JP6467001B2 - Energy management system, communication terminal, and energy management device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an energy management system, a communication terminal, and an energy management apparatus capable of managing the state of a management target such as a load device and a distributed power source provided in a consumer.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a technology for controlling a management target such as a load device and a distributed power source provided in a consumer by an energy management apparatus (for example, HEMS: Home Energy Management System) provided for each consumer is known (see Patent Document 1). ).

JP 2003-309928 A

  In order to control the management target, it has been required to notify the customer of the state of the management target. For example, a consumer may access an energy management apparatus using a communication terminal such as a personal computer, a tablet computer such as a PDA, and a smartphone, and check the state of a management target using these communication terminals. . However, it has not been studied how to provide a communication terminal with a status to be managed.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention made in view of such circumstances is to provide an energy management system, a communication terminal, and an energy management apparatus that can provide a communication terminal with a state to be managed by an appropriate method.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an energy management system according to a first aspect includes an energy management device that communicates with a management target using a first protocol, and the energy management using a second protocol that is different from the first protocol. A first communication terminal that communicates with the device, and the energy management device is configured to request the first communication terminal to request information related to the state of the management target by the second protocol. The information obtained by the protocol is output to the first communication terminal using the second protocol.

  The communication terminal according to the second aspect is a communication terminal that communicates with a management target and an energy management apparatus that communicates with the first protocol using a second protocol different from the first protocol, The information obtained by the first protocol is received from the energy management apparatus by the second protocol in response to a request for information on the state of the management target.

  An energy management device according to a third aspect is an energy management device that communicates with a management target by a first protocol, and is a state of the management target by a second protocol different from the first protocol from a communication terminal. When the information related to the request is requested, the information obtained by the first protocol is output to the first communication terminal using the second protocol.

  According to the energy management system, the communication terminal, and the energy management apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above, it is possible to provide the communication terminal with the state to be managed by an appropriate method.

It is a functional block diagram which shows schematic structure of the energy management system containing the energy management apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the response process which an energy management apparatus performs. It is a flowchart which shows the update process which a 1st communication terminal performs.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, an energy management system according to an embodiment will be described. The energy management system according to the present embodiment includes a distributed power supply in addition to the power supplied from the power system (commercial power supply). As the distributed power source, it is preferable to include at least one of a system that supplies power by renewable energy such as solar power generation or wind power, and a storage battery system that can charge and discharge power.

  In addition, the system for supplying power is not limited to a system for supplying power by solar power generation and storage batteries, but various power generation such as fuel cell systems including fuel cells such as SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell). It can be a system. In the present embodiment described below, an example in which a photovoltaic power generation system is provided as a power generation system and a power storage unit is provided as a storage battery system will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an energy management system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The energy management system 10 according to the present embodiment includes a smart meter 11, a power conditioner 12, a solar power generation system 13, a power storage unit 14, a distribution board 15, a load device 16, an energy management device 17, and a first communication terminal 18. And a second communication terminal 19.

  In FIG. 1, a solid line connecting each functional block represents a flow of electric power. Moreover, in FIG. 1, the broken line which connects each functional block represents the flow of the control signal or the information communicated. Various transmission media can be applied to the physical layer of communication indicated by the broken line. For example, wired communication such as power line communication (PLC) can be applied as a physical layer for communication between the energy management device 17 and the load device 16. Further, wireless communication via a wireless router can be applied to the physical layer of communication between the energy management device 17, the smart meter 11, the power conditioner 12, the first communication terminal 18, and the second communication terminal 19. is there. The wireless router may be built in the energy management device 17 or may be provided separately from the energy management device 17. In addition, wireless communication such as infrared communication can be applied to the physical layer of communication between the energy management device 17 and the load device 16.

