JP5700871B2 - Power demand control system and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a power demand control system and method for preventing tightness of power supply and demand.

As power shortages are expected to continue over the medium to long term, technologies that efficiently use power to save power consumption are attracting attention in order to prevent tight supply and demand.
For example, Patent Document 1 describes an automatic control system and an automatic control method for recognizing a user's entry and exit from a facility using an RFID tag and controlling home appliances based on the presence status of the user.

  In addition, in Patent Document 2, when there is no person in the installation room in the home mode, the air conditioner is saved and the operation is stopped after a certain period of time, the lighting fixture is turned off or the low illumination is turned on, and in the absence mode. A security robot is described that turns off the luminaire during the day, turns on the luminaire during the night, and turns off the light during the night.

  If these technologies are adopted, the home electric appliances are automatically controlled, which makes it possible to save power consumption and reduce the electricity bill.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-320828 JP 2006-318173 A

In general, power consumption is required to be reduced in the daytime in summer when demand peaks occur, or in the time when power supply and demand is tight, such as when the power supply of a power company is reduced due to equipment failure.
However, since the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 reduce power consumption by controlling home appliances such as home appliances depending on whether or not there are people in the customer's home, It is difficult to reduce power consumption in a time zone where power saving is truly required, such as a time zone expected to be tight. In other words, the power consumption reduction method that does not take into account the power supply and demand situation cannot cope with the need for further power saving when the supply capacity is insufficient. On the other hand, even when there is a margin in supply capacity, power consumption is unconditionally suppressed, which is not preferable in terms of power leveling and maintenance of user comfort.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above circumstances. The purpose of the present invention is to consume consumer equipment in a customer's home without bothering the power consumer when power supply and demand is expected to be tight. An object of the present invention is to provide a power demand control system and method capable of appropriately suppressing power.

In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention is that an information processing apparatus operated by a power provider or another service provider and a power supply provided from the power provider to operate in a customer's home. A consumer premises control device connected to a plurality of home appliances, and by notifying a power demand control request from the information processing device to the consumer premises control device via a communication network, In the power demand control system and method for controlling demand, the consumer premises control device generates power attribute information of the plurality of home devices before the power demand control request is notified, and is generated. Power attribute information is transmitted to the information processing apparatus via the communication network and a power demand control request is notified from the information processing apparatus. The formation request with the notified power demand control request is transmitted to the information processing apparatus via the communication network. On the other hand, the information processing apparatus receives and stores the power attribute information transmitted from the consumer premises control apparatus via the communication network. And when the creation request of the power consumption reduction control plan transmitted from the consumer premises control device is received, based on the power demand control request received together with the creation request and the stored power attribute information A power consumption reduction control plan for the plurality of home appliances is created, and information representing the created power consumption reduction control plan is sent back to the customer home control device of the creation request source via the communication network. On the other hand, the consumer premises control device receives and stores information representing the power consumption reduction control plan transmitted from the information processing device via the communication network. Then, based on the information representing the stored power consumption reduction control plan, control for restricting the operations of the plurality of in-home devices is performed.

One aspect of the present invention is characterized by comprising the following aspects.
In the first aspect, before the power demand control request is notified by the consumer premises control device, a constraint condition for power consumption reduction control of the plurality of premises equipment is set, and the set constraint condition is set. The information representing is transmitted to the information processing device via the communication network, and the information processing device receives and stores the information representing the constraint condition transmitted from the consumer premises control device via the communication network. Then, when the information processing apparatus creates a control plan, when a power consumption reduction control plan creation request transmitted from the consumer premises control device is received, the power demand control request received together with the creation request; Based on the stored power attribute information and the information representing the stored constraint conditions, a power consumption reduction control plan for the plurality of home devices is created, and the created power consumption reduction control plan Is sent back to the customer premises control device of the creation request source via the communication network.

  In the second aspect, when the consumer premises control device sets a constraint condition, for each of the plurality of premises equipment, a time zone in which the premises equipment needs to be used is set as a non-control target period. It is a thing.

  In the third aspect, when the consumer premises control device sets the constraint condition, for each of the plurality of premises equipment, a time zone in which the premises equipment does not need to be used is set as the operation stop period. It is a thing.

  According to a fourth aspect, the consumer premises control device receives an input of information for correcting the information representing the stored power consumption reduction control plan, and the stored based on the input correction information. The power consumption reduction control plan is updated.

  In a fifth aspect, the consumer premises control device transmits correction information to an information processing device via a communication network, and the information processing device receives the correction information transmitted from the consumer premises control device, It is received and stored via the communication network. Further, when the control plan creation means of the information processing device receives a creation request for a power consumption reduction control plan transmitted from the consumer premises control device, the power demand control request and the stored power attribute Based on the information, the information indicating the stored constraint condition, and the stored correction information, a power consumption reduction control plan for the plurality of home devices is created, and the generated power consumption reduction control is created. Information representing a plan is returned to the customer premises control device that is the creation request source via the communication network.

  In a sixth aspect, the consumer premises control device further includes means for transmitting correction information to the information processing device via a communication network, and the information processing device is transmitted from the consumer premises control device. The information processing apparatus further includes means for receiving and storing correction information via the communication network, and the information processing apparatus control plan creation means receives a power consumption reduction control plan creation request transmitted from the consumer premises control apparatus. A power consumption control request for the plurality of home appliances based on the power demand control request, the stored power attribute information, and the information indicating the stored constraint condition, and power demand control. For the plurality of home devices based on the request, the stored power attribute information, the information indicating the stored constraint condition, and the stored correction information. And a means for returning information representing the created power consumption reduction control plan to the customer premises control device of the creation request source via the communication network. The customer premises control device is provided with means for presenting the option to select any one of these power consumption reduction control plans to the consumer and storing the selected power consumption reduction control plan.

According to one aspect of the present invention, in the customer premises control device, the consumption provided from the information processing device when the power demand control request is notified from the information processing device when, for example, the tightness of power supply and demand is expected. Based on the information representing the power reduction control plan, processing for restricting the operations of the plurality of home devices is performed. For this reason, for example, it becomes possible to reduce the power consumption of the customer's home in a time zone where power saving is truly required, such as a time zone in which power supply and demand is expected to be tight. In addition, since the power consumption reduction control plan is created by the information processing apparatus and provided to the consumer's home, the user at the customer's home does not need to create a power consumption reduction control plan by himself.

  According to the first aspect, the restriction condition for the power consumption reduction control of a plurality of household devices is set by the consumer premises control device, and the information processing device sets the above when creating the power consumption reduction control plan. A power consumption reduction control plan for a plurality of home devices is created in consideration of the constraint conditions. For this reason, even when a power demand is requested by a power provider, it is possible to maintain a normal operating state for a home device that the power consumer does not want to restrict the operation of. Therefore, the user at the customer's home can maintain the comfort or convenience of life while contributing to the reduction of power consumption.

  According to the second aspect, as a constraint condition, a time zone in which the household device needs to be used is set as a non-control target period for each household device. For this reason, when a power demand restriction is requested from a power company, the in-home device is excluded from the power consumption restriction target in the non-control target period. Therefore, for example, when there is a visitor schedule in a corresponding time zone and it is necessary to use a lighting fixture during the reception, the lighting fixture during the reception can be excluded from the power consumption restriction target.

  According to the third aspect, as a constraint condition, a time zone in which the home device is not required is set as the operation stop period for each home device. For this reason, about the said household device, it is controlled to an operation stop state unconditionally in the said non-control object period. Therefore, for example, the air conditioner in the living room that does not need to be used in the time zone before getting up can be put into an operation stopped state.

  According to the fourth aspect, in the customer premises control device, the user at the customer premises can arbitrarily correct the power consumption reduction control plan sent from the information processing device. For this reason, even if the power consumption reduction control plan sent from the information processing device does not match the actual situation, it can be changed to the optimal power consumption reduction control plan according to the purpose of use of the home appliances for each customer's home It becomes. For example, in the power consumption reduction control plan, the air conditioner between customers who are subject to operation stoppage is changed to a non-control target according to the visitor's sudden visit schedule, or in the power consumption reduction control plan, the child is not included in the control target It is possible to make modifications such as adding room air conditioners, televisions, and lighting fixtures to the target for operation stop.

  According to the fifth aspect, the correction information created by the consumer premises control device is sent to the information processing device, and the power control of the premises equipment according to the correction information is performed by the information processing device. Compared with the aspect, it is possible to reduce the processing load related to the power control of the consumer premises control device.

  According to the sixth aspect, it is possible to select a control plan that the consumer needs by himself.

  That is, according to one aspect of the present invention, when the power supply and demand is expected to be tight, the power demand that can appropriately suppress the power consumption of the in-home equipment in the customer's home without bothering the power consumer Control systems and methods can be provided.

