WO2013094687A1

WO2013094687A1 - Energy management system and management device

Info

Publication number: WO2013094687A1
Application number: PCT/JP2012/083079
Authority: WO
Inventors: 佳史井谷
Original assignee: 大和ハウス工業株式会社
Priority date: 2011-12-22
Filing date: 2012-12-20
Publication date: 2013-06-27
Also published as: CN104040568A; MY167882A; JP2013131148A; JP5703207B2; CN104040568B; SG11201403374VA

Abstract

Provided is an energy management system with which it is possible to determine, according to a choice of a user, an apparatus for which an operation state is to be controlled among energy consumption apparatuses used within a building upon receiving a reduction request from the outside for the amount of energy consumed within the building. In an energy management system which has a home server (10) for managing the amount of electrical power consumed within a home (H) for which a plurality of electrical power consumption apparatuses have been provided and a CEMS server (40) which transmits a reduction request for the amount of electrical power consumed within the home (H) toward the home server (10), upon reception of the reduction request from the CEMS server (40) by a reception unit (101) of the home server (10), an apparatus control unit (102) reads information indicating a specified apparatus, which has been specified as an apparatus to be controlled by a user from among a plurality of electrical power consumption apparatuses, from a storage unit (104) so as to identify the specified apparatus in order to control the operation state of the identified specified apparatus.

Description

Energy management system and management device

The present invention relates to an energy management system and a management device for managing energy consumption in a building equipped with a plurality of energy consuming devices, and more particularly, to reduce energy consumption in the building from an external device. The present invention relates to an energy management system and a management device that receive a request and control an operating state of an energy consuming device used in the building.

Energy management systems that manage energy consumption in buildings such as houses and commercial buildings are already known. Among such energy management systems, systems that use communication technology to monitor energy consumption in homes and automatically control the operating status of energy consuming equipment such as home appliances (home energy management) System, hereinafter HEMS).

Furthermore, in recent years, a system (community energy management system, hereinafter referred to as CEMS) that manages energy consumption on a regional basis has also been constructed, and this CEMS enables a sustainable social system (so-called smart community) to realize a low-carbon society. ) Can be realized.

By the way, the CEMS monitors the energy supply-demand balance between each building in the management target area and the energy supply source such as power generation facilities. In a situation where power is likely to be insufficient like a hot summer day in summer. The energy consumption is requested to be reduced for each house (specifically, the above-described HEMS) existing in the management target area. On the side of the house that has received such a request, the energy supply to a predetermined device among the energy consuming devices used in the house is forcibly cut off (hereinafter referred to as “selective load cut-off”) by HEMS device control. There is. Here, the devices that are the target of the selective load cutoff are generally automatically determined according to the priority of energy supply and selection criteria without considering the convenience of the user (for example, a resident of a house). Is.

As described above, the unilateral energy management system that does not consider the convenience of the user side is not convenient and is difficult for the user to use. In order to solve such a problem, a technique for realizing bidirectional energy management reflecting a request from the energy demand side to the energy supply side has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

In the energy management system described in Patent Document 1, the system on the energy demand side and the system on the energy supply side each store a condition corresponding to a request for reduction in energy consumption in advance. Based on the existing conditions (one of which presents the requirements for reducing energy consumption and the other presents possible or rewarding conditions), and calculates the amount of reduction that matches each other's conditions I have decided. Thereby, in the energy management system described in patent document 1, it becomes possible to determine the load interruption target device under the conditions agreed by both the energy demand side and the energy supply side.

JP 2011-59939 A

However, in the energy management system described in Patent Document 1, the target device for load shedding is determined under the conditions agreed between the energy demand side system and the energy supply side system. This is done by executing a predetermined calculation process by the mounted control calculation unit. Therefore, the load cutoff target device desired by the user does not necessarily match the load cutoff target device determined by the above calculation process, and the user's intention is not reflected in selecting the load cutoff target device. There is a possibility.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the object of the present invention is to be used in a building when a request for reduction of energy consumption in the building is received from the outside. It is an object to provide an energy management system and a management apparatus that can determine which of the energy consuming appliances to control the operating state of the appliance reflecting the user's intention.

According to the energy management system of the present invention, the problem is a management device for managing energy consumption in a building equipped with a plurality of energy consuming devices, and a reduction request for energy consumption in the building. An energy consumption reduction requesting device that transmits the request to the management device, wherein the management device receives a reception unit that receives the reduction request, and an energy consumption amount in the building. In order to reduce, an operating state control unit that controls an operating state of a control target device among the plurality of energy consuming devices, and a designated device designated by the user as the control target device from the plurality of energy consuming devices. An information acquisition unit for acquiring the information to be shown, and a storage unit for storing the information acquired by the information acquisition unit, Parts, the receiving section receives the reduction request, the identify designated device reads the information stored in the storage unit, is solved by controlling the operating state of the designated device identified.

According to the management device of the present invention, the problem is a management device for managing energy consumption in a building provided with a plurality of energy consuming devices, wherein the energy consumption in the building is A receiving unit that receives the reduction request from an energy consumption reduction requesting device that transmits a reduction request to the management device, and the plurality of energy consuming devices in order to reduce energy consumption in the building Among them, an operation state control unit that controls the operation state of the control target device, an information acquisition unit that acquires information indicating the designated device designated by the user as the control target device from among the plurality of energy consuming devices, A storage unit for storing the information acquired by the information acquisition unit, and when the reception unit receives the reduction request, the operation state control unit Read the stored the information specifying the designated device, is solved by controlling the operating state of the designated device identified.

With the above configuration, in the present invention, when a reduction request for energy consumption in a building is received, the operation state control is performed using the device specified by the user among the energy consuming devices used in the building as the control target device. It becomes possible to do. That is, with the energy management system and management device of the present invention, when responding to a reduction request for energy consumption in a building, it is possible to determine a control target device reflecting the user's intention. Thereby, user-friendly energy management is realized, and the user can practice a more comfortable energy-saving life.

Further, in the energy management system, the information acquisition unit includes the designated device designated by the user as the control target device from among the plurality of energy consuming devices, and the control set by the user regarding the operation state of the designated device. The information indicating a condition is acquired, the storage unit stores the information indicating the designated device and the control condition acquired by the information acquisition unit, and the receiving state is determined by the receiving unit. When receiving the reduction request, the information stored in the storage unit is read to identify the designated device and the control condition, and the operation state of the identified designated device may be controlled according to the identified control condition. Good. With such a configuration, not only the control target device but also the control conditions for controlling the operation state of the control target device are determined by reflecting the user's intention, thus realizing more user-friendly energy management. Will be.

