JP7257382B2 - Information processing system and information processing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing system and an information processing method.

In recent years, photovoltaic power generation devices have been widely used not only by electric power companies but also by general consumers. A user, who is a general consumer, installs and operates a photovoltaic power generation device on the premises of his/her house or on the roof of his/her house. Then, the user operates the electrical equipment at home with the power generated by the photovoltaic power generation device. Alternatively, the user sells surplus power that cannot be consumed at home to the electric power company at a predetermined power selling price.

An example of technology related to the operation of such a solar power generation device is disclosed in Patent Document 1. In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the power generation amount and the electric power selling price are calculated while changing the installation conditions such as the installation azimuth angle or the inclination angle of the photovoltaic power generation panel. As a result, the installation azimuth angle or inclination angle at which the power selling price is high can be specified, and the photovoltaic power generation device can be appropriately installed.

JP 2017-174175 A

By the way, after the user has installed the photovoltaic power generation device and started to operate it, the user may review the operation method due to various factors. For example, the operation method may be reviewed due to various factors such as a change in the selling price of electricity by the electric power company, the occurrence of maintenance costs for the photovoltaic power generation device, or whether or not to purchase additional storage batteries. In this case, it is preferable that the user can be provided with information that can be used as a basis for making decisions regarding the operation.

However, conventional techniques such as the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 provide information regarding the installation of the solar power generation device, and do not consider the operation after the installation of the solar power generation device.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances. An object thereof is to provide an information processing system and an information processing method for providing information regarding the operation of an existing photovoltaic power generation device.

An information processing system according to the present invention includes: an acquisition unit that acquires a track record of a power generation amount of a photovoltaic power generation device; a prediction unit that predicts the power generation amount of the device; a conversion unit that converts the value related to the operation of the solar power generation device in the predetermined future period into a monetary amount based on the power generation amount predicted by the prediction unit; and a notification unit for notifying the amount converted by the conversion unit.

An information processing method according to the present invention is an information processing method executed by an information processing system, comprising: an acquisition step in which an acquisition unit acquires the actual amount of power generation of a photovoltaic power generation device; a prediction step of predicting the power generation amount of the solar power generation device for a predetermined future period based on the acquired actual power generation amount; A conversion step of converting a value related to the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device into an amount of money in a predetermined future period, and a notification step of notifying the amount of money converted by the conversion unit.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the information regarding operation|use of the existing photovoltaic power generation device can be provided.

1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of an information collection device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a cloud server according to one embodiment of the present invention. It is a table which shows an example of the data structure of the performance information database which the cloud server which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention construct|assembles. It is a flow chart explaining a flow of performance information collection processing which an information collection device concerning one embodiment of the present invention performs. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of value conversion processing executed by the cloud server according to one embodiment of the present invention;

An example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[System configuration]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an information processing system S according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, an information processing system S includes an information collection device 10, a cloud server 20, a smartphone 30, an external server 40, a power conditioner 50, a solar power generation device 51, a power conditioner 60, a DC/DC converter 61 , storage battery 62, and home appliance group 70.

Here, the information collection device 10, the power conditioner 50, the photovoltaic power generation device 51, the power conditioner 60, the DC/DC converter 61, the storage battery 62, and the household appliance group 70 are installed and used in the vicinity, for example. . For example, it is used by being installed in a user's residence.
The dwelling is grid-tied and hard-wired to the power grid to buy and sell power with the power company. Electric power generated by the photovoltaic power generation device 51 is output from the power conditioner 50 and supplied to the storage battery 62 , the home appliance group 70 , and the information collection device 10 . In addition, surplus power that cannot be consumed by these devices is sent to the power system and sold to the power company.
The smartphone 30 is used both inside and outside the residence by being carried by the user.
Further, the cloud server 20 and the external server 40 are installed and used at a location managed by the operator of the information processing system S.

Each device included in the information processing system S is connected via a network 80 so as to be able to communicate with each other. Communication between these devices may be performed in accordance with any communication method, and the communication method is not particularly limited. Also, communication between devices may be performed directly between devices without going through the network 80 .

