JP2014155341A - Appliance power consumption control device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To optimally switch on and switch off appliances to be made preferential in response to varying life styles.SOLUTION: When an HGW monitoring ON/OFF information of registered appliances before and after DLC receives DR from a power company or the like, on the basis of registered appliance information, the appliances are automatically switched off. A log based on the DLC or a log operated by a user is transmitted to the HGW. Logs transmitted from the appliances are collected and the HGW calculates a result priority which is a priority computed from results of switching on/off the appliances by the user. A preset priority registered beforehand is compared with the result priority and the preset priority is updated.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique and method for controlling the demand for loads on devices and the like when power supply and demand is tight. In particular, it relates to the function of the Direct Load Control (DLC) part of HEMS (Home Energy Management System).

  As background art of this technical field, there is JP-A-2003-153347 (Patent Document 1). In this publication, an apparatus is controlled as follows in order to efficiently manage and control the upper limit of the accumulated power consumption. That is, power consumption control of a system in which a device that can control power consumption and a control device that remotely controls the power consumption of the device are connected to each other via a communication network including an in-home distribution line for supplying power to the device A method for periodically detecting the integrated power usage of the device, obtaining a regression coefficient representing a correlation between the two based on a sample series of time information and detected integrated power usage information at each detection time, The accumulated power usage at the end of the period is estimated using the regression coefficient, and control is performed so as to limit the power consumption of the device so that the estimated accumulated power usage does not exceed a preset threshold.

JP 2003-153347 A

  When the supply power in the region and the power company jurisdiction is insufficient due to extreme heat, etc., the power company has secured the supply power through full operation of thermal power and pumped-storage power generation and interchange with other power. By implementing this, it may be possible to suppress power generation with high power generation costs and prevent wide-area power outages.

  However, in order for consumers to implement power saving themselves, a wide range of knowledge, effort, and patience are required, and it is not in an environment where many customers implement appropriate and effective power saving methods.

  For this reason, the device is provided with a two-way communication function, and the HGW is connected to some computer (for example, Home Gate Way (hereinafter referred to as HGW, which is a network device that bridges the public line network and the home network)). Inputs information on tight supply and demand and requests to reduce power consumption (hereinafter referred to as demand response (DR)), processes data with HGW, and automatically sends control commands such as ON / OFF to devices Direct Load Control (hereinafter referred to as DLC) system has been proposed, but there are various methods for what data is input, how it is processed, and how it is controlled.

  That is, a customer's house receives a DR (power saving request) from an electric power company or the like, and in response to this, the consumer's house directly controls the power consumption of each device, that is, performs DLC.

  Therefore, the purpose is to optimally turn ON / OFF the devices that should be prioritized according to the diversification of lifestyles (not fully automatic, but semi-automatically). It is another object of the present invention to change the priority to be controlled every day according to the daily circumstances of consumers (for example, lifestyles vary depending on holidays, weekdays, and seasons).

  In the present invention, a consumer registers device information in the HGW. The information registered in the HGW includes the setting priority in the “setting priority table”, the MAC address of the device in the “device information table”, and the power consumption.

  The HGW monitors the registered device ON / OFF information (device status log) before and after the DLC. When the HGW receives a DR (Demand Response) from an electric power company or the like, the HGW automatically turns off the device based on the registered device information. When it is desired to use a device that is automatically turned off, the customer can turn on the device by the customer himself. Logs by DLC and logs operated by customers are transmitted to the HGW. The logs transmitted from the devices are collected, and the HGW calculates the “result priority” based on the time when the customer did not follow the DLC. The “result priority” is the priority obtained from the result of the customer turning on / off the device. The "setting priority" is updated by comparing the "setting priority" registered previously ("setting priority" registered by the customer for the first time) with the "result priority" of the DLC. When performing the next DLC, the HGW uses the latest “setting priority” to turn off the device. By repeating this process many times, the consumer's lifestyle can be learned by the HGW and the device can be optimally controlled.

  That is, the HGW feeds back which device the customer turned on / off at which timing, and dynamically changes the next priority. By repeating this, the HGW can automatically learn the consumer's lifestyle and gradually set the priority according to the customer's needs.