In the energy management system, the management device is a home server installed in a house as the building, and the energy consumption reduction requesting device is an external server provided outside the house. The external server can communicate with the home server via a network and a third server managed by an energy supplier that supplies energy to the house, and the third server communicates with the third server through the network. When the external server is instructed to transmit the reduction request, the external server may transmit the reduction request to the home server through the network. By placing a server (external server) interposed between the home server of each house and the server of the energy supplier as in this configuration, for example, an energy management system for each region (ie, the above-described CEMS) is provided. It becomes possible to construct, and it becomes possible to collect information from the server of the energy supplier and to distribute information to the home server of each house in the above external server.

In the above energy management system, the management device calculates a degree of change when the energy consumption amount in the house changes due to the operation state control unit controlling the operation state of the control target device. A calculation unit and a data transmission unit that transmits data indicating the degree of change calculated by the calculation unit to the external server may be further included. With such a configuration, it is possible to evaluate the effect when the energy consumption in the building is reduced in response to a request to reduce the energy consumption, and to feed back the result to an external server.

Furthermore, in the energy management system, the external server includes a score giving unit that gives a user a score according to the degree of change calculated by the calculation unit, and the score giving unit is configured to transmit the calculation unit through the network. When the data indicating the degree of change calculated by is received, a score corresponding to the degree of change is calculated based on the data, and the score may be given to the user. With such a configuration, the effect of the present invention that the control target device can be determined reflecting the user's intention is more effective. That is, since the intention of the control target device is reflected in the determination of the control target device, the higher the reduction amount expected by the control of the operation state of the control target device specified by the user, the higher the score can be obtained. For this reason, the user's motivation with respect to energy consumption reduction improves, and a user comes to respond actively to a reduction request.

In the energy management system, a sensor that measures energy consumption in the house and outputs a signal corresponding to the measurement result is provided, and the calculation unit is configured so that the driving state control unit A difference in energy consumption in the house per unit time before and after the operation state of the control target device is controlled may be calculated based on the signal output from the sensor. With such a configuration, when calculating the degree of change in energy consumption in the house accompanying the operation state control of the control target device, the calculation is based on the output signal from the sensor, that is, the measurement result. High calculation results can be obtained.

According to the energy management system of the present invention, it is possible to determine a control target device whose operation state is controlled for the purpose of meeting a reduction request for energy consumption in a building, reflecting a user's intention. is there. Thereby, user-friendly energy management is realized, and the user can practice a more comfortable energy-saving life.

It is a conceptual diagram of the energy management system which concerns on this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the house which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the home server which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the energy management system which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram regarding the execution environment of the home server which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the external server which concerns on this invention. It is the figure which showed an example of the user operation screen. It is the figure which showed the flow of the apparatus control process. It is the figure which showed the flow of the eco point provision process.

An energy management system according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, this embodiment) will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an energy management system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a house according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the home server according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the energy management system according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram relating to the execution environment of the home server according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the external server according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user operation screen. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the flow of the device control process. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the flow of the eco point provision process.
In FIG. 2, among the lines connecting the elements constituting the system S, those indicated by solid lines indicate electrical wiring, and those indicated by broken lines indicate communication lines.

Moreover, in the following description, the energy management system which manages the energy consumption in the house H which is an example of a building is demonstrated. However, the house H is merely an example of a building, and the present invention can also be used in other buildings such as commercial buildings, buildings in factories, stores, and the like.
Furthermore, in the following description, energy means electric power. Hereinafter, an energy management system that manages electric power consumption in the house H as an energy consumption in the house H will be described. However, regarding energy consumption, energy consumption other than power consumption, for example, gas usage and water usage, can be considered, and the present invention can be applied to a system for managing these.

<Overall configuration of energy management system according to this embodiment>
First, an overall outline of an energy management system (hereinafter, system S) according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The system S is a CEMS (community energy management system) that manages a power supply / demand balance in units of regions (communities). More specifically, the system S monitors the power supply amount of the power company that supplies power to each house H in the management target area and the power load (power demand amount) in the management target area. When the power load is likely to exceed the power supply amount, a power consumption reduction request (hereinafter also referred to as a power saving request) is transmitted to each house H in the management target area through the network.

Further, in the present system S, when load adjustment is performed in each house H in response to a power saving request (in other words, power consumption is reduced), as a reward, the residents of the house H whose load has been adjusted are eco-friendly. Points are awarded. Here, the eco point is a score given according to the energy saving amount (reduction of power consumption) in the house H, and can be used as a money substitute when purchasing goods or services, It can be used in the form of receiving products and services. In addition, about the utilization method of an eco point, it is possible to employ | adopt a well-known method.

In constructing the system S described above, as shown in FIG. 1, a home server 10 is installed in each house H existing in the management target area, and the power company owns the power supply source server 50. . Further, a CEMS server 40 is provided as a device that controls the system S.

On the other hand, each house H has a plurality of power consuming devices. Here, the power consuming device corresponds to an energy consuming device, and specifically includes home appliances, lighting, an air conditioner, a water heater, AV equipment, security equipment, and the like. In FIG. 2, for convenience of illustration, only the air conditioner Da and the illumination Db are illustrated as power consuming devices. However, the combination of the power consuming devices illustrated in FIG. 2 is merely an example, and naturally, more than the power consuming devices illustrated in FIG. 2 may be provided in the house H. The type of power consuming device not shown in FIG. 2 may be provided in the house H.

In each house H, a HEMS (Home Energy Management System) is formed by the home server 10 and a communication network built in the house H (hereinafter referred to as “home network TN”). In this HEMS, the home server 10 functions as a management device that manages the power consumption in the house H. More specifically, the home server 10 obtains information (data) regarding the power consumption in the house H by communicating through the home network TN, and based on the obtained information, the power in the house H is obtained. The consumption is visualized (visualized) and notified to the user (specifically, the resident of the house H). Note that the home network TN is configured by, for example, a wired IP network using an Ethernet (registered trademark) cable or a wireless IP network using IEEE 802.1x or Bluetooth (registered trademark).

In addition, the home server 10 of the present embodiment can communicate with each power consuming device in the house H via the home network TN and control the operating state of the power consuming device. That is, in the present system S, a signal (control signal) for controlling the operation state of the power consuming device is transmitted from the home server 10 to the power consuming device through the home network TN, thereby changing the operation state of the device. Remote control is possible. In the power consuming device that has received the control signal via the home network TN, the operating state is switched to a state corresponding to the control signal. Here, the operation state is a concept indicating contents that are controllable (adjustable) with respect to the operation of the device, such as start / stop (on / off), operation modes such as cooling and heating, operation management values such as set temperatures.

As described above, in the present embodiment, communication with devices existing in the house H (specifically, power consumption devices and

sensors

21, 22a, and 22b described later) and control of the operation state of each power consumption device are performed at home. This is performed centrally by the server 10. The configuration of the home server 10 will be described in detail later.

