WO2022197111A1 - Metering platform server and energy management method using same - Google Patents

Abstract

A metering platform server and an energy management method using same are disclosed. The metering platform server collects metering data for each household, suggests energy challenge information including a challenge time slot for energy-saving, and provides points if an energy usage of the challenge time slot is less than the average energy usage of a certain past period of a time slot that is the same as the challenge time slot.

Description

Meter reading platform server and energy management method using the same

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a meter reading platform server that collects and provides energy usage, such as electricity or water, and an energy management method using the same.

The present invention was carried out as part of the smart grid core technology development project of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (task number: 20191210301820, task specific number: 1415167742, department name: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, research management agency: Korea Institute of Industrial Technology Evaluation and Planning, research project name : Smart grid core technology development (R&D), research project title: Development of a surplus electricity trading and sharing service platform for housing, Hosted by: Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Research institute: 2019.05.01~202.10.31).

There is a remote meter reading terminal that automatically reads electricity, water, gas, hot water, heating, etc. The remote meter reading terminal reads the usage of electricity or water and outputs the result through wired or wireless communication. The communication method of the remote meter reading terminal may be different depending on the manufacturer. For example, the remote meter reading terminal may transmit the meter reading data using a wired communication method such as RS485 or RS232 or a wireless communication method such as Zigbee. Through the remote meter reading terminal, each household's electricity or water usage charges can be grasped.

A technical problem to be achieved by an embodiment of the present invention relates to a meter reading platform server and an energy management method that provide a service that can induce energy savings by using the meter reading data for each household that is collected in real time.

An example of an energy management method according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem is an energy management method performed by a meter reading platform server, the method comprising: collecting meter reading data for each household; presenting energy challenge information including a challenge time period for energy saving; and providing points when the amount of energy used in the challenge time zone is less than the average energy use amount of a certain past period in the same time zone as the challenge time zone.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, an example of a meter reading platform server according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a data collection unit for collecting meter reading data for each household; a conservation challenge unit that presents energy challenge information including a challenge time period for energy conservation; and a point providing unit that provides points when the amount of energy used in the challenge time period is less than the average energy use amount of the past predetermined period in the same time zone as the challenge time zone.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, energy savings of each household can be induced by identifying the amount of energy savings for each household using the meter reading data collected in real time and providing points accordingly. In another embodiment, households that save energy can earn profits by selling energy savings (for example, carbon emission reduction), and households that use a lot of energy purchase energy (for example, carbon credits) and move on to the progressive section. By avoiding this, you can get the cost reduction effect.

1 is a view showing an overall system overview for remote meter reading according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an energy management method performed by a meter reading platform server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a view showing an example of an energy saving method using energy conduction information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a diagram illustrating another example of an energy saving method using energy conduction information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a diagram illustrating another example of an energy saving method using energy conduction information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface screen for inquiring real-time energy usage according to an embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a view showing an example of an energy trading method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a diagram showing the configuration of an example of a meter reading platform server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

9 is a diagram showing the configuration of an example of a gateway device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and,

10 is a diagram illustrating an example of attaching and detaching a sub-board to a gateway device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a meter reading platform server and an energy management method using the same according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall system overview for remote meter reading according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the gateway device 130 transmits and receives meter reading data between the remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110 and the meter reading platform server 140 .

The remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110 are devices for automatically measuring the amount of electricity, water, gas, hot water, heating, etc., and various types of conventional devices may be used in this embodiment. In this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110 exist in each home, and that one remote meter reading terminal can measure all of a plurality of usages, such as electricity or water. Of course, in another embodiment, each remote meter reading terminal for measuring the amount of electricity or water used in each home may exist.

The remote meter reading terminals 100 and 100 may be grouped in a predetermined unit. For example, in the case of a multi-unit dwelling such as an apartment, a group of the remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110 may be created for each unit. In addition, the remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110 may be grouped according to various criteria. Remote meter reading repeaters 120 and 122 exist for each group of the remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110 . The remote meter reading repeaters 120 and 122 transmit meter reading data received from the remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110 belonging to each group to the gateway device 130 . In another embodiment, the remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110 may not be grouped. In this case, the remote meter reading terminals 100 and 100 may directly transmit meter reading data to the gateway device 130 without the remote meter reading repeaters 120 and 122 . In addition, various network structures for transmitting meter reading data between the remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110 and the gateway device 130 may be applied to the present embodiment.

The remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110 may transmit meter reading data through various wired and wireless communication methods. The remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110 may transmit meter reading data through a wired communication method such as RS-485 or RS-232 or a wireless communication method such as Zigbee. For example, the remote meter reading terminal installed in apartment A may use the RS-485 communication method, and the remote meter reading terminal installed in apartment B may use the Zigbee communication method. In this case, the gateway device 130 installed in apartment A must support the RS-485 communication method, and the gateway device 130 installed in apartment B must support the Zigbee communication method. The gateway device 130 capable of supporting various communication methods as described above will be described again with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10 .

The meter reading platform server 140 receives meter reading data from a plurality of gateway devices 130 through a communication network. The communication network may be various in embodiments, such as an Internet network and an LTE network. Although this embodiment shows one gateway device 130 for convenience of description, a plurality of gateway devices may exist in various regions. For example, a first gateway device may exist in apartment A, and a second gateway device may exist in apartment B. Also, the remote meter reading terminal of apartment A may use the first communication method, while the remote meter reading terminal of apartment B may use a second communication method different from the first communication method.

The meter reading platform server 140 collects meter reading data and provides various services to the user terminal 150 by using it. For example, the meter reading platform server 140 may provide real-time usage of water or electricity, predicted charges, etc. to the user terminal 150 through a communication network. Alternatively, the meter reading platform server 140 provides an alarm for a power outage, a power outage, or an accident to the user terminal 150, or when an abnormal situation occurs such as a sudden increase in the amount of water or electricity used, an alarm is sent to the user terminal 150. can provide In addition, the meter reading platform server 140 may provide various services to the user terminal 150 by using the meter reading data collected in real time. In particular, the meter reading platform server 140 may provide an energy management service for energy saving, etc. to each user, an example of which is shown in FIG. 2 or less.

The user terminal 150 refers to any type of terminal that can be connected to the meter reading platform server 140 through wired or wireless communication, such as a smart phone, a tablet PC, or a general computer. An application for this embodiment may exist in the user terminal 150 . For example, when the user terminal 150 is a smart phone, an application that can receive various services through the meter reading platform server 140 may be pre-installed in the user terminal 150 .

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an energy management method performed by a meter reading platform server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, the meter reading platform server 140 collects and stores the meter reading data for each household from a plurality of gateway devices 130 (S200). For example, the gateway device 130 may collect the meter reading data of each household at a predetermined period (eg, in units of 5 minutes, etc.) and then transmit it to the meter reading platform server 140 . The meter reading platform server 140 may set a report period of meter reading data to each gateway device 130 . The meter reading data may include usage of at least one of electricity, water, gas, hot water, and heating.

The meter reading platform server 140 provides energy challenge information including a challenge time period for energy saving to the user terminal 150 (S210). Energy challenge information is a kind of campaign information for energy saving. For example, if electricity consumption exceeds power generation capacity due to an increase in the use of air conditioners such as air conditioners in hot summer, damage may occur due to sudden power outages. Therefore, a campaign to reduce electricity consumption in advance may be necessary so that electricity consumption does not exceed the generation capacity.

In order to reduce electricity consumption in a specific time period, the meter reading platform server provides energy challenge information that guides energy saving in a specific time zone (ie, challenge time) to user terminals in a specific area (eg, a specific apartment, etc.) or nationwide can do. For example, when the meter reading platform server 140 receives information that energy saving is required in a specific time period from a power company, etc., it transmits energy challenge information for energy saving in a specific time period to a user terminal of a household located in an area requiring energy saving. (150) can be provided. An example of presenting the energy conduction information for energy saving in a specific time period to the user terminal 150 is illustrated in FIG. 3 .