The figure which shows the whole structure of the electric power demand control system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the local electric power supply-and-demand adjustment server provided in the electric power provider side in the electric power demand control system shown in FIG. The block diagram which shows the structure of the HEMS server provided in a consumer's house in the electric power demand control system shown in FIG. The block diagram which shows the structure of the in-house electric power supply-and-demand adjustment server in the electric power demand control system shown in FIG. The sequence diagram which shows the data transfer procedure for the power demand control in the power demand control system shown in FIG. The figure which shows the content of the demand control request | requirement transmitted toward the HEMS server from the local electric power supply-and-demand adjustment server shown in FIG. The figure which shows an example of the operation mode of the household appliance with respect to the demand control request | requirement produced in the household electric power demand adjustment server shown in FIG. The figure which shows an example of the in-home apparatus control content according to operation mode produced in the in-home electric power demand adjustment server shown in FIG. The figure which shows an example of the in-home apparatus control plan produced in the in-home electric power demand adjustment server shown in FIG. The figure which shows an example of the in-home apparatus control plan customized in the HEMS server shown in FIG. The sequence diagram which shows the data transfer procedure for the power demand control in the power demand control system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the constraint conditions produced with a HEMS server in the electric power demand control system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. In the electric power demand control system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention, the figure which shows the in-home apparatus control content according to the operation mode reflecting the constraint conditions produced in the in-home electric power demand adjustment server. The figure which shows an example of the household appliance control plan produced in the household electric power demand adjustment server in the electric power demand control system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the household equipment control plan customized in the HEMS server in the electric power demand control system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure explaining the reflective matter to the correction rule by customization which was set for every apparatus and every mode in the electric power demand control system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The figure explaining the created correction rule in the electric power demand control system concerning a 3rd embodiment of this invention. In the power demand control system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention, the sequence diagram which shows the mode of the data transfer for power demand control in case a correction rule exists. The figure which shows the household appliance control plan in which the correction rule produced in the household electric power demand adjustment server was reflected in the electric power demand control system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, some embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
(Constitution)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a power demand control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, where PS is a power company, and HM1 to HMn (n is a natural number, for example, 100 houses) are consumers. Home 6 indicates a home power supply / demand adjustment server operated by the service provider.

  The electric power company PS includes a power transmission facility 1 and supplies electric power from the power transmission facility 1 to a plurality of customer homes HM1 to HMn via the transmission and distribution network PNW. In addition to the power transmission facility 1, the electric power company PS is provided with an intra-regional power supply and demand adjustment server 2 as an information processing apparatus. This regional power supply and demand adjustment server 2 can communicate with the HEMS server 4 provided in each of the customer homes HM1 to HMn via the communication network CNW. Note that the communication network CNW includes the Internet and an access network for accessing the Internet. As the access network, a wired telephone network, a wired LAN (Local Area Network), a mobile phone network, a wireless LAN, or the like is used.

  The customer homes HM1 to HMn include a plurality of home appliances 31 to 3k (k is a natural number) including home appliances, a distribution board 5, and a HEMS (Home Energy Management System) server 4 as a consumer home control device. Is provided. The distribution board 5 supplies the power supplied from the power transmission facility 1 of the power provider PS via the power transmission / distribution network PNW to the in-home devices 31 to 3k. In FIG. 1, for the sake of simplicity of illustration, the configuration in the customer's home is shown only for HM1, and illustration of HM2 to HMn is omitted.

  The in-region power supply and demand adjustment server 2 of the electric power company PS is configured as follows. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration. That is, the in-region power supply and demand adjustment server 2 of the power company PS includes a control unit 21, a communication interface 22, and a storage unit 23.

  The communication interface 22 uses the communication protocol defined by the communication network CNW under the control of the control unit 21, and the service provider's in-home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 and the HEMS servers 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn Data communication between the two.

The storage unit 23 uses a nonvolatile memory such as a hard disk or a flash memory that can be written and read as needed as a storage medium, and a power demand information database 231 and a power A fee database 232 is included.
The power demand information database 231 is used for storing information representing the history of past power demand in the region.
The power rate database 232 stores information representing the electricity rate for each time zone in the area.

  The control unit 21 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and includes a power supply and demand monitoring unit 211 and a demand control request creation unit 212 as control functions necessary for carrying out the present embodiment. All of these control functions are realized by causing the CPU to execute an application program stored in a program memory (not shown).

  The power supply / demand monitoring unit 211 reads information representing past important power history in the region and the power charge for each time zone from the power demand information database 231, and is provided from the read information and the power transmission equipment 1. Based on the information indicating the power supply amount, a process of predicting the tightness of the power supply and demand is performed.

  The demand control request creation unit 212 performs power demand leveling and power peaking based on the prediction result of power supply and demand by the power supply and demand monitoring unit 211 and the charge table data by time zone stored in the power rate database 232. In order to suppress power consumption at the time, information representing a demand control request is created, and processing for distributing the created information representing the demand control request to each customer home HM1 to HMn in the region is performed.

  Typical information that expresses demand control requests is TOU (Time Of Use), which sets electricity charges high in times when power demand is high, and sets electricity prices cheaply in times when electricity demand is small. There is an emergency that prompts power consumers to further reduce power consumption due to the tight supply and demand of power, and in this embodiment, description will be made assuming that both of these two demand control requests are used.

  The HEMS server 4 is configured as follows. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration. That is, the HEMS server 4 includes a control unit 41, a communication interface 42, an input unit 43, a storage unit 44, a control signal transmission unit 45, and a home appliance information reception unit 46.

  The communication interface 42 uses the communication protocol defined by the communication network CNW under the control of the control unit 41, and the in-house power supply / demand adjustment server 6 of the service provider PS and the in-region power supply / demand adjustment server 2 of the power provider PS. Data communication with the.

  The input unit 43 includes a keyboard and a mouse or a touch panel type input device, and the user of the customer's home HM1 sends correction information (customization information) to a home appliance control plan sent from the home power supply / demand adjustment server 6 described later. Used to enter.

The in-home device information receiving unit 46 communicates with the in-home devices 31 to 3k under the control of the control unit 41, and receives in-home device information as power attribute information from the in-home devices 31 to 3k.
The storage unit 44 is composed of a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory that can be written and read at any time, and stores the home device information received from the home devices 31 to 3k and the home device control plan received from the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 described later. Used to store information that represents it.
The control signal transmission unit 45 has a function of transmitting the operation control signals of the home devices 31 to 3k output from the control unit 41 to the home devices 31 to 3k.

  The control unit 41 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). As control functions necessary for carrying out the present embodiment, a home device information collection / transmission control unit 411, a home device control plan acquisition control unit 412, and a control plan are provided. A correction control unit 413 and a home appliance operation control unit 414 are provided. All of these control functions are realized by causing the CPU to execute an application program stored in a program memory (not shown).

  The home device information collection / transmission control unit 411 acquires the home device information from the home devices 31 to 3k via the home device information receiving unit 46, stores the acquired home device information in the storage unit 44, and includes a communication interface. A process of transmitting from 42 to the in-house power supply and demand adjustment server 6 of the service provider is performed.

  The home appliance control plan acquisition control unit 412 receives the demand control request that has received the request for creating the home appliance control plan when the information indicating the demand control request is sent from the regional power supply and demand adjustment server 2 of the power provider PS. It transmits to the service provider's in-house electric power supply and demand adjustment server 6 with the information to represent. When information indicating the home appliance control plan is returned from the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 in response to the creation request, the information indicating the home device control plan is received by the communication interface 42 and stored in the storage unit 44. Process to save.

  The control plan correction control unit 413 reads out the home device control plan when the correction (customization) request for the home device control plan stored in the storage unit 44 is input by the input unit 43, and displays it on a display unit (not shown). indicate. Then, according to the correction information input following the correction request, the displayed home appliance control plan is corrected, and the information indicating the corrected home appliance control plan is stored in place of the information before correction. Processing to be stored in the unit 44 is performed.

  When the home appliance operation control unit 414 receives a demand control request from the in-area power supply and demand adjustment server 2 of the power provider PS, the home appliance operation control unit 414 uses the home appliance control plan stored in the storage unit 44 or the corrected home appliance control plan. Based on this, an operation control signal for individually controlling the operations of the in-home devices 31 to 3k is generated. And the process which transmits this produced | generated operation control signal toward the household devices 31-3k from the control signal transmission part 45 is performed.

  The in-house power supply / demand adjustment server 6 of the service provider is configured as follows. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration. That is, the service provider's home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 includes a control unit 71, a communication interface 72, and a storage unit 73.

  The communication interface 72 uses the communication protocol defined by the communication network CNW under the control of the control unit 71, and the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn and the in-region power supply and demand adjustment server 2 of the power provider PS. Data communication with each other.

