JP6044485B2 - Energy management system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an energy management system for managing energy in a building.

  In a cogeneration apparatus including a power generation apparatus and a hot water storage apparatus, the power generation apparatus includes a maintenance display unit, and the hot water storage apparatus includes a remote controller. The maintenance display unit and the remote controller are connected by a communication cable. The communication cable includes a notification unit that notifies the communication state, and when a communication abnormality occurs in the communication cable, the notification unit notifies the failure content (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2010-14373 A

  In Patent Document 1 described above, the maintenance display unit of the power generator is for a maintenance person installed outside the building. Since the maintenance display unit includes a simple display and an operation unit, it can be handled by an operator or the like, but it is difficult for a general user who is unfamiliar with the device operation. Therefore, when a failure occurs in the power generation apparatus, it is necessary to operate the maintenance display unit while looking at the operation manual or the like. However, there are cases where it is difficult to find where the appropriate work is described, such as when the content of the operation manual is large.

  In the case of a system composed of an energy management device having a simple display and a display terminal device that communicates with the energy management device and displays information on the energy management device, communication between the energy management device and the display terminal device An abnormality may occur. When a communication abnormality occurs, there may be a minor communication abnormality. Therefore, it is preferable that a general user operates the energy management apparatus. However, since the display device included in the energy management apparatus is simple, it is difficult for a general user who is unfamiliar with the operation of the device. Similarly to the above, it is necessary to operate while looking at the operation manual and the like, and it may be difficult to find where the appropriate work is described in the operation manual.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. When a communication abnormality occurs in an energy management apparatus having a simple display unit, energy that can display appropriate work content on the display terminal apparatus. The purpose is to provide a management system.

  The present invention employs the following technical means in order to achieve the aforementioned object.

  The present invention is characterized in that when there is an abnormality in communication with the energy management device, the terminal display unit is controlled to display operation information related to the abnormality among the operation information acquired by the terminal acquisition means. To do.

  According to such this invention, since an energy management apparatus and a display terminal device communicate, the energy information which the energy management apparatus acquired can be displayed on a display terminal device. Thus, the user can check the energy information of the building using the display terminal device. In addition, it is difficult to display the operation information in an easy-to-understand manner on the main body display unit having a small display area. However, in the present invention, when communication is abnormal, the operation information is displayed on the terminal display unit of the display terminal device. . Since the terminal display unit has a display area larger than that of the main body display unit, the operation information can be displayed in an easily understandable manner. As a result, when there is an abnormality in communication, the user can operate the energy management apparatus and cope with the abnormality while browsing the operation information displayed on the terminal display unit. Moreover, since the discomfort given to the user can be suppressed even if the display area of the energy management device is small, the display area of the main body display unit can be reduced. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the main body display unit can be reduced.

1 is a diagram showing a simplified energy management system 10. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process regarding communication abnormality. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of operation information displayed on the display terminal device 30. FIG.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the energy management system 10 includes an energy management device (hereinafter also referred to as “management device”) 20, a display terminal device 30, and a connection device 40. The energy management system 10 is also called a HEMS (home energy management system). The management device 20 acquires energy information related to building energy, and transmits the acquired energy information to the display terminal device 30 directly or via the connection device 40. The display terminal device 30 displays the energy information transmitted from the management device 20. Thereby, the user can browse the energy information of the building.

  First, the management device 20 will be described. The management device 20 is a device for managing settings of the management device 20. Therefore, it is not a premise for use by general users (users), but is a device for operation by an installer, administrator, and the like. The management device 20 is provided in a building, for example, a general home or an office, and manages the energy of the building. The management apparatus 20 acquires energy information related to energy including the power supply / demand status of the building, and outputs the acquired information. The device from which the energy information is acquired is a device that is set in advance in the building, and is a device that consumes energy in the installed building. The preset devices include electric devices that consume electric power, gas devices that consume gas, and water devices that use water. Examples of the electric device include a refrigerator, a washing machine, an air conditioner, and a television set. Examples of the gas equipment include a gas stove, a water heater, underfloor heating, and a fan heater. Water supply equipment includes flush toilets and faucets in kitchens. In addition, the devices to be set need not be all devices in the building, and can be set as appropriate. It is preferable to set a device with large energy consumption.

