JP2016131420A - Power managing device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a power managing device and program that can suppress reduction of a power saving effect irrespective of time variation occurring in various conditions when power saving is requested to each group.SOLUTION: In a power managing device 10, a grouping part 105 executes grouping processing of classifying plural dwelling houses 30 every group having a similar variation tendency of use power amount on the basis of attribute information which influences the variation tendency of the use power amount in the dwelling houses 30, and updates the classification result of the groups. a message generator 106 generates a message for requesting power saving every group. A transmitter 131 transmits second information containing the message corresponding to each group to a controller 32 associated with each of the plural dwelling houses 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention generally relates to a power management apparatus and a program, and more particularly to a power management apparatus and a program that transmit a message for saving power.

  In recent years, a service using a demand response for power peak cut has been proposed by a power company. If this demand response is predicted that the future power demand will be constrained to the power supply, the demand response signal is used in advance to the customer to suppress the use of commercial power during the future power suppression period. Request.

  Therefore, various control methods have been proposed to encourage customers to reduce the amount of power used and to level the power load during peak demand hours (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2002-176729 A

  In the said patent document 1, the house is classified for every group, such as the same area and the same contractor, and the request | requirement of power saving is performed.

  In general, there are cases where various conditions fluctuate with the passage of time, and the group (group to which the house should belong) that matches the house (customer) may change. However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, the group to which the house belongs is fixed, and there is a possibility that the power saving effect is reduced when there are time fluctuations under various conditions.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described reasons, and its purpose is to make it possible to suppress a decrease in power saving effect even when there are time fluctuations of various conditions when requesting power saving for each group. It is to provide a management apparatus and a program.

  The power management apparatus according to the present invention includes first information including a target value of the total amount of power received during power saving and a period during which power saving is requested, with the total amount of power received by the plurality of houses under management from the power grid as the total amount of power received And a grouping process for classifying each of the plurality of homes into groups with similar power consumption change trends based on attribute information that affects the power consumption change trends in the homes A grouping unit; a message generating unit configured to generate a message for requesting power saving for each group to which each of the plurality of houses belongs based on the first information and a trend of change in power consumption for each group; The second information including the message corresponding to the group to which each of the houses belong is transmitted to the terminal device associated with each of the plurality of houses. And a transmitting unit, the grouping unit, by performing the grouping process, and updates the classification results of the group.

  A program according to the present invention causes a computer to function as a power management apparatus.

  As described above, the present invention suppresses a decrease in power saving effect by dynamically changing the grouping even when there is a time variation of various conditions when requesting power saving for each group. There is an effect that can be done.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the power management system of embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the power management apparatus of embodiment.

  Although embodiment described below demonstrates and demonstrates the case where a house is a dwelling unit of an apartment house, the house may be a detached house which comprises a community (community). In addition, if it is a space that can be handled in the same way as a house with respect to the use of electricity, such as a building store (tenant, rental office, rental shop) instead of a house, the technology described below can be applied. Is possible.

  By the way, it is necessary to balance the amount of power between the supply side and the demand side. Generally, on the power supply side, the amount of power generated on the supply side and the demand side is balanced by adjusting the amount of generated power to match the amount of power used on the demand side.

  On the other hand, in the future, it is expected that the liberalization of electric power will advance and the liberalization of power generation and retail will be promoted. In this case, since the number of suppliers increases, it becomes difficult to immediately adjust the amount of generated power, and the scale of the demand side that contracts with one supplier decreases, so fluctuations in the amount of power used The rate is expected to increase. Therefore, in order to balance the amount of power on the supply side and the demand side, it is necessary not only to adjust the amount of generated power (supply power amount) on the supply side, but also to adjust the amount of power used on the demand side. That is, energy management on the demand side (demand side) is required.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a power management system that manages the amount of power used in a plurality of houses 30 (dwelling units) in an apartment house 3 is configured using a power management apparatus 10 described below. The power management apparatus 10 may be provided in a building of the apartment house 3 or may be provided separately from the building of the apartment house 3. The power management apparatus 10 provided in the building of the apartment house 3 is managed by, for example, an administrator of the apartment house 3. Below, the case where the power management apparatus 10 is installed in the building of the apartment house 3 is demonstrated. That is, the power management apparatus 10 is arranged in a manager room of the apartment house 3, for example. Further, the power management apparatus 10 may be arranged in a leased room electric room of the apartment house 3 or the like.

  When the power management apparatus 10 is provided outside the apartment house 3, the power management apparatus 10 is managed by, for example, a third party who contracts with the manager of the apartment house 3. Such a third party is selected from a general electric power company, a specific power company called PPS (Power Producer and Supplier), or a MEMS aggregator (MEMS: Mansion Energy Management System).

  A terminal device 4 is associated with each house 30. The terminal device 4 communicates with the power management device 10. The terminal device 4 is a dwelling unit terminal in the apartment house 3 (that is, a terminal also serving as an intercom installed for each dwelling unit) or a terminal managed by a resident of the apartment house 3. A terminal managed by a resident of the apartment house 3 is selected from a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, and the like.