  The storage unit 23 uses a nonvolatile memory such as a hard disk or a flash memory, which can be written and read as needed, as a storage medium. As a storage unit necessary for carrying out this embodiment, a home appliance information storage unit 731 The control plan storage unit 732 is included.

The in-home device information storage unit 731 is used to store the in-home device information received from the HEMS servers 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn.
The control plan storage unit 732 is used to temporarily store information representing the home device control plan for controlling the power consumption of the home devices 31 to 3k, which is created for each of the customer homes HM1 to HMn.

  The control unit 71 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). As control functions necessary for carrying out the present embodiment, a home appliance information acquisition control unit 711, a control plan creation unit 712, and a control plan transmission control unit 713 are provided. have. All of these control functions are realized by causing the CPU to execute application programs stored in a program memory (not shown).

  When the home device information transmitted from the HEMS servers 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn is received by the communication interface 72, the home device information acquisition control unit 711 becomes the transmission source of the received home device information. A process of storing in the home device information storage unit 731 in association with the identification information of the customer homes HM1 to HMn is performed.

  The control plan creation unit 712 represents the demand control request received together with the creation request when the home device control plan creation request transmitted from the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn is received by the communication interface 72. Based on the information and the home device information stored in the home device information storage unit 731, a home device control plan for reducing the power consumption of each of the home devices 31 to 3 k is created. And the process which preserve | saves the information showing this produced in-home apparatus control plan in the said control plan memory | storage part 732 in relation with the identification information of the consumer homes HM1-HMn used as a production request origin is performed.

  The control plan transmission control unit 713 reads out information representing the home device control plan for each of the customer homes HM1 to HMn from the control plan storage unit 732, and sends the information representing the read home device control plan to the communication network CNW. The process of returning to the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn of the creation request source is performed.

(Operation)
Next, the operation of the power demand control system configured as described above will be described. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a state of data exchange for power demand control in the system.
Here, description will be made assuming that there are 100 customer houses HM1 to HMn (n = 100) in the area.

(1) Collection and transmission of home device information In the customer homes HM1 to HM100, the HEMS server 4 first receives the home device information from the home devices 31 to 3k under the control of the home device information collection and transmission control unit 411 of FIG. Acquired as shown in (1), and stores the acquired home device information in the storage unit 44. Here, the in-home device information is information indicating the power attributes of the in-home devices 31 to 3k, and includes, for example, information indicating the type of home appliance, its installation location, average power consumption, and maximum power consumption. Further, detailed data such as the manufacturer, model number, and date of manufacture of the device may be included. Note that the collection processing of in-home device information is performed before a demand control request is sent from the power company PS.

  Then, the HEMS server 4 adjusts the in-house power supply / demand adjustment of the service provider as shown in (2) in FIG. 5 together with the registration request for the acquired in-home device information under the control of the in-home device information collection / transmission control unit 411. Send to server 6. The home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 receives the home equipment information transmitted from the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HM100 under the control of the home equipment information acquisition control unit 711, and uses the received home equipment information. The information is stored in the in-home device information storage unit 731 in association with the identification information of the customer's home that is the transmission source.

  In addition, you may make it transfer the in-home apparatus information in the said consumer houses HM1-HM100 to the electric power provider PS in-region electric power supply-demand adjustment server 2. FIG. In this way, the power supply / demand adjustment server 2 in the region of the power company PS can grasp the general power supply / demand in the region based on the transferred home device information in the customer homes HM1 to HM100. .

(2) Operation control of in-home equipment based on tight prediction of power supply and demand (2-1) Transmission of demand control request The power supply / demand adjustment server 2 in the region of the power provider PS is provided from the power transmission facility 1 by the power supply / demand monitoring unit 211 By comparing the information indicating the amount of power supplied to the past demand history data stored in the power demand information database 231, the status of power supply and demand is monitored. And when the tightness of the power supply and demand is expected, under the control of the demand control request creation unit 212, the information indicating the electricity bill for each time zone corresponding to the degree of tightness is read from the power rate database 232, and this Based on the read time zone charge information, information indicating a demand control request is created as shown in (3) of FIG.

  For example, when power is expected to increase in the time zone from 13:00 to 16:00 the day after tomorrow, and particularly when power supply and demand is expected to be tight in the time zone from 14:00 to 15:00, as shown in FIG. Demand control requests are created. That is, as TOU, the electricity charge in the time zone from 0 o'clock to 7 o'clock and from 23 o'clock to 24 o'clock is 12 yen / kWh, the electricity charge in the time zone from 7 o'clock to 13 o'clock and from 16 o'clock to 23 o'clock Is set to 30 yen / kWh, the electricity charge for the time zone from 13:00 to 16:00 is set to 54 yen / kWh, and the time zone from 14:00 to 15:00 is further increased for power consumers due to tight power supply and demand. A demand control request set in Emergency that promotes power consumption reduction is created.

  When the demand control request is created, the intra-regional power supply and demand adjustment server 2 receives information representing the created demand control request from the communication interface 22 under the control of the demand control request creation unit 212. Transmission is made to the homes HM1 to HM100 as shown in (4) of FIG.

  On the other hand, when the demand control request is received, the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HM100 displays the TOU and Emergency for each time zone on a television or a personal computer in the home (not shown). The user can recognize the prediction of the power supply and demand according to the time zone in the day after tomorrow by the displayed TOU and Emergency.

(2-2) Creation and provision of home appliance control plan Upon receiving the demand control request, the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HM100 receives the control of the home device control plan acquisition control unit 412 in FIG. 5), a request for creating a home device control plan for reducing the power consumption of the home devices 31 to 3k is transmitted to the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 of the service provider. At this time, the control plan creation request is transmitted with information indicating the demand control request received from the in-region power supply and demand adjustment server 2 of the power provider PS first.

  On the other hand, when the service provider's home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 receives a request to create a home appliance control plan from the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HM100, the control plan creation unit 712 performs control in FIG. (6), based on the information indicating the demand control request received together with the creation request and the home device information stored in the home device information storage unit 731, the home device control plan is obtained as follows. create.

  That is, first, in accordance with the demand control request received together with the creation request, the operation mode to be set in the home devices 31 to 3k is determined. This operation mode determination processing is performed based on table data in which a correspondence relationship between the TOU and Emergency of the demand control request and the operation mode is set in advance, for example. This table data is stored in advance in a table storage unit (not shown) in the storage unit 73.

FIG. 7 shows an example of this table data. A TOU “low fee” is associated with a “normal mode” that can be freely used without restricting in-home equipment. In other words, the “eco mode” for reducing the power consumption of the home device is associated. Further, “Emergency” is associated with “Emergency mode” in which the power consumption of the home device is further reduced or the operation is stopped in the eco mode. It should be noted that the “low charge” of the TOU is defined as being less than the average value of the daily electricity charge, and the “high charge” of the TOU is defined as being above the average value of the daily electricity charge.
In addition, the threshold value for determining the level of the TOU fee can be arbitrarily set other than using the average value. For example, a case where the price is 10 yen / kWh higher than the average value may be set as “high charge”, or an arbitrary preset value, for example, “30 yen / kWh” or more may be set as “high charge”.

  Next, the control content corresponding to the determined operation mode is determined for each home device described in the home device information. This control content determination processing is also performed using a data table that represents the correspondence between the operation mode preset for each type of home appliance and the control content, which is stored in advance in a table storage unit (not shown) in the storage unit 73. Is called.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of this data table. When this data table is used, for example, in the time zone of the normal mode, “TV”, “air conditioner”, and “lighting” are all determined to be “not subject to control”. Is done. In the “eco mode” time zone, “TV” is “power off”, “air conditioner” is “eco-operation”, and “lighting” is 50% illuminance level (hereinafter referred to as “light reduction”). Each is decided. Further, in the emergency mode time zone, all of “TV”, “air conditioner”, and “lighting” are determined to be “power OFF”. Note that the “eco-operation” of an air conditioner is an “eco-operating function” provided by each manufacturer's air conditioner, for example, an operation that performs power-saving operation that does not change the temperature setting but reduces the amount of air blown from the air conditioner. .

  Subsequently, for each time zone defined in the demand control request, a table representing the control contents of each of the home devices 31 to 3k is created as a home device control plan. Then, the information representing the created home appliance control plan is stored in the control plan storage unit 732 in the storage unit 73 in association with the identification information of the consumer home of the creation request source. FIG. 9 shows an example of the created home appliance control plan. In FIG. 9, “blank” indicates that the object is not controlled, “duck” indicates eco-operation, and “light reduction” indicates that the illuminance level is 50%.

  Finally, the in-house power supply and demand adjustment server 6 sequentially reads out information representing the created in-home device control plan from the control plan storage unit 732 for each consumer home under the control of the control plan transmission control unit 713. Then, the information representing the read home appliance control plan is returned to the HEMS servers 4 of the corresponding customer homes HM1 to HM100 as shown in (7) of FIG.