  Next, the configuration of the management apparatus 20 will be described. The management device 20 connects a main body acquisition unit that acquires energy information, a main body operation unit 21 for performing various settings, and a main body electronic control unit (abbreviated as an ECU) that controls the respective units, so that the respective units can communicate with each other. A main body communication unit and a main body display unit 22 for displaying various types of information are included.

  The main body acquisition unit (not shown) functions as main body acquisition means for acquiring energy information and is connected to various sensors. Various sensors detect the energy consumption of the above-mentioned apparatus, and give the detected information to main body ECU (not shown). The various sensors are communicably connected to the main body ECU by wire or wireless. In this embodiment, there are electric power, gas, and water as energy consumption. The various sensors are realized by a total power detection sensor (not shown), a water sensor 23, and a gas sensor 24.

  The total power detection sensor is provided in a power supply source of the building such as the distribution board 25 of the building. The main body ECU is connected to the distribution board 25, and information based on the power consumption of the building detected by the total power detection sensor is given to the main body ECU. The water sensor 23 is provided in a water supply device or a water meter, detects a water flow rate, and gives information based on the detected flow rate to the main body ECU. The gas sensor 24 is individually provided in a gas device set in advance, detects the consumption gas of the provided gas device, and gives information based on the detected consumption gas to the main body ECU.

  The main body acquisition unit acquires not only energy information but also other information. The main body acquisition unit is also connected to a temperature / humidity sensor 26 that detects temperature and humidity in order to monitor the environment in the building, for example. The temperature / humidity sensor 26 detects the temperature and humidity of a predetermined position, for example, a predetermined room, and gives information based on the detected temperature and humidity to the main body ECU. Moreover, the apparatus power detection sensor which acquires the power consumption of the preset power apparatus may be connected to the main body acquisition part. The device power detection sensor is individually provided for a preset power device, detects the power consumption of the provided power device, and gives information based on the detected power consumption to the main body ECU.

  The main body display unit 22 includes a monitor unit 221 and lamp units 222 to 224. The main body display unit 22 is electrically connected to the main body ECU, and is controlled by the main body ECU to display predetermined information. The monitor unit 221 displays, for example, operation information related to the operation of the management apparatus 20 and operation information for setting with characters and symbols. Therefore, energy information is not displayed on the monitor unit 221. The monitor unit 221 has a smaller display area than the display terminal device 30, and the amount of information to be displayed is small. The monitor unit 221 is realized by monochrome display instead of color display so that it can be realized at low cost, for example. The monitor unit 221 displays a predetermined character or the like by inverting black and white of a dot having a large pixel and a large resolution, for example. In the display area, for example, 16 characters per line can be displayed over two lines.

  The lamp units 222 to 224 display the operation of each unit according to the lighting state of the lamp. The lamp units 222 to 224 have three lighting regions, and display the power supply, communication, and LAN states, respectively. The power lamp 222 indicates that the power is on when it is lit, indicates that the power is off when it is off, and indicates that an error is occurring when it is flashing. When the communication lamp 223 is lit, it indicates that the wireless LAN has been set, when it is not lit, it indicates that the wireless LAN has not been set, and when it is blinking, it indicates that the wireless LAN is being set or an error has occurred. When the LAN lamp 224 is lit, it indicates that there is software update data, and when it is flashing, it indicates that an error has occurred in other devices.

