Charging management system and charging management method

Abstract

To predict a future total EV charging amount charged by a charger user, calculate the power upper limit that is able to ensure economic efficiency for a building providing a charging environment, and control a charging amount.SOLUTION: A charging management system having a processor and a storage apparatus. The storage apparatus holds delivery information including delivery plans by electric vehicles, electricity cost information for the electric vehicles, facility information about facilities included in an electric vehicle delivery route, and charger information about the specifications of chargers installed in the facility. The facility information includes a unit price of electricity supplied to the facility, a charging unit price that is a unit price of electricity provided by the charger installed in the facility, and a profit target value from the charger providing electricity. The processor estimates a charging amount by the charger for a predetermined period in the future based on the delivery information, the electricity cost information, and the charger information, and calculates the upper limit of power consumption of the facility in a predetermined time frame including the current time so that the profit target value is secured based on the estimated charging amount and the facility information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a charging management system that manages the power demand of a building and the charging amount of an electric vehicle, and calculates an appropriate upper limit of power consumption of the building. [Background technology]

[0002] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-191471 (Patent Document 1) is known as background art in this technical field. This Patent Document 1 describes a charging control method for electric vehicles that can efficiently and cheaply charge multiple electric vehicles while suppressing power peaks due to rapid charging. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-191471 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The technology described in Patent Document 1 provides a charging control method for electric vehicles that can efficiently and cheaply charge multiple electric vehicles while suppressing power peaks due to rapid charging. However, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, the contracted power equivalent to the power peak is fixed, so if the actual charging amount is greater than the total charging amount expected at the time of design, it is not possible to improve the convenience of electric vehicle users by increasing the charging amount of the electric vehicles by setting the power peak higher. Conversely, if the actual charging amount is less than the total charging amount expected, it is not possible to avoid a deterioration in the profitability of the charging service by lowering the power peak.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of these problems, and aims to provide a system and method for predicting the future total charging amount of electric vehicles (EVs) of charger users when it is expected that the power peak will exceed an estimated value, calculating an upper power limit that ensures economic viability for the building providing the charging environment, and controlling the charging amount of the charger. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A representative example of the invention disclosed in the present application is as follows: That is, a charging management system includes a processor and a storage device, the storage device holds delivery information including a delivery plan for an electric vehicle, electricity cost information for the electric vehicle, facility information regarding facilities included in a delivery route for the electric vehicle, and charger information regarding specifications of a charger installed at the facility for charging the electric vehicle, the facility information includes a unit price of a fee paid to a power supplier for power supplied to the facility, a charging unit price which is a unit price received from a charging power provider for power provided by the charger installed at the facility to charge the electric vehicle, and a target value of profit from the provision of power by the charger, the processor estimates a charging amount by the charger for a predetermined future period based on the delivery information, the electricity cost information, and the charger information, and calculates an upper limit of the power consumption of the facility in a predetermined time frame including a current time based on the estimated charging amount and the facility information so as to ensure the target value of profit. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, a building owner who provides a charging service can ensure the profitability of the service while improving the convenience of users who charge electric vehicles. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the description of the following embodiments. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a charge management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of route delivery data according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of electricity consumption data according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of charger data according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of facility data according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 4 is a flowchart showing a process in the charge management system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing details of a process of a power consumption prediction unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a transition of an integrated amount of power based on power consumption collected from a charger and a power meter according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] 5 is a flowchart showing details of a process performed by a total route charge amount estimating unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 10 is a flowchart showing details of a process of a power upper limit calculation unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a comparison between a predicted power consumption amount and a power upper limit value in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of a charge management system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] 11 is a flowchart showing a process in a charge management system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of information presented to an energy manager by a charge management system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. EXAMPLES

[0010] In this embodiment, an example of a charging management system that can provide a charging service without compromising the economic efficiency of the charging service by receiving a delivery plan from a logistics company, estimating the future charging amount at the delivery destination building, and calculating an appropriate power upper limit value will be described.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a charge management system 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] The charging management system 100 is connected, via a network 400, to a delivery plan system 201 that manages delivery plans for logistics trucks at a logistics base 200 of a logistics company, a building 300 in which a charger for an electric vehicle 202 is installed, the charger 301, and a power meter 302 that measures the total energy consumption of the building 300 in which the charger is installed. Note that at least some of the logistics trucks used by the logistics company in this embodiment are electric vehicles 202.

[0013] The charging management system 100 collects the future delivery plans of the logistics company and the electricity costs of the electric vehicle 202 from the delivery planning system 201, collects the amount of charge to the electric vehicle 202 from the charger 301, and collects the total power consumption of the building 300 in which the charger is installed from the power meter 302.

[0014] The route delivery data 104 stores delivery plans collected from logistics businesses. The electricity cost data 105 stores information related to the electricity cost of the electric vehicle 202 managed by the logistics base 200. The charger data 106 stores information related to the specifications of the charger 301 installed in the building 300. The facility data 107 stores information related to the electricity contract and charging service of the building 300 in which the charger 301 is installed. The logistics base 200 and the building 300 may each be multiple businesses and multiple buildings. There may be multiple chargers 301 within the building 300.

[0015] The charging management system 100 is a computer including a processor 1, a memory 2, a storage device 3, an input / output device 4, and a communication device 5.

[0016] The processor 1 is a calculation device that executes a program stored in the memory 2. Note that some of the processing performed by the processor 1 by executing the program may be executed by another calculation device (for example, hardware such as an ASIC or an FPGA). The processor 1 operates as a functional unit that provides a predetermined function by executing processing according to the program of each functional unit. The same applies to other programs. The charging management system 100 is a computer and a computer system that include functional units realized by the processor 1.