  On the other hand, when the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HM100 receives the information representing the home device control plan returned from the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 via the communication interface 42, the home device control plan acquisition control unit Under the control of 413, the information representing the received home appliance control plan is stored in the storage unit 44 and displayed on a television or a personal computer (not shown). The users of the customer homes HM1 to HM100 can confirm the power consumption reduction operation for each time zone of the home devices 31 to 3k on the day after tomorrow by the displayed home device control plan.

(2-3) Correction of Home Appliance Control Proposal By the way, in the proposed home appliance control proposal, there are cases in which the life is hindered and further power consumption can be reduced. In such a case, as shown in (8) of FIG. 5, the user can correct the control plan in the customer homes HM1 to HM100. The home appliance control plan correction process is performed as follows under the control of the control plan correction control unit 413.

  That is, the control unit 41 of the HEMS server 4 reads out the home appliance control plan from the storage unit 44 and displays it on a television or personal computer (not shown). Then, when the user operates the input unit 43 and inputs correction information while watching the control plan displayed on the television or personal computer, the above-described home appliance control plan displayed according to the input correction information is displayed. And the modified home appliance control plan is stored in the storage unit 44 in place of the control plan before the correction.

  For example, in the home appliance control plan for the day after tomorrow shown in FIG. 9, if it is known that the wake-up time is late on the day and the living room is not in the 7 o'clock time zone, The control content for the air conditioner (living room) in the time period is corrected to “OFF” as indicated by X1 in FIG. In addition, if there is a visitor schedule at 15:00 on the day, and you want to keep the living room bright, the control details for the lighting (living room) in the time zone of the home device control plan are displayed in the blank as shown by X2 in FIG. That is, it is corrected to “out of control”.

(2-4) Control of in-home device Now, when the current time comes to the date and time specified in the above-mentioned home device control plan, the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HM100, under the control of the home device operation control unit 414, Based on the information representing the in-home device control plan stored in the storage unit 44, an operation control signal for individually controlling the operation of the in-home devices 31 to 3k is generated. Then, the generated operation control signal is transmitted from the control signal transmission unit 45 to the in-home devices 31 to 3k as shown in (9) of FIG. As a result, the operations of the home devices 31 to 3k are selectively controlled so as to be in the operation state defined in the home device control plan.

  For example, it is assumed that a customer equipment control plan as shown in FIG. 10, for example, is stored in the customer home HM1. In this case, in the time zone from 7:00 to 8:00 shown in FIG. 10, the “TV” and the air conditioner in the living room are both turned off, the air conditioner in the bedroom is in eco operation, and the lighting in the living room and the bedroom is turned on. Are controlled to be in a “light-off” state.

  On the other hand, in the time zone from 14:00 to 15:00 where power supply and demand are expected to be tight, the “TV”, living room and bedroom “air conditioners” and “lighting” are all controlled to be turned off. Is done. Therefore, the power consumption in the region in the time zone is greatly limited, and this makes it possible to avoid the tight supply and demand of power.

  Further, in the time zone from 15:00 to 16:00, the lighting in the living room is set to “out of control” instead of the “light-down” state. For this reason, it becomes possible to respond to the visitor who visited in the said time slot | zone under appropriate illumination intensity in a living room. In this case, if the “air conditioner” in the living room is also corrected to “not subject to control”, the visitor can be accommodated at an appropriate room temperature.

[Effect of the first embodiment]
As described above in detail, in the first embodiment, the HEMS servers 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn send the home appliance information indicating the power attributes of the home appliances 31 to 3k to the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 of the service provider. And when a demand control request is sent from the in-area power supply and demand adjustment server 2 of the power provider PS in response to a tight forecast of power supply and demand, a request to create a home appliance control plan is sent to the in-house power supply and demand adjustment server 6 Send. In response to the creation request, the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 creates a home device control plan based on the previously received home device information and the demand control request received together with the creation request, and sends it to the requesting HEMS server 4. Return it. The HEMS server 4 modifies the returned home device control plan according to the user's correction operation, and then controls the operation of the home devices 31 to 3k according to the home device control plan after the correction. Yes.

  Therefore, in the customer homes HM1 to HMn, when a demand control request is sent from the in-region power supply / demand adjustment server 2 of the power provider PS, the customer home HM1 to HMn is based on the home appliance control plan created by the home power supply / demand adjustment server 6 The operations of the devices 31 to 3k are controlled. For this reason, it becomes possible to reduce the power consumption of the customer homes HM1 to HMn in a time zone where power saving is truly required, such as a time zone in which power supply and demand is expected to be tight.

  The home appliance control plan is created based on the home appliance information representing the power attributes of the home appliances 31 to 3k for each of the customer homes HM1 to HMn in the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 of the service provider. For this reason, for each customer home HM1 to HMn, power consumption saving control is performed in consideration of the in-home devices 31 to 3k used in the customer home. Compared with the case where the unified power saving control is performed, the power saving control can be performed in consideration of the situation of the individual customer homes HM1 to HMn. That is, it is possible to achieve efficient power consumption reduction while maintaining user comfort and health for each of the customer homes HM1 to HMn.

  Furthermore, the users of the customer homes HM1 to HMn do not need to create a home appliance control plan for reducing power consumption by themselves. In general, when it is requested to reduce power consumption, it is technically difficult to determine which device in the house is stopped or how much load control is performed, so that the work of the consumer homes HM1 to HMn is performed. It is difficult for the user to make a decision. However, according to the present embodiment, since a home appliance control plan is created by the service provider's home power supply and demand adjustment server 6, an appropriate control plan can always be created without bothering the user.

  Further, in the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn, the user can modify the home appliance control plan. For this reason, the home appliances proposed by users of the customer homes HM1 to HMn, such as when the home appliance control plan proposed by the service provider impedes daily life or when the power consumption can be further reduced. When it is not desired to apply the control plan as it is, it can be changed to an optimal home device control plan according to the purpose of use of the home devices 31 to 3k for each of the customer homes HM1 to HMn.

[Second Embodiment]
In the second embodiment of the present invention, in the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn, a restriction condition for the operation restriction of the in-home devices 31 to 3k is set according to the user's input operation, and the information representing this restriction condition Are transmitted to the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 of the service provider together with the home device information. When the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 creates the home appliance control plan in response to the creation request from the HEMS server 4, the home appliance information received from the HEMS server 4, information representing the constraint condition, and the demand control request The home appliance control plan is created based on the above, and is returned to the HEMS server 4.

(Constitution)
In the description of the configuration, only the difference with respect to the configuration shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 described in the first embodiment will be described.
The HEMS servers 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn have, as control functions of the control unit 41, a home appliance information collection / transmission control unit 411, a home appliance control plan acquisition control unit 412, a control plan correction control unit 413, and the like shown in FIG. In addition to the home appliance operation control unit 414, a constraint condition setting control unit is newly provided. This restriction condition setting control unit is also realized by causing the CPU to execute an application program stored in a program memory (not shown), similarly to the control units 411 to 414.

  This restriction condition setting control unit is information that represents a restriction condition based on the input information when the user at the consumer's home performs an input operation of the restriction condition for the operation restriction of the in-home devices 31 to 3k in the input unit 43. Process to create. Then, in order to transmit the created information representing the constraint condition to the in-house power supply / demand adjustment server 6 of the service provider, the information is sent to the in-home device information collection / transmission control unit 411.

  The in-home device information collection / transmission control unit 411 collects the information representing the passed constraint condition from the communication interface 42 via the communication network CNW together with the in-home device information collected and stored in the storage unit 44 in advance. Processing to transmit to the in-house power supply / demand adjustment server 6 of the service provider is performed.

  The home appliance information acquisition control unit 711 of the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 receives the information indicating the constraint condition transmitted from the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn and the registration request for home appliance information via the communication interface 72. In this case, a process of storing the received information representing the constraint condition and the home device information in the home device information storage unit 731 in the storage unit 73 in association with the identification information of the consumer homes HM1 to HMn that are the transmission sources. Do.

  The control plan creation unit 712 of the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 receives the creation request for the home device control plan transmitted from the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn together with the creation request. Based on the received information indicating the demand control request and the in-home device information stored in the in-home device information storage unit 731 and the information indicating the constraint condition, the power consumption is reduced for each of the in-home devices 31 to 3k. Create a home appliance control plan for And the process which preserve | saves the information showing this produced in-home apparatus control plan in the control plan memory | storage part 732 in the memory | storage unit 73 is linked | related with the identification information of the consumer homes HM1-HMn used as a production request origin.

(Operation)
Next, the operation of the power demand control system configured as described above will be described. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing a state of data exchange for power demand control in the system.
In the present embodiment, the description will be made assuming that there are 100 customer houses HM1 to HMn (n = 100) in the area.