  The main body operation unit 21 is operated by the user, and when operated, various commands to the main body ECU are input. As a result, the user can make various settings of the management apparatus 20. The main body operation unit 21 can set the state of various sensors and the addition and change of sensors by operating the main body operation unit 21 during maintenance, for example. When an error has occurred in the management apparatus 20, the main body operation unit 21 is preset with a specific operation different from the normal operation in order to deal with the error. The specific operation is, for example, an operation such as password entry for entering an error-compatible setting screen, button operation in a specific order, long pressing of a specific button, and simultaneous pressing of a plurality of specific buttons.

  The main body ECU is a main body control means, and although not shown, a microcomputer, an input circuit to which various information (input signals) are input from the main body acquisition unit and the main body operation unit 21, a main body display unit 22, and a main body And an output circuit for sending information (output signal) to the communication unit. The microcomputer includes a memory such as a ROM (Read-Only Memory: abbreviated ROM), a ram (Random Access Memory: abbreviated RAM), and a central processing unit (abbreviated as a CPU). The various control programs stored in are executed.

  When a specific operation is performed by the main body operation unit 21, the main body ECU controls the main body display unit 22 to display a setting screen corresponding to an error. Moreover, main body ECU produces | generates the browsing information which a user browses based on the energy information acquired by the main body acquisition part. The browsing information is, for example, in an HTML format that can be browsed by a browser.

  The main body communication unit communicates with the connection device 40 and the display terminal device 30. The main body communication unit transmits the browsing information output from the main body ECU to the connection device 40 or the display terminal device 30. Therefore, the main body communication unit functions as a main body communication unit that transmits browsing information based on the energy information acquired by the main body acquisition unit.

  The connection device 40 is electrically connected to the display terminal device 30, the main body communication unit, and the Internet network. The connection device 40 is realized by a gateway, for example. A gateway is a communication device that interconnects networks. The main body communication unit and the display terminal device 30 can acquire information from the Internet network via the gateway.

  Therefore, the information output from the main body ECU is given to the server 50 via the connection device 40 and the Internet network. Thus, the main body communication unit also has a function as communication means for communicating with other devices via the Internet network.

  Further, the main body communication unit can directly communicate with the display terminal device 30 without going through the connection device 40. The main body communication unit communicates with the display terminal device 30 in accordance with a short-range wireless communication standard such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and ZigBee (registered trademark), a wireless LAN standard such as IEEE 802.11, or the like.

  Next, the display terminal device 30 will be described. The display terminal device 30 communicates with the management device 20 to display information on the management device 20 and remotely operates the management device 20. The display terminal device 30 is not limited to the dedicated information terminal of the management device 20, and is realized by, for example, a personal computer (abbreviated PC), a mobile terminal such as a smartphone and a tablet, an Internet television, or the like. By setting these display terminal devices 30 to be communicable with the management device 20 in advance, the management device 20 can be operated by communicating with the management device 20. In FIG. 1, a tablet 301 and a smartphone 302 are shown as the display terminal device 30. In this embodiment, the tablet 301 can directly communicate with the management apparatus 20 via the wireless LAN, and displays information provided from the management apparatus 20. The smartphone 302 displays information provided from the management device 20 and the Internet network via the connection device 40. The display terminal device 30 includes a terminal communication unit (not shown), a terminal acquisition unit (not shown), a terminal display unit 31, a terminal operation unit 32, and a terminal ECU (not shown).

  The terminal communication unit communicates with the connection device 40 and the management device 20. The terminal communication unit receives the browsing information transmitted from the management device 20. The terminal communication unit reads the browsing information from the server 50 in which the browsing information generated by the management device 20 is stored. Therefore, the terminal communication unit functions as a terminal communication unit that communicates with the management device 20 and receives browsing information based on energy information. The terminal communication unit gives the received various information to the terminal ECU.

  The terminal acquisition unit functions as a terminal acquisition unit that acquires operation information related to the operation of the management device 20. The terminal acquisition unit may acquire operation information from the server 50, or may read and acquire operation information from a memory (storage means) included in the display terminal device 30. The terminal acquisition unit gives the acquired operation information to the terminal ECU.

