target).

(Detection process of change in power consumption)
In the present embodiment, in order to control the power consumption of home appliances, the tendency of change in the power consumption of each home appliance is detected, and the operation mode is switched based on the detection result.

  In the automatic switching of the operation mode, it is assumed that the ON / OFF control of the air conditioner 200D is not performed and that the user does not manually control the operation of the air conditioner 200D.

  When the air conditioner 200D is in operation, the home controller 100 selects an operation mode that does not exceed the target set by the user from the operation modes (Normal, EcoA, EcoB) according to the power consumption. The air conditioner 200D is controlled to operate in the selected operation mode.

  In the present embodiment, air conditioner 200D has, as a plurality of operation modes having different power consumption, Normal mode, EcoA mode with less power consumption than Normal mode, and EcoB mode with less power consumption than EcoA mode. Have For example, in the case of the air conditioner 200D during cooling operation, if the set temperature is 20 ° C. in the Normal mode, the Eco A mode is the set temperature 21 ° C., and the Eco B mode is the set temperature 22 ° C. Note that the types and number of operation modes are not limited to these.

  In this embodiment, the following (Expression 1) to (Expression 4) are used to detect the change tendency of the power consumption.

Each parameter of the above relational expression is defined as follows.
p: Target reduction rate [%]
W _normal : Total power consumption [W] when the target home appliance is operated normally for a certain period of time.
t _a : integration time [sec], t _b : comparison interval time [sec], T: current time [sec],
E _A: reduction target power consumption amount per _{t a} [Wh],
E: difference sum [Wh], _{x t:} power consumption of _{t a} seconds [Wh],
E _B : Difference integrated value [Wh] from the start of system control to (T-t _b ) seconds before,
Constant value: t _a = t _b = 300, W _normal : value measured by experiment,
p = {10, 15, 20}
The system control start time indicates the time when the air conditioner 200D starts control of power consumption according to the target power consumption, and the time is assumed to be stored in the memory 101 in advance. Further, it is assumed that the variable p is set to one value from {10, 15, 20} in advance. Also the respective target power consumption _{E A} for each _{t a} seconds from the time the system control start by CPU 110, are pre-calculated above and equation (1) in accordance with (Equation 2), stored in the memory 101 as the target data 101F Assuming that

In operation, when the air conditioner 200D is in operation, the power consumption calculation unit 302 of the home controller 100 uses the power consumption input from the power information reception unit 301 and the time data of the clock 108 to start t from the start of system control. _The power consumption amount x _t [Wh] is calculated periodically every _a second, and each of the calculated power consumption amounts x _t [Wh] is sequentially stored in the memory 101 as the power consumption amount data 101B.

Differential integrating unit 303, a reduction target power consumption _{E A} for each _{t a} seconds indicating the target data 101F in the memory 101, the difference between the power consumption _{x t} for each _{t a} seconds indicated by the power consumption amount data 101B, The difference integrated value E [Wh] is calculated by integrating from the system control start time (t = 0) to the current time T according to the above (Equation 3), and the calculated difference integrated value E [Wh] is stored in the memory 101. It stores sequentially as difference integrated value data 101C. Each time the difference integrated value E is stored, the CPU 110 reads out the previously calculated difference integrated value E (that is, the difference integrated value E _b ) from the difference integrated value E stored as the difference integrated value data 101C. It is stored in the memory 101 as previously calculated value data 101D.

Detection unit 304, when receives the calculation end notification of the difference integrated values from the difference integration unit 303, and the time period t _b indicated by the length data D1 from the previous detection time indicated by data D2 is determined that it has passed, the difference The latest accumulated difference value E is read from the accumulated value data 101C, that is, the difference accumulated value E calculated this time is read, and the read difference accumulated value E is compared with a predetermined value, so that the tendency of the change in the power consumption of the air conditioner 200D To detect. Specifically, the detection unit 304 compares the difference integrated value E that has been calculated most recently regularly with the value 0, and the difference integrated value E and the difference integrated value E _b indicated by the previous calculated value data 101D. Comparison is performed, and a change tendency of the power consumption of the air conditioner 200D is detected based on these comparison results.