(1) Collection of home device information In the customer homes HM1 to HM100, the HEMS server 4 receives the home device information from the home devices 31 to 3k under the control of the home device information collection and transmission control unit 411, respectively (1) of FIG. And store the acquired home device information in the storage unit 44. As described in the first embodiment, the in-home device information is information indicating the power attribute of the in-home devices 31 to 3k. For example, the type of home appliance, information indicating the installation location, and average consumption Power and maximum power consumption. Note that the collection processing of in-home device information is performed before a demand control request is sent from the power company PS.

(2) Setting of Restriction Conditions Further, in the customer homes HM1 to HM100, the HEMS server 4 allows the user of the consumer home to operate the home devices 31 to 3k in the input unit 43 under the control of the restriction condition setting control unit 411. When a constraint condition input operation for restriction is performed, information representing the constraint condition is created based on the input information.

For example, a restriction condition for one day is set in units of one hour for each of the home devices 31 to 3k. FIG. 12 shows an example, and in this example, three conditions of “use”, “automatic”, and “not use” are set.
Of these, first, “use” is a condition set when the user thinks that the user does not want to control the operation because the target home device is normally used in that time zone. In FIG. It is indicated by “hang”. In the time zone in which “use” is set, the in-home device can be freely used without being subjected to the operation control by the demand control request from the electric power company PS.

  Next, “Random” is a condition that is set when the user thinks that the operation control of the in-home device may be permitted in response to a demand control request from the electric power company PS, and “blank” in FIG. Is shown. The operation of the in-home device is controlled so that the power consumption is reduced according to the demand control request in the time zone in which the “automatic” is set.

  Finally, “not used” is a condition that is set when the user thinks that the target home device is not normally used in that time zone, and is indicated by “shaded lines” in FIG. When the demand control request is received, the in-home equipment is controlled to turn off the power regardless of the contents (high charge, low, emergency) when the “not used” time period is set. .

  Specifically, since there are many home devices that are not normally used from midnight to early morning, these devices are set to “not used”. On the other hand, “use” is set because the frequency of watching TV is high in leisure time in the morning and evening. Air conditioning in the living room is indispensable during lunch and breaks, so use it. Furthermore, since there are infants who spend most of the day in the bedroom, the bedroom air conditioner during the day is set to “use”.

  In order to allow the user to easily input the setting of the constraint condition, the constraint condition setting control unit 411 displays a list of the home devices 31 to 3k based on the previously collected home device information ( For example, the table shown in FIG. 11 in which no constraint condition is set) may be automatically created and displayed on a display unit (not shown).

(3) Transmission of in-home device information and restriction conditions When the collection processing of the in-home device information and the setting process of the restriction conditions are completed, the HEMS server 4 stores the information indicating the restriction conditions and the in-home device stored in the storage unit 44. An information registration request is transmitted from the communication interface 42 to the service provider's in-home power supply / demand adjustment server 6 via the communication network CNW, as shown in (3) of FIG.

  The home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 receives the home equipment information transmitted from the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HM100 under the control of the home equipment information acquisition control unit 711, and uses the received home equipment information. The information is stored in the home device information storage unit 731 in association with the identification information of the customer homes HM1 to HM100 that are the transmission sources.

  In addition, you may make it transfer the in-home apparatus information in the said consumer houses HM1-HM100 to the electric power provider PS in-region electric power supply-demand adjustment server 2. FIG. In this way, the power supply / demand adjustment server 2 in the region of the power company PS can grasp the general power supply / demand in the region based on the transferred home device information in the customer homes HM1 to HM100. .

(4) Operation control of in-home equipment based on tight forecast of power supply and demand (4-1) Transmission of demand control request The power supply / demand adjustment server 2 in the electric power provider PS is provided from the power transmission facility 1 by the power supply and demand monitoring unit 211 By comparing the information indicating the amount of power supplied to the past demand history data stored in the power demand information database 231, the status of power supply and demand is monitored. And when the tightness of the power supply and demand is expected, under the control of the demand control request creation unit 212, the information indicating the electricity bill for each time zone corresponding to the degree of tightness is read from the power rate database 232, and this Information representing a demand control request is created as shown in (4) of FIG. 11 based on the read time zone charge information. For example, as shown in FIG. 6 in the first embodiment, the demand control request is configured to be set to TOU and Emergency every hour for one day to be a control request target.

  When the demand control request is created, the intra-regional power supply and demand adjustment server 2 receives information representing the created demand control request from the communication interface 22 under the control of the demand control request creation unit 212. Transmission is made to the homes HM1 to HM100 as shown in (5) of FIG.

  On the other hand, when the demand control request is received, the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HM100 displays the TOU and Emergency for each time zone on a television or a personal computer in the home (not shown). The user can recognize the prediction of the power supply and demand according to the time zone in the day after tomorrow by the displayed TOU and Emergency.

(4-2) Creation and provision of home appliance control plan Upon receiving the demand control request, the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HM100 receives the control of the home device control plan acquisition control unit 412 in FIG. As shown in 6), a request to create a home appliance control plan for reducing the power consumption of the home appliances 31 to 3k is transmitted to the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 of the service provider. At this time, the control plan creation request is transmitted with information indicating the demand control request received from the in-region power supply and demand adjustment server 2 of the power provider PS first.

  On the other hand, when the service provider's home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 receives a request to create a home appliance control plan from the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HM100, under the control of the control plan creation unit 712, FIG. (7), based on the information indicating the demand control request received together with the creation request, and the in-home device information stored in the in-home device information storage unit 731 and the information indicating the constraint condition, A home appliance control plan for reducing the power consumption every 3k is created as follows.

  That is, first, in accordance with the demand control request received together with the creation request, the operation mode to be set in the home devices 31 to 3k is determined. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the operation mode determination process is performed in association with the TOU “low fee”, “high fee”, and emergency of the demand control request, in correspondence with “normal mode”, “eco mode”, and “emergency”. The mode is performed based on table data in which “mode” is set in advance. This table data is stored in advance in a table storage unit (not shown) in the storage unit 73.

  Next, the control content corresponding to the determined operation mode is determined for each home device described in the home device information. At this time, priority is given to the constraint conditions in determining the control contents. FIG. 13 shows an example of the determination result. That is, when “use” is set as the constraint condition, all the in-home devices 31 to 3k are set to “not controlled” in any of the normal mode, the eco mode, and the emergency mode. In addition, when “Random” is set as a restriction condition, the normal mode is set to “not subject to control” regardless of the home device, and the eco mode is turned off or power-saving depending on the type of home device. The emergency mode is “power OFF” regardless of the home device. Further, when “not used” is set as the constraint condition, “power OFF” is set for all the in-home devices 31 to 3k in any of the normal mode, the eco mode, and the emergency mode.

  Subsequently, for each time zone defined in the demand control request, a table representing the control contents of each of the home devices 31 to 3k is created as a home device control plan. Then, the information representing the created home appliance control plan is stored in the control plan storage unit 732 in the storage unit 73 in association with the identification information of the consumer home of the creation request source. FIG. 14 shows an example of the home appliance control plan created as described above. Note that “blank” in FIG. 14 is not subject to control, “duck” indicates eco-driving, and “light reduction” indicates that the illuminance level is 50%.

  Finally, the in-house power supply and demand adjustment server 6 sequentially reads out information representing the created in-home device control plan from the control plan storage unit 732 for each consumer home under the control of the control plan transmission control unit 713. Then, the information indicating the read home appliance control plan is returned to the HEMS servers 4 of the corresponding customer homes HM1 to HM100 as shown in (8) of FIG.

  On the other hand, when the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HM100 receives the information representing the home device control plan returned from the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 via the communication interface 42, the home device control plan acquisition control unit Under the control of 413, the information representing the received home appliance control plan is stored in the storage unit 44 and displayed on a television or a personal computer (not shown). The users of the customer homes HM1 to HM100 can confirm the power consumption reduction operation for each time zone of the home devices 31 to 3k on the day after tomorrow by the displayed home device control plan.

(4-3) Modification of home appliance control plan Although a constraint condition is set in advance, the home appliance control plan created by the above-mentioned home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 has a life due to a change in the user's action schedule thereafter. May cause troubles, or may further reduce power consumption. In such a case, as shown in (9) of FIG. 11, the user can arbitrarily correct the control plan in the customer homes HM1 to HM100. The home appliance control plan correction process is performed as follows under the control of the control plan correction control unit 413.

  That is, the control unit 41 of the HEMS server 4 reads out the home appliance control plan from the storage unit 44 and displays it on a television or personal computer (not shown). Then, when the user operates the input unit 43 and inputs correction information while watching the control plan displayed on the television or personal computer, the above-described home appliance control plan displayed according to the input correction information is displayed. And the modified home appliance control plan is stored in the storage unit 44 in place of the control plan before the correction.