  Furthermore, in consideration of daily circumstances, for example, the setting priority can be updated in units of weeks, months, seasons, and the like.

  Since there is a device ON / OFF control and priority correction process in line with the consumer's lifestyle, power companies and aggregators (aggregators that collect information from the Internet) have the effect of reducing customer complaints. I can expect.

  In addition, since the HGW changes and updates the “setting priority” in accordance with the lifestyle of the consumer, the consumer can automatically cooperate with tight supply and demand so as not to impair comfort.

It is an example of a block diagram of a DLC system. It is an example of a block diagram (without HGW) of a DLC system. It is an example of a functional diagram of HGW. It is an example of the functional diagram of an apparatus. It is an example of the flowchart of a DLC process. It is an example of the process table which updates setting priority. It is an example (function addition) of the functional diagram of HGW. It is an example of the flowchart (function addition) of DLC processing. It is an example of a score calculation diagram. It is an example of a setting priority table. It is an example of an apparatus information table. It is an example of a DLC plan information table. It is an example of an apparatus state log table.

--System configuration------
Hereinafter, it demonstrates using drawing.
FIG. 1 is an example of a configuration diagram of a DLC (Direct Load Control) system.
An electric power company or the like (1100) is a power supply source and supplies electric power to a customer's house (1200) via electric wires. When supply and demand are tight, the electric power company or the like (1100) transmits a DR (Demand Response) to the customer's home (1200) via the communication line (1500). (The communication line (1500) may be wireless or wired.) In the future, there is a possibility that an aggregator or the like (1100) other than the power company may transmit DR.

  If the customer enters into a contract in which the electric power company or the like (1100) agrees to directly control the equipment (1400) of the customer's home (1200), it is possible to cooperate in power saving when the supply and demand situation is tight. A customer meter (1200) has a smart meter (1201) installed by an electric power company or the like (1100). The smart meter (1201) has a bidirectional communication function, and can exchange information with an electric power company (1100) and an HGW (Home Gate Way, 1300).

  The HGW (1300) is installed in the customer's home (1200), sends and receives information (DR) from the power company, etc. (1100) and the smart meter (1201), and is connected to each customer home via the home network. It is a power consumption control device that controls power consumption of a device. That is, the HGW receives DR from the power company and performs DLC based on the DR. Hereinafter, DLC is referred to as a power saving plan. The customer's home (1200) includes a device (1400) installed by the customer. The device (1400) has a bidirectional communication function and can exchange data with the HGW (1300).

  In the embodiment, the smart meter (1201) and the HGW (1300) are described separately, but the smart meter (1201) may include the functions of the HGW (1300) in some cases. The system configuration diagram in that case is shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an example of a functional diagram of the HGW for explaining the HGW (1300) in detail.
The HGW (1300) has functions of a transmission / reception IF (1310), a processing unit (1320), and a storage unit (1330).
The transmission / reception IF (1310) includes DR transmission / reception (1311) and DLC transmission / reception (1312).

  The processing unit (1320) calculates the DLC device (1321), totals the device log (1322), device control (1323), device status acquisition (1324), DLC rejection time calculation (1325), actual priority calculation (1326 ) And other functions.

  The storage unit (1330) stores a setting priority table (1331), a DLC plan information table (1332), a device information table (1333), a device status log table (1334), and time information (1335).

  The DR transmission / reception (1311) is a function of communicating with the electric power company or the like (1100). As the contents of the data, when the customer wants the customer to reduce the amount of power consumption is received from the power company or the like (1100), the result of the DLC is transmitted from the information to the power company or the like (1100).

  The DLC transmission / reception (1312) is a function of communicating with the device (1400) of the customer's home (1200). As data contents, log reception and ON / OFF control transmission are performed.

  DLC device indexing (1321) refers to the setting priority table (1331), device information table (1333), and device status log table (1334), and targets devices whose device (1400) is powered on. Next, the device (1400) that performs DLC is specified.

  The device log totaling (1322) collects the device information log table stored in the device (1400), and totals / calculates the time when the device is turned on.