The CEMS server 40 corresponds to the external server of the present invention, and communicates with all the home servers 10 existing in the CEMS management area through a network such as the Internet (hereinafter referred to as an out-of-home network GN) as shown in FIG. Connected as possible. In other words, the CEMS server 40 is provided outside the house H, and transmits and receives data to and from the home server 10 installed in each house H in the management target area through the outside network GN. .

Further, the CEMS server 40 can communicate with the power supply source server 50 through the outside network GN. Here, the power supply source server 50 corresponds to a third server managed by an energy supply company that supplies electric power as energy to the house H, for example, an electric power company. Then, the power supply source server 50 instructs the CEMS server 40 to transmit a power saving request through the outside network GN. On the other hand, the CEMS server 40 that has received this command transmits a power saving request to each home server 10 existing in the management target area of the CEMS. In this sense, the CEMS server 40 corresponds to an energy consumption reduction requesting apparatus that transmits a reduction request for power consumption in the house H to the home server 10 installed in the house H.

As described above, in the present system S, the CEMS server 40 is interposed between the home server 10 and the power supply source server 50 of each house H, and the CEMS can be constructed by the CEMS server 40. By installing the CEMS server 40, information collection from the power supply source server 50 (specifically, acquisition of a power saving request transmission command) and information distribution to the home server 10 of each house H are performed. Can be performed in a centralized manner.

Further, in the present embodiment, when the house H side responds to a power saving request (in other words, when the power consumption is reduced), the home server 10 determines the power consumption (power consumption per unit time) in the house H. The reduction amount is calculated, and data indicating the calculation result is transmitted from the home server 10 to the CEMS server 40 through the outside network GN. On the other hand, when the CEMS server 40 receives the data indicating the calculation result, the CEMS server 40 calculates an eco point corresponding to the calculation result, and the resident of the house H where the home server 10 that is the transmission source of the data is installed. The calculated eco point is given to (user).

And the information which shows the granted eco point is memorize | stored in the CEMS server 40 in the form linked | related with ID information for specifying the user to whom the said eco point was provided. That is, the CEMS server 40 according to the present embodiment gives an eco point to the user according to the power saving request, and the eco point given to the user exists for each user (in other words, exists in the management target area of the CEMS). It has a function to manage each house H).
In addition, while the eco point is newly added, it is increased by the given amount, and when used, the eco point is reduced by the used amount. The CEMS server 40 increases or decreases the eco point held by a certain user. If there is, the information indicating the eco point held by the user is updated, and the eco point is corrected by the increase / decrease.

In the system S having the above-described configuration, a resident of each house H who is a user of the system S visually recognizes the power supply / demand balance at home through the function of the home server 10 and is used at home. It is possible to remotely control power consuming equipment. Further, when a power saving request from the power company is transmitted to the house H via the CEMS server 40, the home server 10 receives the request and operates a not-shown notification device to request the user to save power. Notify that there was.

Then, when the user performs a predetermined operation (specifically, an operation performed through a user operation screen described later) in the house H in order to adjust the power load in the house H in response to a power saving request, the home server 10 However, among the plurality of power consuming devices provided in the house H, a signal for controlling the operation state of the device to be controlled is generated, and the control signal is transmitted to the control target device. In the control target device that has received the control signal through the home network TN, the operation state is switched in accordance with the control signal, and accordingly, the power consumption in the control target device changes (decreases). As a result, the power consumption in the house H (that is, the amount of power consumed in the entire house H) is reduced.

Furthermore, the home server 10 calculates the difference in power consumption before and after load adjustment in the house H as a result of user load adjustment in response to the power saving request, and transmits data indicating the calculation result to the CEMS server 40. When the CEMS server 40 receives the data indicating the above calculation result through the outside network GN, the CEMS server 40 calculates the eco point based on the data and gives the calculated eco point to the user according to the power saving request. To do. As described above, the information indicating the given eco point is stored in the CEMS server 40 (specifically, a memory 40b described later) in association with ID information for specifying a user according to power saving. become.

<Configuration of home server 10>
Next, the configuration of the above-described home server 10 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
As described above, the home server 10 is installed in each house H existing in the management target area of the system S, which is CEMS, and as shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 10a, the memory 10b, and the nonvolatile storage device 10c. , A communication interface 10d (indicated as communication I / F in FIG. 3), a display 11 and an input device 12, each of which is connected via a bus 10e. Various programs are stored in the nonvolatile storage device 10c. The program stored in the nonvolatile storage device 10c is read and executed by the CPU 10a, thereby causing the home server 10 to exhibit the functions described below.

The function of the home server 10 having the above configuration will be described. The home server 10 is communicably connected to the CEMS server 40 via the outside network GN, and the CEMS server 40 is communicated through the outside network GN. It is possible to receive a power-saving request transmitted from.

Further, the home server 10 is communicably connected to a power consuming device in the house H via the home network TN, and the operation state of each power consuming device can be controlled by communication via the home network TN. become. For example, when the home server 10 receives a power saving request from the CEMS server 40, in order to reduce the power consumption in the house H according to the request, the home server 10 includes a plurality of power consuming devices existing in the house H. The operation state is controlled using a predetermined device as a control target device to reduce the power consumption (that is, adjust the power load).

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the home server 10 can communicate with each of the power sensor groups installed in the house H through the home network TN, and can acquire the measurement results of each of the power sensor groups. .

Specifically, in the house H, a sensor (hereinafter referred to as a main sensor 21) composed of a smart meter is attached. The main sensor 21 corresponds to the sensor of the present invention, and is attached to the distribution board Dx, for example, and measures power consumption in the entire house H (in other words, power consumption in the house H per unit time). Then, a signal corresponding to the measurement result is output. In addition, individual sensors (hereinafter,

individual sensors

22a and 22b) are attached to each of the air conditioner Da and the illumination Db. The

individual sensors

22a and 22b are power sensors (for example, CT sensors) having a communication function, and measure the power consumption of corresponding devices.

Each of the sensors described above (that is, the main sensor 21 and the

individual sensors

22a and 22b, and the same applies hereinafter) outputs a signal corresponding to the measurement result. This signal is a digital signal indicating the numerical value of the measurement result. Then, the home server 10 receives a signal indicating the measurement result of each sensor from each sensor via the home network TN, and acquires the measurement result of each sensor by analyzing the received signal. The acquired measurement result (strictly, information indicating the measurement result) is temporarily stored in the memory 10b and then stored in the nonvolatile storage device 10c.

