KR20090027071A - Prepayment electric rate system and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

A prepayment type electricity charge system and their control method for deducting the on-line charge according to the power use in a prepaid electricity charge are provided to curtail a cost due to operating a simple module based on one way or interactive meter check. A user pays online payment or visit payment to a power supplier(S210). The power supplier supplies the electricity to the consumer(S220). The billing server calculates the electric energy used in consumer as the use electric charge(S230). The billing server strikes a balance the calculated use electric charge in the paid electric charge(S240). The balance of the paid electric charge is close at the lower limit of charge(S250) The billing server notifies user of the additional electric charge deposit(S260).

Description

Prepayment electric rate system and its control method

The present invention relates to a prepaid electric charge system and a control method thereof, in which an electric charge is paid in advance to a power supplier at a consumer price, and the electric charge is deducted from the electric charge.

Power supply companies currently have difficulty managing unpaid customers and collecting unpaid bills.

In Korea, a deposit system is implemented for some customers. In the case of the deposit system, the procedures for receiving, settlement, and refunding are complicated. The inconvenience of having to repeat manual disconnection and resupply is also a problem for the power provider.

In the case of overseas, a prepaid electricity bill system is provided by providing a prepaid electricity meter, and the current prepaid electricity bill system has a problem in that the cost is increased because a dedicated electricity meter is required to implement the system.

In addition, there is a hassle of having to buy a prepaid rate card in order to use electricity and plug it into a wattmeter to use electricity, and there is inconvenience of having to check the balance of the rate card one by one before charging to zero.

The present invention, instead of using a separate meter and system to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, calculates the real-time electricity bill using the data read through the remote automatic meter reading in the server, the electricity paid in advance in the customer It is an object of the present invention to provide a prepaid electric billing system and a control method thereof, which deducts a fee and notifies the user when the paid electric bill is near the lower limit set by the customer or the power provider.

In order to achieve the above object, in the prepaid electric charge system and control method thereof of the present invention, the electric charge used for the amount of power used is subtracted in real time from the electric charge previously paid by the customer, and the balance of the electric charge is previously The customer will be notified when the set rate limit is imminent, and the electric charge will be charged or the power will be cut off remotely or manually.

In the present invention includes a database unit including the customer information and the electricity consumption metering information of the customer, and calculates the electricity usage fee of the customer based on the metering information of the database, and in the electricity bill previously paid by the customer It is preferable to include a charge server that notifies the customer when the charge lower limit is imminent by subtracting the electricity usage charge in real time.

In the present invention, the lower price limit is preferably set by a power provider or a customer.

In the present invention, the information of the fare server is preferably disclosed in real time at the consumer through a web program.

In the present invention, the web program preferably indicates electric charge calculation information, electric charge subtraction information, and electric charge charging method.

The present invention includes a first step of setting a lower price limit of a customer subscribed to a prepaid plan, and includes two steps of supplying power to the customer after an electric charge is paid in advance by the customer. And calculating three electric charges according to the power consumption of the customer, and subtracting the electric charges from the paid electric charges in real time, and the balance of the electric charges after the deduction is imminent in the lower price limit. It is desirable to include four steps of notifying the audience when doing so.

In the present invention, after the fourth step, when the balance of the electric charge becomes zero, it is preferable to be disconnected remotely or manually.

In the present invention, after the fourth step, it is preferable to further include a five step of charging the electric charge by the customer.

In the present invention, the electric charge charging preferably includes an online payment method through a visit payment or a web program.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the lower price limit of the first stage is set by a power provider or a customer.

In the present invention, the four-step notification method preferably includes a telephone, an SMS, an e-mail, a voice message, and a fax.

According to the present invention, since the prepaid electricity rate control can be operated by a simple module connected with the existing system and the unidirectional or bidirectional meter reading infrastructure without additional systems or facilities, the cost can be saved.

In addition, there is an effect of reducing the costs corresponding to the billing, receivables and late charges billing regarding the computerized processing of monthly usage.

In addition, it is possible to subscribe to a prepaid plan through a web program of the Internet, and to increase the convenience of customers because the electric bill can be paid in advance.

In addition, there is an effect of preventing the power failure due to not knowing from the customer by notifying the customer in advance when the electric fee paid in advance is imminent in the set rate lower limit.

In addition, power outages and resupply are made instantly via remote control at the fare server, enhancing the convenience of power providers and consumers.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In adding reference numerals to components of the following drawings, it is determined that the same components have the same reference numerals as much as possible even if displayed on different drawings, and it is determined that they may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention. Detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations will be omitted.

1 is a block diagram showing a prepaid electricity bill system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a fee server 100, a database unit 200, and a web program 300 are included.

The fee server 100 is connected to the database unit 200 and the web program 300, receives a prepaid plan usage request from the customer 310 through the web program 300, the database unit ( Based on the metering information of the 200) to calculate the electricity usage fee of the customer (310).

