WO2011095858A2

WO2011095858A2 - Electric power monitoring system

Info

Publication number: WO2011095858A2
Application number: PCT/IB2011/000126
Authority: WO
Inventors: 本間　義久; 晶子高宮; 森本　直久
Original assignee: パナソニック電工株式会社
Priority date: 2010-02-03
Filing date: 2011-01-27
Publication date: 2011-08-11
Also published as: WO2011095858A3; JP2011160608A

Abstract

Disclosed is an electric power monitoring system which is provided with: a measurement means which measures the amount of electric power consumed in a building; a communication means which receives electric power information from an electric power company; a provided information generation means which generates provided information relating to the electric power used in the building on the basis of at least the measurement results from the measurement means or the electric power information, and outputs a notification signal to a notification means when provided information is newly generated; and the notification means which carries out a notification operation when the notification signal is input.

Description

Power monitoring system

The present invention relates to a power monitoring system for monitoring power consumed by a power consumer.

In order to reduce greenhouse gas (such as carbon dioxide) emissions that are considered to be a cause of global warming, it is necessary to promote reduction of power consumption (power saving) in power consumers (offices and houses). is there. And the electric power monitoring system described in patent document 1 is proposed as one means of promoting such power saving. The conventional system described in Patent Document 1 measures power consumption for each of a plurality of branch circuits in a distribution board for branch wiring of commercial power supplied from an electric power company, and consumption for each branch circuit. Electric power is displayed on a monitor device installed in the living room of the house. In other words, it can be expected that the resident of the house is encouraged to take an energy-saving action such as turning off unnecessary lights by “visualizing” the usage status of electric power (electric energy) in the house. In addition, information for encouraging residents to save energy is displayed on the monitor device.
JP 2009-130983 A

By the way, in the power monitoring system disclosed in Patent Document 1, if the resident is near the monitor device and does not check the display content of the monitor device from time to time, the resident will not notice that new information can be viewed on the monitor device. There was a case. In some cases, the monitor device is not always turned on, and the resident needs to turn on the monitor device from time to time to check whether new information can be browsed. In this way, because the resident is not aware of the display on the monitor device or the monitor device is turned off, the resident has missed new information that can be viewed on the monitor device, and this information is valid on the resident side. There was a possibility that it could not be used.

This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, and provides the electric power monitoring system which can alert | report to a user that new information can be browsed.
According to one aspect of the present invention, at least one of a measurement unit that measures the amount of power consumed in a building, a communication unit that receives power information from an electric power company, a measurement result by the measurement unit, and the power information Providing information related to the power used in the building is generated based on either one of the information, and when the provision information is newly generated, provision information generating means for outputting a notification signal to the notification means, and the notification signal is input. Then, the electric power monitoring system provided with the alerting | reporting means which performs alerting | reporting operation | movement is provided.
The power monitoring system is provided separately from the power distribution facility that distributes the power supplied from the power company in the building and the notification means, and by exchanging information with the provision information generation means, Display means for displaying provided information received from the provided information generating means, wherein the provided information generating means stores the generated provided information, and the power information is transmitted through a network. good.
According to such an invention, when the provision information generation unit newly generates the provision information, the notification unit performs a notification operation, thereby notifying the person around the notification unit that the new provision information has been generated. It can be tightened.
Since the notification means is provided separately from the display means and can be installed in a free place, even a person who is not near the display means can grasp that the provision information is newly generated by the notification operation by the notification means, The provided information can be used effectively.

Objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
It is a system configuration figure of this embodiment. It is a block diagram of the alerting | reporting terminal same as the above. It is explanatory drawing of the electric power information in the same as the above. It is a sequence chart for operation | movement description same as the above.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings forming a part of this specification. Throughout the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description thereof is omitted.
In this specification, an embodiment in which the technical idea of the present invention is applied to the power monitoring system described in Patent Document 1 will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the power monitoring system to which the technical idea of the present invention can be applied is not limited to the power monitoring system described in Patent Document 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the power monitoring system according to the present embodiment connects a home equipment A installed in each dwelling unit and a mobile terminal PT (terminal device) outside the home via a center device SV (server) via the Internet NT (network). ) And configured.
The in-home equipment A includes an integrated management panel 1, a plurality of electric devices Xmn (subscripts m and n are integers of 1 or more, and the same applies hereinafter), and a plurality (two in the figure) of terminal devices (personal personal computers). A terminal device having a web browser function such as a computer PC and a display control device CV).
The electric device Xmn is connected to the integrated management panel 1 through an electric line Lp for supplying commercial power and an information transmission line Lj, receives power supply from the integrated management panel 1, and is controlled and monitored by the integrated management panel 1. . In addition, there exist a lighting fixture, an air conditioning apparatus (air conditioner), a floor heating appliance, an IH apparatus etc. as the electric equipment Xmn installed in a house. A plurality of terminal devices are connected to the integrated management panel 1 via the LAN cable Li, and the integrated management panel 1 and the terminal devices constitute a home network using a general-purpose communication protocol (for example, TCP / IP, HTTP, etc.). ing. Here, the personal computer PC and the display control device CV correspond to the display means.
This home network is composed of a local area network (LAN) compliant with the 100BASE-TX (IEEE802.3u) standard, for example. In the integrated management panel 1, terminal devices (personal computer PC and display control device CV) corresponding to network terminals and the like are connected to an integrated device TM described later corresponding to a layer 2 switch or a layer 3 switch by a star wiring. . The integrated device TM has an Internet connection function corresponding to the type of line (phone line, CATV line, optical fiber line, etc.) for connecting to the Internet NT, and the home network is an external network via the integrated device TM. Connected to Internet NT. Note that the terminal device constituting the home network may be a television receiver having a web browser function.
Furthermore, a center device SV installed outside the home is connected to the home network via the Internet NT. Then, as will be described later, by performing data communication via the Internet NT between the portable terminal device (portable terminal PT) and the center device SV, for example, using the portable terminal PT, the home electrical device Control and monitoring can be performed. Examples of this type of portable terminal PT include a notebook personal computer, a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), a smartphone (smart phone), and the like that can be connected to the Internet NT and have a web browser function.
The center device SV is composed of a general-purpose computer device having a network function. The center apparatus SV transmits a message addressed to the integrated management panel 1 transmitted from the portable terminal PT via the Internet NT, and transmits to the terminal apparatus (for example, the portable terminal PT) that does not belong to the home network from the integrated management panel 1. A function to relay a message to be transmitted is provided. Further, the center device SV includes an information database (not shown), and power information of the power company is stored in this information database. The power information is information indicating a correspondence relationship between the ratio of FIT (Feed-in Tariff) power included in the power supplied from the power company and time as shown in FIG. The FIT power is power generated by a power generation facility (for example, a power generation facility that uses renewable energy such as sunlight, wind power, or hydropower) that is a target of the fixed price purchase system. Such power information is updated by the power company every 24 hours, that is, once a day. When the power information stored in the information database is updated, the center device SV distributes the updated power information to the energy management unit 3 via the Internet NT. In addition, since the portable terminal PT and center apparatus SV which have the above internet connection functions are known well, description is abbreviate | omitted about a detailed structure.