Thus, the detection unit 304 periodically every t _b s, detects the change tendency of the power consumption of the air conditioner 200D. Note that t _b seconds indicates the length of the detection interval, and has a relationship of t _a ≦ t _b .

(Conditions for switching the operation mode)
With reference to FIG. 14, the detection result of the change tendency of the power consumption of the air conditioner 200D and the conditions for switching the operation mode of the air conditioner 200D will be described.

  In FIG. 14, as an operation mode of the air conditioner 200D, a double circle indicates a Normal mode, an EcoA mode, and an EcoB mode, and an arrow line extending from the double circle of each operation mode indicates an operation mode ( It extends to a double circle in its own operating mode or other operating mode. In addition, a condition for changing the operation mode to the operation mode of the arrowhead is attached to the arrow line.

  In the present embodiment, the detection unit 304 detects the tendency of the change in the power consumption of the air conditioner 200D by determining whether or not the condition indicated by the arrow in FIG. It is detected whether the amount change tendency is increasing or decreasing, and the result is output to the control information generation unit 307.

  Based on the current operation mode of the air conditioner 200D indicated by the mode data 101A of the memory 101 and the detection result from the detection unit 304, the control information generation unit 307 changes the current operation mode to the operation mode indicated by the tip of the arrow. Control information for switching is generated.

  Specifically, when the current operation mode is the Normal mode, if the detection unit 304 determines that the condition of the difference integrated value E (E ≦ 0) is satisfied, that is, the integrated power consumption tends to be larger than the target. When this is detected, the control information generation unit 307 generates and outputs control information for switching the current operation mode (“Normal mode”) to the EcoA mode (see arrow 61 in FIG. 14). Otherwise, the current operation mode is maintained without switching the operation mode (see arrow 62 in FIG. 14). When maintaining the current operation mode, the control information generation unit 307 may not output the control information, or may output control information indicating a command to “maintain the current operation mode”.

When the current operation mode is the EcoA mode, if the detection unit 304 determines that the condition (E> 0) and (E _b <E) is satisfied for the difference integrated value E, that is, the integrated power consumption tends to be smaller than the target. And the control information generation unit 307 generates control information for switching the current operation mode (“EcoA mode”) to the Normal mode (arrow of FIG. 14). (See line 63).

When the current operation mode is the EcoA mode, if the detection unit 304 determines that the condition of (E ≦ 0) and (E _b ≦ E) is satisfied for the difference integrated value E, that is, the integrated power consumption is less than the target. When it is detected that the difference integrated value tends to increase although there is a tendency to increase, the control information generation unit 307 operates so that the current operation mode (“EcoA mode”) is maintained for the air conditioner 200D (FIG. 14). (See arrow 64).

Further, when the current operation mode is the EcoA mode, if the detection unit 304 determines that the condition of (E> 0) and (E _b ≧ E) is satisfied for the difference integrated value E, that is, the integrated power consumption is lower than the target. When it is detected that there is a tendency to decrease and the difference integrated value tends to decrease, the control information generation unit 307 operates so that the current operation mode (“EcoA mode”) is maintained for the air conditioner 200D (arrow line in FIG. 14). 64).

When the current operation mode is the EcoA mode, if the detection unit 304 determines that the condition of (E ≦ 0) and (E _b > E) is satisfied for the difference integrated value E, that is, the integrated power consumption is less than the target. If it is detected that the difference integrated value tends to decrease although it tends to increase, the control information generation unit 307 generates control information for switching the current operation mode (“EcoA mode”) of the air conditioner 200D to the EcoB mode ( (See arrow 65 in FIG. 14).