The information processing system S having such a configuration predicts the statistic of the power generation amount of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 in a predetermined future period based on the actual power generation amount of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 . In addition, the information processing system S converts the value of the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 in a predetermined future period into a monetary amount based on the predicted statistics. Furthermore, the information processing system S notifies the user of the converted amount.
Therefore, according to the information processing system S, it is possible to provide information on the operation of the existing photovoltaic power generation device.

Next, each device included in the information processing system S will be described in detail.
The information collection device 10 corresponds to the photovoltaic power generation device 51 and is a device that collects various performance information regarding the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 . The information collection device 10 collects the actual amount of power generated by the photovoltaic power generation device 51 via the power conditioner 50, for example. In addition, the information collection device 10 collects actual power consumption amounts by monitoring the power supplied to the storage battery 62 , the home appliance group 70 , and the information collection device 10 . Furthermore, the information collection device 10 collects the actual amount of power sold and the amount of power purchased by monitoring the power system for buying and selling power with the power company.
The information collection device 10 transmits the performance information thus collected to the cloud server 20 .

The cloud server 20 is a device that analyzes the performance information received from the information collection device 10 and converts the value related to the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 in a predetermined future period into a monetary amount. The cloud server 20 transmits the amount calculated by this conversion to the smartphone 30 in order to notify the user.
Further details of the information collecting device 10 and the cloud server 20 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG.

The smart phone 30 is a device that notifies the user of the amount of money obtained by converting the value related to the operation of the solar power generation device 51 . The smartphone 30 displays, for example, a display provided with the smartphone 30 or outputs the amount converted from the value related to the operation of the solar power generation device 51 received from the cloud server 20 by voice from a speaker provided with the smartphone 30. to notify the user.

By this notification, the user can grasp the amount of money converted into the value related to the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 . Then, the user can consider how to operate the photovoltaic power generation device 51 in the future, using the grasped amount of money as one of the criteria for judgment.

The external server 40 is a device that transmits information used by the information gathering device 10 for conversion to the information gathering device 10 .
The external server 40 is implemented by, for example, a server that provides weather information. In this case, the external server 40 transmits the weather information of the area where the photovoltaic power generation device 51 is installed to the information collection device 10 .

In addition, the external server 40 is, for example, a seller of equipment related to the operation of the solar power generation device 51 (for example, a solar power generation panel, a power conditioner, a storage battery, etc., which are components of the solar power generation device), or It is realized by the server of the operator who maintains the photovoltaic power generation device.
In this case, the external server 40 transmits to the information collecting device 10 information regarding replacement costs, expansion costs, additional costs, maintenance costs, and the like, for these operational devices.

As described above, the cloud server 20 uses the information provided by the external server 40 for conversion in addition to the various performance information collected by the information collection device 10 . As a result, the cloud server 20 can improve the accuracy of conversion and notify more information.

The photovoltaic power generation device 51 is a device that generates power by converting the light energy of sunlight into electric power by the photovoltaic effect. The photovoltaic power generation device 51, for example, has a solar cell string in which solar cell modules are connected in series as one line, and each line is connected to a connection box, so that one direct current generated by each solar cell module is generated. Summarize in The integrated DC current is output to the power conditioner 50 via a reverse current prevention diode, a switch, and the like in the junction box.

The power conditioner 50 includes an inverter that converts the direct current output from the photovoltaic power generation device 51 into alternating current that is generally used in a home or the like. The AC current converted by power conditioner 50 is supplied to home appliance group 70 and storage battery 62 .

The storage battery 62 is a secondary battery that stores electric power. By storing electricity in the storage battery 62, for example, it becomes possible to use the household appliance group 70 in the event of a power failure, or to use surplus electricity generated during the day at night. In addition, it becomes possible to charge nighttime power at a low unit price and use it in the daytime.

DC/DC converter 61 is a bidirectional DC/DC converter for stabilizing the voltage exchanged between storage battery 62 and power conditioner 60 .

The power conditioner 60 includes an inverter that converts the DC current stored in the storage battery 62 output from the DC/DC converter into AC current that is generally used in a home or the like. The alternating current converted by the power conditioner 60 is supplied to the household appliance group 70 .
In addition, although the power conditioners 50 and 60 are provided as separate bodies corresponding to the photovoltaic power generation device 51 and the storage battery 62 in the above description, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, one power conditioner may be a hybrid power conditioner corresponding to the solar power generation device 51 and the storage battery 62 .