  In the energy management system 10, the first protocol is applied to communication between the energy management device 17, the smart meter 11, the power conditioner 12, the load device 16, the first communication terminal 18, and the second communication terminal 19. To do. In the present embodiment, the first protocol is, for example, ECHONET Lite (registered trademark). However, a communication protocol such as ZigBee (registered trademark) SEP2.0, ECHONET (registered trademark), and KNX (registered trademark) is applicable as the first protocol. Furthermore, in the energy management system 10, the second protocol is applied to communication between the energy management device 17, the first communication terminal 18, and the second communication terminal 19. The second protocol is, for example, HTTP. Here, the physical layer of the first protocol and the second protocol may be either wired or wireless, and it is only necessary that the devices that communicate directly are common. It is further desirable that the first protocol described above is used in the logical layer of communication between the energy management device 17 and the load device 16.

  The energy management system 10 uses the load device 16 and the energy management for the electric power supplied from the commercial power supply 50, the electric power generated by the solar power generation system 13, and the electric power discharged from the electric power charged in the power storage unit 14. It can be supplied to the device 17.

  The smart meter 11 is connected to the commercial power source 50 and measures the power supplied from the commercial power source 50. The smart meter 11 is also connected to the power conditioner 12 to measure the power generated by the solar power generation system 13 and sold to the power company.

  Further, the smart meter 11 can receive information such as prediction related to power from a system EMS (Energy Management System) 60, for example. Here, the system EMS 60 is a facility that performs various predictions and controls related to electric power, and is generally installed in an electric power company, for example. As the system EMS 60, for example, one constituting an MDMS (meter data management system) can be adopted. The system EMS 60 has a database 61 that stores information on various types of power, and can collect and accumulate information on results obtained by the smart meter 11. The system EMS 60 can be connected to an external network 70 such as the Internet.

  The smart meter 11 can be connected to a water meter 30 and a gas meter 31, and obtains a water supply amount and a gas supply amount from the water meter 30 and the gas meter 31, respectively.

  The power conditioner 12 converts DC power supplied from the solar power generation system 13 and the power storage unit 14 into AC power. In addition, the power conditioner 12 supplies the converted AC power to each load device 16 via a branch branched into a plurality by the distribution board 15. The power conditioner 12 can also sell the converted AC power to the power company via the distribution board 15 when there is a surplus in the power generated by the solar power generation system 13. Further, the power conditioner 12 can convert AC power supplied from the commercial power supply 50 into DC power for charging the power storage unit 14.

  The solar power generation system 13 generates power using sunlight. For this reason, the solar power generation system 13 includes a solar battery, and converts the energy of sunlight into DC power. In this embodiment, the solar power generation system 13 assumes a mode in which, for example, a solar panel is installed on the roof of a house and power is generated using sunlight. However, in the present invention, the solar power generation system 13 can adopt any system as long as it can convert the energy of sunlight into electric power.

  As described above, the electric power generated by the solar power generation system 13 can be supplied to each load device 16 and / or sold to an electric power company after being converted into alternating current by the power conditioner 12. Further, the power storage unit 14 may be able to be charged by the electric power generated by the solar power generation system 13, and may be configured to be supplied to the load device 16 with a direct current.

  The power storage unit 14 includes a storage battery, and can supply power by discharging the power charged in the storage battery. In addition, the power storage unit 14 can charge power supplied from the commercial power supply 50 or the solar power generation system 13. Further, the electric power discharged from the power storage unit 14 can also be supplied to each load device 16 and the energy management device 17.

  The distribution board 15 branches the supplied power to a plurality of branches and distributes them to each load device 16. Here, each branch has a representative load device 16 with large power consumption directly connected, and a group that is grouped for each room. The former load device 16 is, for example, an air conditioner, a refrigerator, an IH cooking heater, or the like, and the backbone power corresponds to the power used by the corresponding category device. The load device 16 in the latter is a set of outlets provided in each room, and the trunk power corresponds to the total power consumption of the outlets in the corresponding room. Here, it is uncertain what load device is connected to the outlet.