  The power management apparatus 10 communicates with the terminal apparatus 4 through an electric communication line 41 selected from the Internet, a mobile communication network, a dedicated communication line, and the like. Moreover, when the power management apparatus 10 is provided in the building of the apartment house 3, the power management apparatus 10 transmits the local communication network 42 laid in the apartment house 3 to and from the terminal device 4 such as a dwelling unit terminal. You may communicate using it for a road.

  In the configuration example shown in FIG. 1, a controller 32 (terminal device) that enables monitoring and control of an operating state of an electrical device 31 used in the house 30 is arranged in each house 30. The controller 32 is preferably a HEMS (Home Energy Management System) controller. The controller 32 can monitor the operation state of the electric device 31 and control the operation state of the electric device 31 by communicating with the electric device 31. Here, the electrical device 31 is assumed to be a so-called HEMS-compatible device. That is, the electric device 31 communicates with the controller 32 to transmit an operation state to the controller 32 and receive an instruction from the controller 32.

  The communication method between the controller 32 and the electrical device 31 is selected from wireless communication using radio waves as a transmission medium, wired communication using power lines or dedicated lines as a transmission medium. The wireless communication specification is appropriately selected from a wireless local area network (LAN), a specific low power wireless station, Bluetooth (registered trademark), and the like, and the wired communication specification is appropriately selected from power line carrier communication, wired LAN, and the like. The When the controller 32 uses a wireless LAN or wired LAN specification for communication with the electrical device 31, the controller 32 may employ a configuration in which the controller 32 communicates with the electrical device 31 through a router without directly communicating with the electrical device 31. Is possible. The communication protocol of the upper layer in the communication between the controller 32 and the electrical device 31 is determined so as to satisfy the ECHONET Lite (trademark) standard, for example.

  By the way, the distribution board 33 is arrange | positioned in the house 30, and the distribution board 33 branches the electric power received from the power wiring 43 in the building of the apartment house 3 to the branch circuit 34 of several systems. The power wiring 43 in the building is equivalent to an electric power system that supplies electric power from an electric power company. That is, the distribution board 33 branches the AC power received from the power system to the branch circuits 34 of a plurality of systems.

  The distribution board 33 generally has one main breaker electrically connected to the power wiring 43 and a plurality of branch breakers connected to the load-side electric circuit of the main breaker in a casing. Prepare. The branch circuit 34 is formed by branching the electric circuit on the load side of the main breaker into a plurality of systems, and a branch breaker is inserted for each branch circuit 34. For example, in the distribution board 33, the load-side electric circuit of the main breaker is formed by a conductive bar formed in an elongated plate shape, and the terminals on the power source side of the plurality of branch breakers are electrically connected to the conductive bar. As a result, a plurality of branch circuits 34 are formed.

  A measuring device 35 is attached to the distribution board 33. The measurement device 35 employs either a configuration arranged inside the casing of the distribution board 33 or a configuration arranged outside the casing of the distribution board 33. The measuring device 35 includes a plurality of current sensors corresponding to the branch circuits 34 of a plurality of systems on a one-to-one basis. The current sensor measures the current for each branch circuit 34. The current sensor may measure the current on either the power source side or the load side of the branch breaker. The measuring device 35 may include a current sensor that measures the current of the main circuit.

  The current sensor uses a Rogowski coil, which is a coreless type coil. However, the current sensor used in this type of application can be selected from a current transformer having a ring core, a Hall element, a magnetoresistive element such as a GMR (Giant Magnetic Resistances) element, and a shunt resistance.

  The measuring device 35 measures the voltage between the lines of the branch circuit 34 on the secondary side of the main breaker. The measuring device 35 calculates the power value consumed in each of the plurality of branch circuits 34 by combining the measured voltage value with the current value measured for each branch circuit 34 by the current sensor. There are cases where one electric device 31 is connected to the branch circuit 34 and cases where a plurality of electric devices 31 are connected. Therefore, the power value for each branch circuit 34 output from the measuring device 35 may be the power value of only one electrical device 31 or the sum of the power values of the plurality of electrical devices 31. .

  When the electrical devices 31 are connected to the branch circuit 34 on a one-to-one basis, the controller 32 uses the power data acquired for the branch circuit 34 as the power data of the electrical device 31. On the other hand, when a plurality of electrical devices 31 are connected to the branch circuit 34, the controller 32 uses the time change of the power data acquired for the branch circuit 34 to specify the specific connected to the branch circuit 34. It is possible to separate the power data of the electrical equipment 31.

  The power value here is obtained as an integrated value for each predetermined unit time. The unit time is selected, for example, from a range of about 1 second to 30 minutes, and preferably from a range of about 30 seconds to 2 minutes. At the practical level, if the time change of the electric energy obtained every 30 seconds or 1 minute is analyzed, it is possible to identify the type of device connected to the branch circuit 34 from the change in the power value for each branch circuit 34. is there. The measuring device 35 outputs the electric energy per unit time obtained for each branch circuit 34 as a digital value. The power value may be an instantaneous value for each predetermined unit time. In this case, the instantaneous value is obtained as a power average value for each predetermined unit time.