Home appliance group 70 includes a plurality of electric appliances that operate on power generated by photovoltaic power generation device 51 and on power purchased from a power company. Electrical appliances included in household appliance group 70 are not particularly limited, and household appliance group 70 includes, for example, air conditioners, refrigerators, televisions, and electric water heaters (e.g., Eco Cute).

The network 80 is realized by, for example, the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a mobile phone network, or a network combining these.

Each device included in the information processing system S has been described above. Although each device is illustrated one by one in the drawing, this is merely an example, and the information processing system S may include any number of these devices.

[Configuration of information collecting device]
Next, the configuration of the information collection device 10 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the information collection device 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a communication unit 14, a storage unit 15, An input unit 16 and a display unit 17 are provided. These units are bus-connected by signal lines and exchange signals with each other.

The CPU 11 executes various processes according to programs recorded in the ROM 12 or programs loaded from the storage unit 15 to the RAM 13 .
The RAM 13 also stores data necessary for the CPU 11 to execute various processes.

The communication unit 14 performs communication control for the CPU 11 to communicate with other devices included in the information processing system S. FIG.
The storage unit 15 is composed of a semiconductor memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and stores various data.

The input unit 16 is composed of external input devices such as various buttons and a touch panel, or a mouse and keyboard, and inputs various information according to user's instruction operations.
The display unit 17 is composed of a liquid crystal display or the like, and displays an image corresponding to the image data output by the CPU 11 .

In the information collection device 10, these units cooperate to perform the "result information collection process". Here, the performance information collection process is a series of processes in which the information collection device 10 collects various performance information related to the operation of the solar power generation device 51 and transmits the collected performance information to the cloud server 20. be.

When the performance information collection process is executed, as shown in FIG. 2, in the CPU 11, the performance information collection unit 111 and the performance information transmission unit 112 function.
In one area of the storage unit 15, a performance information storage unit 151 is set.

The performance information storage unit 151 stores various performance information related to the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 collected by the performance information collection unit 111 described later.

The performance information collection unit 111 is a part that collects various kinds of performance information regarding the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 . The performance information collection unit 111 collects the performance of the power generation amount of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 via the power conditioner 50, for example. Further, the performance information collection unit 111 collects the performance of power consumption by monitoring the power supplied to the storage battery 62 , the home appliance group 70 , and the performance information collection unit 111 . Furthermore, the performance information collection unit 111 collects the performance of the amount of power sold and the volume of power purchased by monitoring the power system for buying and selling power with the power company.

Note that the performance information collection unit 111 may acquire the performance information from a power meter in the residence that measures power or a smart meter installed by a power company. Also, the performance information collection unit 111 may connect to a HEMS (Home Energy Management System) and collect performance information from the HEMS. Further, the performance information collection unit 111 may collect performance information from the electric appliances included in the home appliance group 70 by communication complying with standards such as ECHONET Lite (registered trademark).

Alternatively, the performance information collection unit 111 may further have a function as a wattmeter consisting of a set of a fixed coil and a moving coil, for example. Then, the performance information collection unit 111 may acquire performance information by performing measurement by the performance information collection unit 111 itself using the function of this power meter.
The performance information collection unit 111 causes the performance information storage unit 151 to store the collected performance information.

The performance information transmission unit 112 associates the performance information collected by the performance information collection unit 111 and stored in the performance information storage unit 151 with the identification information of the photovoltaic power generation device 51, and based on a predetermined condition. This is the part that is transmitted to the cloud server 20 . For example, the performance information transmission unit 112 transmits performance information to the cloud server 20 at predetermined time intervals.

The transmission of the performance information to the cloud server 20 may be performed by the performance information collection unit 111 in this manner, but is not limited to this. For example, performance information may be transmitted directly to the cloud server 20 from each device (such as the solar power generation device 51 ) other than the information collection device 10 without going through the performance information collection unit 111 .