  For example, in the home appliance control plan for the day after tomorrow shown in FIG. 14, if it is known that the wake-up time is late on the day and the living room is not in the 7 o'clock time zone, The control content for the air conditioner (living room) in the time period is corrected to “OFF” as indicated by X3 in FIG. In addition, since there is a visitor schedule at 15:00 on that day, and it is desired to brighten the living room, the control content for the lighting (living room) in the time zone of the in-home equipment control plan is shown as “blank” as indicated by X4 in FIG. ”, That is,“ not subject to control ”.

(4-4) Control of home appliances When the current time comes to the date and time specified in the home appliance control plan, the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HM100, under the control of the home appliance operation control unit 414, Based on the information representing the in-home device control plan stored in the storage unit 44, an operation control signal for individually controlling the operation of the in-home devices 31 to 3k is generated. Then, the generated operation control signal is transmitted from the control signal transmission unit 45 to the in-home devices 31 to 3k as shown in (10) of FIG. As a result, the operations of the home devices 31 to 3k are selectively controlled so as to be in the operation state defined in the home device control plan.

  For example, it is assumed that a customer equipment control plan as shown in FIG. 15 is stored in the customer's home HM1. In this case, in the time zone of 7:00 to 8:00 shown in FIG. 15, the “living room air conditioner” is turned off, and the living room and bedroom lighting are both in the “light-off” state. Be controlled. On the other hand, “TV” and “Bedroom air conditioner” are “not controlled”.

  On the other hand, in the time zone from 14:00 to 15:00 where power supply and demand is expected to be tight, only the “air conditioner” of the bedroom where the baby is sleeping is set to “not controlled”, and the other “TV”, Both the “air conditioner” and “lighting” in the living room are controlled to turn off the power. Therefore, while maintaining the living environment of the bedroom where the baby is sleeping, the power consumption in the area during the above-mentioned time period is greatly limited, thereby making it possible to avoid tight power supply and demand.

  Further, in the time zone from 15:00 to 16:00, the lighting in the living room is set to “out of control” instead of the “light-down” state. For this reason, it becomes possible to respond to the visitor who visited in the said time slot | zone under appropriate illumination intensity in the living room.

[Effects of Second Embodiment]
As described above in detail, in the second embodiment, the HEMS servers 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn collect in-home device information representing the power attributes of the in-home devices 31 to 3k, and the user inputs constraint conditions. In response to this, information representing the constraint condition is created, and these are transmitted to the in-house power supply / demand adjustment server 6 of the service provider. Then, when a demand control request is sent from the in-region power supply and demand adjustment server 2 of the power provider PS in response to a tight forecast of power supply and demand, a request for creating a home appliance control plan is transmitted to the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6. . In response to the creation request, the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 creates a home device control plan based on the previously received home device information and information representing the constraint conditions, and the demand control request received together with the creation request, Return the request to the HEMS server 4. The HEMS server 4 modifies the returned home device control plan according to the user's correction operation, and then controls the operation of the home devices 31 to 3k according to the home device control plan after the correction. Yes.

  Therefore, in the customer homes HM1 to HMn, when a demand control request is sent from the in-region power supply / demand adjustment server 2 of the power provider PS, the customer home HM1 to HMn is based on the home appliance control plan created by the home power supply / demand adjustment server 6 The operations of the devices 31 to 3k are controlled. For this reason, it becomes possible to reduce the power consumption of the customer homes HM1 to HMn in a time zone where power saving is truly required, such as a time zone in which power supply and demand is expected to be tight.

  The home appliance control plan is created based on the home appliance information representing the power attributes of the home appliances 31 to 3k for each of the customer homes HM1 to HMn in the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 of the service provider. For this reason, for each customer home HM1 to HMn, power consumption saving control is performed in consideration of the in-home devices 31 to 3k used in the customer home. Compared with the case where the unified power saving control is performed, the power saving control can be performed in consideration of the situation of the individual customer homes HM1 to HMn. That is, it is possible to achieve efficient power consumption reduction while maintaining user comfort and health for each of the customer homes HM1 to HMn.

  Furthermore, the users of the customer homes HM1 to HMn do not need to create a home appliance control plan for reducing power consumption by themselves. In general, when it is requested to reduce power consumption, it is technically difficult to determine which device in the house is stopped or how much load control is performed, so that the work of the consumer homes HM1 to HMn is performed. It is difficult for the user to make a decision. However, according to the present embodiment, since a home appliance control plan is created by the service provider's home power supply and demand adjustment server 6, an appropriate control plan can always be created without bothering the user.

  In addition, the restriction conditions for the power consumption reduction control of the home devices 31 to 3k are set by the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn, and the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 of the service provider creates the home device control plan. In addition, a control plan for the in-home devices 31 to 3k is created in consideration of the set constraint conditions. For this reason, even if a power demand control request is sent from the power company PS, it is possible to maintain a normal operating state for the in-home devices 31 to 3k for which the power consumer does not want to restrict operation. Therefore, the users of the customer homes HM1 to HMn can maintain the comfort or convenience of life while contributing to the reduction of power consumption.

  Further, in the HEMS server 4 of the customer homes HM1 to HMn, the user can modify the home appliance control plan. For this reason, the home appliances proposed by users of the customer homes HM1 to HMn, such as when the home appliance control plan proposed by the service provider impedes daily life or when the power consumption can be further reduced. When it is not desired to apply the control plan as it is, it can be changed to an optimal home device control plan according to the purpose of use of the home devices 31 to 3k for each of the customer homes HM1 to HMn.

[Third Embodiment]
The third embodiment of the present invention estimates the consumer orientation based on the customization (correction information) performed by the consumer after finally executing the home appliance control in the second embodiment. Is registered as a certain rule and reflected in the creation of the next home appliance control plan.

The idea of creating a correction rule is based on whether the customization performed by the consumer 3 is a direction to increase or decrease the power consumption, and the type of DR event applied in the customized time zone. Follow.
(1) If customization is in the direction of increasing power consumption, it is presumed that the user intends to use the device during that time period (external factor). Create a correction rule that reflects the customizations for the same time zone.
(2) If customization is in the direction of reducing power consumption, the following two correction rules are created depending on the device and DR type (mode).

  (2-1) If the customized time zone is “normal mode”, power saving has been done even though the demand for power saving is low compared to other modes. It is presumed that the user did not intend to use it (external factor), and in the subsequent creation of the home appliance control plan, a correction rule that reflects the customization contents as it is for the same time zone of the appliance is created.

  (2-2) If the customized time zone is “Eco-mode”, it is estimated that a high electricity bill has motivated power saving (DR event factor). Create a correction rule that reflects the customization of the same device and the same mode (eco-mode) time zone (all applicable time zones).

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining the items to be reflected in the correction rule by customization set for each device and for each mode based on the above viewpoint. Here, the customization subject to the modification rule reflection is only the time zone when the consumer 3 sets the restriction condition to “Random”. This is because the intention of the consumer 3 has already been expressed for the time zone in which the constraint condition is set to “use” or “do not use”, and further correction based on the consumer orientation is not necessary.
Hereinafter, FIG. 16 will be described for each device and for each customization item, but the description of the same items will be omitted.

  (No. 1) Although the control plan for the normal mode (TOU: low charge) time zone for the TV is “out of control”, if the power is turned off by customization, the time zone when the TV is not used (External factor) is estimated, and a correction rule for “power OFF” is created for the time zone (applying (2-1) above). That is, in the next home appliance control plan creation, the control plan is to turn off the TV in the same time zone.

  (No. 2) For the TV, the eco mode (TOU: high charge) time zone control plan is “Power OFF”, but if it is set to “Not Controlled” by customization, the time zone when the TV is used (External factor) is estimated, and a correction rule of “out of control” is created for the time zone (applying (1) above). In other words, the next home appliance control plan creation is a control plan for setting the television “not subject to control” in the same time zone.

  (Item 3) The emergency mode (Emergency) time zone control plan for the TV is “Power OFF”, but if it is set to “Not Controlled” by customization, it is the time zone for using the TV ( (External factor) is estimated, and a correction rule of “out of control” is created for that time zone (applying (1) above). In other words, the next home appliance control plan creation is a control plan for setting the television “not subject to control” in the same time zone.

  (Item No. 4) Regarding the air conditioner, the control plan for the normal mode (TOU: low charge) time zone is “not subject to control”. It is estimated that there is no time zone (external factor), and a correction rule for the “eco-driving mode” is created for that time zone. That is, the next home appliance control plan creation is a control plan for setting the air conditioner in the “eco-operation mode” in the same time zone.

  (Item No. 6) About air conditioner The control plan for the eco mode (TOU: high charge) time zone is “Eco driving mode”. It is estimated that the environment is a time zone that is insufficient (external factor), and a correction rule “out of control” is created for that time zone (applying (1) above). That is, the next home appliance control plan creation is a control plan for setting the air conditioner “not subject to control” in the same time zone.