  When the current operation mode is the EcoB mode, if the detection unit 304 determines that the condition of the difference integrated value E (E> 0) is satisfied, that is, if it detects that the integrated power consumption tends to be smaller than the target, the control The information generation unit 307 generates control information for switching the current operation mode (“EcoB mode”) of the air conditioner 200D to the EcoA mode (see arrow 66 in FIG. 14). Otherwise, the air conditioner 200D operates to maintain the current operation mode (see arrow line 67 in FIG. 14).

In the graphs of FIGS. 15A and 15B, the change in the integrated power consumption Σx _t that is the integrated value of the power consumption x _t for t _a seconds with the passage of time on the horizontal axis is reduced per t _a second. schematically shown in association with a cumulative value of the target power consumption E _a accumulated energy? En a _(ideally reduce the amount of power curve). In the figure, t _a reduction per second target power consumption E _A accumulated energy? En A of _(ideally reduce the amount of power curve) is represented by a thick solid line, accumulated energy of the power consumption x _t of t _a seconds The electric energy Σx _t is indicated by a thin solid line. The graph of FIG. 7A shows a change in the integrated power consumption Σx _t when the operation mode transition indicated by the arrow 65 in FIG. 6 is executed, and the graph of FIG. A change in the integrated power consumption Σx _t when the operation mode transition indicated by the arrow 63 is executed is shown.

(Change of detection interval length)
In this embodiment calculates a power consumption amount of t _a seconds, but so as to implement the detection of a change trend of the power consumption by the detection unit 304 for each t _b s indicates the length of the detection interval t _b seconds are changed by the period changing unit 305.

  Specifically, the period changing unit 305 compares the difference integrated value E used by the detecting unit 304 for detecting the change tendency with a predetermined value TH, and based on the comparison result (E> TH) Is updated, and the length data D1 of the detection period data 101E indicating the length of the detection interval is updated (rewritten) according to the determination result.

That is, the length of data D1 when it is determined that the above condition is satisfied, be updated to reduce its value (the value of t _b s) (provided that t _b ≧ t _a). On the other hand, if it is determined that the condition is not satisfied the length data D1, the value (t _b s value) of the original value (e.g., 300 seconds) is updated to indicate (although t _b ≧ t _a is there). Note that the update is not performed when the length data D1 indicates the original value (300 seconds).

  Thereby, even when the difference integrated value E tends to increase, the operation mode of the air conditioner 200D can be switched so that the integrated power consumption quickly follows the target by shortening the detection interval. .

  Further, as a general feature of an air conditioner, power consumption greatly increases at the start of operation (at the time of start-up), and then the power consumption returns to a normal level and shifts to a stable operation. Therefore, also in the present embodiment, during the period from the start of the operation of the air conditioner 200D to the transition to the stable operation, the above-described operation mode switching control based on the tendency of change in the power consumption is passed (not performed). It may be.

(Processing flowchart)
FIG. 16 is a schematic flowchart of processing of the control unit B1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. A program according to the flowchart is stored in the memory 101 in advance, and the function is realized by the CPU 110 reading and executing the program.

Processing in this flowchart is executed periodically, for example every t _b seconds. Note that, when t _b seconds indicating the length of the detection interval is changed by the period changing unit 305, the CPU 110 changes the execution interval of the process of FIG. 16 according to the changed detection interval.

Referring to FIG. 16, power consumption calculation unit 302, as described above, to calculate the power consumption _{x t} of the air conditioner 200D, and stores in the memory 101 as the power consumption data 101B (step S100).

The difference integration unit 303 calculates the difference integration value E [Wh] according to the above (Equation 3), and stores it as the difference integration value data 101C in the memory 101 (step S200). At this time, the CPU 110 reads the previously calculated difference integrated value E (that is, the difference integrated value E _b ) stored as the difference integrated value data 101C, and stores it in the memory 101 as the previous calculated value data 101D.

As described above, the detection unit 304 reads the difference integrated value E calculated most recently from the difference integrated value data 101C, and reads the difference integrated value E and a predetermined value (value 0 and the previous difference integrated value E). _b ) and a tendency of a change in power consumption of the air conditioner 200D is detected (step S300). When the detection by the detection unit 304 ends, the CPU 110 acquires the time at the end of detection from the time data output from the clock 108 and stores it as time data D2. Thereby, the time data D2 is updated so as to indicate the latest time when the change tendency of the power consumption is detected.