In the present embodiment, measurement by each sensor is always performed, and each

sensor

21, 22a, 22b transmits a signal according to the measurement result to the home server 10 at regular intervals. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the measurement by each

sensor

21, 22a, 22b may be performed every predetermined time or limited to a time zone in which the power consumption is a certain value or more. It is also possible that
Further, in the present embodiment, the home server 10 is actually consumed in the house H during a predetermined period (for example, the period from the beginning of the month to the end of the month) based on the signals output from the

sensors

21, 22a, and 22b. It is possible to calculate a cumulative value of power consumption and a difference in power consumption of the house H before and after load adjustment.

By the way, the home server 10 of this embodiment communicates with the information terminal 30 through the home network TN, and transmits / receives data to / from the information terminal 30. The information terminal 30 is a terminal having a browsing function. In the present embodiment, the information terminal 30 is configured by a portable terminal such as a smartphone, a PDA, a notebook computer, or a digital photo frame on which predetermined application software is installed. Below, the information terminal 30 which consists of PDA carrying the touch panel 31 is mentioned as an example, and is demonstrated.

The information terminal 30 is used for the user to visually recognize the current power load in the house H, for example. That is, the information terminal 30 communicates with the home server 10 via the home network TN, and displays data indicating the current power load from the home server 10 (specifically, measurement results of each sensor acquired by the home server 10). Data). And the information terminal 30 displays the information (henceforth power load information) which the data received from the home server 10 show on the touch panel 31 as a display.

More specifically, the information terminal 30 includes a program for executing communication with the home server 10 through the home network TN (hereinafter, communication program) including communication for displaying power load information on a display. Is installed. This communication program is activated when a user performs a predetermined operation (for example, an operation of touching an icon displayed on the touch panel 31), and transmits data indicating the current power load through the home network TN. Request to server 10. Thereafter, when the above data is received from the home server 10, the data is expanded by the processing of the communication program, and thereby a screen (not shown) displaying the power load information is drawn on the touch panel 31.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, among the power consuming devices used in the house H, it is possible to designate a device (control target device) whose operation state is controlled by the home server 10 through the information terminal 30. In other words, in the present embodiment, among the power consuming devices used in the house H, which device is the control target device (in other words, which device is controlled in operating state) is reflected in the user's intention. Can be determined.

When the information terminal 30 receives an operation (hereinafter, designated operation) performed by the user for designating a control target device via the touch panel 31, data indicating a power consuming device (hereinafter designated device) designated in the designated operation. And the data is transmitted to the home server 10. When the home server 10 receives the above data from the information terminal 30 and receives a power saving request from the CEMS server 40, the home server 10 identifies the designated device based on the above data, and the operating state for the identified designated device Control.

As described above, the home server 10 according to the present embodiment specifies the designated device designated by the user as the control target device from the plurality of power consuming devices through the information terminal 30, and operates the specified designated device. It has a function to control the state. With this function, when the home server 10 reduces the power consumption in the house H in order to respond to the power saving request from the CEMS server 40, the operation state is controlled using the designated device designated by the user as the control target device. Become so. Thereby, in the house H, the electric power load adjustment reflecting a user's intention comes to be performed. As a result, user-friendly energy management is realized, and the user can practice a more comfortable energy-saving life.

Furthermore, the home server 10 according to the present embodiment has a function of calculating the degree of change in power consumption in the house H as an effect of power load adjustment performed in response to a power saving request from the CEMS server 40. The degree of change in power consumption is an index indicating the degree of reduction when power consumption is reduced by power load adjustment. In this embodiment, power consumption in the house H before and after power load adjustment is performed. The difference in power consumption in the house H per unit time is calculated as the degree of change.

And the home server 10 will transmit the data (henceforth calculation result data) which show the calculation result toward the CEMS server 40, if the change degree of the power consumption in the house H is calculated. On the CEMS server 40 side that has received the calculation result data, as described above, the eco point corresponding to the calculation result is calculated, and the resident of the house H in which the home server 10 that has transmitted the calculation result data is installed is provided. Thus, the calculated eco-points will be awarded.

When the configuration of the home server 10 is described again based on the functions described above, the home server 10 includes a receiving unit 101, a device control unit 102, an information acquisition unit 103, a storage unit 104, as shown in FIG. A calculation unit 105 and a transmission unit 106 are included.
The receiving unit 101 communicates with the CEMS server 40 via the outside network GN and receives a power saving request from the CEMS server 40. The receiving unit 101 includes hardware (specifically, a CPU 10a, a memory 10b, a nonvolatile storage device 10c, and a communication interface 10d) that configures the home server 10 and software (specifically, the home server 10). Is configured by a program for communicating with the CEMS server 40 through the outside network GN.

Note that the receiving unit 101 is linked to a not-illustrated notification device installed in the house H, and activates the notification device when receiving a power saving request from the CEMS server 40. Thereby, the notification device executes a predetermined notification process, and notifies the user in the house H that there is a power saving request.

The device control unit 102 corresponds to the operation state control unit of the present invention, and in order to reduce the power consumption in the house H, the operation state of the control target device among the plurality of power consumption devices existing in the house H. Is to control. The device control unit 102 includes a CPU 10a, a memory 10b, a nonvolatile storage device 10c, a communication interface 10d, and a device control program that constitute the home server 10. Here, the device control program generates a control signal for switching the operation state of the control target device to a desired state, and transmits the control signal to the control target device through the home network TN. Developed to communicate with equipment.

In the present embodiment, the device control unit 102 is configured to be able to switch the communication method according to the type of the power consuming device to communicate and to communicate with the communication method corresponding to the device.

If it demonstrates concretely, in the power consumption apparatus which exists in the house H, the apparatus from which a communication system (synonymous with a communication standard and a communication protocol) mutually differs exists. In general, it is recommended to use power consuming equipment that adopts a common communication method in the house H where HEMS is installed. For example, equipment that adopts the ECHONET standard proposed by the ECHONET consortium It is hoped that they will be unified. On the other hand, there are cases where devices outside the ECHONET standard are included in the power consumption devices in the house H because the user arbitrarily purchases the power consumption devices (without worrying about the communication method). In this case, the communication method differs between the power consuming devices used in the house H.
Therefore, in this embodiment, when the device control unit 102 transmits a control signal to the control target device, the communication method is switched according to the type of the device.

More specifically, when the power consuming devices in the house H are divided into three types of first standard devices, second standard devices, and third standard devices depending on the communication method, the device control unit 102, for example, When communicating with the first standard device, a communication method corresponding to the first standard device is adopted, and then when communicating with the second standard device (third standard device), the communication method is changed to the second standard device. Switch to a communication method compatible with the device (third standard device).

