JP2017022993A - Power control system, power control method, and power control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a power control system, that can prevent the increase in processing load on an EMS server and prevent the increase in communication traffic between the EMS server and a plurality of power control devices when simultaneously controlling load apparatuses belonging to the power control devices, and to provide a power control method and the power control devices.SOLUTION: A power control system comprises: an EMS server 20 for creating a power reduction instruction to a consumer having load apparatuses 15 and 16; and power control devices 10a-10c that perform polling on the EMS server 20, and obtain the power reduction instruction or a control instruction on the load apparatuses 15 and 16 from the EMS server 20. The power control devices 10a-10c create a local control instruction to control the load apparatuses 15 and 16 when acquiring the power reduction instruction from the EMS server 20, and executes the control instruction when acquiring the control instruction from the EMS server 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a power control system, a power control method, and a power control apparatus that control a load device based on a control instruction from an EMS server.

  In recent years, a system for controlling various devices from a remote location via the Internet has been proposed (see Patent Document 1). In order for a server to directly control a device in controlling the device via a network such as the Internet, a unique identification number such as a global IP address that uniquely identifies the device to be controlled needs to be assigned to the device. A unique identification number is limited with respect to the number of devices to be controlled, and if a unique identification number is assigned to all the control devices, the identification number may be exhausted.

  Therefore, when controlling a device via a network such as the Internet, the local control device accesses the server to read a control instruction from the server, and the local power control device loads the load device based on the read control instruction. A system for controlling the above has been proposed (see Patent Document 2). According to such a configuration in which a control instruction by polling is acquired and the local control device controls the device, it is not necessary to assign a unique identification number to each device.

JP 2007-336180 A JP 2009-260913 A

  Conventionally, however, the EMS server creates an optimal combination of control instructions for each power control apparatus, and the power control apparatus controls the load device based on the combination of the control instructions. Therefore, for example, when the load devices belonging to a plurality of power control devices are controlled simultaneously, such as when the power in the management area of the EMS server is uniformly reduced, the processing load of the EMS server may increase and processing delay may occur. was there.

  Further, since information transmitted from the EMS server to each power control apparatus includes a combination of a plurality of control instructions, there is a possibility that the amount of communication increases and processing delay due to communication may occur.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention made in view of the above problems is to control the load devices belonging to a plurality of power control devices simultaneously, for example, when the power in the management area of the EMS server is uniformly reduced. Provided are a power control system, a power control method, and a power control device that can suppress an increase in processing load of the EMS server and suppress an increase in communication amount between the EMS server and the power control device. There is.

  A power control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes an EMS server that creates a power reduction instruction for a consumer having a load device. The power control system includes a power control device that polls the EMS server and acquires the power reduction instruction or the load device control instruction from the EMS server. The power control apparatus creates a local control instruction for controlling the load device when the power reduction instruction is acquired from the EMS server. The power control apparatus executes the control instruction when the control instruction is acquired from the EMS server.

  The power control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a step of polling the EMS server and acquiring a power reduction instruction or a load device control instruction from the EMS server. The power control method includes a step of creating a local control instruction for controlling the load device when the power reduction instruction is acquired from the EMS server. The power control method includes a step of executing the control instruction when the control instruction is acquired from the EMS server.

  A power control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes an instruction acquisition unit that polls an EMS server and acquires a power reduction instruction or a load device control instruction from the EMS server. The power control device includes a control instruction creating unit that creates a local control instruction for controlling the load device when the power reduction instruction is acquired from the EMS server. The power control apparatus includes a control unit that executes the control instruction when the control instruction is acquired from the EMS server.

  According to the power control system, the power control method, and the power control device of the present invention, for example, when the power in the management area of the EMS server is uniformly reduced, control of each load device belonging to a plurality of power control devices is performed simultaneously. When performing, the increase in the processing load of the EMS server can be suppressed, and the increase in the communication amount between the EMS server and the power control apparatus can be suppressed.

It is a figure showing a schematic structure of a power control system concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of the apparatus which exists in a certain same LAN. It is a functional block diagram of the electric power control apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the control instruction | indication effect information which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the electric power control apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a modification of the control instruction | indication effect information which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

(Embodiment)
First, a power control system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a communication system configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of a power control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the power control system includes a plurality of power control devices 10 a to 10 c, a plurality of user terminals 11 a to 11 c, and an EMS (Energy Management System) server 20. Although FIG. 1 shows an example in which there are three power control apparatuses and three user terminals, the present invention is not limited to this, and there may be two or four or more.