  The control information generation unit 307 generates control information for controlling the air conditioner 200D from the detected change in power consumption, outputs the generated control information to the control information transmission unit 308, and displays a display processing unit It outputs to 309 (step S400). As a result, control information regarding operation mode switching is output to the air conditioner 200D, and information according to the control information (for example, an image indicating the operation mode after switching, indicating that the operation mode has been switched) is displayed on the display processing unit 309. Message).

  According to the control unit B1, since the air conditioner 200D performs switching control of the operation mode so as not to exceed the target of the power consumption set by the user according to the power consumption, the power consumption is more than necessary. Can be avoided. As a result, the room temperature and the like adjusted by the air conditioner 200D can be maintained in a range desired by the user, and comfort due to the air conditioning is not impaired.

(Modified example of control of electrical equipment)
Although the control information generation unit 307 of the control unit B1 described above generates control information for switching the operation mode of the air conditioner 200D, control information for changing the set temperature of the air conditioner 200D instead of the operation mode switching control. May be output. Further, the change width may be determined according to the magnitude of the difference integrated value E.

  Although only the air conditioner 200D is targeted here, a plurality of home appliances may be targeted, and the operation mode of the home appliance may be individually switched based on the power consumption of each home appliance.

  Further, when a plurality of home appliances to be controlled are used, for example, when the air conditioner 200D, the television 200A, and the illuminator 200B are to be controlled, the home appliances are operated in the above three operation modes (Normal, EcoA, EcoB). The state is as shown in the following setting values.

Normal → Air conditioner heating 22 ℃, TV backlight 0 level, illumination brightness 10000 cold
EcoA → Air conditioner heating 20 ℃, TV backlight 0 level, lighting brightness 10000 cold
EcoB → Air conditioner heating 20 ° C., TV backlight −8 level, illumination brightness 1000 cold color The operation mode is switched according to the transition shown in FIG. In this case, the control information generation unit 307 generates, as control information, a command for switching to the set value described above for each of the air conditioner 200D, the television 200A, and the illuminator 200B. By transmitting the generated command to each home appliance, each home appliance can be individually controlled so that the power consumption changes according to the target.

<Pre-set electricity bill>
In the present embodiment, when the smart power saving screen 2D is displayed, the target electricity cost desired by the user is determined from the ratio relating to the reduction set by the user and the “pre-set electricity cost”. For example, the following methods (1) to (3) are set as a method for setting the “preliminary electricity bill”.

  The method (1) is a method in which the user inputs a desired electricity bill by operating the button 104 or the tablet 103, and may be input at the initial setting of the system or may be a fixed value. Specifically, a method of inputting a guideline for electricity charges / month (this is an input value value is one pattern), and the monthly electricity charge or electricity for the last month from the actual electricity charge information 101P or the accumulated electric energy information 101L. It includes a method of inputting the usage amount by acquiring it (the input value is 12 patterns for 12 months).

  The method (2) is a method in which the CPU 110 calculates an optimal value according to the formula (fixed value + variation value) from the set value input by the user in the method (1). This is a method for determining the optimum value by taking into account the difference between the target and the result in the previous month, and will be described with reference to FIG. It should be noted that the results and targets of the previous month are stored in the memory 101 as integrated power amount information 101L (or performance electricity bill information 101P), and that past monthly targets are also stored in a predetermined area of the memory 101. Suppose.

  FIG. 17A shows an example of a smart power saving screen displayed on May 30. According to FIG. 17 (A), the reduction ratio is set to 100%, and the actual result is the target due to a sudden increase in power consumption at the end of the month (such as sudden increase in heat and usage time of the air conditioner 200D). The case of 110% is shown.