In addition to this, the energy challenge information may be campaign information to save energy compared to the average energy consumption of neighbors (see FIG. 4), or may be information that allows the user to participate in energy saving by himself (refer to FIG. 5). For energy saving, each example of the energy conduction information provided by the meter reading platform server 140 to the user terminal 150 will be reviewed again in FIGS. 3 to 5 . In this embodiment, electricity is mainly described as an example of energy saving, but the energy that can be challenged to save through energy challenge information is at least one of various types of energy that can be used by meter reading data such as heating, hot water, and water. can

When the meter reading platform server 140 succeeds in energy saving so as to induce the user's participation in the energy saving campaign presented through the energy challenge information (S220), it may provide a reward such as points (S230). For example, the points may be in a form that can be used like cash online or offline. As another example, the meter reading platform server 140 may grant a gift recommendation application right when more than a certain number of points are collected. In addition to this, various conventional methods related to point operation may be applied to the present embodiment.

If there are multiple members in a household, each member can individually challenge energy conservation. If each member of the household succeeds in the energy saving challenge, the meter reading platform server 140 may accumulate points for each household and manage them.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an energy saving method using energy conduction information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the meter reading platform server 140 presents energy conduction information to the user terminal. The energy challenge information includes a challenge time period and an energy saving target amount. The energy saving target amount may be set such that the energy consumption during the challenge time period is equal to or less than the average energy use amount of the past certain period (eg, the past week, etc.) in the same time zone as the challenge time period. For example, when the challenge time period for energy conservation is 14:00 to 15:00 on July 20, the target energy saving amount may be an average of energy consumption from 14:00 to 15:00 on July 13 to 19. The energy saving target included in the energy challenge information may be different for each household.

The challenge time zone may be set as a time zone in which energy consumption is high. In one embodiment, the meter reading platform server 140 receives a specific time period for cooperation in energy saving from the electric power company or a specific time period for reducing the energy consumption of the apartment house from the manager of an apartment house, etc. The screen 300 on which the energy challenge information in which the time zone is set as the challenge time zone is displayed may be provided to the user terminal.

The energy challenge information may be provided in units of apartment houses, such as apartments. For example, the meter reading platform server 140 provides the first energy challenge information of the first challenge time zone to the user terminal of the first apartment, and the user terminal of the second apartment in the second challenge time zone different from the first challenge time zone. The second energy challenge information may be provided.

The user determines whether to participate by looking at the screen 300 of the energy challenge information displayed on the user terminal. When the user participates in the energy challenge information, the meter reading platform server 140 collects meter reading data of the household to which the user belongs during the challenge period in real time and shows the energy consumption of the corresponding household (310). The user can save energy so that the household energy consumption does not exceed the energy saving target. Since the meter reading platform server 140 provides real-time energy consumption to the user terminal, the user can check the amount of energy saved according to the energy saving method performed by the user in real time. The meter reading platform server 140 may present various energy saving methods to the user ( 320 ).

When the challenge time period ends, the meter reading platform server 140 determines whether the energy saving challenge of each household is successful ( 330 ). For example, the meter reading platform server 140 may determine that the energy challenge is successful if the amount of energy used during the challenge time for each household is less than or equal to the energy saving target amount, and may provide points accordingly. As another example, the meter reading platform server 140 may differentially pay points according to the amount of savings compared to the target amount of energy saving for each household. For example, the meter reading platform server 140 provides 1000 points to household A when household A has reduced energy by 10% compared to the energy saving target, and household B performs 20% of energy savings compared to the energy saving target. In one case, 2000 points can be given to household B. As will be seen later, the meter reading platform server 140 may provide an energy trading service for each household based on the amount of energy saved. The energy trading will be looked at again in FIG. 7 .

4 is a diagram illustrating another example of an energy saving method using energy conduction information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the meter reading platform server 140 presents an energy challenge information screen 400 that induces energy saving through competition between neighbors to the user terminal. While the energy challenge information of FIG. 3 sets the average energy consumption for a specific past period by household as the energy saving target amount, the energy saving target amount of the energy level information of FIG.

For example, in the case of an apartment, the meter reading platform server 140 calculates the energy saving target amount of each household for the entire apartment or for a certain period of time in the past of the apartment to which the household belongs (eg, the same time zone as the challenge time during the past week). It can be set as the average usage.