  The number of load devices 16 connected to the energy management system 10 can be any number. These load devices 16 are various electric appliances, such as a television, an air conditioner, and a refrigerator, for example. These load devices 16 are connected to the power conditioner 12 via the distribution board 15 and supplied with power.

  The energy management device 17 manages the management targets in the energy management system 10 shown in FIG. 1, for example, the distributed power source, the load device 16, the supply of water, and the supply of gas. The energy management device 17 acquires information related to the status of the management target in order to manage the management target.

  For example, the energy management device 17 acquires the power measured by the smart meter 11 from the smart meter 11. Further, the energy management device 17 acquires the supply amount of water and gas measured by the water meter 30 and the gas meter 31 via the smart meter 11. In addition, the energy management device 17 acquires the power generated by the solar power generation system 13 and the power charged or discharged in the power storage unit 14 via the power conditioner 12. In addition, the energy management device 17 outputs the power consumption of the load device 16 and / or the driving state of the load device 16, for example, the set temperature for the air conditioner and the refrigerator, the set illuminance for the TV and the lamp, etc. Acquired by the protocol.

  The energy management apparatus 17 accumulates in the database 25 regarding the acquired management target state. The energy management device 17 reads information stored in the database 25 from the database 25 as necessary.

  Further, the energy management device 17 outputs information related to the state of the management target to the first communication terminal 18 in response to a request from the first communication terminal 18.

  Furthermore, the energy management device 17 can also create an image of a management page for managing the energy management system 10 as a source written in a script language such as HTML and Java Script (registered trademark). The energy management device 17 outputs an image of the created management page to the second communication terminal 19 in response to a request from the second communication terminal 19. Details on the output of information related to the state by the energy management device 17, the creation of an image of the management page, and the output of the image of the management page will be described later.

  The first communication terminal 18 is a terminal having a display, for example, a smartphone or a tablet computer. The first communication terminal 18 executes application software that manages the energy management system 10. While executing the application software, the first communication terminal 18 requests the energy management device 17 for information regarding various states of the management target periodically or as necessary. That is, the first communication terminal 18 acquires the requested information from the energy official device 17 while executing the application software. Further, the first communication terminal 18 creates an image for displaying the acquired information in various display formats while executing the application software. Further, the first communication terminal 18 displays the created image on the display during execution of the application software. Details of information request, acquisition, image creation, and display by the first communication terminal 18 will be described later.

  The second communication terminal 19 has a display and is a terminal capable of executing a browser for browsing the management page, and is, for example, a personal computer or a notebook personal computer. The second communication terminal 19 can request an image of the management page periodically or as needed from the energy management device 17 during execution of the browser. That is, the second communication terminal 19 can acquire the requested management page image from the energy management apparatus 17 as a source during execution of the browser. In addition, the second communication terminal 19 can display an image obtained by adjusting the source of the acquired management page in a format suitable for the display capability of the browser or the second communication terminal 19 during execution of the browser. is there. Details of requesting, obtaining, and displaying an image of the management page will be described later.

  Next, output of various information by the energy management device 17 and request, acquisition, creation of images, and display of various information by the first communication terminal 18 will be described below.

  When the application software for managing the energy management system 10 is executed, the first communication terminal 18 starts with the physical layer of communication between the energy management system 10 and the first communication terminal 18 and the first communication protocol. Establish. During execution of this application software, the state of the management target of the energy management device 17 is processed into various display formats and displayed on the display.

  For example, the first communication terminal 18 includes a history of power supplied from the commercial power supply 50, a history of power sold to the power company, a history of water supply, a history of gas supply, and the solar power generation system 13. The generated power history, the charge / discharge history of the power storage unit 14, the power consumption and driving history of the load device 16 are displayed in a display format such as a bar graph or a line graph. Further, the first communication terminal 18 can also display the power consumption ratio of the load device 16 that is currently driven in a display format such as a pie chart and an area graph.