  In this case, when setting the target for June of the next month, the CPU 110 sets “preliminary” for June in consideration of the actual performance (110%) for the previous month in the actual electricity bill information 101P. The electricity bill is determined as 7300 yen / month using the following formula.

[Set value to be 100% x (Percentage of results to target + 5 (arbitrary variable)) (%)]
= 6360 (yen) x (1.1 + 0.05) = 7314 yen / month ≒ 7300 yen / month In Fig. 17 (B), in the smart power saving screen 2D displayed on June 1, the ratio related to the reduction of electricity bill is 100 %, That is, the case where “predetermined electricity bill” is set as the target electricity bill.

  Here, when the actual result exceeds 100% of the target, the fluctuation value (difference) of the actual result is added to the “preliminary electricity bill” for the next month. You may make it add. According to this method (2), it is possible to determine the “preliminarily set electricity bill” in consideration of actual fluctuations due to seasonal and environmental fluctuations. Note that the user may be inquired whether to set a target with the values shown in FIG.

  Method (3) is a method for inquiring of a “preset electricity bill” to the user when the month changes.

  FIG. 18A illustrates a smart power-saving screen 2D displayed on May 30 when “preset electricity bill” is set to 6000 yen and the ratio for reduction of the month is set to 85%. The On the right side of the screen, the monthly target electricity bill data 503 indicates 5100 yen, and in this case, the target electricity bill data 509 for one day is 170 by simple daily calculation by the one-day electricity bill calculation unit 352. Indicates a circle. A controller image 510 in FIG. 18A includes an image 511 of a prohibited area that is displayed in a reversed manner and has a different display mode. Details of the prohibited area image 511 will be described later.

  In the next month (June), the display 102 displays a screen 800 for displaying a message generated by the message generation unit 336. In the screen 800, whether or not to set the same value as the previous month's (May) for the setting (“preliminary electricity bill” and the ratio regarding reduction) due to having reached June (whether to take over the value) A message is displayed asking for When the user confirms the message and operates the “Yes” icon 801 on the screen 800, the value for June is “pre-set electricity bill (6000 yen)” for May and the ratio (85%) ) Will be set.

  On the other hand, when the “No” button 802 is operated, the screen of FIG. 18C is displayed. The screen of FIG. 18C shows a state in which the ratio is set to 100% among the settings for June (“pre-set electricity bill” and the ratio relating to reduction). As a result, the target amount of money data 503 is set to 6000 yen by applying 100% to the ratio, and the target electricity cost data 509 for one day is calculated to be 200 yen by daily calculation. The set state is shown. In this way, it is possible to determine the next month's (“pre-set electricity bill” and ratio for reduction) by inquiring the user.

  In FIG. 18, an area of the controller image 510 is displayed as a slide bar with a scale, and an image of the slider 500 that freely moves in conjunction with the operation of the tablet 103 or the button 104 is displayed on the slide bar. The user can input the value of the scale as a ratio by moving the slider 500 to a desired scale position by operating the tablet 103 or the button 104.

  On the other hand, the user may not be queried. In FIG. 19A, a smart power saving screen as of May 30 is displayed as in FIG. When setting for June, a screen 801 for displaying a message generated by the message generation unit 336 is displayed.

  The message on screen 801 includes a guidance message indicating that last year (or last month) was 6000 yen / month according to method (1), and a message indicating that control is to be started from the same rate (85%) as last month. . After the message screen 801 is displayed for a predetermined time, the screen of the display 102 is switched to the smart power saving screen on June 1 in FIG. In the screen of FIG. 19C, 5100 yen, which is a ratio of 85% to the target electricity cost of 6000 yen last year (last month), is displayed as the target electricity cost data 503 of the month, and the target electricity cost for one day is displayed. Data 509 (170 yen) is displayed.

  It should be noted that the above-described methods (1) to (3) may be used in combination to determine “a preset electricity bill” and a reduction ratio.

<Limit the range of targets that can be set>
When the user sets the target electricity bill, the user may be restricted according to the actual results. The restriction is mainly applied to setting processing at the end of the day or at the end of the month.