  (Item No. 7) Regarding the air conditioner The control plan for the eco mode (TOU: high charge) time zone is “eco operation mode”, but if the power is turned off by customization, the electricity charge may be high. Estimate that it became a motivation for power saving (DR event factor), and create a correction rule of “power OFF” for the eco mode (applying (2-2) above). That is, in the next home appliance control plan creation, the control plan is to turn off the air conditioner in all the eco mode time zones.

  (Item No. 10) Regarding the lighting, the control plan for the normal mode (TOU: low charge) time zone will be “Not Controlled”, but if it is set to “Reduce” due to customization, it will be bright enough even with reduced lighting. It is estimated that it is a time zone that can ensure (external factor), and a correction rule for “light reduction” is created for that time zone (the above (2-1) is applied). In other words, in the next home appliance control plan creation, the control plan is to reduce the lighting in the same time zone.

  (No. 12) Regarding lighting, the eco-mode (TOU: high charge) time zone control plan is “light reduction”. It is estimated that the time zone is insufficient (external factor), and a correction rule of “out of control” is created for that time zone (applying (1) above). That is, in the next home appliance control plan creation, the control plan is to make the lighting “not controllable” in the same time zone.

  (No. 13) Regarding lighting, the control plan for the eco mode (TOU: high charge) time zone is “light reduction”. However, if the power supply is turned off by customization, the electricity charge is high. (DR event factor) and a correction rule of “power OFF” is created for the eco mode (applying (2-2) above). That is, in the next home appliance control plan creation, the control plan is to turn the power “OFF” in all the eco-mode time zones.

The following customization (FIG. 15) performed by the consumer 3 in the second embodiment will be described as an example.
(A) The operation of the 7 o'clock air conditioner (living room) is changed from "Eco-operation" to "OFF". To

  For item (a), item number 7 in FIG. 16 is applied, and a correction rule that “the air conditioner (living room) is turned off in the time zone of TOU (high charge), that is, eco mode” is created.

  For item (a), item number 12 in FIG. 16 is applied, and a correction rule is created that “the lighting (living room) is excluded from control at 15:00”.

  The correction rules created in this way are summarized as shown in FIG. 17, but the next time the power consumption control plan is created, these correction rules are also followed.

  FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram showing a state of data exchange for power demand control when there is a correction rule. The HEMS server 10 (customer 3) notifies the contents of customization (correction) performed by the consumer 3 to the in-house power supply and demand adjustment server 8 (service provider 2) ((1) in FIG. 18). The home power supply and demand adjustment server 8 (service provider 2) creates a correction rule in advance based on the notified customization (correction) content ((2) in FIG. 18).

    When a demand control request is created in the regional power supply and demand adjustment server 7 (electric power company 1) ((3) in FIG. 18) and the demand control request is transmitted to the HEMS server 10 (customer 3) (( 4)) The HEMS server 10 (the customer 3) requests a home appliance control plan from the home power supply and demand adjustment server 8 (the service provider 2) ((5) in FIG. 18). Then, a home appliance control plan is created in the home power supply and demand adjustment server 8 (service provider 2) ((6) in FIG. 18).

  Here, when the home power supply and demand adjustment server 8 (service provider 2) creates the home appliance control plan, the content of the power demand control request based on the judgment in the second embodiment, the power attribute information of the consumer 3 In addition to the constraint conditions set by the consumer 3, the created correction rule is also taken into consideration.

  When receiving the same demand control request as in the second embodiment, the operation mode determination process is performed according to FIG. 7, and the in-home device control plan of FIG. 14 is created according to the constraint conditions of FIG. 12 and the device control contents of FIG. However, the correction rule of FIG. 17 is further reflected, and the final home appliance control plan is as shown in FIG.

  Regarding the control plan of the time zone in which the air conditioner (living room) is in the “eco mode”, the control plan that was “eco-driving” before reflecting the correction rule is all “OFF” after reflecting. This represents the result of applying the correction rule No. 1 in FIG.

  Regarding the control plan for lighting (living room) at 15 o'clock, what was “light-down” before reflection of the correction rule is “out of control” after reflection. This represents the result of applying the correction rule No. 2 in FIG.

  The home appliance control plan created in this way is transmitted to the HEMS server 10 (the consumer 3) ((7) in FIG. 18), but the customer 3 can further customize (modify) this. ((8) in FIG. 18). When the application time arrives, the home device is automatically controlled according to the home device control plan ((9) in FIG. 18).

  In the third embodiment, the home appliance control plan reflects the correction rule (FIG. 17) as shown in FIG. 19, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the home power supply and demand adjustment server 8 does not reflect the correction rule. It is also possible to create a device control plan and notify the HEMS server 10 to allow the consumer 3 to select which one to select. In this case, the HEMS server 10 presents both home appliance control plans to the consumer 3 and uses the control plan selected by the consumer 3 as a control plan. Therefore, the consumer 3 can select a control plan that is truly necessary by himself / herself.

  Further, in the creation of the home appliance control plan in the third embodiment, the control plan is changed by uniformly applying the correction rule according to the previous customization, but this is not restrictive. It is also possible to accumulate over the DR events of the number of times and reflect it in the optimization plan by performing statistical processing.

[Effect of the third embodiment]
Similar to the second embodiment, the power consumption of the consumer homes HM1 to HMn is reduced in a time zone where power saving is truly required, such as a time zone in which power supply and demand is expected to be tight, so that the comfort and health of the user can be reduced. Efficient power consumption reduction can be realized while maintaining the above.

  In addition, when a customer customizes (modifies) a home device control plan, the home device control plan based on the customization will be created when the next demand control request is made. The intention is automatically reflected, and there is an effect that it is possible to save the trouble of customization by the consumer.

[Other Embodiments]
In each of the above embodiments, the HEMS server 4 acquires the power attribute information of the in-home devices 31 to 3k from the in-home devices 31 to 3k. You may make it acquire. In addition, when there is an information collection company that collects and manages power attribute information of all commercially available home devices, the HEMS server 4 accesses the server of the information collection company, and the home device Information may be acquired.

  In each of the above embodiments, the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 operated by the service provider creates the home appliance control plan. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the in-area power supply and demand adjustment server 2 in the electric power company PS or a server replacing it collects and stores the in-home device information from the HEMS server 4 and controls the in-home device according to the creation request from the HEMS server 4. A plan may be created.

  In each of the above embodiments, the power supply / demand adjustment server 2 in the region of the power company PS monitors the power supply / demand tightness and creates and transmits a demand control request, but when the power supply / demand tightness is expected, For example, a service provider entrusted by an electric power company may create and transmit a demand control request.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, when the power supply and demand is expected to be tight, the power supply PS regional power supply and demand adjustment server 2 distributes the demand control request to the HEMS server 4 at each customer's home, and the demand control request is transmitted. In response, the HEMS server 4 transmits a control plan creation request to the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6, and upon receipt of this creation request, the home power supply and demand adjustment server 6 creates a home device control plan and returns it to the requesting HEMS server 4. I did it. However, the present invention is not limited to this, the demand control request transmitted from the in-region power supply and demand adjustment server 2 of the power provider PS is received by the residential power supply and demand adjustment server 6, and the residential power supply and demand adjustment server 6 receives the received demand control request. A home device control plan may be created based on the information and the home device information acquired from the HEMS server 4 at each customer's home in advance, and transmitted to the HEMS server 4 at the corresponding customer's home. .

  In each of the above-described embodiments, as an example of control of the home devices 31 to 3k, the temperature setting change of the air conditioner, the illumination illuminance change, and the TV power OFF are mentioned. Various power saving functions and load control functions of recent electric devices such as shifting to an energy saving mode of a refrigerator and turning off the power of an electric heating device such as a kotatsu or an electric stove can be controlled.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the power provider PS transmits a power demand control request when a power supply / demand tightness is expected in the area. Power demand control request may be sent when the rate is changed for some reason (for example, wanting to increase the number of people going out at a certain time, or conversely) Good.

  In addition, the number of customer houses in the area, the number of customer houses or areas to be set for power consumption reduction, the type and number of household devices used in the customer's house, and the customer home control device (HEMS server) The configuration of the information processing apparatus used by the power provider and the service provider, the control function thereof, and the like can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  In short, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, and can be embodied by modifying the components without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Moreover, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in each embodiment. Furthermore, you may combine suitably the component covering different embodiment.