  The Internet 30 connects the plurality of power control apparatuses 10a to 10c, the plurality of user terminals 11a to 11c, and the EMS server 20, and communicates signals such as data and control instructions. Further, the power control device 10a and the user terminal 11a, the power control device 10b and the user terminal 11b, and the power control device 10c and the user terminal 11c exist in independent LANs (Local Area Network) 40a to 40c, respectively.

  The power control devices 10a to 10c are, for example, EMS Gateways. The power control apparatuses 10a to 10c periodically transmit measurement values such as power consumption detected by sensors described later to the EMS server 20. Further, the power control apparatuses 10a to 10c acquire control instructions for the load devices existing in the LANs 40a to 40c to which the power control apparatuses 10a to 10c belong from the EMS server 20 by polling. Based on the control instruction received from the EMS server 20, the power control devices 10a to 10c control the load devices existing in the LANs 40a to 40c to which the power control devices 10a to 10c belong.

  The user terminals 11a to 11c have displays, and can display the measured values measured by the sensors existing in the LANs 40a to 40c to which the user terminals 11a to 11c belong and the operating states of the load devices existing in the LANs 40a to 40c. When displaying the measurement values and the control state, the user terminals 11a to 11c acquire data in the EMS server 20 by HTTP, and the web browsers of the user terminals 11a to 11c form a measurement value display page. Further, the user terminals 11a to 11c issue control instructions for the load devices existing in the LANs 40a to 40c to which the user terminals 11a to 11c belong. The issuance of the control instruction is based on detection of a user operation on the device control page configured by the web browser. The user terminals 11 a to 11 c transmit the issued control instruction to the EMS server 20.

  The EMS server 20 receives and stores the measurement values transmitted from the power control devices 10a to 10c. In addition, the EMS server 20 receives control instructions issued by the user terminals 11a to 11c. In addition, the EMS server 20 creates a control instruction for each load device. Each of the power control devices 10a to 10c reads the received control instruction or the created control instruction by polling. The EMS server 20 accepts and updates the registration of sensor information existing in each of the LANs 40a to 40c.

  Furthermore, when the EMS server 20 reduces the power in the management area of the EMS server uniformly, for example, instead of the control instruction of each load device, the instruction of the total power to be reduced in each of the LANs 40a to 40c (hereinafter, Power saving instructions). The power reduction instruction is, for example, “reduction of 2 kW or more”. Each power control apparatus 10a to 10c reads out the power reduction instruction by polling.

  The EMS server 20 includes a data collector 201, a controller 202, a control queue 203, and a memory 204.

  The data collector 201 periodically collects and stores or updates measurement values and sensor registration information.

  The controller 202 creates control instructions for each load device with various algorithms so as to achieve various purposes. Furthermore, the controller 202 creates a power reduction instruction. The control queue 203 stores control instructions received from the user terminals 11a to 11c, control instructions created by the controller 202, and power reduction instructions.

  The memory 204 stores various data used by the controller 202 to create control instructions. For example, the memory 204 stores control instruction effect information including the predicted power reduction amount associated with each control instruction. Based on the control instruction effect information, the controller 202 can create an appropriate combination of control instructions. The predicted power reduction amount corresponding to each control instruction is created and updated by receiving past power reduction value results for the control instruction from the power control apparatuses 10a to 10c.

  Next, transmission of measured values and control of load devices by the power control devices 10a to 10c will be described. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the devices, the demand monitoring device 17 and the wattmeter 18 existing in the LAN 40a. The functional block diagrams of the devices, demand monitoring devices, and wattmeters existing in the LANs 40b and 40c are the same as the functional block diagrams of the devices, demand monitoring device 17 and wattmeter 18 existing in the LAN 40a, and will not be described.

  In the LAN 40a, the first sensor 12, the sensor management unit 13, the second sensor 14, the third sensor 19, the load devices 15 to 16, the power control device 10a, and the user terminal 11a are included. Exists. Further, the power control device 10 a is connected to the wattmeter 18 via the demand monitoring device 17. Although FIG. 2 shows an example in which two load devices exist, the present invention is not limited to this, and there may be one load device or three or more load devices.

  The first sensor 12 is an arbitrary sensor such as a current sensor, a power sensor, a temperature sensor, or an illuminance sensor, for example, and detects a measurement value related to the driving state of the load devices 15 and 16 existing in the LAN 40a.