[Cloud server configuration]
Next, the configuration of the cloud server 20 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. As shown in FIG. 3 , the cloud server 20 includes a CPU 21 , a ROM 22 , a RAM 23 , a communication section 24 , a storage section 25 , an input section 26 and a display section 27 . These units are bus-connected by signal lines and exchange signals with each other.

Here, the hardware functions of these units are the same as the hardware functions of the units with the same names that are provided in the above-described information collecting apparatus 10 and that differ only in reference numerals. Therefore, redundant description is omitted.

The cloud server 20 performs "value conversion processing" through the cooperation of these units. In the value conversion process, the cloud server 20 analyzes the performance information received from the information collection device 10, converts the value related to the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 in a predetermined period in the future into a monetary amount, and provides it to the user. It is a series of processing to notify to.

When the performance information collection process is executed, as shown in FIG. A unit 215 and an operational information acquisition unit 216 function.
In one area of the storage unit 15, a performance information database 251, a weather information storage unit 252, and an operational information storage unit 253 are set.

The performance information database 251 is a database in which various performance information and the like acquired from the information collecting device 10 are stored. An example of a specific data structure of the performance information database 251 will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the performance information database 251, performance information for each predetermined time unit regarding each photovoltaic power generation device 51 is stored as one record. For example, performance information in units of one hour is stored as one record. The unit of time may be arbitrarily determined by the user, and may be, for example, several minutes, one day, or one month.

In addition, each record has columns such as "solar power generator identification information", "measurement date and time", "actual power generation", "actual power consumption", "actual power sales", "actual power purchase", and "Contract Information".
Specific contents of the information corresponding to each of these columns will be explained.

“Photovoltaic power generation device identification information” is information for identifying the photovoltaic power generation device 51 transmitted from the information collecting device 10 in association with various performance information. The photovoltaic power generation device identification information is unique information for each photovoltaic power generation device 51 . For example, the serial number of each photovoltaic power generation device 51 or an ID (Identifier) assigned to each photovoltaic power generation device 51 is used as the photovoltaic power generation device identification information.

The "measurement date and time" is the date and time when various performance information included in the record was measured. For example, as described above, when performance information in units of one hour is stored as one record, the "measurement date and time" is information about what time of year and month.

The “actual power generation amount” is the actual power generation amount of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 collected by the information collection device 10 .
“Actual power consumption” is the actual power consumption of the residence in which the photovoltaic power generation device 51 is installed, collected by the information collection device 10 .

“Amount of power sold” is a record of the amount of power sold by the residence in which the photovoltaic power generation device 51 is installed, which is collected by the information collection device 10 .
The “actual amount of purchased power” is the actual amount of purchased power collected by the information collecting device 10 for the residence in which the photovoltaic power generation device 51 is installed.

The “contract information” is information indicating the details of the contract with the electric power company in the residence where the photovoltaic power generation device 51 is installed. The contract information includes, for example, the power selling unit price and the power buying unit price in the contract between the user living in the house and the electric power company. Note that when the power selling unit price and the power buying unit price differ depending on the time zone of the day and night, the power selling unit price and the power buying unit price of the time zone corresponding to the measurement date and time of each record are stored.
The contract information is set in advance in association with the photovoltaic power generation device 51, for example. In this case, for example, the contract information is set by the user's input operation via the input unit 26 of the cloud server 20 . Alternatively, the contract information may be transmitted from the information collecting device 10 in association with various performance information, for example.

The weather information storage unit 252 stores weather information acquired from the external server 40 . The weather information is weather information of the area where the photovoltaic power generation device 51 is installed, and includes information such as weather, hours of sunshine, amount of sunshine, temperature, and humidity, for example. The weather information may be past weather information or future weather information predicted by a specialized agency such as the Meteorological Agency. For example, it may be an annual forecast for next year.

The operation information storage unit 253 stores information such as costs related to operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 acquired from the external server 40 . Information such as costs related to operation refers to, for example, replacement costs for equipment related to the operation of the solar power generation device 51 (for example, a solar power generation panel, a power conditioner, a storage battery, etc., which are components of the solar power generation device). , expansion costs, additional costs, and maintenance costs.