And the used electricity charges are subtracted in real time from the electricity charges previously paid by the customer (310), the electricity use charges, paid electricity charges, deducted charges, etc. are the web program 300 in the customer price You can check through

In addition, when the electric charge is deducted and is approaching a predetermined rate lower limit, the customer is notified to the rate server 100 through a method previously applied.

In this case, a notification method uses a telephone, an SMS, an email, a voice message, a fax, and the like. When the prepaid plan is applied in the customer 310, the application is simultaneously applied through the web program 300, or thereafter, the web program It is possible to change and apply at any time on 300.

The lower price limit may be set through the web program 300 in the customer 310 applying for a prepaid rate plan, or may be arbitrarily set by the power provider when the rate limit is not set.

The database unit 200 includes a remote meter reading database 210 and a customer database 220.

The remote meter reading database 210 measures the amount of power used by the consumer 310 through the meter 214, processes the remote meter reading server 212, and stores the result.

The customer database 220 stores customer information such as information on the customer who applied for the prepaid rate plan, lower rate limit information, and notification method.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a prepaid electric charge control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, in the step of subscribing to a prepaid plan (S200), the subscriber subscribes to the prepaid plan through a web program, and at this time, specifies a lower limit of charges and a notification method when charging an electric charge.

In the step of paying the electric bill in advance (S210), a predetermined amount is paid in advance to a power provider through online deposit or visiting deposit at a customer subscribed to the prepaid plan.

In the step of supplying power (S220), the electric power supplier supplies power to the customer when the electric charge is paid in advance from the customer.

In the calculation of the electric charge of the used electric power (S230), the electric power used by the customer is calculated as the electric charge used by the charge server as the electric power is supplied.

Subtracting the use electric charge (S240) is a real-time subtraction of the electric charge paid by the customer in step S210 the electric charge used in the charge server. At this time, the deducted contents can be known at any time through the web program in the consumer.

In step S250, when the balance of the electricity bill is imminent in the set rate lower limit line (S250), when the balance of the paid electricity rate in step S210 approaches the rate lower limit set in step S200, the charge server notifies the customer to charge the electricity rate ( S260).

In the step 260 of notifying the customer, the method of charging and the like is charged together with the balance of the electric bill by the method set by the customer in step S200. The method of notification may include telephone, SMS, e-mail, voice message and fax. Can be.

In the step of charging electric charges (S270), after being notified to charge at the customer, the electric charge of a certain amount is charged through online deposit through a web page and direct visit to a power supply source, and the electric charge is charged when the electric charge is charged. Return to step S220 to supply.

When the electric charge is not charged, when the electric charge balance becomes 0, the electricity supply is stopped remotely or manually, that is, disconnection (S290).

If the electric charge is recharged from the consumer after the power is cut off, power may be supplied again to return to step S220.

According to the present invention, by using the real-time meter reading data to calculate the electricity bill used by the customer and deducted in real time from the prepaid electricity bill, the balance of the electricity bill is to be charged to the customer when the imminent amount, that is, the charge lower limit near the end Notify.

 If the electric charge is not charged at the notified customer, the power supply of the customer is disconnected remotely or manually when the balance of the electric charge becomes zero, and immediately after the power failure, the electric power is immediately supplied remotely or manually. Can be resumed.

As described above, it has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but those skilled in the art various modifications and changes of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below I can understand that you can.

1 is a block diagram showing a prepaid electricity bill system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a flow chart for a prepaid electricity rate control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

            <Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: charge server 200: database portion

210: remote metering database 212: remote metering server

214: Meter 220: Customer Database

300: Web Program 310: Audience

Claims (10)

A database unit including customer information and customer power meter reading information; And Comprising the billing information of the customer based on the meter reading information of the database, the billing server for notifying the customer when the fee lower limit imminence by subtracting the electric bill in real time from the electricity bill previously paid by the customer Prepaid electricity bill system, characterized in that. The method of claim 1, The charge lower limit is set by a power provider or a customer. The method of claim 1, The prepaid electricity rate system, characterized in that the information of the rate server is disclosed in real time at the customer through a web program. The method of claim 3, wherein The web program is a prepaid electricity rate system, characterized in that the electric charge calculation information, the electric charge subtraction information and the electric charge charging method. Step 1 is the lower limit of the charges of the customer subscribed to the prepaid plan; Supplying power to the customer after the electric charge is paid in advance by the customer; Calculating an electric charge based on the electric power used by the customer, and subtracting the electric charge from the paid electric charge in real time; And And a four step of notifying a customer when the balance of the electricity charges after the deduction is imminent in the charge lower limit. The method of claim 5, wherein After the fourth step, when the balance of the electricity bill becomes zero, the power supply control method of the prepaid electricity bill, characterized in that the power is cut off remotely or manually. The method of claim 5, wherein And after the fourth step, further comprising a five step of charging the electric charge by the customer. The method of claim 7, wherein The electric charge charging method includes a prepaid electric charge control method, characterized in that it comprises a payment online or payment method through a web program. The method of claim 5, wherein The charge lower limit of the first stage is set by a power provider or a customer. The method of claim 5, wherein The four step notification method comprises a telephone, SMS, email, voice message and fax prepaid electricity rate control method.

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