  The sensor management unit 13 detects a measurement value from the first sensor 12. The sensor management unit 13 periodically communicates with the power control apparatus 10a by a standard protocol such as ZigBee (registered trademark) SEP2.0 (Smart Energy Profile 2.0) and Echonet (registered trademark).

  The second sensor 14 is an arbitrary sensor such as a current sensor, a power sensor, a temperature sensor, or an illuminance sensor, for example, and detects a measurement value related to the driving state of the load devices 15 to 16 existing in the LAN 40a. In addition, unlike the first sensor 12, the second sensor communicates with the power control apparatus 10a using a unique protocol.

  The third sensor 19 is an arbitrary sensor such as a current sensor, a power sensor, a temperature sensor, or an illuminance sensor, for example, and detects a measurement value related to the driving state of the load devices 15 to 16 existing in the LAN 40a. Further, unlike the first sensor 12 and the second sensor 14, the third sensor 19 directly communicates with the power control apparatus 10a by a standard protocol such as SEP2.0 and Echonet (registered trademark).

  The load devices 15 to 16 are devices that are driven based on electric power, such as an air conditioner, a lamp, and a refrigerator. The load devices 15 to 16 can adjust the operation state such as temperature adjustment and illuminance adjustment, and the power consumption of the load devices 15 to 16 varies due to these adjustments. The load devices 15 to 16 communicate with the power control apparatus 10a using standard protocols such as SEP2.0 and Echonet (registered trademark).

  As described above, the power control apparatus 10a can communicate with the sensor management unit 13 and the second sensor 14, and the measured values of the first sensor 12 and the second sensor 14 are periodically transmitted via the Internet 30. Transmit to the EMS server 20. Further, as described above, the power control apparatus 10a acquires control instructions for the load devices 15 to 16 existing in the LAN 40a to which the power control apparatus 10a belongs from the EMS server 20 by polling, and loads devices 15 to 16 based on the control instructions. Control the operating state of

  In addition, the power control device 10 a recognizes the start of the demand time period from the output of the demand monitoring device 17. Further, as will be described later, the power control apparatus 10a acquires the current value of the power consumption of all the load devices (including the load devices 15 to 16) in the LAN 40a in the current demand time period from the output of the demand monitoring device 17.

  As described above, the user terminal 11a displays the measured values of the first sensor 12 and the second sensor 14 existing in the LAN 40a to which the user terminal 11a belongs, and displays the operating state of each load device 15-16. Further, as described above, in the user terminal 11a, a direct control instruction of each of the load devices 15 to 16, for example, setting of the temperature itself and setting of the illuminance itself can be given.

  The wattmeter 18 measures the accumulated power consumption for each store in the demand period (hereinafter referred to as demand power (power consumption)). The demand time limit is a reference time used for a contract power agreement between a business operator (customer) operating a store or the like and a power company. For example, if the demand period is 30 minutes and the contract power is 300 kW, the contract has been executed if the average value for 30 minutes is less than 300 kW even if the power consumption temporarily exceeds 300 kW in any demand period Means. The wattmeter 18 resets the demand power at the beginning of the demand time period, and measures the demand power from the beginning of the demand time period to the present time. By measuring the power consumption at the end of the demand time period, the demand power at the demand time period can be measured. The demand monitoring device 17 reads out the pulse output from the wattmeter 18 and outputs it to the power control device 10a. The power meter 18 and the demand monitoring device 17 are provided not only for the power control device 10a in the LAN 40a but also in the power control devices in the LANs 40b and 40c.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing in detail functional blocks of the power control apparatus 10a according to the embodiment of the present invention. Since the power control devices 10b to 10c have the same configuration, description thereof is omitted.

  The power control device 10 a includes a storage unit 101, an instruction acquisition unit 102, a control instruction creation unit 103, and a control unit 104.

  The storage unit 101 stores control instruction effect information including a plurality of control instructions and predicted power reduction amounts respectively associated with the control instructions. The control instruction effect information is the same as the control instruction effect information stored in the memory 204 of the EMS server 20. The power control apparatus 10 a periodically acquires control instruction effect information from the EMS server 20 and stores it in the storage unit 101.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the control instruction effect information. FIG. 4 shows the control instruction effect information in the form of a table. For example, the control instruction effect information includes the control instruction “increase the set temperature of the air conditioner by x ° C.” and the predicted power reduction amount “400 W” by the control instruction.