The performance information acquisition unit 211 acquires various performance information by receiving them from the information collection device 10 . Then, the performance information acquisition unit 211 stores various performance information acquired from the information collecting device 10 in corresponding fields of the performance information database 251 .

Note that, as described above, performance information may be transmitted directly to the cloud server 20 from each device (such as the solar power generation device 51) other than the information collection device 10 without going through the performance information collection unit 111. be. In this case, the performance information acquisition unit 211 acquires various performance information by receiving them from each device other than the information collecting device 10 . Also in this case, the performance information acquisition unit 211 stores various performance information acquired from each device in the corresponding fields of the performance information database 251 .

The power generation amount prediction unit 212 predicts the power generation amount of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 in a predetermined future period. Here, the future predetermined period can be determined arbitrarily.
For example, in the case of the general climate of Japan, the amount of sunshine and the hours of sunshine change with the change of the four seasons in 12 months, so the amount of power generated by the photovoltaic power generation device 51 also changes. In this case, it is preferable to determine the predetermined future period in units of 12 months that can level out changes in the amount of power generation due to the four seasons. For example, the predetermined future period may be determined to be a period of 12 months (that is, a period of 24 months) from 12 months after the current time.
However, this is only an example, and the future may be the future or the past depending on the environment to which the present embodiment is applied. Similarly, the predetermined period may be longer or shorter depending on the environment to which the present embodiment is applied.

The future predetermined period is determined in advance by the user's input operation via the input unit 26 of the cloud server 20, prior to prediction by the power generation amount prediction unit 212, for example. Alternatively, the predetermined future period may be specified by the user's input operation via the input unit 26 of the cloud server 20 each time the power generation amount prediction unit 212 performs prediction, for example.

The power generation amount prediction unit 212 predicts the statistic of the power generation amount of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 for a predetermined period in the future based on the “actual power generation amount” stored in the performance information database 251 . For example, if the predetermined period is 12 months, the power generation amount prediction unit 212 extracts the "actual power generation amount" from the most recent 12 months to the present time. Then, the power generation amount prediction unit 212 performs prediction by regarding the power generation amount obtained by summing the extracted “actual power generation amount” as a statistic of the power generation amount in a predetermined period.

Alternatively, the power generation amount prediction unit 212 may make a prediction by averaging the "actual power generation amount" for a plurality of periods. For example, the statistics of the power generation amount that is the sum of the "actual power generation amount" from the most recent 12 months to the present, and the power generation that is the sum of the "actual power generation amount" from the most recent 24 months to the most recent 12 months. The average value of the three power generation statistics, namely, the power generation statistic, and the power generation statistic, which is the sum of the "actual power generation amount" from the most recent 36 months to the most recent 24 months, is calculated for a predetermined period. The prediction may be made by regarding the statistic of the amount of power generation in .

Also, the power generation amount prediction unit 212 may correct the predicted power generation amount based on weather information stored in the weather information storage unit 252, for example. For example, if the weather in the most recent 12 months is worse than usual, and the amount of sunshine and the hours of sunshine are short, in the future, assuming that the weather will be as usual, increase the predicted power generation amount statistics. can be

The power generation amount prediction unit 212 outputs the statistic of the power generation amount in the future predetermined period thus predicted to the money amount conversion unit 213 .

The money conversion unit 213 converts the value of the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 in a predetermined period in the future into money.
For example, the money conversion unit 213 multiplies the statistic of the amount of power generation in a predetermined future period predicted by the power generation amount prediction unit 212 by the power selling price included in the "contract information" stored in the performance information database 251. Thus, the value related to the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 is converted into money.

Further, in the money conversion unit 213, when the electric power selling price varies depending on the time period, the power generation amount prediction unit 212 predicts the statistic amount of the power generation amount in a predetermined future period for each time period. Then, the amount conversion unit 213 multiplies the statistic for each time slot by the power selling price for each time slot, thereby converting the value related to the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 into a monetary amount.

Also, the amount conversion unit 213 may perform conversion based on other information. For example, if it is known that the power selling price will be changed in a predetermined period in the future, the conversion may be performed based on the changed power selling price. In addition, the amount conversion unit 213 calculates, for example, the maintenance cost associated with aging deterioration of the photovoltaic power generation device 51, the additional cost of the device, and the replacement cost based on the information stored in the operation information storage unit 253. , these calculated costs may be subtracted from the converted amount.