  FIG. 20A illustrates a smart power saving screen 2D displayed at 4 am on May 30. In this case, the reduction ratio is set to 90%.

  On the left side of the screen of FIG. 20 (A), data 513 indicating the amount of power consumed until 4 am on that day and the corresponding electricity bill is shown, and a bar graph is displayed in the actual result display area on the right side. A bar graph 512 indicating the power consumption in hour units of the day generated by the generation unit 333 with reference to the integrated power amount information 101L is shown. In this way, the display can be switched between the binary graph 507 and the bar graph 512.

  In the setting area on the right side of the screen in FIG. 20A, monthly target electricity cost data 503 and daily target electricity cost data 509 are displayed, and the controller image 510 is associated with the prohibited area image. 511 is displayed.

  The restriction unit 355 generates information of the prohibited area image 511 and the generated information is displayed superimposed on the controller image 510. Specifically, the restriction unit 355 compares the daily electricity cost result (36 yen) indicated by the result data 513 with the daily target electricity cost (190 yen). When the value of (actual) is larger than the predetermined value, it is determined that the daily target electricity cost indicated by the data 509 can be changed to a lower price.

  Then, as information of the prohibited area image 511, image information to be displayed in a superimposed manner on an area corresponding to a scale to which a small numerical value of the controller image 510 is assigned is generated and output. The size of the image 511 in the prohibited area, that is, the width (range) of the corresponding scale is determined from the difference indicated by (target-actual).

  The controller information generation unit 335 generates information such that the prohibited region image 511 is superimposed on the controller image 510 using the information from the restriction unit 355. Thereby, the controller image 510 having the image 511 of the prohibited area having a width corresponding to the performance of the daily electricity bill is displayed on the display 102.

  From FIG. 20 (A), in order to prohibit the setting of the target electricity cost for one day within the range of actual results (36 yen) or less, it is limited to the settable range of the ratio related to reduction by the prohibited area image 511. It can be seen that there is a range of values that are multiplied, that is, the ratio cannot be set. In FIG. 20B, the image of the prohibited area 511 is set so that the actual price becomes 150 yen at 19:00 on that day and the ratio cannot be set so that the target electricity cost is lower than the current result (150 yen). Is shown in an enlarged state.

  At the time of the screen display in FIG. 20, the CPU 110 detects the position of the slider 500 by the user operation from the output of the operation reception unit 310 and detects the position of the prohibited region image 511 from the information output from the restriction unit 355. When the current position of the slider 500 indicates the position in the prohibited area image 511 based on the detected information, the CPU 110 outputs an error message without inputting the scale value indicated by the position of the slider 500 as a ratio. . Alternatively, the movement itself of the prohibited area of the slider 500 to the image 511 may be limited (not permitted). Thereby, since setting of the ratio in the image 511 of the prohibited area is not permitted, erroneous target setting can be prevented.

  Referring to FIG. 20A again, the slider 500 is at a position of 90% which is the current set ratio. Since the result is 36 yen, the image 511 in the prohibited area is small. Therefore, the user can set the ratio in a wide range of 30% to 100%. On the other hand, in FIG. 20B, the slider 500 is at a position of 85%, which is the current setting ratio. Since the result is 150 yen, the forbidden area image 511 is taken large. Therefore, the user is allowed to set the ratio only in a narrow range of 70% to 100%.

  In this way, the user can variably set the target (ratio) while confirming the results, but the settable range is displayed in the prohibited area image 511 and a target amount lower than the results must not be set. By making an announcement, it is possible to set an accurate target.

  Here, the settable range of the target (ratio) is shown by the prohibited area image 511. However, the numerical value range of the scale provided in association with the controller image 510 is changed to indicate the settable numerical value range. It is good.