  In addition, a meter-reading meter (so-called smart meter) with a communication function for measuring the amount of power received from the power system 44 in each house 30 is provided for each house 30, and the controller 32 acquires power data of the meter-reading meter. May be used. Note that communication between the meter-reading meter and the controller 32 is performed via a so-called B route.

  The controller 32 acquires the digital value of the electric energy output from the measuring device 35 and associates the digital value of the electric energy for each branch circuit 34 acquired from the measuring device 35 with the date and time when the built-in clock is measuring. For example, a real time clock is used as the internal clock. The controller 32 generates power data including information for distinguishing the branch circuit 34, the power amount per unit time measured for each branch circuit 34, and the date and time when the power amount is measured.

  The controller 32 is not essential, and the power management apparatus 10 can have a function corresponding to the controller 32. In other words, the power management apparatus 10 may be configured to directly acquire the power data output from the measurement apparatus 35 and instruct the electric device 31 about the operation state.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the power management apparatus 10 will be described. However, the embodiment described below is one aspect of the power management apparatus 10, and the design can be appropriately changed without departing from the technical idea of the present invention.

  As described above, the housing 30 of the apartment house 3 is associated with the terminal device 4 and includes the controller 32. The controller 32 has a function of receiving data related to the amount of power from the measuring device 35 and outputting power data for each branch circuit 34. The controller 32 communicates with the electrical device 31 used in the house 30 to operate the electrical device 31. It has a function to control.

(Embodiment)
The power management apparatus 10 is used in each of the plurality of houses 30 (that is, dwelling units) in order to achieve the target value determined with respect to the amount of power received from the power system 44 in the entire apartment house 3 mainly for the purpose of power saving. It has a function of assigning an upper limit value of electric energy. Hereinafter, the amount of power received from the power grid 44 in the entire apartment 3 is referred to as “total amount of received power”, and the upper limit value of the amount of power used in each house 30 is referred to as “allocation amount”.

  The target value related to the total amount of power received is determined based on DR information (DR: Demand Response), information requesting power saving from a specific scale electric power provider or MEMS aggregator, and the like. Information for requesting power saving is generated when the supply and demand of power is tight, or when the total amount of received power may exceed a predetermined reference amount. The latter is information for so-called peak cut.

  The information for requesting power saving is generated for the purpose of changing the power usage state on the power demand side and consequently reducing the power consumption on the demand side. Therefore, the information for requesting power saving includes information necessary for determining the target value of the amount of power to be saved and information related to the power saving period (power saving time zone). The power saving period includes a date and time for starting power saving and a time for continuing power saving. Hereinafter, information necessary for determining a target value of the amount of power to be saved, information on a period for saving power, and the like are collectively referred to as “external information”. The external information may include information on the weather (hereinafter referred to as “weather information”). The weather information includes at least one of temperature, humidity, and weather.

  In the following embodiments, it is assumed that the external information is given to the power management apparatus 10 by the day before the day when power saving is necessary. When power saving is necessary from the afternoon, external information may be given to the power management apparatus 10 in the morning of the day. However, the external information is notified 24 hours before the date and time when power saving is required in principle.

  In principle, the information necessary to determine the target value of the amount of power to be saved is given in the form of a ratio that reduces the total amount of power received. That is, the ratio of the total amount of power received at the time of power saving is given as a target value with respect to the total amount of power received that is a standard determined for the apartment house 3. The reference total amount of power received is determined based on the past total amount of received power in the housing complex 3. Therefore, the target value of the total amount of power received (target value of the amount of power to be saved) is obtained from the reference total amount of power received and the ratio that is the target value. For example, if the reference total power reception amount is P0 and 20% power saving is requested, the target value of the total power reception amount is 0.8 × P0.

  Information necessary to determine the target value of the total amount of power received may be indirectly given in the form of a unit price for electricity charges or an incentive for execution of power saving. When the target value is indirectly given, the target value is converted into the target value of the total amount of received power by a predetermined conversion method.

  Maintains the target value of the total amount of power received at the time of the power saving request obtained from external information and the information on the power saving period included in the external information, that is, the upper limit of the total amount of power received at the time of the power saving request and the upper limit of the total amount of received power Hereinafter, the information regarding the period to be performed is referred to as “first information”.

  By the way, since the total amount of power received as a reference for obtaining the target value of the amount of power to be saved cannot be measured, it is virtually set based on the past record of the total amount of power received. Such an assumed total power reception amount is referred to as a “customer baseline”. The customer base line (CBL: Customer BaseLine) is, for example, in a plurality of apartment houses 3 in which the past total amount of power received by the apartment house 3 or the trend of changes in the total amount of electricity received is similar to the target apartment house 3. Determined by using the total amount of power received.