The meter reading platform server 140 may provide the energy consumption of each household to the user terminal based on the real-time meter reading data collected during the challenge time period ( 410 ). In addition, the meter reading platform server 140 may present an energy saving method to the user terminal as shown in FIG. 3 . The meter reading platform server 140 may provide a point as shown in FIG. 3 when the energy challenge is successful ( 420 ).

5 is a diagram illustrating another example of an energy saving method using energy conduction information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the meter reading platform server 140 may present an energy challenge information screen 500 in which the user can select an energy saving target so that the user can challenge himself to save energy. 3 and 4, the meter reading platform server 140 presents the energy challenge information specifying the challenge time period to the user terminal, while FIG. 5 presents energy challenge information through which the user can select an energy saving challenge time. .

The meter reading platform server 140 may present a plurality of energy-saving challenges to achieve the energy-saving target amount by performing energy-saving for a predetermined time (eg, 15 minutes, etc.) (500). For example, the first challenge of saving 5% compared to the average energy consumption of each household for a certain period in the past, the second challenge of saving 10% of the average energy use of each household for a certain period in the past, Energy challenge information including the third challenge of saving 15% compared to the average energy consumption of The meter reading platform server 140 may display and provide real-time energy consumption during the challenge time period (510). In addition, the meter reading platform server 140 may provide to the user terminal whether to perform energy saving training (520).

6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface screen for inquiring real-time energy usage according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the meter reading platform server 140 receives information such as a meter reading date, discount items, etc. of electricity or water through a screen interface displayed on the user terminal. The meter reading platform server 140 calculates and provides a charge for energy consumption up to the current point based on the seventh day of the meter reading.

7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an energy trading method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the meter reading platform server 140 mediates energy sales between energy selling households and energy purchasing households. In this embodiment, energy trading is abstract trading rather than actual energy (or carbon emission, etc.) being transferred between households.

The meter reading platform server 140 calculates the energy sales amount based on the energy saving amount when the energy of the household is reduced through the energy challenge information, etc. that was looked at above, and the household (ie, energy sales household) transfers the energy sales amount to other households (that is, , can be brokered to sell to energy purchasing households).

For example, a progressive system is applied to electricity rates according to electricity consumption. In other words, the amount of electricity used is not directly proportional to the amount used. Therefore, it is advantageous in terms of cost to use it appropriately so that it does not enter the progressive section where electricity consumption is high. Households that use less energy can afford to enter the next progressive section, so they can sell the surplus to other households. You can save money by not entering the section.

As another example, energy use is related to carbon emissions. In other words, when a lot of energy such as electricity or heating is used, carbon emission increases accordingly. Since the amount of energy used by each household is proportional to the amount of carbon emission, a cost burden may occur according to the amount of carbon emission of each household. In this case, households with low carbon emissions (ie, households with low energy usage) can sell them to households with high carbon emissions (ie, households with high energy usage).

Although there is a difference in terms, energy and carbon emissions are proportional, so the following description will be based on energy, and in particular, electric energy will be used for better understanding.

A household that wants to sell energy (ie, an energy sales household) registers energy sales information in the meter reading platform server. Energy sales households can decide which type of energy to sell and how much to sell based on the household's real-time energy consumption, which is identified through real-time meter reading data. As another example, the meter reading platform server determines in real time how much energy is left in the progressive section or the carbon emission standard for each household based on the real-time usage of each household and the past average usage of each household (in the past 1 month based on the meter reading date, etc.). It can be provided to the user terminal. Energy sales households can register the amount of energy sold and the amount thereof in the meter reading platform server. In an embodiment, the amount of energy sales may be automatically calculated according to a predefined standard or may be arbitrarily determined by the energy sales household.

Households who wish to purchase energy (ie, energy purchase households) can purchase energy based on energy sales information registered in the meter reading platform server. When an energy purchasing household requests energy purchase, the meter reading platform server performs a cost settlement process according to the energy purchase request so that energy purchases are made.