  The terminal display unit 31 is electrically connected to the terminal ECU and controlled by the terminal ECU to display predetermined information. Terminal ECU displays the browsing information which the terminal communication part received, for example with a character and an image. The terminal display unit 31 has a larger display area than the main body display unit 22. The terminal display unit 31 is capable of full color display, for example, and is configured using a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, a plasma display, or the like. Therefore, the terminal display unit 31 has a larger amount of information that can be displayed than the main body display unit 22.

  The terminal operation unit 32 is operated by a user, and when operated, various commands to the terminal ECU are input. As a result, the user can make various settings for the display terminal device 30. The terminal operation part 32 is implement | achieved by the touch sensor integrated with the operation button and the terminal display part 31, for example. The touch sensor detects which position in the display area of the terminal display unit 31 is pressed (also referred to as a touch operation), and provides the detected information to the terminal ECU.

  The terminal ECU is a terminal control means, and although not shown, a microcomputer, various sensors and an input circuit to which various information (input signals) are input from the terminal operation unit 32, a terminal display unit 31, and a terminal communication unit An output circuit for sending information (output signal) to The microcomputer includes a memory such as a ROM and a RAM, and a CPU, and executes various control programs stored in the ROM in advance.

  The terminal ECU controls the terminal display unit 31 to display the browsing information when the terminal operating unit 32 is operated to display the browsing information of the management device 20. As a result, the user can browse the browsing information. Therefore, the user can check the current electricity, water and gas consumption status, the temperature and humidity of each room, and the like. When the browsing information is in the HTML format, the terminal ECU activates the browser and displays the browsing information in the HTML format. Thus, the browsing information can be displayed by a general browser without using special software for displaying the browsing information.

  Next, communication abnormality of the terminal ECU will be described with reference to FIG. The process shown in FIG. 2 is repeatedly executed when the display terminal device 30 is in a power-on state.

  In step S1, it is determined whether or not there is an abnormality in communication with the management apparatus 20. If there is an abnormality in communication, the process proceeds to step S2, and if there is no abnormality, this flow ends. When there is an abnormality in communication, it is a state where predetermined browsing information cannot be received.

  In step S2, since there is an abnormality in communication, control is performed so that a manual for dealing with the abnormality is displayed on the terminal display unit 31, and this flow ends.

  As described above, the terminal ECU monitors the state of communication by the terminal communication unit, and controls the terminal display unit 31 to display a manual when there is an abnormality in communication with the management device 20. The manual is operation information related to an abnormality among the operation information acquired by the terminal acquisition unit. Therefore, the operation information related to the abnormality is information that the user should operate on the management apparatus 20 at the time of the abnormality. As described above, the operation information displays a specific operation for displaying the setting screen corresponding to the error.

  Next, operation information displayed on the display terminal device 30 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, when a communication abnormality occurs, the operation information shown in FIG. 3 is automatically displayed. The operation information is information indicating a specific operation. In the example shown in FIG. 3, a manual for pressing the switches of the main body operation unit 21 in a specific order is displayed within a predetermined time, for example, 5 seconds. The terminal display unit 31 displays an image displayed on the main body display unit 22. Therefore, the user can operate the management apparatus 20 while comparing the image of the main body display unit 22 displayed on the terminal display unit 31 with the image actually displayed on the main body display unit 22. Accordingly, the user can proceed while confirming the image displayed on the terminal display unit 31 at any time as to whether or not the operation is proceeding correctly.