The integrated management panel 1 has a main breaker Bs that receives commercial power supplied from an electric power company on the primary side, and a plurality of lines (only three are shown in FIG. 1) that are inserted into the electric circuit branched from the secondary side of the main breaker Bs. Branch breakers Bmn (m = 1, 2,..., N = 1, 2,...). Furthermore, the integrated management panel 1 includes a current measurement unit 2 that measures the main current and branch currents of the branch circuits, an energy management unit 3 that calculates the amount of power used based on the measurement data of the current measurement unit 2, and the integration described above. The apparatus TM and the electric equipment controller C1 are provided. Then, each electric circuit Lpmn (m = 1, 2,..., N = 1, 2,...) Branched through each branch breaker Bmn is led out of the integrated management panel 1 and is connected to each electric circuit Lpmn. Operating power is supplied to the device Xmn. That is, the main breaker Bs and the branch breaker Bmn correspond to the power distribution equipment.
The current measurement unit 2 includes a main power measurement unit 2a, a branch current measurement unit CTmn (m = 1, 2,..., N = 1, 2,...), And a control unit 2b. The main power measuring unit 2a periodically measures the main power supplied through the main breaker Bs. The branch current measurement unit CTmn is provided for each branch breaker, and periodically measures the value of the branch current flowing through the corresponding branch breaker Bmn for each branch breaker. The control unit 2b collects main power of the main breaker Bs and branch current measurement data for each branch breaker Bmn, and outputs the collected measurement data to the energy management unit 3 as detection information.
The main power measuring unit 2a includes a main current measuring unit CTs that periodically measures the main current flowing through the main circuit breaker Bs, and a power calculating unit EPO that calculates the amount of electric power based on the measured value of the main current. The main power measuring unit 2a calculates the main power amount supplied via the main breaker Bs by converting the measured value of the main current measured by the main current measuring unit CTs into the power amount by the power calculating unit EPO. The
Each branch current measuring unit CTmn includes a current sensor (not shown) that detects a branch current flowing through each electric circuit Lpmn, and a sensor unit (not shown) that generates detection data based on the detection output of the current sensor. Is provided. In this sensor unit, the generated detection data is modulated into a transmission signal and output to the control unit 2b.
And in the control part 2b, the signal for transmission input from the sensor unit is demodulated, detection data is taken out, and the acquired detection data is sequentially transmitted to the energy management unit 3 from the transmission part 2c.
The energy management unit 3 includes a calculation unit 3a and a control unit 3b. The calculation unit 3a receives branch current measurement data for each branch breaker Bmn from the current measurement unit 2, and calculates the branch power amount supplied via each branch breaker Bmn based on the measurement data. The control unit 3b generates image data representing the main power amount calculated by the power calculation unit EPO and the branch power amount calculated by the calculation unit 3a. The current measuring unit 2 and the calculation unit 3a constitute a measuring unit.
The control unit 3b includes an image data generation unit 3c and a data storage unit 3d. The control unit 3b is connected to the integrated device TM and the electric device controller C1 in the integrated management panel 1 via a LAN cable. The image data generating unit 3c is used for various types of power such as main power and branch power for each branch circuit. Web content (web page) is created as image data for displaying electricity usage, and stored in a memory. Then, the image data generation unit 3c sends the desired web content to the terminal device in response to various request signals input from the terminal device (display control device CV, personal computer PC, portable terminal PT, etc.) via the integrated device TM. Has a function (web server function) to be provided (distributed).
The data storage unit 3d sequentially stores the main power amount and the branch power amount (usage power amount) for each branch breaker Bmn input from the arithmetic unit 3a in time series, and the power information distributed from the center device SV. Remember.
Further, in the data storage unit 3d, data of the branch breaker Bmn for detecting the electric energy (branch breaker name: branch 1, branch 2,...), And information on the electrical equipment Xmn connected to each branch breaker Bmn. Is registered in advance. As information on the electric device Xmn connected to the branch breaker Bmn, information such as the name of the electric device connected to the branch breaker Bmn, its use, place of use, and branch current at stop is stored. In the case of a branch breaker provided individually for a single circuit such as an air conditioner (air conditioner) or floor heating facility, the name of the corresponding electric device is stored. In addition, in the case of a branch breaker that may be connected to an unspecified electrical device rather than a single circuit, the name of the electrical device that may be connected to each branch breaker (for example, a lighting fixture, a television, a hot water supply) Etc.) and the main place of use are stored in the data storage unit 3d. In addition, it is preferable to set the name of the electric equipment (for example, hot carpet, an iron, etc.) with high possibility that a user will connect and use each branch breaker and its use place in the data storage part 3d.