  The target setting range may not be limited. In FIG. 21A, the slider 500 is located in a range that does not exceed the actual result, but when the slider 500 moves from the range exceeding the actual result as shown in FIG. 21A to FIG. The background color of the data 509 indicating the target calculated based on the slider position may be set to red or the like for alarm notification. Note that the mode of alarm display for notifying that target setting has been made within a limited range is not limited to red display, and voice output may be used instead of display.

<Target setting by month and day>
The target electricity bill is set on a monthly basis, but may be set on a daily basis. Even in this case, the target data 101F is obtained from the daily target electricity bill, and the control unit B1 Needless to say, it can be applied to control objectives.

  Regarding the target setting in units of months and days, in the smart power saving screen 2D of FIG. 22 (A), 85% of the settable range of 50 to 100% is set for the ratio related to the reduction of the monthly target electricity bill. The status is indicated.

  22B and 22C show that the daily target electricity bill can be set within the range of the monthly target electricity bill according to the ratio set in FIG. 22A. In this case, 100% of the ratio to the daily target electricity bill is calculated in consideration of the actual performance at that time, and is automatically updated and displayed by the data 509 (see FIG. 21B). For example, the target electricity cost for one day of the data 509 is calculated according to the formula ((monthly target electricity cost−actual electricity cost of month) / number of days remaining in month). In FIG. 22C, the data 509 is updated from 210 yen in FIG. 22B to 105 yen from the formula and the actual result (75 yen). Data 506 indicates a ratio (50%) since 105 yen is half corresponding to 210 yen (100%).

<Changing the range of the actual graph>
In the smart power saving screen, the graph showing the results can be switched between the graph 507 and the bar graph 512 showing the time change of the power consumption by a user operation.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 23, a predetermined operation is performed on the bar graph 512 to be displayed, for example, two fingers are put on a position corresponding to the graph on the tablet 103, and the graph is spread with two fingers. Each time an operation (pinch-out operation OP1) is detected by the operation receiving unit 310, the time scale on the horizontal axis of the graph is increased (time → day → month), and conversely, the graph is picked with two fingers. Each time a simple operation (pinch-in operation OP2) is detected by the operation reception unit 310, the time axis scale of the graph is changed so that the time scale of the horizontal axis of the graph is reduced (month → day → time). It may be. The scale change operation may be an operation of the button 104, and the type of operation is not limited.

  In the bar graph 512, the unit of the vertical axis is the amount of power consumption, but it may be an electricity bill (unit: yen) corresponding to the amount of power consumption. Further, the graph display may be switched between the power consumption amount and the electricity bill according to the user operation.

<DR control>
In the present embodiment, the target calculation unit 313 calculates the value of the target data 101F in accordance with an externally requested reduction amount related to DR. Thereby, at the start of DR control, the target data 101F is updated according to the required reduction amount.

  In FIG. 24, the DR control start line in which the graph L2 of the initial target data 101F and the graph L22 of the target data 101F calculated from the required reduction amount RQ for DR control are shown, that is, the target data 101F is updated. Then, control part B1 interrupts the control according to the original graph L2, and controls a household appliance so that power consumption changes so that the graph L22 after a change may be followed.

  When the DR control is finished, the home appliance control by the graph L2 according to the original target data 101F is resumed.

<Modification>
In the above-described embodiment, the home controller 100 includes both the control unit B1 and the target setting unit B2, but each may be provided in different devices. For example, the function of the control unit B1 may be provided in a computer (not shown) of the repeater 160, and the target setting unit B2 may be provided in the home controller 100. The configuration in that case is schematically shown in FIG. In FIG. 25, the target setting unit B2 transmits the set target electricity bill data 101Q to the control unit B1 via the communication interface 105.

[Embodiment 2]
The process according to the first embodiment described above is realized by software executed by the CPU 110. Such software may be stored in the memory 101 in advance. In addition, software may be stored in a storage medium non-temporarily and distributed as a program product. Alternatively, the software may be provided as a program product that can be downloaded to the home controller 100 by an information provider connected to the so-called Internet, which is one type of external network in FIG.