In addition, for example, the money conversion unit 213 extracts from the performance information database 251 the “power consumption” for the same period as the period in which the power generation amount prediction unit 212 predicted the power generation amount statistic, You may make it calculate an amount. Then, the amount conversion unit 213 multiplies the power amount obtained by subtracting the calculated statistic of the power consumption from the statistic of the power generation amount predicted by the power generation amount prediction unit 212 by the power selling price. can be
Further, the result obtained by multiplying the calculated statistic of power consumption by the power purchase price for each time period may be added to the conversion result.

The amount conversion unit 213 outputs the amount calculated by the conversion and indicating the value of the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 for a predetermined period in the future to the notification information transmission unit 214 .

The notification information transmission unit 214 transmits the amount output by the amount conversion unit 213 to the smartphone 30 in order to notify the user of the amount output by the amount conversion unit 213 .
As described above with reference to FIG. 1, the smartphone 30 displays the amount of money received from the cloud server 20, for example, on a display provided in the smartphone 30, or outputs the amount by voice from a speaker provided in the smartphone 30. Notify users.

By this notification, the user can grasp the amount of money converted into the value related to the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 . Then, the user can consider how to operate the photovoltaic power generation device 51 in the future, using the grasped amount of money as one of the criteria for judgment.

Note that the notification information transmitting unit 214 may notify the amount calculated by conversion by other methods. For example, the notification information transmission unit 214 may notify by displaying the amount of money on the display unit 27 of the cloud server 20 . In addition, for example, the notification information transmitting unit 214 may transmit the amount to a device other than the smartphone 30 (for example, a personal computer included in the home appliance group 70 installed in the user's residence). In addition, for example, the notification information transmission unit 214 may notify a business operator or the like who performs maintenance of the solar power generation device 51 .

The weather information acquisition unit 215 causes the weather information storage unit 252 to store the weather information acquired from the external server 40 . In addition, the operation information acquisition unit 216 causes the operation information storage unit 253 to store information such as costs related to the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 acquired from the external server 40 . Details of these pieces of information are as described above with reference to the weather information storage unit 252 and the operation information storage unit 253 .

[Results information collection process]
Next, the flow of performance information collection processing executed by the information processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S<b>11 , the performance information collection unit 111 collects various performance information regarding the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 .
In step S12, the performance information storage unit 151 stores various performance information collected by the performance information collection unit 111 in step S11.

In step S13, the performance information transmission unit 112 determines whether the conditions for transmitting various performance information stored in the performance information storage unit 151 to the cloud server 20 are satisfied. For example, in the performance information database 251 described above with reference to FIG. It is a condition for sending that it has been done. If the conditions for transmission are not satisfied, a determination of No is made in step S13, and the process is repeated again from step S11. On the other hand, if the conditions for transmission are satisfied, a determination of Yes is made in step S13, and the process proceeds to step S14.

In step S<b>14 , the performance information transmission unit 112 transmits various performance information stored in the performance information storage unit 151 to the cloud server 20 . This completes the performance information collection process.
The latest performance information is appropriately transmitted to the cloud server 20 by the performance information collection processing described above.

[Value conversion process]
Next, the flow of value conversion processing executed by the cloud server 20 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In step S21, each of the performance information acquisition unit 211, the weather information acquisition unit 215, and the operation information acquisition unit 216 determines whether or not they have newly acquired information to be acquired. If none of the performance information acquisition unit 211, the weather information acquisition unit 215, and the operation information acquisition unit 216 have acquired information, it is determined No in step S21, and the process proceeds to step S23. On the other hand, if any of the performance information acquisition unit 211, the weather information acquisition unit 215, and the operation information acquisition unit 216 acquires information, it is determined as Yes in step S21, and the process proceeds to step S22.

In step S22, the information acquired in step S21 is stored in a portion of the storage unit 25 corresponding to the acquired information.

