JP2018049376A - Energy selling system and charge calculation method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an energy selling system and a charge calculation method capable of connecting dissemination of cogeneration systems to increase in profits of energy business operators.SOLUTION: The energy selling system includes: an energy meter with which an energy business operator measures an amount of energy supplied to each customer; and a charge calculation device for calculating a charge to be charged to the customer by the energy business operator. The energy selling system further includes: electricity output acquisition means for acquiring an electricity output by a cogeneration system generating electricity using energy; discount amount determination means, when the electricity output exceeds a reference electricity output, determining a discount amount of the charge to be charged to the customer; and charge calculation means that calculates the charge to be charged to the customer according to a first charge based on an amount of energy used by the cogeneration system, a second charge based on an amount of the energy used by those other than the cogeneration system, and the discount amount for discounting the second charge on the basis of the discount amount.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an energy sales system and a charge calculation method.

  In recent years, a cogeneration system that extracts and supplies a plurality of energy (electric power, heat, etc.) from one energy source has been used. The cogeneration system will be installed at customer's homes and other locations where it is in demand, and both energy and waste heat will be used effectively to achieve energy savings and CO2 reduction effects. However, there was a possibility that the cogeneration system was considered to be expensive for users.

  For example, Patent Document 1 describes an energy-saving device introduction method that promotes introduction of energy-saving devices with high introduction costs by customers. In the energy saving device introduction method of Patent Document 1, the business operator takes over the introduction cost of the energy saving device, and the customer pays the business enterprise the installation cost of the energy saving device for a fixed period of time.

JP 2002-32441 A

  Conventionally, energy companies that provide customers with energy to be used in cogeneration systems are profitable because the amount of energy used increases due to the introduction of cogeneration systems.

  By the way, with the liberalization of energy such as gas / electricity, customers can select energy companies from which energy is purchased. Therefore, even if energy companies that provide customers with energy to be used in the cogeneration system, even if the introduction of the cogeneration system is advanced, the sales of energy will not increase and there will be a situation that does not lead to profits.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an energy sales system and a charge calculation method capable of linking the spread and expansion of a cogeneration system to an increase in the profits of energy companies.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides an energy meter that measures the amount of energy supplied to a customer by an energy operator, and a fee calculation device that calculates a fee that the energy operator charges to the customer; A power generation amount acquisition means for acquiring a power generation amount by a combined heat and power system that generates power using energy supplied to the customer, and a power generation amount by the heat and power supply system exceeds a reference power generation amount A discount amount determining means for determining a discount amount of a charge to be charged to the customer, a first fee based on the amount of energy used by the combined heat and power system, and a system other than the combined heat and power system The customer according to the second fee based on the amount of energy and the discount amount discounting the second fee based on the discount amount. And fee calculating means for calculating a fee to charge, and having a.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the spread expansion of a cogeneration system can be connected with the increase in the profit of an energy provider.

It is a lineblock diagram of an example of the energy sales system concerning this embodiment. It is a hardware block diagram of an example of the computer which concerns on this embodiment. It is a hardware block diagram of an example of the cogeneration system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a process block diagram of an example of the charge calculation apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart of an example of a charge calculation process. It is explanatory drawing of an example which represented the charge charged to a customer visually. It is explanatory drawing of the other example which represented the charge charged to a customer visually. It is a block diagram of the other example of the energy sales system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a processing block diagram of the other example of the charge calculation apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a processing block diagram of the other example of the charge calculation apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart of the other example of a charge calculation process.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. Here, a household fuel cell cogeneration system that uses gas as energy will be described as an example of a cogeneration system.

<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an example of an energy sales system according to the present embodiment. In the energy sales system 1 in FIG. 1, a cogeneration system 10 and a gas meter 12 installed at a customer's house and a charge calculation device 20 of an energy provider are connected via a network 30 such as the Internet.

  Energy providers supply energy such as gas and electricity to contract customers. The customer uses equipment such as the cogeneration system 10 using the energy supplied from the energy provider. The gas meter 12 is an example of an energy meter that measures the amount of gas supplied to a customer by an energy company. The gas meter 12 has a function of transmitting the measured gas usage amount of the customer to the charge calculation device 20 via the network 30. For example, the gas meter 12 can use a smart meter. In the case of the gas meter 12 not connected to the network 30, the result of meter reading of the gas meter 12 by the meter reader can be used.