  For example, for the previous several days (for example, 10 days) when power saving was not requested, the average value of the total amount of power received during the same period as the period when power saving was requested is obtained, and this average value is the customer baseline. Used as In addition, the average total amount of power received over the same period as the period during which power saving is requested for several days (for example, 3 days) in which the total amount of power received is higher in the previous days (for example, 10 days) when power saving was not requested The value may be used as a consumer baseline. When the total amount of power received in the past has been accumulated for more than one year, the customer baseline may be obtained from the total amount of power received for a predetermined number of days (for example, 10 days) including the same day as the date and time when power saving is requested. . Furthermore, if the period when power saving is requested is in the afternoon, the day-of-adjustment of the customer baseline determined as described above based on the total amount of power received in the morning of the day Good.

  When using the average value of the total amount of power received over several days for the customer baseline, it is necessary to consider the date attribute for several days for which the average value is to be obtained. The attribute of the date is a distinction between weekdays and holidays, a distinction between days of the week, and the like. Hereinafter, information related to the date attribute is referred to as “day information”.

  The power management apparatus 10 mainly includes a device having a processor for executing a program, an interface device for transmitting / receiving data to / from other apparatuses, and a storage device for storing data. As a component. That is, the power management apparatus 10 implements the functions described below by executing a program on a computer. As a storage device, a storage device having a short access time such as a semiconductor memory and a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk device are used in combination. The device including the processor may be a micro processing unit (MPU) that is a separate body from the semiconductor memory, or a micro controller that includes the semiconductor memory.

  The power management apparatus 10 includes an interface unit 11 (hereinafter referred to as “I / F unit”) for acquiring external information, and an allocation amount (power used) allocated to each of the plurality of houses 30 by the power management apparatus 10. An I / F unit 12 for outputting an upper limit value). In addition, the power management apparatus 10 includes a communication I / F unit 13 in order to perform communication with the terminal device 4 associated with the house 30. The communication I / F unit 13 includes a transmission unit 131 that transmits a message requesting power saving to the terminal device 4 and a reception unit 132 that receives a response from the terminal device 4 to the message. Hereinafter, information including a message is referred to as “second information”, and information including a response from the terminal device 4 is referred to as “third information”.

  Furthermore, the power management apparatus 10 has a function of generating first information using external information, a function of generating second information from the first information, a function of determining an allocation amount for each house 30 using the third information, and the like. The processing unit 100 is provided. The processing unit 100 acquires the first information from the clock processing unit 101 that measures the date and time, the front processing unit 102 that generates the first information based on the external information acquired by the I / F unit 11, and the front processing unit 102. An information acquisition unit 103 is provided. For the clock unit 101, for example, a real time clock is used. The pre-processing unit 102 performs processing for obtaining the target value of the total amount of received power from the external information as described above.

  The processing unit 100 includes a prediction unit 104, a grouping unit 105, and a message generation unit 106. The prediction unit 104 obtains a power margin in each managed house 30. The grouping unit 105 performs a grouping process for classifying the plurality of houses 30 into groups according to attribute information that affects the change trend of the power consumption in the houses 30. The message generation unit 106 generates a message for each group classified by the grouping unit 105. The managed house 30 is a house 30 in which the terminal device 4 is registered in the power management apparatus 10, and normally includes all the houses 30 constituting the apartment house 3.

  The characteristics of the house 30 related to the amount of power used are selected from items such as changes in the amount of power used in the house 30 (in short, changes in the amount of power used), family structure, age group, occupation, and values related to power consumption. Is done. The values here mean whether the resident of the house 30 is oriented to comfort or energy conservation. Of these items, the trend of changes in the amount of power used is essential, and the other items are used supplementarily. As supplementary information, it is desirable that at least one of the day information and the weather information is associated with the change trend of the power consumption.

  In order to store this type of information, the power management apparatus 10 includes a storage unit 14. That is, the memory | storage part 14 memorize | stores the characteristic relevant to electric energy consumption about each house 30 under management. The storage unit 14 is configured using a storage device selected from a semiconductor memory, a hard disk device, and the like.

  The prediction unit 104 obtains a consumer baseline related to the amount of power used by the house 30 for each managed house 30 as well as a consumer baseline related to the total amount of power received by the apartment house 3. The consumer baseline related to the house 30 corresponds to the amount of power used that is expected when power is not saved during a period when power saving is requested. Such a consumer baseline is calculated | required from the change trend of the electric power consumption which the memory | storage part 14 has memorize | stored about each house 30. FIG.

  In addition, the prediction unit 104 predicts the amount of power that can be reduced from the consumer baseline in order to obtain a power margin in each managed house 30. Hereinafter, the amount of electric power that can be reduced in the house 30 is referred to as “margin”. The surplus amount is the amount of power that can be saved in each house 30, and corresponds to the amount of power obtained by subtracting the minimum amount of power used in the range where power can be saved in the house 30 from the consumer baseline in the house 30. The minimum amount of power used in a power saving range is the amount of power used when power is saved to the maximum.