In step S23, the notification information transmission unit 214 determines whether or not the conditions for notification are satisfied. The notification information transmitting unit 214 uses, for example, the arrival of a predetermined date and time or the notification request from the user as a condition for notification. If the conditions for notification are not satisfied, a determination of No is made in step S23, and the process is repeated again from step S21. On the other hand, if the conditions for notification are satisfied, a determination of Yes is made in step S23, and the process proceeds to step S24.

In step S24, the power generation amount prediction unit 212 predicts the statistic of the power generation amount of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 for a predetermined period in the future.
In step S25, the money conversion unit 213 converts the value of the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 in a predetermined period in the future into money.

In step S26, the notification information transmission unit 214 notifies the user of the amount output by the amount conversion unit 213 by, for example, transmitting the amount output by the amount conversion unit 213 to the smartphone 30. I do. This completes the value conversion process.

By the value conversion processing described above, the user can grasp the amount of money converted from the value related to the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 . Then, the user can consider how to operate the photovoltaic power generation device 51 in the future, using the grasped amount of money as one of the criteria for judgment.
That is, according to this embodiment, it is possible to provide information on the operation of the existing photovoltaic power generation system.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes modifications, improvements, etc. within the scope of achieving the object of the present invention. Further, in the above-described embodiments, the embodiments are realized by devices such as cloud servers and smartphones, but the present invention is not particularly limited to these, and can be realized by general electronic devices having information processing functions.

Also, the series of processes described above can be executed by hardware or by software. Also, one functional block may be composed of hardware alone, software alone, or a combination thereof.
In other words, the functional configurations illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 are merely examples and are not particularly limited. That is, it is sufficient that the information processing system S has a function capable of executing the above-described series of processes as a whole, and what kind of functional block is used to realize this function is not particularly limited to the example of FIG. .

For example, the functional configuration included in this embodiment can be realized by a processor that executes arithmetic processing, and processors that can be used in this embodiment include various processors such as single processors, multiprocessors, and multicore processors. In addition to those configured by a single processing device, those in which these various processing devices are combined with a processing circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) are included.

When a series of processes is to be executed by software, a program that constitutes the software is installed in a computer or the like from a network or a recording medium.
The computer may be a computer built into dedicated hardware. The computer may also be a computer capable of executing various functions by installing various programs, such as a general-purpose personal computer.

A recording medium containing such a program may be provided to the user by being distributed separately from the device main body in order to provide the program to the user, or may be provided to the user in a state pre-installed in the device main body. good too. The storage medium distributed separately from the main body of the apparatus is composed of, for example, a magnetic disk (including a floppy disk), an optical disk, or a magneto-optical disk. Optical discs are composed of, for example, CD-ROMs (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs), Blu-ray (registered trademark) Discs (Blu-ray discs), and the like. The magneto-optical disc is composed of an MD (Mini Disc) or the like. 2 and 3, or the storage unit 15 in FIG. 2 and the storage unit 15 in FIG. It is composed of a hard disk or the like included in the unit 25 .

In this specification, the steps of writing a program recorded on a recording medium are not necessarily processed chronologically according to the order, but may be executed in parallel or individually. It also includes the processing to be performed.
Also, in this specification, the term "system" means an overall device composed of a plurality of devices, a plurality of means, and the like.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments are merely examples and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention. The present invention can take various other embodiments, and various modifications such as omissions and substitutions can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention described in this specification and the like, and are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof.
For example, the embodiments of the present invention may be modified as in the following modified examples.

<Modification>
In the above-described embodiment, the monetary amount conversion unit 213 calculates one monetary amount indicating the value of the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device 51 for a predetermined period in the future by conversion. The amount conversion unit 213 is not limited to this, and may calculate a plurality of amounts corresponding to each of a plurality of different investment situations. Then, the notification information transmitting unit 214 may notify the user of a plurality of amounts corresponding to each operation status.
As a result, the user can compare and consider a plurality of amounts corresponding to each operation status, so that the user can easily determine how the operation should be conducted in the future.