On the other hand, a plurality of rooms Rm (m = 1, 2,...) Such as a living room, a bedroom, a children's room, etc. are provided in the house, and each room Rm has an electric device Xmn (m = 1, 2,. n = 1, 2,...) and electrical outlets to which electrical devices are connected. In the example of FIG. 1, the branch breaker B1n (n = 1, 2,...) Has an air conditioner X11 provided in a room R1 (for example, a living room) or an outlet (other than the air conditioner X11 used in the room R1). To the electrical outlet). Electric power is supplied to the electrical equipment and the air conditioner X11 connected to the outlet via the corresponding electric circuit Lp1n (n = 1, 2,...). Further, for example, an air conditioner X21 provided in the room R2 (for example, a child room) is connected to the branch breaker B21, and power is supplied through the electric circuit Lp21. Further, for example, an air conditioner X31 provided in a room R3 (for example, a bedroom) is connected to the branch breaker B31, and power is supplied through the electric circuit Lp31. Further, for example, an outlet for an air conditioner X41 or a refrigerator provided in a room R4 (for example, a kitchen) is connected to the branch breaker B4n (n = 1, 2,...), And a corresponding electric circuit Lp4n (n = 1, 1, etc.). 2, ...). Furthermore, the branch breaker B51 is connected to an outlet provided in the room R5 (for example, a Japanese-style room) (an outlet to which an electric device used in the room R5 is connected), and supplies power through the electric circuit Lp51. Further, the branch breakers Bmn (m = 6, 7,..., N = 1, 2,...) Are connected to outlets for water heaters, floor heating, and washing machines, respectively, and corresponding electric circuits Lpmn (m = 6, m = 6, m). 7,..., N = 1, 2,.
As shown in FIG. 1, the integrated device TM is connected to the control unit 3b of the energy management unit 3 in the panel, the electric device controller C1, and the personal computer outside the panel via a LAN cable (enhanced category 5 or category 6 LAN cable). A PC and a display control device CV are connected to the center device SV, a mobile terminal PT such as a mobile phone, or other terminal devices through the Internet NT. This integrated device TM has a packet processing function, a path switching function, a network security function, a UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) control point function, and the like, and controls data exchange in the network.
The electric device controller C1 has an interface function with the integrated device TM and an interface function with, for example, an electric device Xmn (for example, an air conditioner or a floor heating facility) that conforms to a unified standard of the Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association (JEMA), for example. ing. When the electrical device controller C1 receives a control request message from the terminal device via the integrated device TM, the electrical device controller C1 operates by individually controlling the electrical device Xmn (the electrical device having the interface function described above) via the information transmission path Lj. A function (control function) to switch between and stop. Further, when the electrical device controller C1 receives a monitoring request message from the terminal device via the integrated device TM, the electrical device controller C1 changes the operating state (running [lighted] or stopped [lighted off]) of each electrical device Xmn via the information transmission path Lj. A function (monitoring function) for individually acquiring and transmitting a response to the control request and the monitoring request (operation state of each electrical device Xmn) to the terminal device that is the transmission source of the request message via the integrated device TM Have. Then, the electrical device controller C1 transmits a response (control state of each electrical device Xmn) message to the control request or the monitoring request to the terminal device that is the transmission source of the request message via the integrated device TM (monitoring). Function). The electric device controller C1 stores in advance device name information of the electric device Xmn under its control, name information of the room Rm, and the like. Furthermore, the electrical device controller C1 creates web content (web page) for displaying the name and operation state of the electrical device Xmn with characters and symbols, and provides (distributes) the web content in response to a request from the terminal device. ) Function (web server function).
By the way, the power monitoring system of the present embodiment has one or more (three in FIG. 1) in order to notify the user (resident) that provision information described later displayed on the display means has been newly generated. Informing terminals 5a to 5c are provided. Note that the notification terminals 5a to 5c have the same configuration. In the following description, the individual notification terminals are referred to as