  Although the surplus amount depends on the behavior of the resident of the house 30 during the period when power saving is requested, the prediction unit 104 cannot grasp the behavior of the resident. Therefore, the prediction unit 104 obtains a margin amount based on the past actual amount of power used stored in the storage unit 14 for each house 30.

  Specifically, the minimum value of power consumption during a predetermined period in the past, the minimum value of power consumption when power saving was requested in the past, etc. should be used for the minimum power consumption within the power saving range. Is possible. The past predetermined period can be selected from, for example, one week, 15 days, one month, and the like. The past predetermined period may be a predetermined period based on the same day of the same month in the past.

  Further, in many cases, the resident of the house 30 may perform a typical action for each time zone. Based on this, using the change trend (that is, transition) of power consumption, conduct behavior analysis such as home, going out, sleep, etc., predicting the behavior during the period when power saving is requested, and including the predicted behavior in the condition Thus, the minimum amount of power used in a power saving range may be obtained.

  The minimum power consumption within the power saving range is not only based on the trend of changes in the power consumption among the characteristics of the house 30, but also includes items such as family composition, age group, occupation, and values for power consumption. You may ask. For example, depending on the family structure, it is necessary to always operate the air conditioner, and even if power saving is requested, the air conditioner cannot be stopped. In addition, values based on power consumption are values such as whether to prioritize energy saving or comfort. If the resident has a value of giving priority to energy saving, the margin is increased, and if the resident has a value of giving priority to comfort, the margin is reduced. The correction of the margin amount for these values can be set in advance as a correction amount for the values.

  In addition, when day information, weather information, etc. can be used, the minimum amount of power used within the power saving range is the past in which conditions such as day information, weather information, etc. during the period when power saving is requested are similar. It is obtained based on the amount of power used in a predetermined period. For example, when the amount of power used on holidays is higher than on weekdays, holidays and weekdays are distinguished using day information. In addition, when the air conditioner is air-cooled in the summer, the amount of power used is higher than when it is raining in fine weather, so that weather information can be used to distinguish between rainy weather and rainy weather.

  When the prediction unit 104 obtains a margin amount for each of the houses 30, the margin amount is delivered to the grouping unit 105. The grouping unit 105 performs a grouping process for classifying each of the plurality of houses 30 under the management of the power management apparatus 10 into an appropriate group by using attribute information for each house 30. The attribute information of the house 30 is information that affects the change trend of the power consumption in the house 30 and is used for grouping processing. The grouping process is performed periodically or at any time such as when the characteristics of the house 30 stored in the storage unit 14 change, and the group classification result is updated as needed.

  Here, the grouping unit 105 classifies each of the plurality of houses 30 by using the margin amount of each house 30 as attribute information. For example, the grouping unit 105 ranks the surplus amount according to the size, and each of the plurality of houses 30 is grouped for each rank to which the surplus amount belongs. That is, the grouping unit 105 performs the grouping process based on the margin amount by setting the houses 30 having the same margin amount as the same group.

  And since the surplus amount in each house 30 fluctuates with the passage of time, the season, etc., the group classification results dynamically change according to the period for which power saving is requested. That is, the grouping unit 105 can update the group classification result and change the grouping dynamically by appropriately performing the grouping process based on the margin amount.

  For example, when the characteristics of the house 30 (changes in the amount of power used in the house 30, family structure, age group, occupation, values related to power consumption, etc.) change, the power margin in the house 30 changes. Therefore, the grouping unit 105 updates the group classification result and changes the grouping dynamically by appropriately performing the grouping process based on the margin amount. Therefore, even if the characteristics of the house 30 change, each of the plurality of houses 30 is dynamically classified for each group in which the trend of change in the amount of power used (in this case, the amount of power surplus) is similar (appropriate group) Divided).

  As a result, even if there are time variations under various conditions (such as the characteristics of the house 30), each of the plurality of houses 30 is dynamically classified for each group having a similar trend of change in the amount of power used. That is, the grouping unit 105 can perform appropriate grouping.

  When the grouping unit 105 performs the grouping process on the plurality of houses 30, the group classification result is delivered to the message generation unit 106. The message generation unit 106 generates a message for requesting power saving for each group. A message is generated for each group, and the same message is generated for houses 30 belonging to the same group. The content of the message is determined so as to include a margin amount representing the group (for example, a median value of the margin amounts of the houses 30 constituting the same group) or a provisional allocation amount representing the group. The provisional allocation amount is a value obtained by subtracting the margin amount from the consumer baseline in the house 30. In the present embodiment, the provisional allocation amount is equivalent to the minimum amount of power used in a power saving range.

  As described above, the message generation unit 106 generates a message for each group classified by the grouping unit 105. That is, it is possible to reduce the types of messages as compared with the case where messages for individual houses 30 are generated.

  For example, the message generator 106 generates a message for requesting a group with a large margin to increase the power saving amount. Further, the message generation unit 106 generates a message indicating that cooperation with power saving is desired because a small power saving amount may be used for a group with a small margin.