As described above, the execution environment shown in FIG. 5 is constructed in the home server 10 in the present embodiment for switching the communication method according to the type of device. More specifically, the home server 10 includes an OS 201, a JAVA (registered trademark) virtual machine (hereinafter, referred to as JVM) 202, an OSGi (Open Services Services Gateway framework) 203, and software that operates on the OSGi framework 203. (Hereinafter also referred to as a bundle) is installed. The device control unit 102 includes the above-described program (that is, the OS 201, the JVM 202, the OSGi framework 203, and a bundle that operates on the framework) as constituent elements, and through cooperation thereof, the power consumption device It is possible to communicate with a communication method according to the type.

The OSGi framework 203 is built on the JVM 202 and manages a life cycle such as downloading, installing, starting and stopping a bundle operating on the OSGi framework 203. Bundles operating on the OSGi framework 203 can be dynamically replaced, and a plurality of bundles can be executed in parallel.

Bundles operating on the OSGi framework 203 include standard bundles and application bundles. The standard bundle is a bundle of basic protocols such as HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and UPnP (Universal Plug and Play). The application bundle is application software registered in the OSGi framework 203, and includes

various communication bundles

204a, 204b, and 204c. The communication bundle corresponds to each communication method of the power consuming devices existing in the house H, and is provided for each communication method.

Then, when the

various communication bundles

204a, 204b, and 204c are executed by the CPU 10a, it is possible to perform communication using a communication method corresponding to the power consumption device to be communicated. In addition, the function of the OSGi framework 203 for dynamically exchanging bundles causes the communication bundle to be executed to be exchanged when it becomes necessary to switch the communication method according to the type of the power consuming device. By switching the communication bundle, the communication method adopted by the device control unit 102 is switched.

Note that when the

communication bundles

204a, 204b, and 204c are registered in the OSGi framework 203, an interface for using the functions of the

communication bundles

204a, 204b, and 204c is registered in a registry (also referred to as a service registry). On the other hand, the OSGi framework 203 provides an integrated version of these interfaces. This interface group converted to API (hereinafter referred to as general-purpose API) is used as a function for executing activation or replacement of the

communication bundles

204a, 204b, and 204c.

In addition, the general-purpose API is disclosed and used for developing a program (for example, a communication program executed by the information terminal 30) that is executed by a device other than the home server 10. That is, if a general-purpose API is used when developing a program (for example, a program for communicating with the home server 10 and requesting the home server 10 to execute control of a power consuming device), the program developer side Thus, it is possible to easily develop the above program without being aware of the difference in communication method between devices.

Note that when using the general-purpose API in the program, the program includes information (code) for requesting the home server 10 to execute control of the power consuming device in the REST (Representational State Transfer) format. Is incorporated. For example, in a communication program (a program for requesting the home server 10 to execute control of a power consuming device) installed in the information terminal 30, information for using a general-purpose API is used. The URI and request parameters of the home server 10 are incorporated.
When the communication program is executed on the information terminal 30 side, the information terminal 30 communicates with the home server 10 in the HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) format to activate the device control unit 102 and consume power to the device control unit 102. Control of the operating state of the equipment is executed.

The information acquisition unit 103 is for specifying a device (control target device) to be controlled by the device control unit 102. Specifically, the information acquisition unit 103 exists in the house H from data transmitted from the information terminal 30. Information indicating a designated device designated by a user as a control target device is acquired from a plurality of power consuming devices. The information acquisition unit 103 includes a CPU 10a of the home server 10, a memory 10b, a nonvolatile storage device 10c, a communication interface 10d, and an information acquisition program. This information acquisition program receives data indicating the power consuming device (specified device) specified by the user through the specified operation from the information terminal 30, and acquires the information indicating the specified device by analyzing the data. It is a program.

The storage unit 104 is mainly configured by the memory 10b and the nonvolatile storage device 10c, and stores information acquired by the information acquisition unit 103, that is, information indicating a power consuming device designated by the user as a control target device. It is something to keep.

The calculation unit 105 calculates the difference in power consumption in the house H before and after the execution of the power load adjustment performed in response to the power saving request from the CEMS server 40. The calculation unit 105 includes a CPU 10a of the home server 10, a memory 10b, a nonvolatile storage device 10c, a communication interface 10d, and a calculation program. This calculation program receives a signal corresponding to the measurement result of the main sensor 21 described above from the main sensor 21, and calculates a difference in power consumption in the house H before and after the power load adjustment based on the signal. It is a program. That is, the main sensor 21 measures the power consumption of the entire house H before and after the power load adjustment, and when a signal corresponding to the measurement result is output to the home server 10, the calculation unit of the home server 10 105 receives the output signal from the main sensor 21, and calculates the difference in the power consumption in the house H before and after the execution of the power load adjustment based on the signal.

The transmission unit 106 corresponds to the data transmission unit of the present invention, and transmits the calculation result data indicating the calculation result of the calculation unit 105 to the CEMS server 40. The transmission unit 106 includes a CPU 10a of the home server 10, a memory 10b, a nonvolatile storage device 10c, a communication interface 10d, and a data transmission program. This data transmission program is a program for generating the above calculation result data and transmitting the generated calculation result data to the CEMS server 40 through the outside network GN. Note that the calculation result data corresponds to data indicating the degree of change in power consumption in the house H before and after the execution of the power load adjustment calculated by the calculation unit 105 (specifically, the difference in power consumption).

By providing each home H with the home server 10 having the above configuration, as described above, power load adjustment reflecting the intention of the resident (user) of the home H is performed.
More specifically, when the user performs a designation operation for designating a control target device through the touch panel 31 of the information terminal 30, data indicating the designated device designated by the designation operation is transmitted from the information terminal 30, and the data Is received by the information acquisition unit 103 of the home server 10. The information acquisition unit 103 acquires information indicating the designated device designated by the user by analyzing the data received from the information terminal 30, and this information is stored in the storage unit 104.

Here, the designation operation of the device to be controlled through the touch panel 31 can be accepted at any time, and each time the user performs the designation operation, the series of processes (for acquiring information indicating the designated device designated by the user) Process) is repeatedly executed. And the information memorize | stored in the memory | storage part 104 is updated whenever said series of processes are performed, As a result, in the memory | storage part 104, the designation | designated apparatus which the user designated by designation | designated operation performed most recently is performed. Is stored.
Details of the user designation operation will be described later.

Then, when the receiving unit 101 receives a power saving request from the CEMS server 40, the device control unit 102 reads information stored in the storage unit 104 to identify a designated device (a device designated as a device to be controlled by the user), Controls the operating status of the specified specified device. Thereby, the electric power load in the house H is adjusted.

Further, in the present embodiment, before and after the power load adjustment (that is, the device control unit) as the degree of change when the power consumption in the house H is changed by the device control unit 102 controlling the operation state of the control target device. The calculation unit 105 calculates the difference in power consumption of the house H before and after 102 controls the operating state of the control target device. Data indicating the calculation result (calculation result data) is transmitted by the transmission unit 106 to the CEMS server 40 through the external network GN. As a result, it is possible to evaluate the result of adjusting the power load according to the power saving request and feed back the result to the CEMS server 40. On the other hand, the CEMS server 40 gives eco points corresponding to the difference in power consumption before and after power load adjustment as a reward for power load adjustment performed in response to a power saving request.