Since energy trading is not an actual energy transfer, the meter reading platform server adds the amount of energy sales to the meter reading data of households that sell energy when the energy purchase is made, and the usage corresponding to the energy purchase in the meter reading data of households purchasing energy. can be reduced. In other words, when energy sales households sell enough energy not to enter the progressive section, the energy sales amount is greater than the cost of additional usage corresponding to the energy sales amount, so they can obtain a profit. Energy purchase households can reduce their energy consumption so that they do not enter the progressive section through energy purchases, and the energy purchase amount is smaller than the amount used in the progressive section, so they can benefit.

In another embodiment, energy trading may be defined as carbon credit trading. Energy sales households can sell carbon emissions (carbon credits) acquired through energy savings to other households. For example, if the carbon emission standards for each household are set, and if the carbon emission standards are exceeded, additional costs must be paid. You may not pay any additional fees. That is, if the additional cost due to excess carbon emission is greater than the energy purchase cost, the energy purchasing household can purchase energy from the energy selling household.

8 is a diagram showing the configuration of an example of a meter reading platform server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8 , the meter reading platform server 140 includes a data collection unit 800 , a saving conductive unit 810 , a point providing unit 820 , an energy display unit 830 , a rate calculation unit 840 , and an energy intermediary unit. (850). Some of the configuration of the meter reading platform server 140 may be omitted or other configurations may be further added.

The data collection unit 800 collects household-specific meter reading data from at least one gateway device. The data collection unit 800 may store and manage the consumption of each energy, such as electricity and water, in units of households.

The saving conductive unit 810 provides energy challenge information including a challenge time period for energy saving to the user terminal. Examples of the energy conduction information provided to the user terminal by the eco-friendly conductive unit 810 are shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 .

The point providing unit 820 provides points when the energy consumption in the challenge time zone is less than the average energy usage in the past predetermined period in the same time zone as the challenge time zone of the energy challenge information.

The energy display unit 830 provides real-time energy consumption to the user terminal by collecting household-specific meter reading data during the challenge time period for energy saving.

The rate calculation unit 840 receives the meter reading date and discount item for each type of energy, calculates a rate for energy usage up to the current point based on the 7th day of the meter, and provides it to the user terminal. An example of a screen interface through which the rate calculation unit 840 receives the meter reading date for each household for calculation of the rate is illustrated in FIG. 6 .

The energy intermediary unit 850 mediates so that the energy (or carbon emission amount) saved by the household can sell energy (or carbon emission amount) to other households as much as the energy (or carbon emission amount) saved. For example, the energy intermediary unit 850 receives energy sales information including energy sales (or carbon credits) calculated based on energy savings (or carbon emission savings) for a certain period from energy sales households, and receives energy It brokers energy sales (or carbon credits) between selling households and energy purchasing households. When energy such as electricity is sold, the energy intermediary unit 850 adds the amount of energy sold to the meter reading data of households selling energy, and decreases the amount of energy sold in the meter reading data of households purchasing energy. As another example, the energy intermediary unit 850 may mediate carbon credits between energy selling households and energy purchasing households. An example of the energy intermediary unit 850 is shown in FIG.

9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an example of a gateway device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9 , the gateway device 130 includes a first sub-board 900 , a second sub-board 910 , a first sub-board interface 920 , a second sub-board interface 930 , and a control unit 940 . includes

The first sub-board 900 includes a communication module supporting the first communication method, and the second sub-board 910 includes a communication module supporting the second communication method. Various conventional communication modules supporting each communication method may be applied to this embodiment. In one embodiment, the first sub-board 900 and the second sub-board 910 include a processor (eg, microcontroller unit (MCU), etc.) and a memory, and the MCU is a specific communication method stored in the memory. Algorithms that process data can be performed. Algorithms for processing the communication method may be provided or updated to each of the sub-boards 900 and 910 through the control unit 940 in the form of firmware. Through firmware, not only communication method support but also various additional functions may be implemented in each sub-board 900 and 910 .

The first sub-board 900 and the second sub-board 910 may be detachably attached to the first sub-board interface 920 and the second sub-board interface 930 , respectively. An example in which each of the sub-boards 900 and 210 is attached and detached to each of the sub-boy interfaces 920 and 930 is shown in FIG. 10 .