  Further, the message generation unit 106 may include the power saving content individually requested for each house 30 in the message based on the margin amount of each house 30. That is, even for a plurality of houses 30 belonging to the same group, individual power saving contents corresponding to the margin of each house 30 are included in the message. The individual power saving content is generated based on the individual margin amount of the house 30 or the provisional allocation amount of the house 30 individually. Therefore, the message generation unit 106 can include the power saving content corresponding to the margin for each house 30 in the message in addition to the power saving request for each group. That is, a power saving request is effectively made, and the power saving effect can be improved.

  The message is transferred from the message generator 106 to the transmitter 131, and the second information including the message is transmitted from the transmitter 131 to the terminal device 4. Therefore, the transmission part 131 becomes possible [transmitting the 2nd information of the same content with respect to the terminal device 4 linked | related with the house 30 which comprises a single group]. Here, the transmission unit 131 may transmit the second information to the terminal devices 4 constituting the group by the unicast method, but can also transmit the second information by the multicast method.

  In addition to the message, the second information may include information for each group related to a request for power saving with respect to a resident of the house 30. For example, if the external information indicates the unit price of electricity charges, the reward for saving electricity, etc., the second information shows the unit price of electricity charges, the reward for saving electricity, etc. Information allocated in accordance with (allocation amount) may be included.

  The power management apparatus 10 transmits the second information to the terminal apparatus 4 through the transmission unit 131, and then waits for a response (third information) from the terminal apparatus 4 to the second information. That is, the power management apparatus 10 includes a receiving unit 132 for waiting for a response from the terminal device 4. The response to the second information has the simplest content as a result of selecting whether to accept or reject the power saving request. Further, the response to the second information may be an action of a resident of the house 30 during a period when power saving is requested. For example, when the resident of the house 30 goes out during a period when power saving is requested, the third information may be information indicating the intention of going out. When the third information indicates an intention to go out, the amount of power used in the house 30 is, for example, the amount of power due to standby power during the period for requesting power saving.

  The selection result of acceptance or refusal for the power saving request is generally given as a result of operating the terminal device 4. That is, the resident of the house 30 requested to save power operates the terminal device 4, and the operation result is transmitted to the power management device 10, whereby the reception unit 132 of the power management device 10 receives the response. Therefore, the receiving unit 132 receives the third information including a response from the terminal device 4. The time for which the receiving unit 132 waits for reception of the third information is the time until the final allocation amount of power consumption is determined for the house 30. For example, the end time for waiting for reception is requested by power saving. It is set at midnight the day before the day including the period to be set, or midnight on the day including the period for which power saving is requested.

  The third information including the response from the terminal device 4 is the amount of power used that can be accepted in the house 30 with respect to the margin or temporary allocation amount included in the second information received by the terminal device 4 associated with the house 30. May be the content. When the second information includes a surplus amount, a reduction amount that can be accepted by a resident of the house 30 out of the surplus amount may be used as the third information. That is, the resident of the house 30 reports the allowable reduction amount using the terminal device 4 that has received the second information.

  However, it may be difficult for the resident of the house 30 who is not an expert to input the amount of power used that can be accepted in the house 30 to the terminal device 4. For this reason, the terminal device 4 can select the electric device 31 to be used during the period when the power saving is requested or can declare that the electric device 31 is not used during the period when the power saving is requested. May be returned to the power management apparatus 10. In this case, the power management apparatus 10 estimates the amount of power used in the period during which power saving is requested based on the received third information.

  The response to the second information can be automatically performed by the terminal device 4. For example, when the behavior schedule of the resident of the house 30 is registered in the terminal device 4, if the behavior schedule for the period in which power saving is requested is out, the third information indicating the intention to go out is obtained from the terminal device 4. The amount of power used is determined in the same way as when it is received.

  Incidentally, the power management apparatus 10 includes an assignment unit 107 and an instruction unit 108. The allocation unit 107 uses the third information received from the terminal device 4 through the reception unit 132 to obtain the upper limit value (that is, the allocation amount) of the amount of power used in each house 30 during the period when power saving is requested. . That is, the allocating unit 107 uses the third information received from the terminal device 4 in order to determine the allocated amount in each house 30 with respect to the target value of the total power received in the first information.

  The allocating unit 107 calculates the total value of the allocated amount in the managed house 30. Hereinafter, the total of the allocation amount is referred to as “allocation total amount”. If the allocated total amount is less than or equal to the target value of the total power reception amount, there is a high possibility that the requested target value of the total power reception amount is satisfied in the entire apartment 3 during the period when power saving is requested. The allocated total amount may be equal to or less than the target value of the total received power amount. However, in the period when the power saving is requested, if there is a house 30 whose power consumption exceeds the allocated amount, the allocated total amount will not exceed the target value of the total received power amount. There is a possibility of exceeding. Therefore, it is desirable that the allocated total amount is slightly smaller than the target value of the total power receiving amount.