<Configuration of CEMS Server 40>
Next, the configuration of the above-described CEMS server 40 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The CEMS server 40 is installed in a facility (not shown) existing in the management target area of the system S. As shown in FIG. 6, the CPU 40a, the memory 40b, the nonvolatile storage device 40c, and the communication interface 40d ( In FIG. 6, a communication I / F), a display 41 and an input device 42 are provided, and these elements are connected via a bus 40e. Various programs are stored in the nonvolatile storage device 40c.

The configuration of the CEMS server 40 will be described again from the functional aspect. As shown in FIG. 4, the CEMS server 40 includes a CS-side receiving unit 301, a power saving request unit 302, an eco point granting unit 303, and an eco point management unit 304. And have. Each unit of the CEMS server 40 (that is, the CS-side receiving unit 301, the power saving request unit 302, the eco point granting unit 303, and the eco point management unit 304) is the hardware (specifically, the CPU 40a) of the CEMS server 40 described above. , A memory 40b, a nonvolatile storage device 40c, a communication interface 40d) and software (specifically, a program stored in the nonvolatile storage device 10c).

The CS-side receiving unit 301 receives a power saving request transmission command from the power supply source server 50 through a network (specifically, an out-of-home network GN). The power saving request unit 302 transmits a power saving request to the home server 10 of each house H existing in the management target area of the system S in response to the power saving request transmission command received by the CS side receiving unit 301. .

In the present embodiment, the power saving request unit 302 calculates a power saving request amount (power reduction request amount) required for each house H when transmitting the power saving request, and data indicating the calculated power saving request amount. A power saving request is sent in the form of embedded. Here, the power saving request amount is, for example, received from the power supply source server 50 together with the power saving request transmission command data indicating the target value of the power saving amount to be achieved in the management target area of the system S, and the target value Is divided by the number of houses H in the target area. At this time, the value obtained by dividing the target value by the number of houses in the house H may be weighted according to the scale of the house H (for example, the floor area).

The eco-point giving unit 303 corresponds to a score giving unit, and the difference in power consumption in the house H before and after the power load adjustment calculated by the calculation unit 105 of the home server 10 (that is, the power consumption amount in the house H). The eco point according to the degree of change) is given to the user. More specifically, the eco-point giving unit 303 calculates the difference between the data transmitted by the transmitting unit 106 of the home server 10 (that is, the difference in power consumption in the house H before and after the power load adjustment calculated by the calculating unit 105). Calculation result data) is received through the outside network GN, the eco point according to the calculation result of the calculation unit 105 is calculated based on the data, and the eco point corresponding to the calculated value is calculated as the transmission source of the data. It is given to the user of the house H where the home server 10 is installed.

Here, in this embodiment, the eco-point giving unit 303 is supposed to give eco-points according to the difference in power consumption in the house H before and after the power load adjustment is performed. The effect of the present system S that the control target device can be determined reflecting the intention is more effective. In other words, if the user's intention is to be reflected in the determination of the control target device, the user designates a power consuming device that can expect a larger power saving amount when controlling the operating condition as a control target device, It becomes possible to get higher eco points. As a result, the user's motivation for power load adjustment is improved, and the user can actively respond to power saving requests.

In the present embodiment, the eco point is given according to the difference in power consumption in the house H before and after the power load adjustment, and the difference is calculated by the calculation unit 105 of the home server 10 as an output signal from the main sensor 21. That is, the calculation is based on the measurement result of the main sensor 21. Therefore, in this embodiment, the calculation unit 105 presents a highly reliable calculation result (in other words, a supported calculation result) as the difference in power consumption in the house H before and after the execution of the power load adjustment. Depending on the calculation result, the CEMS server 40 side (more specifically, the eco point granting unit 303) can give an appropriate eco point.

The eco point management unit 304 manages the eco points granted by the eco point grant unit 303 by user (in other words, by house H). Specifically, the eco point management unit 304 associates the information indicating the eco point granted by the eco point grant unit 303 with the ID information for identifying the user to which the eco point is given. Stored in the memory 40b. In addition, when there is an increase or decrease in the eco point held by a certain user, the eco point management unit 304 updates information indicating the eco point held by the user and corrects the eco point by the increase or decrease.

<About user specified operations>
Next, a designation operation performed by the user to designate a control target device whose operation state is controlled from among a plurality of power consuming devices existing in the house H will be described with reference to FIG.
As described above, in this embodiment, the user performs a designation operation through the touch panel 31 of the information terminal 30. In other words, the user's designation operation is accepted by the touch panel 31 of the information terminal 30.

Specifically, when performing the designation operation, the user starts an operation for starting a communication program for communicating with the home server 10 through the home network TN (for example, an operation of touching an icon displayed on the touch panel 31). I do. As a result, the communication program is started, and first, data indicating the current power load is received from the home server 10 through the home network TN. Based on this data, a screen (not shown) displaying the power load information is drawn on the touch panel 31. When the user performs a predetermined operation on the screen, the user operation screen illustrated in FIG. 7 is drawn on the touch panel 31.

Describing the user operation screen, as shown in FIG. 7, power consuming devices (in the example shown in FIG. 7, air conditioners and lighting) that are candidates for the control target device are displayed side by side in the vertical direction of the screen. In addition, control condition candidates are displayed in the display column of each power consuming device. In the example shown in FIG. 7, for the device “air conditioner”, the control condition “switch-off” and “set temperature” are displayed. The control condition “Increase (decrease) 1 ° C.” is displayed. Here, the control condition is a control condition for controlling the operating state of the power consuming device.

In addition, a check box CB is provided for each control condition. When the user presses (touches) an area in the touch panel 31 where the check box CB is located, the check box CB is checked. Alternatively, the check put in the check box CB is removed. An operation of checking the check box CB corresponds to a user specifying operation. That is, when the user designates the control target device, the user checks the check box CB provided in the display column of the device designated as the control target device among the power consuming devices displayed on the user operation screen. .

Further, in the present embodiment, the user designates a control target device through an operation of checking the check box CB, and also sets a control condition regarding the operation state of the device designated as the control target device (designated device). Is possible.

Then, when the user performs an operation of checking the check box CB and presses the setting completion button SB displayed on the user operation screen on the touch panel 31, the check that is checked on the information terminal 30 side. Data indicating the power consuming device and control conditions corresponding to the box CB is generated. This data is data indicating control conditions set by the user regarding the specified device specified by the user as the device to be controlled and the operation state of the specified device, and is transmitted toward the home server 10 through the home network TN.