The first sub-board 900 supports a first communication method for data transmission/reception with the remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110 . The first sub-board 900 has different communication methods (eg, RS-485-4CH, RS-485-2CH, RS-232-2CH, 4-20mA, relay, zigbee, etc.) may be any one of a plurality of sub-boards that support For example, there may be a 1a sub-board supporting the 1a communication method, a 1b sub-board supporting the 1b communication method, and the like. If the 1a communication method is required for data transmission and reception with the remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110, the 1a sub-board supporting the 1a communication method is selected as the first sub-board 900, and if the 1b communication method is required, the 1st communication method is selected. The 1b sub-board supporting the 1b communication method may be selected as the 1 sub-board 900 . If another communication method is required for communication with the remote meter reading terminals 100 and 110, in this embodiment, only the first sub-board 900 supporting the new communication method is developed without the need to develop the entire gateway device 130 again. do.

The second sub-board 910 supports a second communication method for data transmission/reception with the meter reading platform server 140 . The second sub-board 910 is a different communication method (eg, Ethernet (Ethernet), narrow-band Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Wi-Fi), LTE (Long Term Evoltuion), LTE Cat.M1, LAN (Local Area Network, etc.) may be any one of a plurality of sub-boards. For example, there may be a 2a sub-board supporting the 2a communication method, a 2b sub-board supporting the 2b communication method, and the like. If the 2a communication method is required for data transmission/reception with the meter reading platform server 140, the 2a sub-board supporting the 2a communication method is selected as the second sub-board 910, and if the 2b communication method is required, the second A 2b sub-board supporting the 2b communication method may be selected as the 2 sub-board 910 . If another communication method for communication with the meter reading platform server 140 is required, in this embodiment, only the second sub-board 910 supporting the new communication method needs to be developed without the need to re-develop the entire gateway device 130 . .

The first sub-board 900 is connected to the remote meter reading terminal and is mainly used for receiving remote meter reading data, and the second sub board 910 is connected to the meter reading platform server 140 to transmit remote meter reading data. is mainly used as When there is another metering management server to transmit metering data together with the metering platform server 140, the first sub-board 900 uses a communication method including at least two or more channels (eg, RS-485 2-channel/ It can be implemented as a communication module supporting 4 channels or RS-232 2 channels, etc.). In this case, the gateway device 130 may transmit the meter reading data to the meter reading management server and the meter reading platform server 140 together.

For example, a plurality of sub-boards that can be used as the first sub-board 800 and a plurality of sub-boards that can be used as the second sub-board 910 may each exist. In another embodiment, any one of a plurality of sub-boards supporting various communication methods may be used as a first sub-board or a second sub-board according to an embodiment.

The control unit 940 recognizes the first sub-board 900 and the second sub-board 910 attached to the first sub-board interface 920 and the second sub-board interface 930, respectively, and then the first sub-board ( The data conversion is performed between the first communication method of 900 and the second communication method of the second sub-board 910 . For example, when the first sub-board 900 supports the 1a communication method and the second sub-board 910 supports the 2b communication method, the control unit 240 may switch between the 1a communication method and the 2b communication method. data conversion is performed. An example of data conversion between various communication methods is shown in FIG. 4 .

The control unit 240 automatically recognizes the communication method supported by the first sub-board 900 and the second sub-board 910 attached to the first sub-board interface 920 and the second sub-board interface 930 . . To this end, each of the first sub-board 900 and the second sub-board 910 outputs identification information indicating a communication method supported by them.

10 is a diagram illustrating an example of attaching and detaching a sub-board to a gateway device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Referring to FIG. 10 , a first sub-board interface 920 and a second sub-board interface 930 exist in the main board 1000 on which the controller 940 is implemented. The first sub-board 900 and the second sub-board 910 are attached to and detached from the first sub-board interface 920 and the second sub-board interface 930 in a horizontal direction to the main board 1000 , respectively. A plurality of sub-boards supporting various communication methods exist, and when any one of them is attached to the first sub-board interface 920, it becomes the first sub-board 900 of this embodiment and the second sub-board interface 930. ) is attached to the second sub-board 910 .