  In addition, since the assigning unit 107 assigns a power saving amount to each house 30 in accordance with a response from the terminal device 4 for each house 30, the power saving amount is assigned to the house 30 regardless of the group. That is, the power savings do not always match even for the homes 30 belonging to the same group.

  The instruction unit 108 instructs the allocation amount allocated by the allocation unit 107 to the controller 32 disposed in each managed house 30 via the I / F unit 12. The controller 32 controls the operating state of the electrical device 31 used in the house 30 based on the allocation amount instructed through the instruction unit 108. Note that if the electrical device 31 used in the house 30 can directly receive an instruction from the instruction unit 108, the instruction unit 108 may give an instruction to the electrical device 31 without passing through the controller 32. .

  The operation of the power management apparatus 10 described above will be briefly summarized. As shown in FIG. 2, when external information is input to the power management apparatus 10 (S11) and the information acquisition unit 103 receives first information requesting power saving (S12), the prediction unit 104 obtains a power margin ( S13). And the grouping part 105 performs the grouping process which classify | categorizes each of the some house 30 into any group using each attribute information (in this case, margin amount) of the house 30 (S14). The message generation unit 106 generates a message requesting power saving for each group (S15). Furthermore, the transmission part 131 transmits the 2nd information containing a message to the terminal device 4 of each group (S16).

  The receiving unit 132 waits for a response from the terminal device 4 (S17). When receiving the third information including the response from the terminal device 4, the receiving unit 132 delivers the third information to the allocating unit 107. The allocation unit 107 obtains an allocation amount to be allocated to each managed house 30 (S18) and instructs the controller 32 disposed in the managed house 30 through the instruction unit 108 (S19). In addition, it is desirable that the allocation unit 107 has a function of obtaining a total allocation amount and confirming that the total allocation amount is equal to or less than a target value of the total power reception amount (S20).

  Moreover, the grouping part 105 can also use the combination of each margin amount and the response tendency of the house 30 as attribute information. The response tendency is attribute information based on the history of returned response contents, and the tendency of response to the power saving request by the request information is set for each house 30. The response tendency types include a type that has a high probability of returning third information indicating acceptance of a power saving request and a type that has a high probability of returning third information indicating rejection of a power saving request. . Furthermore, the response tendency type includes a type having a high probability of setting an acceptable reduction amount high and a type having a high probability of setting an acceptable reduction amount low. For example, the grouping unit 105 stores the response history returned in the storage unit 14 for each house 30 and periodically sets the response tendency type for each house 30 based on the response history. To do.

  The grouping unit 105 groups each of the plurality of houses 30 for each combination of the margin rank and the response tendency type. That is, each of the plurality of houses 30 is grouped for each combination of a margin rank and a response tendency type. For example, a group that has a large margin and a high probability of returning third information indicating acceptance of a power saving request, and a probability that a third information indicating that the margin is large and rejecting a power saving request is returned. There are high groups. Furthermore, there is a group with a small margin and a high probability of setting a reduction amount acceptable in the third information, a group with a small margin and a high probability of setting a reduction amount acceptable in the third information, etc. is there.

  The response tendency in each house 30 may vary depending on changes in the characteristics of the house 30 (changes in the amount of power used in the house 30, family structure, age group, occupation, values for power consumption, etc.). In this example, when the response tendency in the house 30 varies, the group classification result also dynamically changes. Therefore, the grouping unit 105 can perform appropriate grouping even if there are time variations under various conditions (such as the characteristics of the house 30).

  Further, as the attribute information used by the grouping unit 105 for the grouping process, a change trend of the amount of power used in the house 30, family structure, age group, occupation, values for power consumption, and the like may be used. In this case as well, the grouping unit 105 can perform appropriate grouping even if there are time variations under various conditions (such as the characteristics of the house 30).

  That is, the attribute information used by the grouping unit 105 for the grouping process is not limited to the above example as long as it is information that affects the change trend of the amount of power used in the house 30.

  As described above, the power management apparatus 10 includes the information acquisition unit 103, the grouping unit 105, the message generation unit 106, and the transmission unit 131. The information acquisition unit 103 uses the total amount of power received by the plurality of houses 30 under management from the power system as the total amount of power received, and receives first information including a target value of the total amount of power received during power saving and a period during which power saving is requested. receive. The grouping unit 105 performs a grouping process for classifying each of the plurality of houses 30 into groups having similar changes in the amount of power used, based on attribute information that affects the changes in the amount of power used in the house 30. . The message generation unit 106 generates a message for requesting power saving for each group to which each of the plurality of houses 30 belongs based on the first information and the change trend of the power consumption for each group. The transmission unit 131 transmits second information including a message corresponding to a group to which each of the plurality of houses 30 belongs to the terminal device 4 associated with each of the plurality of houses 30.

  Therefore, when a power saving request is made for each group, the grouping unit 105 can perform appropriate grouping even if there are time fluctuations of various conditions (such as characteristics of the house 30), and the power saving effect can be achieved. Can be suppressed. Furthermore, since a message is generated for each classified group, the power management apparatus 10 can reduce the types of messages compared to a case where a message for each house 30 is generated.