On the other hand, on the home server 10 side, the information acquisition unit 103 receives the above data, and from the data, the designated device specified by the user as the control target device and the control condition set by the user regarding the operating state of the designated device. Information indicating that is acquired. Information acquired by the information acquisition unit 103 (information indicating the designated device and control conditions) is stored in the storage unit 104 and read by the device control unit 102 when the reception unit 101 receives a power saving request from the CEMS server 40. It is done. As a result, the device control unit 102 specifies the specified device and the control condition from the read information, and controls the operation state of the specified specified device according to the specified control condition.

As described above, in the present embodiment, not only the control target device but also the control conditions for controlling the operation state of the control target device are determined by reflecting the user's intention, so that more user-friendly energy Management will be realized.

In the present embodiment, when the user checks the check box CB, the information terminal 30 (more specifically, a computing device (not shown) provided in the information terminal 30) checks the check box. A power consumption device and control conditions corresponding to CB are specified, and a power reduction amount is calculated when the operation state of the specified power consumption device is controlled according to the specified control conditions. The calculation of the power reduction amount is performed for all the check boxes CB that are checked, and as shown in FIG. 7, the result of totaling the calculated power reduction amounts is displayed on the user operation screen as the expected power saving amount. .

As described above, the user must grasp the energy saving effect when the power load adjustment is performed with the power consuming device and the control conditions specified by the user through the display on the user operation screen (specifically, the expected power saving amount). Is possible. Thus, the user can select (designate) a power consumption device and control conditions displayed on the user operation screen that are suitable for efficient power load adjustment.

As described above, the power saving request made to each house H from the CEMS server 40 incorporates data indicating the calculated value of the power saving request amount for each house H. Here, when the power saving request is received on the home server 10 side, data indicating the calculated value of the power saving request amount is transmitted from the home server 10 to the information terminal 30, and the data is transmitted on the information terminal 30 side. It is preferable that the calculated value of the power saving request amount is displayed on the user operation screen by being received. With such a configuration, it is possible to perform a specifying operation while looking at the power saving request amount, so that it becomes easy to specify a control target device and set a control condition so as to satisfy the power saving request amount.

<About power management processing in the system S>
Next, as an operation example of the system S, power management processing in the system S will be described with reference to FIGS.
The power management process in the system S is started when a power saving request transmission command is issued from the power supply source server 50 to the CEMS server 40, and the power in the house H is adjusted to adjust the power load in the house H. The apparatus control process (refer FIG. 8) which controls the driving | running state of an electric power consumption apparatus is comprised by the eco point provision process (refer FIG. 9) which provides the eco point as a reward of electric power load adjustment.

The device control process is mainly executed in the house H, and starts from the point where the CS-side receiving unit 301 of the CEMS server 40 receives the power-saving request transmission command from the power supply source server 50 (S001), as shown in FIG. . Thereafter, on the CEMS server 40 side, the power saving request unit 302 transmits a power saving request to the home server 10 of each house H existing in the management target area of the system S in response to a command from the power supply source server 50. (S002). On the other hand, in each house H, the receiving unit 101 receives the power saving request from the CEMS server 40 through the outside network GN (S003). In the present embodiment, as described above, the receiving unit 101 is linked to a not-illustrated notification device, and when the receiving unit 101 receives a power saving request, the notification device is activated and a power saving request has been made. Is notified to the user in the house H.

When the user in the house H knows that a power saving request has been made through the notification process, the user performs a designation operation for designating a control target device in order to respond to the power saving request. This designation operation is performed according to the above-described procedure through the user operation screen displayed on the touch panel 31 of the information terminal 30. As described above, in the designation operation, the user designates a control target device from among a plurality of power consuming devices provided in the house H, and sets control conditions regarding the operation state of the device designated as the control target device. Will be set.

Then, when the user finishes the designation operation (specifically, when the setting completion button SB displayed on the user operation screen is pressed on the touch panel 31), the information terminal 30 causes the user to control the device Data indicating control conditions set by the user regarding the designated device designated as and the operation state of the designated device are generated, and the data is transmitted to the home server 10 through the home network TN. On the home server 10 side, the information acquisition unit 103 analyzes the data received from the information terminal 30 and acquires information indicating the specified device and the control condition (S004). The information acquired by the information acquisition unit 103 is stored in the storage unit 104 (S005).

Thereafter, the device control unit 102 reads the above information stored in the storage unit 104 to identify the designated device designated as the control target device by the user and the control conditions set by the user regarding the operating state of the designated device. (S006). And the apparatus control part 102 controls the driving | running state of the said designated apparatus according to the said control conditions by transmitting the control signal produced | generated according to the specified control conditions with respect to the specified designated apparatus (S007). When there are a plurality of designated devices, step S007 described above is repeatedly executed for each designated device.

When the operation state control of the designated device is completed, a control completion signal is output from the designated device, and this signal is received on the home server 10 side (S008). And an apparatus control process is complete | finished when an operation state is controlled and the control completion signal is received about all the apparatuses designated as a control object apparatus by a user.

When the device control process is completed, the eco point grant process will continue. As shown in FIG. 9, in the eco-point giving process, first, the calculation unit 105 of the home server 10 uses the difference in power consumption in the house H before and after the power load adjustment as an index indicating the effect of the power load adjustment. The process starts from the calculation (S011). The difference in power consumption in the house H before and after the power load adjustment is performed is calculated based on a signal corresponding to the measurement result of the main sensor 21 as described above. For this reason, when calculating the difference in power consumption in the house H before and after the execution of the power load adjustment, the calculation unit 105 outputs a signal output by the main sensor 21 before and after the power load adjustment (according to the measurement result). Signal).

In the present embodiment, the difference in power consumption in the house H before and after the power load adjustment is calculated as an index indicating the effect of the power load adjustment. However, for example, after the power load adjustment is performed. It is also possible to calculate the reduction amount of the power consumption during the period until the predetermined time elapses.

When the difference in power consumption in the house H before and after the power load adjustment is calculated, calculation result data indicating the calculation result is generated by the transmission unit 106 of the home server 10, and the transmission unit 106 further calculates the calculation result. Data is transmitted to the CEMS server 40 (S012). The transmitted calculation result data is received by the eco point granting unit 303 of the CEMS server 40 through the outside network GN (S013). Thereafter, the eco point granting unit 303 calculates an eco point according to the calculation result indicated by the data based on the received calculation result data (S014).

When the calculation of the eco point is completed, the eco point corresponding to the calculated value is given to the user of the house H where the home server 10 that is the transmission source of the above calculation result data is installed. More specifically, the eco point management unit 304 of the CEMS server 40 generates information indicating the eco point calculated by the eco point granting unit 303 and ID information for identifying the user to which the eco point is granted. Then, the two are stored in a linked form (S015). As a result, the eco-points possessed by each user are managed by the CEMS server 40 for each user.