  The cogeneration system 10 has a power generation function that generates power using energy supplied from an energy provider to a customer, and a waste heat utilization function that creates hot water for hot water supply or heating using waste heat during power generation. The cogeneration system 10 monitors the amount of power generation, and has a function of transmitting the amount of power generation to the charge calculation device 20 via the network 30.

  The fee calculation device 20 calculates a fee charged by the energy company to the customer according to the received gas usage amount of the customer, the power generation amount by the cogeneration system 10, and the like as described later. The energy sales system 1 in FIG. 1 is an example, and it goes without saying that there are various system configuration examples. For example, the charge calculation device 20 of FIG. 1 may be configured to be distributed among a plurality of computers.

<Hardware configuration>
1 is realized by a computer having a hardware configuration as shown in FIG. 2, for example. FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of an example of a computer according to the present embodiment.

  The computer shown in FIG. 2 includes an input device 501, an output device 502, an external I / F 503, a RAM 504, a ROM 505, a CPU 506, a communication I / F 507, an HDD 508, and the like. The input device 501 and the output device 502 may be connected and used when necessary.

  The input device 501 is a keyboard, a mouse, or the like, and is used by the user to input each operation signal. The output device 502 includes a display, a speaker, and the like, displays a processing result on a screen, and outputs sound from the speaker. A communication I / F 507 is an interface connected to the network 30. The computer shown in FIG. 2 can perform data communication via the communication I / F 507.

  The HDD 508 is an example of a nonvolatile storage device that stores programs and data. The stored programs and data include an OS that is basic software and applications that provide various functions on the OS. The computer shown in FIG. 2 may use a drive device (for example, a solid state drive: SSD) that uses a flash memory as a storage medium instead of the HDD 508.

  The external I / F 503 is an interface with an external device. The external device includes a recording medium 503a. Accordingly, the computer 500 can read and / or write the recording medium 503a via the external I / F 503. Examples of the recording medium 503a include a flexible disk, a CD, a DVD, an SD memory card, and a USB memory.

  The ROM 505 is an example of a nonvolatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that can retain programs and data even when the power is turned off. The ROM 505 stores programs and data such as BIOS, OS settings, and network settings that are executed when the computer shown in FIG. The RAM 504 is an example of a volatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that temporarily stores programs and data.

  The CPU 506 is an arithmetic unit that realizes control and functions of the entire computer of FIG. 2 by reading a program and data from a storage device such as the ROM 505 and the HDD 508 onto the RAM 504 and executing processing. The fee calculation apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment can realize various processes as described later with the above-described hardware configuration.

  Moreover, the cogeneration system 10 of FIG. 1 is implement | achieved by the hardware constitutions shown, for example in FIG. FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of an example of the cogeneration system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 shows an example of a household fuel cell cogeneration system that uses gas as energy.

  The cogeneration system 10 of FIG. 3 includes a fuel cell unit 50 and a hot water storage unit 60. The fuel cell unit 50 in FIG. 3 includes, for example, a fuel processing unit 51, a fuel cell stack unit 52, an inverter unit 53, a heat recovery unit 54, a power generation amount monitoring unit 55, and a communication unit 56.

  The fuel processing unit 51 reacts gas and water vapor to take out hydrogen. The fuel cell stack unit 52 takes in hydrogen extracted by the fuel processing unit 51 and oxygen in the air and generates electric power. The inverter unit 53 converts the DC electricity generated by the fuel cell stack unit 52 into AC electricity and supplies the customer's home with electricity.

  The heat recovery unit 54 recovers heat (waste heat) generated from the fuel processing unit 51 and the fuel cell stack unit 52. The waste heat recovered by the heat recovery unit 54 is used to make hot water by heating water in the hot water storage unit 60. The power generation amount monitoring unit 55 monitors the power generation amount generated by the fuel cell stack unit 52. The communication unit 56 transmits the power generation amount monitored by the power generation amount monitoring unit 55 to the charge calculation device 20 via the network 30.