  Further, the apparatus may further include a prediction unit 104 that obtains a margin amount that is a difference between the amount of power used that is predicted to be used in each period in each of the plurality of houses 30 and the amount of power that is predicted to be reduced due to power saving. preferable. In this case, the message generation unit 106 determines a margin amount for each group based on the margin amount of the house 30 belonging to the same group, and generates a message corresponding to the group based on the margin amount for each group.

  Therefore, the power management apparatus 10 can group the houses 30 having the same amount of power margin into the same group. As a result, the message notified for each group has the content of requesting power saving according to the margin of each group.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the message generation unit 106 generates a message including power saving content individually requested to each of the plurality of houses 30 based on the margin amounts of the plurality of houses 30.

  Therefore, the power management apparatus 10 can individually request appropriate power saving content for each house 30 and can further improve the power saving effect.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the grouping part 105 uses a margin amount as attribute information.

  Therefore, the power management apparatus 10 can perform appropriate grouping even if there is a temporal variation in the power margin. That is, the houses 30 with similar changes in the amount of power used can be made into the same group.

  In addition, the power management apparatus 10 preferably further includes a reception unit 132 and an allocation unit 107. The receiving unit 132 waits for reception of third information including a response from the terminal device 4 to the second information. Based on the third information received by the receiving unit 132, the allocating unit 107 determines the upper limit value of the power consumption in each of the plurality of houses 30 during the period when power saving is requested as the allocated amount.

  Therefore, the power management apparatus 10 can determine the amount of power allocated according to the response of each house 30 and can execute power saving according to the situation of each house 30.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the grouping part 105 uses the response content of the 3rd information transmitted from each of the some house 30 as attribute information.

  Therefore, the power management apparatus 10 can perform appropriate grouping even if the response tendency changes. That is, since grouping is performed for each response content, a message corresponding to the response content is generated for each group.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the power management apparatus 10 includes a computer configured with an MPU, a microcomputer, and the like, and the functions of the power management apparatus 10 are realized by the computer executing a program. . As a program providing form, a computer-readable ROM (Read Only Memory), a form stored in advance in a recording medium such as an optical disk, a form supplied to the recording medium via a wide-area communication network including the Internet, etc. There is.

  That is, the program causes the computer to function as the power management apparatus 10.

  Therefore, a program that causes a computer to function as the power management apparatus 10 can also achieve the same effects as described above. In other words, this program can perform appropriate grouping even when there are time fluctuations in various conditions (such as the characteristics of the house 30) when requesting power saving for each group, and the power saving effect is reduced. Can be suppressed.

  The above-described embodiment is an example of the present invention. For this reason, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made depending on the design and the like as long as the technical idea according to the present invention is not deviated from this embodiment. Of course, it is possible to change.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Power management apparatus 100 Processing part 101 Clock part 102 Pre-processing part 103 Information acquisition part 104 Prediction part 105 Grouping part 106 Message generation part 107 Assignment part 108 Instruction part 12 I / F part 131 Transmission part 132 Reception part 30 Housing 31 Electrical equipment 32 Controller 35 Measuring device 4 Terminal device

Claims (7)

An information acquisition unit that receives first information including a target value of the total amount of power received at the time of power saving and a period during which power saving is requested, with the total amount of power received by the plurality of houses under management from the power grid as a total amount of power received,
A grouping unit that performs a grouping process for classifying each of the plurality of houses into groups with similar changes in the amount of used electric power based on attribute information that affects changes in the amount of electric power used in the home;
A message generation unit that generates a message for requesting power saving for each group to which each of the plurality of houses belongs, based on the first information and a change trend of the power consumption for each group;
A transmitter that transmits the second information including the message corresponding to the group to which each of the plurality of houses belongs to a terminal device associated with each of the plurality of houses;
The grouping unit updates the group classification result by performing the grouping process. A prediction unit that obtains a margin that is a difference between the amount of power used that is predicted to be used in the period in each of the plurality of houses and the amount of power that is predicted to be reduced by power saving;
The message generation unit determines a margin amount for each group based on a margin amount of houses belonging to the same group, and generates the message corresponding to the group based on the margin amount for each group. The power management apparatus according to claim 1.   The power management device according to claim 2, wherein the message generation unit generates the message including power saving content individually requested for each of the plurality of houses based on a margin amount of each of the plurality of houses. .   The power management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the grouping unit uses the margin as the attribute information. A receiver awaiting reception of third information including a response from the terminal device to the second information;
An allocation unit that determines, as an allocated amount, an upper limit value of the amount of power used in each of the plurality of houses during a period when power saving is requested based on the third information received by the receiving unit, The power management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   The power management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the grouping unit uses the response content of the third information transmitted from each of the plurality of houses as the attribute information.   A program for causing a computer to function as the power management apparatus according to claim 1.

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