  As described above, in the energy management system 10 of the present embodiment, the management device 20 and the display terminal device 30 communicate with each other, so that the energy information acquired by the management device 20 can be displayed on the display terminal device 30. Accordingly, the user can check the energy information of the building using the display terminal device 30. Further, in the main body display unit 22 with a small display area, it is difficult to display the operation information in an easy-to-understand manner. However, when communication is abnormal, the operation information is displayed on the terminal display unit 31 of the display terminal device 30. . Since the terminal display unit 31 has a display area larger than that of the main body display unit 22, the operation information can be displayed in an easy-to-understand manner. As a result, when there is an abnormality in communication, the user can operate the management device 20 while viewing the operation information displayed on the terminal display unit 31 to cope with the abnormality. Moreover, even if the display area of the management device 20 is small, the discomfort given to the user can be suppressed, so that the display area of the main body display unit 22 can be reduced. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the main body display unit 22 can be reduced.

  In other words, it is difficult for an unfamiliar user to work while looking at the main body display unit 22 of the management device 20 with a limited display area without a manual. However, in this embodiment, work to be performed by the main body operation unit 21 of the management device 20 when a communication abnormality occurs is visually displayed on the terminal display unit 31 of the display terminal device 30, so that the main body operation unit 21 does not have a booklet manual. This makes it easy to perform a predetermined operation.

  In the present embodiment, the terminal acquisition unit acquires operation information stored in the memory (storage means) of the display terminal device 30 when there is an abnormality. Since the operation information stored in the memory in advance is used as described above, when an abnormality occurs, the operation information can be displayed on the terminal display unit 31 in a short time by reading the operation information from the memory.

  In other words, the management device 20 creates a screen to be displayed on the terminal display unit 31 of the display terminal device 30 in a format that can be browsed by a browser such as an HTML format, and displays the browsing information created by the management device 20 on a web browser. It can be viewed on the terminal device 30. As a result, in a normal time, the browsing information can be displayed by accessing the page uploaded to the external server 50 through the URL or the like so as not to reduce the storage capacity of the display terminal device 30. Manuals and the like can also be acquired from the server 50. However, when the management device 20 and the display terminal device 30 communicate directly with each other via a wireless LAN, the operation manual stored in the server 50 cannot be displayed because it does not communicate with the server 50. Therefore, an operation manual that is automatically displayed when communication is abnormal is stored in the display terminal device 30. Accordingly, when an abnormality occurs, it is possible to cope with a case where connection to the server 50 is impossible by referring to the operation manual stored in the display terminal device 30.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the terminal acquisition unit acquires the operation information received from the server 50 by the terminal communication unit when there is an abnormality. Therefore, when the operation information is not stored in the memory of the display terminal device 30, the operation information can be acquired from the server 50. As a result, it is possible to prevent the memory capacity from being compressed by the operation information. The latest operation information can be acquired from the server 50.

  Further, in the present embodiment, when there is an abnormality, a specific operation for dealing with the abnormality is set in advance on the main body operation unit 21 unlike a normal operation. Therefore, the general user can prevent an operation for responding to the abnormality by mistake when the abnormality is not abnormal. When there is an abnormality, the terminal control unit controls the terminal display unit 31 to display information regarding a specific operation as operation information. Accordingly, the user can perform a specific operation by visually recognizing the terminal display unit 31. Therefore, the user does not need to prepare a booklet manual or the like, and convenience can be improved. Although it may be possible to display a specific operation on the main body display unit 22 of the management apparatus 20, the main body display unit 22 has a small display area, and the amount of information that cannot be displayed on one screen in the display area of the main body display unit 22. . One screen means that it cannot be displayed in the display area of the main body display unit 22 at a time. However, the terminal display unit 31 can display a large amount of information that can be displayed in a large display area, for example, a moving image. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to display operation information for explaining a specific operation while displaying the display area of the main body display unit 22.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the main body display unit 22 displays operation information at a special time such as a setting time or an abnormality time. Accordingly, it is assumed that the main body display unit 22 has only a minimum display function, and has a specialized knowledge such as a contractor or a repairer as a person to be viewed on the main body display unit 22. On the other hand, since the terminal display unit 31 of the display terminal device 30 that is normally operated by the user displays energy information in an easy-to-understand manner, the amount of information that can be displayed is larger than that of the main body display unit 22. In a special case such as an abnormality, a manual for dealing with the abnormality is displayed on the terminal display unit 31 in an easy-to-understand manner. As a result, even a general user such as a housewife who is not good at operating a machine such as a switchboard can handle the abnormality by holding the display terminal device 30 in one hand without searching the manual of the booklet and searching for the corresponding page. .