  The first communication terminal 18 can input a management target to be displayed on the display, a type of state, and a display format during execution of the application software. When the first communication terminal 18 detects an input during the execution of the application software, the first communication terminal 18 requests the energy management device 17 for information on the state of the management target according to the input content using the first protocol.

  When the energy management device 17 obtains a request from the first communication terminal 18, the energy management device 17 recognizes the protocol used by the port number accessed in the request. When the port number is a port number corresponding to the first protocol (for example, 3610), the energy management device 17 recognizes that the request is a request according to the first protocol. Based on the request, the energy management device 17 reads information on the status of the management target requested from the database 25, and outputs the read information to the first communication terminal 18 using the first protocol.

  When the first communication terminal 18 acquires the requested information during the execution of the application software, the first communication terminal 18 creates an image in a display format in which an input is detected based on the acquired information. The first communication terminal 18 displays the created image on the display during execution of the application software. When the first communication terminal 18 newly acquires information on the state of the management target in a state where the image created in this way is displayed, the first communication terminal 18 again creates an image in which the parameters of the image being displayed are adjusted. , Update the display.

  Next, prohibition of creation of a state related to a specific management object by application software that manages the energy management system 10 will be described. The application software is created in advance so as to be able to create images that display various states of all management targets assumed as management targets by the general-purpose energy management device 17 in various ideographic forms.

  However, some consumers may have management targets that are not actually used among the assumed management targets. For example, even if several types of distributed power sources are assumed, a case where only a part or all of them are not actually provided, or a case where the amount of water supply is not notified from the water meter to the energy management device 17 is configured. There may be a case where the supply amount of gas from the gas meter is not notified to the energy management device 17 and a case where some of the load devices 16 are not provided.

  The energy management device 17 recognizes a management target that is not actually used among the assumed management targets and is not managed by the energy management device 17 according to the setting of the installer. The energy management device 17 notifies the first communication terminal 18 of management targets that are not managed by the energy management device 17.

  When the first communication terminal 18 acquires information indicating a management target that is not managed from the energy management device 17, the first communication terminal 18 stops subsequent requests for information regarding the state of the management target to the energy management device 17. When the request is stopped, for example, the first communication terminal 18 hides the icon for detecting the input (or selection) for displaying the status of the management target that is not managed, or displays the icon. When the reception is stopped or when the input is detected along with the stop of the reception, a message is displayed on the display notifying that the management target is in a disconnected state and the state cannot be displayed.

  Next, creation and output of a management page screen by the energy management device 17 and request, acquisition, and display of the management page by the second communication terminal 19 will be described below.

  When the second communication terminal 19 starts a browser and designates a pre-assigned URI, the second communication terminal 19 establishes a connection with the energy management device 17 according to the second protocol, and displays an image of the management page on the energy management device 17. Request with the second protocol.

  When the energy management device 17 acquires a request from the second communication terminal 19, the energy management device 17 recognizes the protocol used by the port number accessed in the request. When the port number is a port number (for example, 80) corresponding to the second protocol, the energy management device 17 recognizes that the request is a request according to the second protocol. The energy management device 17 outputs an image of the management page to the second communication terminal 19 based on the request.

  When the second communication terminal 19 acquires an image of the management page during execution of the browser, the second communication terminal 19 displays the management page on the display. Further, the second communication terminal 19 can accept input of various commands for managing the energy management system 10 during the display of the management page. Among the commands that can be accepted, a command for displaying the state of a specific management target in a specific display format is also included. The management target, status type, and display format that can be selected in the display command are the same as the management target, status type, and display format that can be created by the first communication terminal 18 using application software.

  When the user selects a management target, a type of state, and a display format, the second communication terminal 19 performs energy management on an image that displays the selected management target status in the selected display format using the second protocol. Request to device 17.

  When acquiring the request from the second communication terminal 19, the energy management device 17 recognizes again the protocol used by the port number accessed in the request. The energy management device 17 reads information on the status of the management target requested from the database 25 in response to a request from the second communication terminal 19, and specifies the status of the specific management target requested based on the read information. Create an image to be displayed in the display format. The energy management device 17 outputs an image of the management page including the created image to the second communication terminal 19.