notification terminals

5a, 5b, and 5c, and the entire notification terminal is described as the notification terminal. Indicated as 5.
As shown in FIG. 2, the notification terminal 5 includes a terminal control unit 50, a wireless communication unit 51, a display unit 52, and an operation input unit 53, and these units are housed in a synthetic resin housing (not shown). The notification terminal 5 is used in a state where it is placed on a desk or hung on a wall.
The terminal control unit 50 includes a microcomputer as a main component, and has a data storage unit 50a composed of an electrically rewritable semiconductor memory. The radio communication unit 51 transmits and receives radio signals using radio waves as a medium in accordance with, for example, “radio station for low power data communication system” defined in Article 6, Paragraph 4, Item 4 of the Japanese Radio Law Enforcement Regulations. For example, it is composed of a commercially available LSI for low-power wireless communication. The operation input unit 53 includes a push button switch (not shown) and the like, and outputs an operation signal to the terminal control unit 50 when the push button switch is pressed.
The display unit 52 includes, for example, an LED (light emitting diode) as a light source in order to notify that newly provided provision information has been generated. The display unit 52 displays various information by transmitting light emitted from the light-emitting diode from a transmission unit formed in the housing. The transmissive portion represents various display elements (pictomarks) such as figures, symbols, and pictures. When light is transmitted, these display elements are lit and displayed on the front surface of the housing to display predetermined information.
Here, the control unit 3b of the energy management unit 3 in the present embodiment is provided with a wireless communication unit 3e for wireless communication with the wireless communication unit 51 of the notification terminal 5. The image data generation unit 3c provides information related to the power used in the building based on at least one of the power information stored in the data storage unit 3d and the measurement result of the power amount by the calculation unit 3a. And the generated provision information is stored in a memory (not shown). In addition, this type of provided information includes actual reports created based on the amount of power used in the building, advice for power savings based on actual values of used power, There is FIT information of power supply from the company. Here, provided information generating means is constituted by the image data generating unit 3c.
In the control unit 3b, when the image data generation unit 3c newly generates provision information, a notification signal is output from the wireless communication unit 3e in order to notify that the new provision information can be browsed. In the notification terminal 5, when the wireless communication unit 51 receives the notification signal from the control unit 3b, the terminal control unit 50 turns on the notification LED provided in the display unit 52, so that the newly provided information can be viewed. To the residents. In addition, you may perform alerting | reporting operation | movement by blinking LED for alerting | reporting, or making it light-emit in the color different from normal. In addition, the notification terminal 5 may perform notification with both sound and light by sounding a buzzer sound or a melody sound as well as notification by light.
Next, details of an operation for causing the notification terminal 5 to notify the power ratio will be described with reference to the sequence chart of FIG. 4.
When the center device SV acquires the power information of the next day from the power company side, the center device SV distributes the power information to the integrated device TM via the Internet NT, and the power information is transmitted to the control unit 3b of the energy management unit 3 via the integrated device TM. Will be notified. The control unit 3b stores the power information notified from the center device SV in the data storage unit 3d, and stores the power consumption for each branch breaker Bmn measured by the calculation unit 3a in the data storage unit 3d. The image data generation unit 3c creates image data for displaying provided information related to the power consumption based on at least one of the power information stored in the data storage unit 3d and the information on the power consumption. Then, it is stored in the memory (step ST1 in FIG. 4). Here, when the image data generation unit 3c newly generates the provided information, the control unit 3b causes the wireless communication unit 3e to wirelessly transmit a notification signal for performing the notification operation. In each of the notification terminals 5a to 5c, when the wireless communication unit 51 receives the notification signal transmitted from the energy management unit 3, the terminal control unit 50 turns on the LED of the display unit 52 (steps ST2 to ST4). When the notification LED provided in each of the notification terminals 5a to 5c is turned on, it is possible to notify the person around the notification terminals 5a to 5c that new provision information has been generated. When the resident who sees the notifications of the notification terminals 5a to 5c wants to confirm the new provided information, for example, an operation for displaying the new provided information is performed using the display control device CV which is a display means (step ST5). When a request signal is