  Device control (1323) issues a command to control the device after the DLC device indexing process (1321) is completed. The control command issued by the device control (1323) passes through the DLC transmission / reception (1312), and an OFF command is sent to the device (1400).

  In the device status acquisition (1324), the device information table (1333) is received from the DLC transmission / reception (1312) and stored in the storage unit (1330).

  In the DLC rejection time calculation (1325), the DLC plan information table (1332) and the device status log table (1334) are totaled from the device information table (1333), and the time that did not comply with DLC is calculated.

  The result priority calculation (1326) calculates the result priority of each device based on the calculation result of the time not complying with the DLC.

  The setting priority table (1331) shown in FIG. 10 holds the order of devices that the customer wants to use preferentially. That is, the order of devices that are not desired to be turned ON / OFF by DLC is maintained. The setting priority table (1331) includes a device ID (10a) and a setting priority (10b).

  The DLC plan information table (1332) shown in FIG. 11 holds DR received from the higher-level side (electric power company or the like) as DLC plan information (for example, how much power consumption will be reduced from when to when). The DLC plan information table (1332) includes a device ID (11a), a MAC address (11b) that is an address of the device, and a power consumption amount (11c) of the device.

  The device information table (1333) illustrated in FIG. 12 holds the MAC address of each device and the power consumption per unit time. The device information table (1333) includes a demand response (DR) ID (12a), a DR reception date and time (12b), a customer ID (12c), a DLC implementation date (12d), a DLC implementation start time (12e), It consists of the end time (12f) and the amount of power reduced by DLC (12g).

The device status log (1334) shown in FIG. 13 holds log information indicating that the device is turned on / off. The device status log (1334) includes a MAC address (13a), a control (13b) indicating the ON / OFF state, and a time (13c) when the device is set to ON / OFF.
The time information (1335) acquires and holds the standard time from the upper side, and causes the DLC to be performed as planned.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the device (1400) in detail.
The device (1400) has a transmission / reception IF (1410), a processing unit (1420), a storage unit (1430), and an ON / OFF button (1440).

  The transmission / reception IF (1410) receives information from the HGW (1300), and returns the result of the processing unit (1420) to the HGW (1300).

  The processing unit (1420) has functions of device status confirmation / response (1421), ON / OFF control (DLC) (1422), ON / OFF control (customer) (1423), and log collection (1424).

  The storage unit (1430) stores a device status log table (1431) and device information (1432) such as specifications and performances of the device.

  The ON / OFF button (1440) is a button for the customer to turn on / off the device (1400).

  The device status confirmation / response (1421) is a processing for confirming its own device ON / OFF status and responding to the HGW (1300) in response to the device status acquisition (1324) processing from the HGW (1300).

  The ON / OFF control (DLC) (1422) is a process for turning on / off its own device in response to the device control (1323) processing from the HGW (1300).

  The ON / OFF control (customer) (1423) is a process for turning on / off its own device when the customer presses the ON / OFF button (1440) of the device (1400).

  Log collection (1424) is processing for storing device operations of ON / OFF control (DLC) (1422) and ON / OFF control (customer) (1423) as a device status log (1431).

  The device status log (1431) holds the ON / OFF status and time information of the device stored in the log collection (1424) process as a log.

In this embodiment, an embodiment of DLC will be described.
FIG. 5 is an example of a flowchart for explaining processing of the entire system. The entire processing is composed of a processing block 1000 before DLC and a processing block 2000 after DLC.

  FIG. 6 shows an example in which the consumer sets / updates the setting priority in the form of a table. The table of FIG. 6 is held in the HGW (1300) as internal data, and a part of the data is set using a part of the information stored in each table shown in FIGS.

―― <Before DLC (processing block 1000 in FIG. 5)> ――――――
Before performing the pre-DLC processing indicated by the processing block 1000 in FIG. 5, the respective parameters are set in the items 60a to 60d in the table of FIG. That is, the device ID 10a and the setting priority 10b in FIG. 10 are set in the items 60a and 60b, the control 13b in FIG. 13 is set in the item 60c, and the power consumption 11c in FIG. 11 is set in the item 60d. Items 60e, 60f, and 60g are set in steps S1050, S2020, and S2030, which will be described later, respectively.