  When the second communication terminal 19 acquires a management page including an image during execution of the browser, the second communication terminal 19 displays the acquired management page image on the display. As described above, the management target, status type, and display format that can be selected by the second communication terminal 19 are the same as the management target, status type, and display format that can be displayed by the first communication terminal 18, respectively. is there. Therefore, the second communication terminal 19 can display the same image as the image in the display format of the management target state that can be displayed on the first communication terminal 18. However, it is preferable that the first communication terminal 18 and the second communication terminal 19 can display the state of the management target using the same image, but the images indicating the same state of the same management target with different display formats are displayed. May be.

  Next, the response process executed when the energy management device 17 is accessed from the communication terminal will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The energy management device 17 starts response processing when there is a request from the first communication terminal 18 or the second communication terminal 19.

  In step S100, the energy management apparatus 17 determines whether the port number accessed in the request is 3610 or 80, for example. When the port number is 3610, the process proceeds to step S101. When the port number is 80, the process proceeds to step S103.

  In step S <b> 101, the energy management device 17 reads information (numerical information) about the requested management target state from the database 25. After reading from the database 25, the process proceeds to step S102.

  In step S102, the energy management apparatus 17 outputs the information read in step S101 to the communication terminal that requested the information using the first protocol. The response process is terminated after the information is output.

  In step S103, the energy management apparatus 17 determines whether or not the request for the communication terminal is a request for an image for displaying the state of the selected management target, that is, an image creation request based on the state stored in the database 25. To do. If the request is not an image creation request, for example, a request for an image created in advance or a request for changing settings, the process proceeds to step S104. If it is an image creation request, the process proceeds to step S105.

  In step S104, the energy management device 17 executes a command corresponding to the acquired request. The response process is terminated after the command is executed.

  In step S <b> 105, the energy management device 17 reads information (numerical information) related to the requested state of the management target from the database 25. After reading from the database 25, the process proceeds to step S106.

  In step S106, the energy management apparatus 17 uses the information read in step S105 to create an image indicating the state of the management target in the display format in the request from the communication terminal. After creating the image, the process proceeds to step S107.

  In step S107, the energy management apparatus 17 outputs the image data (source / image information) created in step S106 to the communication terminal that requested the image on the second protocol. The response process ends after the output of the image data.

  Next, update processing in which the first communication terminal 18 updates information that can be requested to the energy management device 17 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The first communication terminal 18 obtains information indicating a management target that is not managed from the energy management device 17 such as when the first communication terminal 18 and the energy management device 17 are negotiated first or when the setting is changed. When updating, the update process is started.

  In step S <b> 200, the first communication terminal 18 recognizes a management target that is not managed by the actual energy management device 17 among management targets assumed in the application software that manages the energy management system 10. If a management target that is not managed is recognized, the process proceeds to step S201.

  In step S <b> 201, the first communication terminal 18 determines to stop the request to the energy management apparatus 17 for information regarding the state of the management target that is not managed (the management target recognized in step S <b> 200). When it is decided to stop the request, the update process is terminated. When it is determined that the request is to be stopped, the application software of the first communication terminal 18 thereafter displays the management target device when displaying the management target device (such as an icon for selecting the management target). Does not display. Further, since the display is not performed, the user does not update the information about the management target that is not managed. Thereafter, the first communication terminal 18 requests the energy management device 17 for information on a management target other than the management target that is not managed by the first protocol, and updates the display when the information is acquired.

  According to the energy management device of the present embodiment configured as described above, information indicating the status of the management target according to the first protocol used for communication between the energy management device 17 and the management target such as the load device 16. It is possible to output information with the first protocol in response to the request. With such a configuration, the initial setting and the update setting for identifying the load device 16, the distributed power source, the water supply, the gas supply, and the like to be managed are performed between the energy management device 17 and the first communication terminal 18. It becomes unnecessary. Further, such a configuration eliminates the work of class classification for each management target and transmission of the classified class to the communication terminal, which should normally be performed by the energy management apparatus.