PS: Electric power company, HM1 to HMn: Customer's house, PNW ... Transmission / distribution network, CNW ... Communication network, 1 ... Power transmission equipment, 2, 7 ... Regional power supply / demand adjustment server, 31-3k ... Home equipment, 4, 10 ... HEMS server, 5 ... distribution panel, 6,8 ... home power supply and demand adjustment server, 21,41,71 ... control unit, 22,42,72 ... communication interface, 23,73 ... storage unit, 43 ... HEMS server Input unit 44 ... HEMS server storage unit 45 ... control signal transmission unit 46 ... in-home equipment information reception unit 211 ... power supply / demand monitoring unit 212 ... demand control request creation unit 231 ... power demand information database 232 ... Electricity rate database, 411 ... In-home device information collection and transmission control unit, 412 ... In-home device control plan acquisition control unit, 413 ... In-home device operation control unit, 711 ... In-home device information acquisition system Department, 712 ... control plan creating unit, 713 ... control plan transmission control unit, 731 ... home device information storage section, 732 ... control plan storage unit.

Claims (13)

An information processing apparatus operated by an electric power provider or another service provider, and a consumer premises control device connected to a plurality of premises equipment that is installed in the consumer's house and operates by receiving power supply from the power provider; A power demand control system for controlling the power demand of the customer's home by notifying the power demand control request from the information processing device to the customer home control device via a communication network,
The consumer premises control device is:
Prior to the notification of the power demand control request, means for generating power attribute information of the plurality of in-home devices, and transmitting the generated power attribute information to the information processing apparatus via the communication network;
Means for transmitting a power consumption reduction control plan creation request to the information processing apparatus via the communication network together with the notified power demand control request when a power demand control request is notified from the information processing apparatus; With
The information processing apparatus includes:
Means for receiving and storing the power attribute information transmitted from the consumer premises control device via the communication network;
When receiving a creation request for a power consumption reduction control plan transmitted from the consumer premises control device, the plurality of the plurality of power consumption control requests based on the received power demand control request and the stored power attribute information. A control plan creation means for creating a power consumption reduction control plan for a home appliance of the user and returning information representing the created power consumption reduction control plan to the customer home control device of the creation request source via the communication network And
The consumer premises control device is:
Means for receiving information representing the power consumption reduction control plan transmitted from the information processing apparatus via the communication network;
A power demand control system comprising: means for performing control for restricting operations of the plurality of home appliances based on the received information representing the power consumption reduction control plan. The consumer premises control device is:
Prior to the notification of the power demand control request, a constraint condition for power consumption reduction control of the plurality of in-home devices is set, and information representing the set constraint condition is transmitted to the information processing apparatus via the communication network. A constraint condition setting means for
The information processing apparatus includes:
Means for receiving and storing the information representing the constraint condition transmitted from the consumer premises control device via the communication network;
The control plan creation means of the information processing device receives the power demand control request received together with the creation request when the creation request of the power consumption reduction control plan transmitted from the consumer premises control device is received, and the stored A power consumption reduction control plan for the plurality of in-home devices based on the stored power attribute information and the information representing the stored constraint condition, and information indicating the created power consumption reduction control plan The power demand control system according to claim 1, wherein the power demand control system is returned to the customer premises control device of the creation request source via the communication network.   The restriction condition setting means of the consumer premises control device sets, for each of the plurality of premises equipment, a time zone in which the premises equipment needs to be used as a non-control target period. Power demand control system.   The restriction condition setting unit of the customer premises control device sets, for each of the plurality of premises equipment, a time zone during which the premises equipment does not need to be used as an operation stop period. Electric power demand control system. The consumer premises control device is:
The apparatus further comprises means for accepting input of information for correcting information representing the power consumption reduction control plan and updating the power consumption reduction control plan based on the input correction information. The power demand control system according to any one of 1 to 4. The consumer premises control device is:
Means for transmitting the correction information to the information processing apparatus via the communication network;
The information processing apparatus includes:
Means for receiving and storing the correction information transmitted from the consumer premises control device via the communication network;
When the control plan creation means of the information processing apparatus receives a power consumption reduction control plan creation request transmitted from the consumer premises control device, the power demand control request and the stored power attribute information And a power consumption reduction control plan for the plurality of home devices based on the stored constraint information and the stored correction information, and the generated power consumption reduction control plan The power demand control system according to claim 5, wherein the information indicating is sent back to the customer premises control device of the creation request source via the communication network. The consumer premises control device is:
Means for transmitting the correction information to the information processing apparatus via the communication network;
The information processing apparatus includes:
Means for receiving and storing the correction information transmitted from the consumer premises control device via the communication network;
When the control plan creation means of the information processing device receives a request for creating a power consumption reduction control plan transmitted from the consumer premises control device,
A power consumption reduction control plan for the plurality of home appliances based on the power demand control request, the stored power attribute information, and the information representing the stored constraint condition;
Power consumption reduction control for the plurality of home appliances based on the power demand control request, the stored power attribute information, the information indicating the stored constraint condition, and the stored correction information And
And means for returning information representing the created power consumption reduction control plan to the customer premises control device of the creation request source via the communication network,
The customer premises control device includes means for presenting an option for selecting any one of these power consumption reduction control plans to the consumer and storing the selected power consumption reduction control plan. Item 6. The power demand control system according to Item 5.   The control plan creation means of the information processing apparatus, when the correction information includes a setting to increase the power consumption of the home device, the home device indicated in the correction information, the same home device as the time zone indicated in the correction information, The power demand control system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein a power consumption reduction control plan is created by reflecting the setting indicated in the correction information in the same time zone.   The control plan creation means of the information processing apparatus includes a setting in which the correction information includes a setting to reduce power consumption of the home appliance, and the set time zone is a time zone in which there is a power demand control request that promotes reduction of power consumption. If not, creating a power consumption reduction control plan by reflecting the setting indicated in the correction information in the same time zone as the home device indicated in the correction information, the same time zone indicated in the correction information The power demand control system according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that The control plan creation means of the information processing apparatus includes a setting in which the correction information includes a setting for reducing power consumption of the home appliance, and the set time zone is a time zone in which there is a power demand control request that promotes reduction of power consumption. In some cases, the power consumption reduction control plan is created by reflecting the setting indicated in the correction information in the time zone of the power demand control request for the home appliance indicated in the correction information. The power demand control system according to 7. An information processing apparatus operated by an electric power provider or another service provider, and a consumer premises control device connected to a plurality of premises equipment that is installed in the consumer's house and operates by receiving power supply from the power provider; Power demand used in a power demand control system for controlling the power demand of the customer's home by notifying the demand control request from the information processing device to the customer home control device via a communication network A control method,
Prior to the notification of the power demand control request, the consumer premises control device generates power attribute information of the plurality of home devices, and the generated power attribute information is transmitted to the information processing device via the communication network. Send to
When a power demand control request is notified from the information processing device, the consumer premises control device generates a power consumption reduction control plan creation request together with the notified power demand control request via the communication network. Sent to the information processing device,
The information processing device receives and stores the power attribute information transmitted from the consumer premises control device via the communication network,
When receiving the creation request of the power consumption reduction control plan transmitted from the consumer premises control device, the information processing device receives the power demand control request received together with the creation request, and the stored power attribute information To create a power consumption reduction control plan for the plurality of in-home devices, and send the information representing the created power consumption reduction control plan to the customer home control device that is the creation request source via the communication network. Return
The consumer premises control device receives information representing the power consumption reduction control plan transmitted from the information processing device via the communication network,
The power demand control method, wherein the consumer premises control device performs control for restricting operations of the plurality of home appliances based on the received information indicating the power consumption reduction control plan. The customer premises control device transmits correction information for correcting information representing the power consumption reduction control plan to the information processing device via the communication network,
The information processing device receives and stores correction information transmitted from the consumer premises control device via the communication network,
The information processing apparatus creates the control plan when the request for creating the power consumption reduction control plan transmitted from the consumer premises control apparatus is received and the stored power consumption Based on the attribute information, the information representing the stored constraint conditions, and the stored correction information, a power consumption reduction control plan for the plurality of home devices is created, and the created power consumption reduction The power demand control method according to claim 11, wherein information representing a control plan is returned to the customer premises control device of the creation request source via the communication network. The consumer premises control device transmits the correction information to the information processing device via the communication network;
The information processing device further comprising receiving and storing the correction information transmitted from the consumer premises control device via the communication network;
The information processing device creates a control plan when a request for creating a power consumption reduction control plan transmitted from the consumer premises control device is received.
A power consumption reduction control plan for the plurality of home appliances based on the power demand control request, the stored power attribute information, and the information representing the stored constraint condition;
Power consumption reduction control for the plurality of home appliances based on the power demand control request, the stored power attribute information, the information indicating the stored constraint condition, and the stored correction information And
The information representing the created power consumption reduction control plan is sent back to the customer premises control device of the creation request source via the communication network,
The customer premises control device further comprises: providing the option to the user to select any one of these power consumption reduction control plans; and storing the selected power consumption reduction control plan. Item 13. The power demand control method according to Item 12.