  Such software is read from the storage medium by using a reading device (not shown), or downloaded by using the communication interface 105 and temporarily stored in the memory 101. The CPU 110 stores the software in the form of an executable program in the memory 101 and then executes the program.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

  100 Home Controller, 102 Display, 103 Tablet, 104 Button, 200A to 200D Home Appliance, 301 Power Information Receiving Unit, 302 Power Consumption Calculation Unit, 303 Difference Accumulation Unit, 304 Detection Unit, 305 Period Changing Unit, 306 Mode Receiving Unit, 307 Control information generation unit, 308 Control information transmission unit, 309 Display processing unit, 310 Operation reception unit, 311 Memory writing unit, 312 Memory reading unit, 313 Target calculation unit, 315 Result acquisition unit, 330 Screen information generation unit, 331 Achievement information generation unit, 332 binary graph generation unit, 333 bar graph generation unit, 334 setting information generation unit, 335 controller information generation unit, 336 message generation unit, 337 ranking information generation unit, 340 screen switching unit, 341 setting acquisition unit, 342 Ratio acquisition unit, 35 Target electric bill determination section, 351 monthly electricity charge calculating unit, electricity charge calculating unit 352 days, 355 limiting part 356 electricity charge calculating unit, B1 controller, B2 target setting unit.

Claims (12)

A power information acquisition unit for acquiring information related to power consumption of an electrical device whose power consumption is controlled according to a target;
From the acquired information on the power consumption, a result acquisition unit for acquiring result data indicating the results of power consumption;
An operation receiving unit that receives a user operation for setting the target,
A controller that displays on a screen a result and a target indicated by the result data.   The controller according to claim 1, further comprising a target determination unit that determines the target from a preset target value and a ratio related to reduction set with respect to the preset target value.   The controller according to claim 2, further comprising a ratio acquisition unit that acquires the ratio from the operation content received by the operation reception unit.   The controller according to claim 3, wherein an image for indicating a range of values for which the ratio can be set is displayed on the screen. The goal is indicated by electricity bill data,
The controller according to claim 1, wherein the actual power consumption data includes electricity cost data calculated from power consumption and unit price information of electricity charges.   The image for indicating the range of values for which the ratio can be set and the image for indicating the range of values for which the ratio cannot be set in association with the image are displayed on the screen. Controller.   The controller according to claim 6, wherein the range of the value is determined from the electricity bill data of the acquired result data and the electricity bill data indicated by the target. A record storage unit for storing record data of the power consumption for each unit period acquired by the record acquisition unit,
The said preset target value is acquired from the said electricity cost data of the said performance data of the predetermined unit period among the said performance data of the said performance memory | storage part. controller. A record storage unit for storing record data of the power consumption for each unit period acquired by the record acquisition unit;
A target storage unit for storing a target for each unit period,
The preset target value includes the electricity cost data of the performance data of a predetermined unit period of the performance storage unit, and the target of the predetermined unit period of the electricity cost data and the target storage unit. The controller according to any one of claims 5 to 7, which is obtained from a difference in electricity bill data indicated by A network system comprising an electrical device and a controller,
The controller is
A power information acquisition unit for acquiring information related to power consumption of an electrical device whose power consumption is controlled according to a target;
From the acquired information on the power consumption, a result acquisition unit for acquiring result data indicating the results of power consumption;
An operation receiving unit that receives a user operation for setting the target,
The network system which displays the results and the target which the results data shows on a screen. Obtaining information on power consumption of electrical equipment whose power consumption is controlled according to a target;
From the acquired information on the power consumption, obtaining performance data indicating the performance related to power consumption;
Displaying the result and the target indicated by the result data on a screen;
Receiving a user operation for setting the target. A program for causing a processor to execute a control method of an electric device,
The program is stored in the processor.
Obtaining information on power consumption of electrical equipment whose power consumption is controlled according to a target;
From the acquired information on the power consumption, obtaining performance data indicating the performance related to power consumption;
Displaying the result and the target indicated by the result data on a screen;
Receiving a user operation for setting the target.

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