  The instruction acquisition unit 102 acquires a control instruction or a power reduction instruction from the EMS server 20 by polling. When the instruction acquisition unit 102 acquires a power reduction instruction by polling, the control instruction creation unit 103 generates a control instruction that satisfies the power reduction instruction acquired from the EMS server 20 based on the power reduction prediction amount included in the control instruction effect information. Create a combination. For example, when the power reduction instruction is “reduction of 2 kW or more”, the control instruction creation unit 103 extracts the control instruction based on the control instruction effect information shown in FIG. 4, and the total power reduction prediction amount becomes 2 kW or more. Create a combination. For example, the control instruction creation unit 103 creates a combination of a control instruction “increase the set temperature of the air conditioner at z ° C.”, “decrease the illuminance of the lamp”, and “lower the set temperature of the refrigerator”. The total amount of predicted power reduction by these control instructions is 2.2 kW (1200 W + 500 W + 500 W), which satisfies the power reduction instruction. Here, although the extraction of the control instruction itself may be random, the priority order is given to the control instruction in the order of the least influence on the customer, and the power reduction instruction may be satisfied by extracting in this order. desirable. Then, the control instruction creation unit 103 also determines whether or not each load device is in operation, extracts control instructions related to the load devices that are in operation and has a higher priority, and satisfies the requested power reduction amount. It is preferable to have a process of determining the minimum combination to be performed.

  The control unit 104 performs various controls related to the power control apparatus 10a. Specifically, the control unit 104 determines whether the data acquired by the instruction acquisition unit 102 through polling is a power reduction instruction. In the case of a power reduction instruction, the control unit 104 causes the control instruction creation unit 103 to create a combination of control instructions. In addition, the control unit 104 executes a control instruction acquired by polling. The control unit 104 executes a plurality of control instructions related to the combination of control instructions created by the control instruction creation unit 103.

  Next, the operation of the power control apparatus 10a according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Since the operation of the power control devices 10b to 10c is the same as the operation of the power control device 10a, description thereof is omitted. It is assumed that the power control apparatus 10a periodically acquires control instruction effect information from the EMS server 20, and the control instruction effect information is stored in the storage unit 101 in advance.

  First, the instruction acquisition unit 102 acquires a control instruction or a power reduction instruction from the EMS server 20 by polling (step S1).

  Subsequently, the control unit 104 determines whether the data acquired by the instruction acquisition unit 102 by polling is a power reduction instruction (step S2). If the data acquired by polling is not a power reduction instruction, the process proceeds to step S3. If the data acquired by polling is a power reduction instruction, the process proceeds to step S4.

  If the data acquired by polling is not a power reduction instruction, that is, the acquired data directly specifies the load device, and control that instructs the specific operation (such as the set temperature value or power on / off) for the specified load device In the case of an instruction, the control unit 104 executes the control instruction acquired by polling (step S3). That is, it instructs the designated load device to perform control according to the designated operation. Then, the process ends.

  On the other hand, when the data acquired by polling is a power reduction instruction, the control unit 104 causes the control instruction creation unit 103 to create a combination of control instructions. The control instruction creation unit 103 creates a combination of control instructions that satisfy the power reduction instruction acquired from the EMS server 20 based on the power reduction prediction amount included in the control instruction effect information (step S4).

  Subsequently, the control unit 104 executes a plurality of control instructions related to the combination of control instructions created by the control instruction creation unit 103 (step S5). Then, the process ends.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when the power control apparatus 10a acquires a power reduction instruction from the EMS server 20, the power control apparatus 10a generates the control instruction autonomously. When the load devices belonging to a plurality of power control devices are controlled simultaneously, such as when reducing, an increase in the processing load of the EMS server can be suppressed. Furthermore, the communication between the power control apparatus 10a and the EMS server 20 may be only a power reduction instruction, and in this case, an increase in the amount of communication between the EMS server and the power control apparatus can be suppressed.

  Here, after step S <b> 5, the control unit 104 may update the predicted power reduction amount included in the control instruction effect information stored in the storage unit 101 based on the power reduction amount resulting from the execution of the control instruction. . By doing in this way, the control instruction creation unit 103 selects a combination of control instructions with higher accuracy that satisfies the power reduction instruction acquired from the EMS server 20 based on the predicted power reduction amount included in the newer control instruction effect information. create.

  Further, the control unit 104 may transmit the control instruction effect information updated in this way to the EMS server 20. By doing in this way, the EMS server 20 can create a more accurate control instruction based on newer control instruction effect information.