  In order to change the setting priority according to the lifestyle of the consumer, the consumer creates a processing table shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows the setting priority (60a), device ID (60b), device operating state (60c), power consumption [kWh] (60d), DLC range (60e), and time [min] that did not follow DLC ( 60f), performance priority (60g).

  The setting priority (60a) is acquired from the setting priority table (1331) registered in advance by the customer.

  The device ID (60b) is a unique ID assigned to a device owned by the customer, and is acquired from the setting priority table (1331) and the device information table (1333).

  The device operating state (60c) is an ON / OFF state of the device (1400) before DLC control. The device operating state (60c) is acquired from the final control of each device in the device state log table (1334).

  The power consumption [kWh] (60d) is acquired from the power consumption [kWh] in the device information table (1333).

  The DLC range (60e) has three types of parameters and indicates how the device corresponds to the DLC. The three types of parameters include “◯”, “×”, and “−”. “◯” means that the power of the device is changed from ON to OFF by DLC. “X” means that the power of the device is not changed from ON by DLC. “-” Means that the device is originally powered off and is not subject to DLC.

  The time [min] (60f) that did not comply with DLC is the time during which the consumer turned on the power of the device without complying with DLC in the DLC time zone. The result priority (60 g) is set after DLC (see S2030 in FIG. 5 described later).

Detailed processing will be described with reference to FIGS.
A power company or the like (1100) makes a DR plan based on the forecast of tight supply and demand, and transmits the DR to the HGW (1300) of the customer's home (1200). The HGW (1300) that received the DR stores it as DLC plan information (1332) in the storage unit (1330) of the HGW (S1010). When the DLC time comes, the HGW (1300) processes the DLC device index (1321) of the processing unit (1320).

First, DLC plan information (1332) is acquired (S1020). As an example of the DLC plan information, it is assumed that the content is “I want to reduce the amount of power used by 4 [kWh] from 10:00 to 11:00” this time. When 10:00 is reached, the setting priority table (1331), the device information table (1333), and the device status log table (1334) are acquired in order to determine the DLC device (1321). (S1030, S1040)
In the present embodiment, the determination (specification) of the DLC device is described in FIG. 6, which is set based on the setting priority table (1331), the device information table (1333), and the device status log table (1334). Implement based on the information (S1050).

  Next, the HGW or SM (smart meter) controls (DLC) the specified DLC device (S1060).

  First, check the device operating state (60c) and select one that is “ON”. For a device whose device operating state (60c) is “OFF”, since it is not necessary to turn off the device, “−” is set in the DLC range (60e). The power consumption [kWh] (60d) is added in order from the device operating state (60c) in the “ON” state and the setting priority (60a) in ascending order. The power consumption [kWh] (60d) is set as the DLC range (60e) until the power consumption of the DLC plan information (1332) is lowered, and “◯” is set. “X” is set in the DLC range (60e) for devices that can follow the DLC plan without turning off the power. When “◯” is set in the DLC range (60e), the DLC transmission / reception (1312) is turned off from the DLC transmission / reception (1312) by the device control (1324) process.

―― <After DLC (processing block 2000 in FIG. 5)> ――――――
When the DLC plan is finished (in this example, 11:00), the device status log (1431) stored in the storage unit (1430) of the device (1400) is stored in the device status of the storage unit (1330) of the HGW. Obtained from the log table (1334) (S2010). DLC rejection time calculation (1325) processing was performed based on the device status log table (1334), and DLC was not followed from the DLC plan information table (1332), device information table (1333), and device status log table (1334) Time [min] (60f) is calculated (S2020). Next, the actual priority (60g) of this DLC is calculated (S2030).

Next, the HGW or SM updates the setting priority as follows (S2040).
The device (1400) whose DLC range (60e) in the table of FIG. 6 is “x” has a high priority from the beginning, and since it is not a DLC target, the actual priority (60g) is the highest. When a plurality of devices (1400) having a DLC range (60e) of “×” match, the performance priority (60g) is set in order from the highest according to the setting priority (60a).