When the above procedure is completed, the eco point grant process is completed, and the power management process in the present system S is completed. Each time a power saving request transmission command is issued from the power supply source server 50 to the CEMS server 40, the series of steps described above are repeatedly executed.

<< Other Embodiments >>
In the above embodiment, the energy management system of the present invention has been mainly described. Moreover, the description about said embodiment contains the content regarding the home server 10 as a management apparatus of this invention.
However, the above embodiment is for facilitating understanding of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention. The present invention can be changed and improved without departing from the gist thereof, and the present invention includes the equivalents thereof.

For example, in the above embodiment, after receiving a power saving request from the CEMS server 40, accepting a user operation (designation operation) for designating a device (control target device) whose operation state is controlled in power load adjustment. did. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the above-described user operation may be received in advance before receiving a power saving request from the CEMS server 40. However, when a control target device is specified after receiving a power saving request, an appropriate power consuming device is specified as a control target device according to the magnitude of the power saving request amount calculated on the CEMS server 40 side. In this respect, the above embodiment is preferable.

Also, in the above embodiment, the difference in power consumption in the house H before and after the power load adjustment is calculated, and the eco point is given according to the calculation result. That is, in said embodiment, the actual value of the power saving amount by power load adjustment is calculated, and the eco point according to the said actual value is to be provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an estimated value of the power saving amount, for example, the predicted power saving amount when the operation state of the control target device specified by the user is controlled (more specifically, the user operation of FIG. The eco point may be given based on the estimated power saving amount displayed on the screen.

Further, in the above embodiment, as a mechanism for switching and executing communication bundles according to communication target devices and integrating and providing interfaces for using the functions of the respective communication bundles as APIs (general-purpose APIs). The OSGi framework 203 has been described as an example, but any existing technology other than the OSGi framework 203 may be used as long as the OSGi framework 203 has the above functions.

In the above embodiment, the user's designation operation is accepted via the information terminal 30. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the above-described user operation screen is drawn on the display 11 of the home server 10, It is good also as receiving a user's designation | designated operation via input devices, such as a keyboard and a mouse | mouth connected to the home server 10. FIG.

In the above embodiment, the user is given an eco point (an example of a score) as a reward when the user performs power load adjustment in response to a power saving request. The reward is not limited to eco points. Any other reward may be used as long as it is an initiative for the user to perform power load adjustment. For example, prizes, securities, or the like may be given.

In the above embodiment, the reduction request (specifically, the power saving request) for the energy consumption in the house H is transmitted from the CEMS server 40. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A power saving request may be transmitted directly from a server other than the server 40, for example, a server owned by an energy supply company (for example, the power supply source server 50 described above).

S System, H Housing TN Home network, GN Outside network Dx Distribution board, Da air conditioner, Db lighting CB check box, SB setting complete button 10 Home server 10a CPU, 10b memory, 10c Non-volatile storage device 10d Communication interface 10e bus 11 display, 12 input device 21 main sensor, 22a, 22b individual sensor 30 information terminal, 31 touch panel 40 CEMS server 40a CPU, 40b memory, 40c non-volatile storage device 40d communication interface, 40e bus 41 display, 42 input Device 50 Power supply source server 101 Receiving unit, 102 Device control unit 103 Information acquisition unit, 104 Storage unit 105 Calculation unit, 106 Transmission unit 201 OS, 202 JVM
203

OSGi framework

204a, 204b, 204c Communication bundle 301 CS side receiving unit, 302 Power saving request unit 303 Eco point granting unit, 304 Eco point managing unit

Claims

A management device for managing energy consumption in a building equipped with a plurality of energy consuming devices, and an energy consumption reduction request for transmitting a reduction request for energy consumption in the building to the management device An energy management system comprising:
The management device
A receiving unit for receiving the reduction request;
In order to reduce energy consumption in the building, among the plurality of energy consuming devices, an operation state control unit that controls an operation state of a control target device;
An information acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a designated device designated by the user as the control target device from the plurality of energy consuming devices;
A storage unit for storing the information acquired by the information acquisition unit,
When the receiving unit receives the reduction request, the operation state control unit reads the information stored in the storage unit, identifies the designated device, and controls the operation state of the identified designated device. A featured energy management system.
The information acquisition unit acquires the information indicating the designated device specified by the user as the control target device from among the plurality of energy consuming devices and the control conditions set by the user regarding the operation state of the designated device. ,
The storage unit stores the information indicating the designated device and the control condition acquired by the information acquisition unit,
When the receiving unit receives the reduction request, the operation state control unit reads the information stored in the storage unit, identifies the designated device and the control condition, and determines the identified operation state of the designated device. The energy management system according to claim 1, wherein control is performed according to the specified control condition.
The management device is a home server installed in a house as the building,
The energy consumption reduction requesting device is an external server provided outside the house,
The external server can communicate with the home server via a network and a third server managed by an energy supplier that supplies energy to the house,
The external server transmits the reduction request to the home server through the network when the third server instructs the external server to transmit the reduction request through the network. The energy management system according to 1 or 2.
The management device
A calculation unit that calculates the degree of change when the energy consumption amount in the house changes due to the operation state control unit controlling the operation state of the device to be controlled;
The energy management system according to claim 3, further comprising: a data transmission unit configured to transmit data indicating the degree of change calculated by the calculation unit to the external server.
The external server includes a score giving unit that gives a user a score according to the degree of change calculated by the calculation unit,
When the score giving unit receives data indicating the degree of change calculated by the calculation unit through the network, the score giving unit calculates a score according to the degree of change based on the data, and gives the score to the user The energy management system according to claim 4.
A sensor that measures energy consumption in the house and outputs a signal according to the measurement result is provided,
The calculation unit outputs, as the degree of change, a difference in energy consumption in the house per unit time before and after the operation state control unit controls the operation state of the control target device. 6. The energy management system according to claim 4, wherein the energy management system is calculated based on the signal.
A management device for managing energy consumption in a building equipped with a plurality of energy consuming devices,
A receiving unit that receives the reduction request from an energy consumption reduction requesting device that transmits a reduction request for energy consumption in the building to the management device;
In order to reduce energy consumption in the building, among the plurality of energy consuming devices, an operation state control unit that controls an operation state of a control target device;
An information acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a designated device designated by the user as the control target device from the plurality of energy consuming devices;
A storage unit for storing the information acquired by the information acquisition unit,
When the receiving unit receives the reduction request, the operation state control unit reads the information stored in the storage unit, identifies the designated device, and controls the operation state of the identified designated device. Management device characterized.