  Here, the control instruction effect information stored in the storage unit 101 may be a part of the control instruction effect information stored in the memory 204 of the EMS server 20. Specifically, for example, only the control instruction effect information stored in the memory 204 of the EMS server 20 that is recorded within the last two weeks may be stored in the storage unit 101. Further, in this case, in addition to the information recorded within the last two weeks, control instruction effect information related to a control instruction having a large effect may be stored as appropriate. Further, control instruction effect information related to instruction information that may occur during a special event period such as a typhoon may be stored.

  In the present embodiment, the example in which the power control apparatus 10a periodically acquires the control instruction effect information from the EMS server 20 has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. When the power control apparatus 10a executes a control instruction, the power control apparatus 10a may create and update the control instruction effect information based on the power reduction amount resulting from the execution of the control instruction.

  In the present embodiment, the control instruction effect information includes the control instruction and the predicted power reduction amount associated with the control instruction, but the present invention is not limited to this. The control instruction effect information may further include a response time associated with each control instruction. FIG. 6 shows an example of control instruction effect information including response time. As shown in FIG. 6, the control instruction effect information includes, for example, a control instruction “increase the set temperature of the air conditioner by x ° C.”, a predicted power reduction amount “400 W”, and a response time “1 minute”.

  Specifically, in this case, the control unit 104 calculates the remaining demand time based on the time when the instruction acquisition unit acquires the power reduction instruction and the start of the demand time limit from the output of the demand monitoring device 17. Then, the control instruction creating unit 103 creates a combination of control instructions that satisfy the power reduction instruction based on the remaining demand time and the response time included in the control instruction effect information. For example, when the remaining demand time is less than 2 minutes, the control instructions such as “turn off the air conditioner” and “decrease the set temperature of the refrigerator” are not effective even if executed during the remaining demand time. Therefore, the control instruction creation unit 103 excludes these control instructions and creates a combination of control instructions that satisfies the power reduction instruction.

With this configuration, the power control apparatus 10a can create a combination of control instructions with higher accuracy that satisfies the power reduction instruction in consideration of the response period of the control instruction.

  Although the present invention has been described based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that those skilled in the art can easily make various variations and modifications based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these variations and modifications are included in the scope of the present invention. For example, functions and the like included in each means and each step can be rearranged so as not to be logically contradictory, and a plurality of means and steps can be combined into one or divided. .

10a to 10c Power control device 101 Storage unit 102 Instruction acquisition unit 103 Control instruction creation unit 104 Control unit 105 Recording unit 11a to 11c User terminal 12 First sensor 13 Sensor management unit 14 Second sensor 15-16 Load device 17 Demand Monitoring device 18 Wattmeter 19 Third sensor 20 EMS server 30 Internet 40a to 40c LAN
201 Data collector 202 Controller 203 Control queue 204 Memory

Claims (8)

An EMS server for creating a power reduction instruction for a consumer having a load device;
A power control device that polls the EMS server and acquires the power reduction instruction or the load device control instruction from the EMS server,
The power control apparatus creates a local control instruction for controlling the load device when the power reduction instruction is acquired from the EMS server, and outputs the control instruction when the control instruction is acquired from the EMS server. Power control system to execute.   The power control apparatus updates a power reduction prediction amount based on a result of the power reduction amount by executing the local control instruction, and transmits control instruction effect information including the updated power reduction prediction amount to the EMS server. The power control system according to claim 1.   The power control system according to claim 1, wherein the power control device acquires a measurement value related to a driving state or power consumption of the load device, and transmits the measurement value to the EMS server.   The power control system according to claim 3, wherein the power control apparatus periodically transmits the measurement value to the EMS server.   The power control system according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the power control apparatus acquires the measurement value by using at least two different protocols.   The power control apparatus instructs a designated load device to perform control according to a designated operation when a specific operation instruction for the load device is included in the control instruction. The electric power control system as described in any one of thru | or 5. Polling the EMS server and obtaining a power reduction instruction or a load device control instruction from the EMS server;
Creating a local control instruction for controlling the load device when the power reduction instruction is acquired from the EMS server;
Executing the control instruction when the control instruction is acquired from the EMS server;
Power control method. An instruction acquisition unit that polls the EMS server and acquires a power reduction instruction or a load device control instruction from the EMS server;
A control instruction creating unit that creates a local control instruction for controlling the load device when the power reduction instruction is obtained from the EMS server;
A power control apparatus comprising: a control unit that executes the control instruction when the control instruction is acquired from the EMS server.

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