In this case, for example, the amount conversion unit 213 determines whether the unit price of electric power sold to the electric power company is maintained as it is or when the unit price of electric power sold to the electric power company is changed from the current price. may be converted to calculate respective amounts. In addition, for example, when the timing at which the unit price of electricity sold to the electric power company will be changed from the current price is fixed, the amount conversion unit 213 calculates each amount so that the prices before and after the change can be compared. You may make it

Further, for example, the money amount conversion unit 213 may calculate the amount of money for each of cases in which a new device is added, replaced, etc., as an operation status, and a case in which it is not performed. For example, the amount conversion unit 213 performs conversion for each of the case where power storage is performed rather than purchasing a new storage battery and selling power, and the case where power selling is continued without purchasing a storage battery. may be calculated.

By referring to each of a plurality of amounts corresponding to a plurality of operational states calculated in this manner, the user can, for example, maintain the photovoltaic power generation device 51, replace or expand the device, and continue using the device. or to stop using the current photovoltaic power generation device 51 in the future and replace the photovoltaic power generation device 51 itself with a new one.

10 information collecting device 11, 21 CPU
12, 21 ROMs
13, 23 RAM
14, 24 communication unit 15, 25 storage unit 16, 26 input unit 17, 27 display unit 20 cloud server 30 smartphone 40 external server 50, 60 power conditioner 51 solar power generation device 61 DC/DC converter 62 storage battery 70 home appliance group 80 Network 111 Performance information collection unit 112 Performance information transmission unit 151 Performance information storage unit 211 Performance information acquisition unit 212 Power generation amount prediction unit 213 Money conversion unit 214 Notification information transmission unit 215 Weather information acquisition unit 216 Operation information acquisition unit 251 Performance information database 252 Weather information storage unit 253 Operation information storage unit S Information processing system

Claims (5)

an acquisition unit that acquires the actual amount of power generated by the photovoltaic power generation device;
a prediction unit that predicts the power generation amount of the photovoltaic power generation device in a predetermined future period based on the actual power generation amount acquired by the acquisition unit;
a conversion unit that converts a value related to the operation of the photovoltaic power generation device in the predetermined future period into a monetary amount based on the amount of power generation predicted by the prediction unit;
a notification unit that notifies the amount converted by the conversion unit;
with
The conversion unit determines whether any one or more of replacement of equipment, expansion of equipment, and addition of equipment related to the operation of the solar power generation equipment will occur during the predetermined period in the future. Converting operational value into money,
The notification unit notifies each of the amount of money when one or more of the replacement of the device, the addition of the device, and the addition of the device is performed, and the amount of money when not performed.
Information processing system. Further comprising an information collecting unit installed corresponding to the solar power generation device, collecting a performance record of the power generation amount of the solar power generation device, and transmitting the collected performance record of the power generation amount to the acquisition unit,
The acquisition unit acquires the actual amount of power generation received from the information collection unit.
The information processing system according to claim 1. The information collecting unit collects, as other performance information, one or more of an actual power consumption amount, an actual power sales amount, and an actual power purchase amount regarding the power generated by the solar power generation device. , transmitting the other collected performance information to the acquisition unit;
The acquisition unit further acquires the other performance information,
The conversion unit performs the conversion based on the other performance information as well.
The information processing system according to claim 2. The conversion unit performs the conversion based on either or both of the influence of aging deterioration of the solar power generation device and the influence of changes in weather conditions at the installation location of the solar power generation device.
The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. An information processing method executed by an information processing system,
an acquisition step in which the acquisition unit acquires the actual amount of power generated by the photovoltaic power generation device;
a prediction step in which a prediction unit predicts the power generation amount of the photovoltaic power generation device in a predetermined future period based on the actual power generation amount acquired by the acquisition unit;
a conversion step in which a conversion unit converts a value related to the operation of the solar power generation device in the predetermined future period into a monetary amount based on the amount of power generation predicted by the prediction unit;
a notification step in which the notification unit notifies the amount converted by the conversion unit;
including
In the conversion step, the conversion unit converts any one or more of device replacement, device expansion, and device addition related to the operation of the solar power generation device to the Convert the value related to the operation of the solar power generation equipment into a monetary amount,
In the notification step, the notification unit notifies each of the amount of money when one or more of the replacement of the device, the addition of the device, and the addition of the device is performed, and the amount of money when the replacement is not performed.
Information processing methods.

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