The main board 1000 may include various hardware configurations capable of supporting various communication methods of the subboard of the present embodiment, such as ports to which cables of various wired communication methods are connected. For example, a port to which an RS-485 cable, an RS-232 cable, or a LAN cable is connected may exist in the motherboard 1000 . When the first sub-board 900 is a communication module supporting the RS-485 communication method, the first sub-board 900 transmits and receives data through the RS-485 port of the main board.

The present invention can also be implemented as computer-readable codes on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all types of recording devices in which data readable by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable recording media include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, and optical data storage device. In addition, the computer-readable recording medium is distributed in a network-connected computer system so that the computer-readable code can be stored and executed in a distributed manner.

So far, with respect to the present invention, the preferred embodiments have been looked at. Those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will understand that the present invention may be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments are to be considered in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The scope of the present invention is indicated in the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope equivalent thereto should be construed as being included in the present invention.

Claims (13)

1. In the energy management method performed by the meter reading platform server,

   collecting meter reading data for each household;

   presenting energy challenge information including a challenge time period for energy saving; and

   and providing points when the amount of energy used in the challenge time zone is less than the average energy use amount of a certain past period in the same time zone as the challenge time zone.
2. The method of claim 1,

   The energy management method further comprising; providing the energy usage amount determined based on the meter reading data during the challenge time period to the user terminal at intervals of a predetermined period.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the points comprises:

   and providing points when the amount of energy used is less than the average energy use of neighbors during the challenge time period.
4. The method of claim 1,

   If the points are more than a certain number of points, the step of giving a gift recommendation application; Energy management method further comprising a.
5. The method of claim 1,

   receiving an input of a meter reading date and discount items for each energy type; and

   The energy management method further comprising; calculating and providing a charge for energy consumption up to the present time based on Geom7 days.
6. The method of claim 1,

   receiving energy sales information including energy sales calculated based on energy savings for a certain period from energy sales households;

   mediating energy sales between households selling energy and households purchasing energy; and

   The method of claim 1, further comprising: adding a usage amount equivalent to the energy sales amount to the meter reading data of the households selling energy, and decreasing the usage amount equivalent to the energy sales amount in the meter reading data of the energy purchasing households.
7. The method of claim 1,

   The energy sales amount is an energy management method, characterized in that the carbon credits calculated based on the amount of energy savings.
8. The method of claim 1,

   The collecting step includes: collecting meter reading data for each household of the apartment house through a gateway device installed in the apartment house;

   The gateway device identifies the first communication method and the second communication method of the first sub-board and the second sub-board respectively attached to the first sub-board interface and the second sub-mode interface, respectively, and connects the first sub-board. Energy management method, characterized in that receiving the meter reading data from the remote meter reading terminal installed in the apartment house through the second sub-board, and transmitting the meter reading data to the meter reading platform server through the second sub-board.
9. a data collection unit that collects meter reading data for each household;

   a conservation challenge unit that presents energy challenge information including a challenge time period for energy conservation; and

   The meter reading platform server comprising a; a point providing unit that provides points when the amount of energy used in the challenge time period is less than the average energy use amount of the past certain period in the same time zone as the challenge time zone.
10. 10. The method of claim 9,

    The meter reading platform server further comprising; an energy display unit that provides the energy usage amount determined based on the meter reading data during the challenge time period to the user terminal at intervals of a predetermined period.
11. 10. The method of claim 9,

    Meter reading platform server, characterized in that it further comprises a; to receive the input of the meter reading date and discount items for each energy type, and to calculate and provide the charge for the energy consumption up to the current point as of the seventh day of the meter.
12. 10. The method of claim 9,

    Registers energy sales information including energy sales calculated based on energy savings for a certain period from energy sales households, mediates energy sales between the energy sales households and energy purchase households, and adds them to the meter reading data of the energy sales households. The meter reading platform server further comprising; an energy intermediary unit that adds a usage amount corresponding to the energy sales amount and reduces the usage amount equivalent to the energy sales amount in the meter reading data of the energy purchasing households.
13. A computer-readable recording medium in which a computer program for performing the method according to claim 1 is recorded.

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