<Software configuration>
The fee calculation apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment is realized by a processing block as shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a processing block diagram of an example of the fee calculation apparatus according to the present embodiment. The charge calculation device 20 executes the program to thereby establish a communication unit 71, a gas usage amount acquisition unit 72, a power generation amount acquisition unit 73, a non-power generation gas usage amount calculation unit 74, a reference power generation amount setting unit 75, and a discount amount calculation unit 76. The charge calculation unit 77 is realized.

  The communication unit 71 communicates with the cogeneration system 10 and the gas meter 12 at the customer's home via the network 30. The gas usage acquisition unit 72 acquires the customer's gas usage measured by the gas meter 12 via the network 30. The power generation amount acquisition unit 73 acquires the power generation amount by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's home via the network 30.

  Further, the gas usage calculation unit 74 other than power generation uses the gas usage of the customer acquired from the customer's home and the power generation by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's home to calculate the gas usage used at other than the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's home. calculate. For example, the amount of gas used in the cogeneration system 10 can be theoretically obtained from the amount of power generated by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's house.

  Based on the theoretically determined gas usage amount used in the customer cogeneration system 10 and the customer gas usage amount measured by the gas meter 12, the charge calculation device 20 is installed in the customer home other than the cogeneration system 10. The amount of gas used can be calculated.

  The reference power generation amount setting unit 75 is set with a reference power generation amount which will be described later. The discount amount calculation unit 76 calculates a discount amount based on the reference power generation amount and the power generation amount by the cogeneration system 10 as described later. The fee calculation unit 77 calculates a fee charged by the energy company to the customer based on the calculated discount amount and the gas usage amount of the customer acquired from the customer's home.

<Processing>
Here, fee calculation processing performed by the fee calculation apparatus 20 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example of fee calculation processing. In step S <b> 11, the discount amount calculation unit 76 compares the power generation amount by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's home with the reference power generation amount.

  In step S12, the discount amount calculation unit 76 determines whether or not the power generation amount by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's house exceeds the reference power generation amount. If the reference power generation amount is not exceeded, the process proceeds to step S13, and the charge calculation unit 77 calculates the charge that the energy company charges to the customer based on the gas usage of the customer acquired from the customer's home. In step S13, the discount amount is “0”.

  If it exceeds the reference power generation amount, the process proceeds to step S14, and the charge calculation unit 77 calculates a discount amount corresponding to the excess from the reference power generation amount. In step S15, the charge calculation unit 77 calculates a gas charge based on the amount of gas used at the customer's home other than the cogeneration system 10, and discounts the discount amount from the gas charge other than the cogeneration system 10.

  In step S15, an example in which a discount amount is discounted from a gas rate other than the cogeneration system 10 has been shown. For example, when an energy company supplying gas to a customer also supplies power to the customer, the discount rate is calculated from the electricity rate. It may be discounted or a discount amount may be discounted from the energy charge of the cogeneration system 10.

  In step S16, the charge calculation unit 77 calculates a charge charged by the energy provider to the customer based on the gas usage amount of the customer acquired from the customer's home and the discount amount calculated by the discount amount calculation unit 76. In step S16, the discount amount is in accordance with the excess of the power generation amount by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's house from the reference power generation amount.

  The charges charged to the customer according to the flowchart of FIG. 5 are as shown in FIG. 6, for example. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a visual representation of a fee charged to a customer. FIG. 6 shows an example in which electric power and heat are supplied to the customer's home. The power supplied to the customer's home is the power supplied from the “energy company 1” and the power generated by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's home. The heat (thermal energy) supplied to the customer's home is heat generated by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's home and the gas supplied by the “energy company 2”. For example, “energy company 1” is an electric power company. “Energy provider 2” is a gas company.

  For example, “energy company 1” in FIG. 6 may be an energy company that sells electric power to customers, and is not limited to an electric power company. Further, the “energy company 2” in FIG. 6 may be an energy company that sells electric power to customers, and is not limited to a gas company.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 5, a normal charge is charged to the customer until the amount of power generated by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's home exceeds the reference power generation amount. That is, the charge calculation device 20 calculates a charge to be charged to the customer based on the gas usage amount of the customer measured by the gas meter 12.