(Other embodiments)
The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
The structure of the said embodiment is an illustration to the last, Comprising: The scope of the present invention is not limited to the range of these description. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the description of the scope of claims, and further includes meanings equivalent to the description of the scope of claims and all modifications within the scope.

  In the first embodiment described above, the energy management system 10 includes the connection device 40. However, the energy management system 10 is not limited to the system including the connection device 40, and may be a system that does not include the connection device 40. .

  In the first embodiment described above, various conversion processes are performed by the main body ECU, but may be performed by the server 50. As a result, the main body ECU does not need a high processing capacity, and the required memory can be reduced. Moreover, the main body ECU may create browsing information by acquiring weather information and the like via the Internet network. The communication network is not limited to the Internet network, and may be a communication network other than the Internet network such as a public telephone network and an optical network.

  In the first embodiment described above, the energy management system 10 specialized for visualizing (viewing) energy information regarding electric power, water, and gas has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to such energy information. For example, a solar power generation device, a fixed storage battery, a hot water supply system, an air conditioner, etc. are connected to the management device 20 as other connection devices, and each connection is made from the display terminal device 30 while managing the energy information with the management device 20. The present invention may be applied to a system for remotely controlling a device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Energy management system 20 ... Energy management apparatus 21 ... Main body operation part 22 ... Main body display part 23 ... Water sensor 24 ... Gas sensor 25 ... Distribution board 26 ... Temperature / humidity sensor 30 ... Display terminal device 31 ... Terminal display part 32 ... Terminal Operation unit 40 ... Connection device 50 ... Server 221 ... Monitor unit 222 ... Power lamp 223 ... Communication lamp 224 ... LAN lamp 301 ... Tablet 302 ... Smartphone

Claims (5)

An energy management device (20) provided in a building and managing energy of the building, and a display terminal device (30) communicating with the energy management device and displaying information of the energy management device A system,
The energy management device includes:
Main body acquisition means for acquiring energy information relating to the energy including the power supply and demand state of the building;
Main body communication means for communicating with the display terminal device and transmitting the energy information;
A main body display unit (22) for displaying operation information related to the operation of the energy management device,
The display terminal device
Terminal communication means for communicating with the energy management device and receiving the energy information;
Terminal acquisition means for acquiring the operation information;
A terminal display unit (31) for displaying information received from the energy management device and having a display area larger than the main body display unit;
Monitoring the status of communication by the terminal communication means, and controlling the terminal communication means and the terminal display unit, and
When there is an abnormality in communication with the energy management device, the terminal control unit displays the operation information related to the abnormality among the operation information acquired by the terminal acquisition unit. An energy management system characterized by controlling the energy. The display terminal device further includes storage means in which the operation information is stored,
The energy management system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal acquisition unit acquires the operation information stored in the storage unit when the abnormality is present. The terminal communication means can communicate with an external server (50),
2. The energy management system according to claim 1, wherein, when there is the abnormality, the terminal acquisition unit acquires the operation information received by the terminal communication unit from the server.   The main body display unit displays the operation information for setting the energy management apparatus without displaying the energy information because the display area to be displayed is smaller than the terminal display unit and the amount of information to be displayed is small. The energy management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The energy management device includes:
A main body operation unit (21) for operating the energy management device;
When there is the abnormality, a specific operation for responding to the abnormality is set in advance unlike the normal operation of the main body operation unit,
5. The terminal control unit according to claim 1, wherein when there is an abnormality, the terminal control unit controls the terminal display unit to display information regarding the specific operation as the operation information. Energy management system described in 1.

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