  Moreover, according to the energy management apparatus of this embodiment, when browsing of the state of management object is desired with a browser, the same image as the image created with an application can be created. With this configuration, the same image can be viewed even if the communication terminal used by the user is different.

  Further, according to the communication terminal of the present embodiment, it is possible to recognize a management target that is not managed by the energy management device 17 and to stop a request for information regarding a state with respect to the management target. Even if it should be possible to display the status of various management targets when designing the application software, not all customers have all the management targets, so the energy management system 10 has all the management targets. Is not included. As described above, when information on the state of the management target that is not included in the energy management system 10, that is, not managed, is requested, communication traffic is wasted. Further, if an image related to a management target that is not managed is displayed, the user may be confused. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, useless communication traffic can be prevented and the user's confusion can be suppressed by the configuration as described above.

  Although the present invention has been described based on the drawings and embodiments, it should be noted that those skilled in the art can easily make various changes and modifications based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these variations and modifications are included in the scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the present embodiment, the first communication terminal 18 executes an application software to display an image indicating a management target state on the display, but the first communication terminal 18 executes a browser to manage the page. Can also be displayed on the display. In addition, the management page is displayed on the display when the second communication terminal 19 executes the browser, but an image indicating the state of the management target can also be displayed on the display by executing the application software.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Energy management system 11 Smart sensor 12 Power conditioner 13 Solar power generation system 14 Power storage part 15 Distribution board 16 Load apparatus 17 Energy management apparatus 18 1st communication terminal 19 2nd communication terminal 25 Database 30 Water meter 31 Gas meter 50 Commercial power 60 systems EMS (Energy Management System)
61 database 70 network

Claims (10)

A communication terminal that displays at least one of information on a plurality of managed devices acquired via an energy management device,
A communication terminal that displays that the managed device is no longer managed when the information that one of the managed devices is not managed is acquired from the energy management apparatus through communication .   An energy management system comprising the communication terminal according to claim 1, the energy management device, and the management target device. The energy management system according to claim 2,
An energy management system in which the energy management apparatus and the management target device communicate with each other using a first protocol, and the energy management apparatus and the communication terminal communicate with each other using a second protocol. The energy management system according to claim 3,
When the information regarding the state of the management target device is requested by the second protocol from the communication terminal, the energy management device uses the second protocol to obtain the information obtained by the first protocol. Energy management system that outputs to communication terminals. A communication terminal capable of displaying at least one piece of information of a plurality of managed devices acquired via an energy management device,
A communication terminal that does not display information related to a managed device that is not managed when one of the plurality of managed devices is acquired from the energy management apparatus through communication .   An energy management system provided with the said communication terminal of Claim 5, the said energy management apparatus, and the said management object apparatus. The energy management system according to claim 6,
An energy management system in which the energy management apparatus and the management target device communicate with each other using a first protocol, and the energy management apparatus and the communication terminal communicate with each other using a second protocol. The energy management system according to claim 7,
When the information regarding the state of the management target device is requested by the second protocol from the communication terminal, the energy management device uses the second protocol to obtain the information obtained by the first protocol. Energy management system that outputs to communication terminals. A program of a communication terminal that displays at least one of information on a plurality of managed devices acquired via an energy management device,
When the information that one of the plurality of managed devices is not managed is acquired from the energy management apparatus by communication , the communication terminal is displayed so as to display that the managed device is not managed. The program to control. A communication terminal program capable of displaying at least one piece of information of a plurality of managed devices acquired via an energy management device,
When the information that one of the plurality of managed devices is not managed is acquired by communication from the energy management apparatus, the communication terminal is configured not to display information about the managed device that is not managed. The program to control.

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