  On the other hand, in the flowchart of FIG. 5, after the power generation amount by the cogeneration system 10 exceeds the reference power generation amount, the power generation amount by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's house exceeds the reference power generation amount from the gas charge other than the cogeneration system 10. Calculate the fee charged to the customer to discount the discount amount according to the minutes.

  In addition, the discount method of the fee may be discounted from the fee charged in the month, or may be discounted from the fee charged in the next month, or the discount amount is given to the customer as a point, other than the fee discount It may be possible to use it.

  The standard power generation amount can be set in various ways, such as monthly or for each customer. The method for determining the reference power generation amount may be determined in consideration of the profit break point or the like, or may be determined based on the average power generation amount of the customer in the previous year or the previous month.

  For example, a contract with an “energy company 2” such as a gas company is made by additionally describing, as information, a gas fee used by a person other than the cogeneration system 10 and a discount amount for the gas fee in an invoice to the customer. This makes it easier to see the customer's profits. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the energy provider who charges a fee can expect an increase in contracts with customers who use the cogeneration system 10.

  Further, the fee charged to the customer according to the flowchart of FIG. 5 may be as shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of another example that visually represents a fee charged to a customer. FIG. 7 also shows an example in which power and heat are supplied to the customer's home, as in FIG.

  In FIG. 7, the discount amount is calculated so that the gas rate used by the cogeneration system 10 is “0” after the power generation amount by the cogeneration system 10 exceeds the reference power generation amount. FIG. 7 is an example of a flat rate usage plan that allows the cogeneration system 10 to be used at a fixed rate.

<Summary>
According to the first embodiment, since the customer is discounted the amount charged by the energy provider, the recovery date of the initial cost of the cogeneration system 10 can be shortened. Therefore, according to the first embodiment, the spread of the cogeneration system 10 can be increased. In addition, energy companies can expect an increase in contracts with customers who use the cogeneration system 10. Furthermore, environmental performance can also be improved by the spread of the cogeneration system 10. As a result, according to the first embodiment, the spread and expansion of the cogeneration system 10 can be linked to an increase in the profit of the energy company.

<Other system configuration>
FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of another example of the energy sales system according to the present embodiment. The energy sales system 1A of FIG. 8 is obtained by replacing the gas meter 12 of the energy sales system 1 shown in FIG. 1 with a cogeneration gas meter 12A and a non-cogeneration gas meter 12B.

  The cogeneration gas meter 12A measures the amount of gas used by the cogeneration system 10. The cogeneration gas meter 12 </ b> A has a function of transmitting the measured gas usage amount to the charge calculation device 20 via the network 30.

  The non-cogeneration gas meter 12B measures the amount of gas used by other than the cogeneration system 10. The non-cogeneration gas meter 12 </ b> B has a function of transmitting the measured gas usage amount to the charge calculation device 20 via the network 30.

  In the example of the energy sales system 1A in FIG. 8, the gas usage amount other than the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's home is measured by the non-cogeneration gas meter 12B. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the gas usage calculation unit 74 other than power generation included in the charge calculation device 20 of FIG. 4 is deleted from the charge calculation device 20A. FIG. 9 is a processing block diagram of another example of the fee calculation apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  Further, in the above example, the discount amount is calculated according to the excess of the power generation amount by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's home from the reference power generation amount, but the discount amount is calculated according to the power generation amount by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's home. Can also be calculated.

  When the discount amount is calculated according to the power generation amount by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's home, the reference power amount is not necessary, so the reference power generation amount setting unit 75 included in the charge calculation device 20 of FIG. It may be deleted as follows. FIG. 10 is a processing block diagram of another example of the fee calculation apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  The fee calculation apparatus 20B in FIG. 10 performs a fee calculation process, for example, as shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of another example of fee calculation processing. In step S21, the charge calculation unit 77 calculates a discount amount according to the amount of power generated by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's house.

  In step S22, the charge calculation unit 77 calculates a gas charge based on the amount of gas used at a customer's home other than the cogeneration system 10, and discounts the discount amount from the gas charge other than the cogeneration system 10.

  In step S23, an example is shown in which a discount amount is discounted from a gas rate other than the cogeneration system 10. For example, when an energy company supplying gas to a customer also supplies power to the customer, the discount rate is calculated from the electricity rate. It may be discounted or a discount amount may be discounted from the energy charge of the cogeneration system 10.