  For the device (1400) whose DLC range (60e) is “−”, the device operating state (60c) is OFF, and the result priority (60g) is the lowest. When a plurality of devices (1400) having a DLC range (60e) of “−” match, the performance priority (60g) is set in order from the lowest according to the setting priority (60a).

  For the DLC target device, the actual priority (60 g) is set based on the time [min] (60 f) that did not follow the DLC. The fact that the DLC was not followed is judged that the performance priority (60 g) is high.

On the other hand, if the time when the DLC is not followed is small, it is determined that the performance priority (60 g) is low.
If the time [min] (60f) not complying with the DLC is “20”, “60”, “40” of the device IDs “002”, “003”, “004”, the performance priority (60 g) is in descending order. When the device IDs to be arranged are arranged, “003”>“004”> “002” is obtained. Therefore, the result of the result priority calculation (1326) is the device ID “001”>“003”>“004”>“002”> “005” from the highest result priority (60 g).
The actual priority (60g) is overwritten (updated) on the set priority (60a), and the automatic update of the priority is terminated (S2040).

  In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which the setting priority is not updated by overwriting the actual priority obtained every time DLC is performed, but the actual priority is updated by providing an update criterion for the actual priority.

FIG. 7 is an example of a functional diagram of HGW (addition of functions).
The added function is a comparison process (1327) of the performance priority (60g) and the setting priority (60a) of the processing unit (1320).

FIG. 8 is an example of a flowchart for updating the setting priority. The processing until the actual priority (60 g) of <after DLC> is calculated is the same as that in the first embodiment. The process (S2300) is a process added in the third embodiment to be described later.
Thereafter, the setting priority (60a) and the result priority (60g) are compared (1327) (S2200). The comparison process (1327) is to calculate the difference between the setting priority (60a) and the actual priority (60g) (hereinafter score) as an absolute value, and this absolute value is the priority order change criteria (change criteria is variable) This is a process of changing the priority only when the value exceeds (S2200).

FIG. 9 shows information obtained by calculating a score based on the data shown in FIG.
The difference score (X) (9d) is calculated by | setting priority (9a) −result priority (9c) |.
In this case, when the priority order change criterion = | 2 | is set, the device ID (9b) having a numerical value greater than or equal to the difference score ≧ 2 is “002”. Since the sign of setting priority (9a) -result priority (9c) is minus 2, the device priority of the device ID “002” is exchanged with a device having a setting priority one lower. That is, the priority is exchanged with the device ID (9b) “003” which is the next priority.

Device ID “002”: Setting priority “2” → Update priority “3”
Device ID “003”: Setting priority “3” → Update priority “2”
It becomes.

Since the setting priority of devices that are not involved in the priority change remains unchanged,
Device ID “001”: Setting priority “1” → Update priority “1”
Device ID “004”: Setting priority “4” → Update priority “4”
Device ID “005”: Setting priority “5” → Update priority “5”
It becomes.

  If the sign of setting priority (9a)-performance priority (9c) is positive, replace with a device with one higher setting priority.

  By overwriting (updating) the calculated update priority to the set priority, an automatic priority update function is provided. The advantage of the second embodiment is that it is possible to give weight to the setting priority registered first by the user and the DLC results so far.

  Therefore, it is possible to prevent the priority generated irregularly at an event or the like from being reflected in the set priority forcibly. (Even if the priority is changed, it is lowered by one or increased by one.) In addition, the frequency of setting priority update processing accompanying a slight change in the result priority can be reduced.

  When the first embodiment or the second embodiment is executed, the setting priority is in a steady state. It can be said that the steady state is a state in which the setting priority matches the lifestyle of the consumer.

  Then, the result priority calculation (1326) and the comparison process (1327) that are always performed after the DLC are useless processes. In order to save unnecessary processing, in this embodiment, processing (S2300) for determining whether or not a steady state is present is added as shown in FIG. Added the process (S2300) for determining the time [min] not compliant with DLC after the calculation process (S2020) of the time [min] (60f) not complying with DLC <after DLC> described in the first embodiment did. When the following discriminant is applicable, the following processing (S2030, S2200, S2040) is omitted, and device ON / OFF control is performed based on a preset setting priority.