transmitted from the display control device CV to the energy management unit 3 in response to this display operation, the control unit 3b requests the desired web content (new provision information) stored in the image data generation unit 3c. Delivered to the original display control device CV. The display control device CV displays the distributed web content, and the resident can confirm new provision information (step ST6). A control request for turning off the LED from the display control device CV to the energy management unit 3 when the resident confirms the provided information displayed on the display control device CV and then performs a confirmation operation using an operation button provided in the display control device CV. Is output. In response to this control request, the control unit 3b of the energy management unit 3 transmits a turn-off control signal for turning off the LED from the wireless communication unit 3e by a wireless signal. In each of the notification terminals 5a to 5c, when the wireless communication unit 51 receives the turn-off control signal transmitted from the energy management unit 3, the terminal control unit 50 turns off the LED of the display unit 52 (steps ST7 to ST9). End the operation. Note that a switch for turning off the LED for notification may be provided in the operation input unit 53 of each notification terminal 5, and the notification operation may be stopped when the resident operates this switch. In addition, each notification terminal 5 may automatically turn off the notification LED after a certain period of time has elapsed since the notification LED was turned on.
As described above, the notification terminals 5a to 5c perform the notification operation when the new provision information is generated by the image data generation unit 3c, so that new provision information is generated for the residents around the notification terminal 5. I can let you know what was done. Since the notification terminals 5a to 5c are formed separately from the display means and transmit / receive a notification signal by performing wireless communication with the energy management unit 3, so long as it is within a range where wireless communication is possible. Can be installed and used in any place. Therefore, by placing the notification terminals 5a to 5c in a place where the resident is frequently present or in a conspicuous place, it is possible to notify a person who is not near the display means that the new provision information has been generated. . Further, if the display control device CV or the personal computer PC as the display means is turned off, the display means cannot display that new provision information has been generated, but the notification terminal 5 lights the LED. This is a simple configuration, and the power of the notification terminal 5 is always on. Therefore, when the new provision information is created, the notification terminal 5 performs a notification operation, so that it is possible to reliably notify the residents who are in the vicinity that the new provision information has been generated. . Therefore, it becomes easy for a resident in the building to check the provided information generated by the image data generating unit 3c, and the provided information can be used effectively on the resident side.
In the above embodiment, the power information distributed from the center device SV to the integrated device TM is output from the integrated device TM to the energy management unit 3, but the power information is output from the smart meter SM installed for each power consumer. May be obtained. The smart meter SM is a watt-hour meter having a two-way communication function with an electric power company and a management device for electric equipment in a building. The electric power information distributed from the electric power company to the smart meter SM is converted into an energy management unit. For example, the data may be output to the wireless transmission. In the smart meter SM, the power information distributed from the power company may be sequentially stored in the memory, and the power information read from the memory may be periodically distributed to the energy management unit 3.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and various modifications and variations that do not depart from the scope of the claims are possible. It belongs to the category of the present invention.

Claims

A measuring means for measuring the amount of power consumed in the building;
A communication means for receiving power information from the power company;
Based on at least one of the measurement result by the measurement means and the power information, the provision information related to the power used in the building is generated, and when the provision information is newly generated, a notification signal is output to the notification means. Providing information generating means for
A power monitoring system comprising: a notification unit that performs a notification operation when the notification signal is input.
A distribution facility that distributes power supplied from the power company into the building;
A display unit that is provided separately from the notification unit and displays the provision information received from the provision information generation unit by exchanging information with the provision information generation unit;
Further comprising
The provision information generation means accumulates the generated provision information,
The power monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the power information is transmitted through a network.