  In step S23, the charge calculation unit 77 calculates a charge charged by the energy provider to the customer based on the gas usage amount of the customer acquired from the customer's home and the discount amount calculated by the discount amount calculation unit 76. In step S23, the discount amount corresponds to the amount of power generated by the cogeneration system 10 at the customer's house.

  The present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the claims. The cogeneration system 10 is an example of a thermoelectric supply system.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1A Energy sales system 10 Cogeneration system 12 Gas meter 12A Gas meter for cogeneration 12B Gas meter for other than cogeneration 20, 20A, 20B Charge calculation device 30 Network 50 Fuel cell unit 51 Fuel processing unit 52 Fuel cell stack unit 53 Inverter unit 54 Heat recovery unit 55 Power generation amount monitoring unit 56 Communication unit 60 Hot water storage unit 71 Communication unit 72 Gas usage amount acquisition unit 73 Power generation amount acquisition unit 74 Gas generation amount calculation unit other than power generation 75 Standard power generation amount setting unit 76 Discount amount calculation unit 77 Fee calculation Part 500 Computer 501 Input device 502 Output device 503 External I / F
503a Recording medium 504 RAM
505 ROM
506 CPU
507 Communication I / F
508 HDD
B bus

Claims (7)

An energy sales system comprising: an energy meter that measures the amount of energy supplied to a customer by an energy provider; and a charge calculator that calculates a fee charged by the energy provider to the customer,
A power generation amount acquisition means for acquiring a power generation amount by a combined heat and power system that generates power using the energy supplied to the customer;
A discount amount determining means for determining a discount amount of a charge to be charged to the customer when a power generation amount by the combined heat and power system exceeds a standard power generation amount;
The first fee based on the amount of energy used by the combined heat and power system, the second fee based on the amount of energy used by other than the combined heat and power system, and the second fee based on the discount amount A charge calculation means for calculating a charge to be charged to the customer according to a discount amount;
Having energy sales system. 2. The energy according to claim 1, wherein the discount amount determining means determines a discount amount of a charge to be charged to the customer according to an excess of the power generation amount by the combined heat and power system from the reference power generation amount. Sales system. The charge calculation means uses the discount amount discounted for the first charge instead of the discount amount discounted for the second charge, and the first charge based on the amount of energy used by the combined heat and power system and Calculating a charge to be charged to the customer according to a second charge based on the amount of energy used by other than the combined heat and power system and a discount amount discounting the first charge based on the discount amount The energy sales system according to claim 1. The said discount amount determination means determines the discount amount of the charge charged to the said customer so that the excess from the said reference | standard power generation amount of the electric power generation amount by the said heat and power supply system may be offset. Energy sales system. When the energy provider supplies the customer with a different type of energy from the energy used by the combined heat and power system, the fee calculation means replaces the discounted amount with the second fee, and Using a discount amount that discounts a third fee based on the amount of the different types of energy supplied to the customer, the first fee based on the amount of energy used by the combined heat and power system, and other than the combined heat and power system Based on a second fee based on the amount of energy used, a third fee based on the amount of the different types of energy supplied to the customer, and a discount amount that discounts the third fee. The energy sales system according to claim 1, wherein a charge to be charged is calculated. The energy meter includes a first energy meter that measures the amount of energy used by the combined heat and power system, and a second energy meter that measures the amount of energy used by other than the combined heat and power system. The energy sales system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: A charge calculation method executed by an energy sales system having an energy meter that measures the amount of energy supplied to a customer by an energy provider, and a charge calculator that calculates a charge that the energy provider charges to the customer Because
A power generation amount acquisition step of acquiring a power generation amount by a combined heat and power system that generates power using the energy supplied to the customer;
A discount amount determining step of determining a discount amount of a charge to be charged to the customer when a power generation amount by the combined heat and power system exceeds a standard power generation amount;
A first fee based on the amount of energy used by the combined heat and power system, a second fee based on the amount of energy used by other than the combined heat and power system, and the first or the second based on the discount amount A charge calculation step of calculating a charge to be charged to the customer according to a discount amount discounting a charge of 2 or a third charge based on an amount of different types of energy; and
Charge calculation method.

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