  Discriminant 1. The time [min] that did not follow DLC is almost the same for all devices in the DLC range “◯”.

  Discriminant 2. A device with a lower setting priority has a shorter time [min] that did not follow DLC.

  In the above description, the power consumption control of each device during one day has been described. In this embodiment, several processing tables shown in FIG. 6 are prepared according to holidays, weekdays, seasons, etc. Setting priority according to the daily circumstances of the customer by performing the above processing based on each table according to the execution time (date) of DLC based on a predetermined schedule to be applied every time Can be set automatically. Moreover, according to the situation of the day, a desired processing table can be selected from several processing tables prepared in advance, and the power consumption control mode of each device can be changed. Actually, several setting priority tables 1331 shown in FIG. 10 are prepared according to lifestyles, and different correspondences between the device ID 10a and the setting priority 10b are set in the processing table shown in FIG. 6 for each day.

1100: Electric power company or aggregator, 1200: Customer home, 1201: Smart meter, 1300: HGW, 1400: Equipment, 1500: Communication line, 1310: Transmission / reception IF, 1320: Processing (CPU) unit, 1330: Storage (memory) unit

Claims (8)

A power consumption control device that is set in a customer's house, is connected to a power supply source via a public network, and controls power consumption of at least one device in the customer's house,
A processing unit for controlling power consumption,
A storage unit that stores information necessary for controlling power consumption, and a transmission / reception IF for connecting the processing unit and the storage unit to the power supply source and the device,
The processor is
A DLC device indexing unit that identifies the device that performs power saving for the device that is powered on,
A device log totaling unit that collects log information of each device and calculates the time when the device is ON,
A device control unit that issues a command to control the device after determining the power-saving device,
A device state acquisition unit that receives device information from the transmission / reception IF and stores the device information in the storage unit;
From the device information, a DLC refusal time calculation unit that calculates power saving plan information and log information and calculates a time when the power saving plan is not followed,
Based on the calculation result of the time that did not follow the power saving plan, a result priority calculation unit that calculates the result priority of each device,
A power consumption control device comprising: A power consumption control method in a power consumption control device that is set in a customer's house and connected to a power supply source via a public network and controls power consumption of at least one device in the customer's house,
Based on the power saving request from the power supply source, for the device that is turned on, the device that performs power saving is identified and the power saving device is determined,
Collect log information of each device, calculate the time that the device is ON,
After determining the power-saving device, issue a command to control the device,
From the information about the device, the power saving plan information and the log information are totaled, and the time when the power saving plan is not followed is calculated.
Based on the calculation result of the time that did not follow the power saving plan, calculate the actual priority of each device,
A method of controlling power consumption. The performance priority calculation unit
For each of the at least one device, when the absolute value of the difference between the preset priority set and the calculated track priority exceeds a predetermined reference value, the track priority is set as the set priority. The power consumption control device according to claim 1, wherein the power consumption control device is set at a time.   For each of the at least one device, when the absolute value of the difference between the preset priority set and the calculated track priority exceeds a predetermined reference value, the track priority is set as the set priority. The power consumption control method according to claim 2, wherein the power consumption control method is set to degrees. The performance priority calculation unit
For each of the at least one device, the time that did not follow the power saving plan is the same for the devices to be saved, and the devices with lower preset priority do not follow the power saving plan. The power consumption control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the performance priority is not calculated when the remaining time is short.   For each of the at least one device, the time that did not follow the power saving plan is the same for the devices to be saved, and the devices with lower preset priority do not follow the power saving plan. The power consumption control method according to claim 2, wherein the performance priority is not calculated when the remaining time is short.   The power consumption control device according to claim 1, wherein the correspondence relationship between the device and the setting priority is set for each execution day of the power saving plan based on a schedule determined in advance according to the lifestyle of the consumer.   The power consumption control method according to claim 2, wherein the correspondence relationship between the device and the setting priority is set for each execution date of the power saving plan based on a schedule determined in advance according to the lifestyle of the consumer.

Images