[0017] The memory 2 includes a ROM, which is a non-volatile storage element, and a RAM, which is a volatile storage element. The ROM stores unchanging programs (e.g., BIOS) and the like. The RAM is a high-speed and volatile storage element such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), and temporarily stores programs executed by the processor 1 and data used when the programs are executed. For example, a power consumption prediction unit 101, a total path charge amount estimation unit 102, and a power upper limit calculation unit 103 are loaded into the memory 2 as programs and executed by the processor 1.

[0018] The storage device 3 is, for example, a large-capacity non-volatile storage device such as a magnetic storage device (HDD) or a flash memory (SSD). The storage device 3 stores data (for example, route delivery data 104, charger data 106, electricity cost data 105, and facility data 107) used by the processor 1 when executing a program, and the program executed by the processor 1. That is, the program is read from the storage device 3, loaded into the memory 2, and executed by the processor 1.

[0019] The power consumption prediction unit 101 receives the charge amount from the charger 301 and the total energy consumption amount of the building 300 from the power meter 302, and predicts the power consumption amount in the building 300 for a 30-minute frame including the current time. For example, if the current time is 9:10, the power consumption amount from 9:00 to 9:30 is predicted. If the current time is 9:33, the power consumption amount from 9:30 to 10:00 is predicted.

[0020] In this embodiment, a 30-minute frame is shown as an example of the predetermined time frame, but the predetermined time may be a time length other than 30 minutes (for example, 10 minutes or 1 hour).

[0021] The total route charging amount estimation unit 102 receives route delivery data and information on the electricity cost of the electric vehicle 202 from the delivery planning system 201, and estimates the future total charging amount in the building 300 in which the charger 301 is installed. When there are multiple logistics bases 200 and multiple delivery planning systems 201, the total route charging amount estimation unit 102 receives route delivery data and information on the electricity cost of the electric vehicle 202 from each of them. When there are multiple buildings 300, the total route charging amount estimation unit 102 estimates the total charging amount by the chargers installed in each building.

[0022] The power upper limit calculation unit 103 receives the future total charge amount of charging in the building 300 in which the charger 301 is installed from the total route charge amount estimation unit 102, receives the charge amount of the electric vehicle 202 from the charger 301, and receives the power demand from the power meter 302 of the building 300 in which the charger 301 is installed, and calculates a power upper limit value of the building 300 that can ensure the economic viability of the charging service. When there are multiple buildings 300, the power upper limit calculation unit 103 calculates a power upper limit value for each building.

[0023] The charging management system 100 may have an input / output device 4 as an input interface and an output interface. The input interface is an interface to which an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse (not shown) is connected and which receives input from an operator. The output interface is an interface to which an output device such as a display device or a printer (not shown) is connected and which outputs the execution result of a program in a format that can be viewed by an operator. Note that another device connected to the charging management system 100 via a network 400 may provide the input / output device.

[0024] The program executed by the processor 1 is provided to the charge management system 100 from a removable medium (e.g., a CD-ROM or a flash memory) or via a network 400, and is stored in a non-volatile storage device 3, which is a non-transitory storage medium. For this reason, the charge management system 100 may have an interface for reading data from the removable medium.

[0025] The charging management system 100 is a computer system configured on one physical computer, or on multiple logically or physically configured computers, and may operate on a virtual computer constructed on multiple physical computer resources. For example, the subprograms constituting the total route charging amount estimation unit 102 may each operate on separate physical or logical computers, or multiple programs may be combined to operate on one physical or logical computer.

[0026] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the route delivery data 104 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] The route delivery data 104 includes, in one record, a route name 1031, a departure location 1032, a departure time 1033, an arrival location 1034, an arrival time 1035, and a travel distance 1036. The route delivery data 104 stores data representing a delivery route collected from the delivery planning system 201.

[0028] The route name 1021 is an identifier of the route. The departure location 1032 is an identifier indicating the departure location of the logistics truck. The departure time 1033 is the time of departure from the departure location 1032. The arrival location 1034 is an identifier indicating the arrival location of the logistics truck. The arrival time 1035 is the time of arrival at the arrival location 1034. The traveling distance 1036 is the traveling distance of the logistics truck from the departure location 1032 to the arrival location 1034.

[0029] For example, according to the first four records in FIG. 2, a logistics truck traveling along route A first leaves its own base A at 9:00, travels 15 km, and arrives at customer building B at 10:00. After that, the logistics truck stays at customer building B for 15 minutes, leaves customer building B at 10:15, travels 20 km, and arrives at customer building C at 12:00. After that, the logistics truck stays at customer building C for 30 minutes, leaves customer building C at 12:30, travels 10 km, and arrives at the distribution center at 13:00. After that, the logistics truck stays at the distribution center for 60 minutes, leaves the distribution center at 14:00, travels 25 km, and arrives at its own base A at 16:00. In other words, route A is a route that leaves its own base A at 9:00, passes through customer building B, customer building C, and the distribution center, and returns to its own base A at 16:00.

[0030] FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the electricity consumption data 105 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] The electricity cost data 105 includes, in one record, an electric vehicle ID 1041 and an electricity cost 1042. The electricity cost data 105 stores data indicating the electricity cost of an electric vehicle 202 traveling on a delivery route.

[0032] For example, the first record in FIG. 3 indicates that the electricity consumption of an electric vehicle 202 identified by "EV truck A" among logistics trucks is 1.9 km / kWh (i.e., the electric vehicle 202 travels 1.9 km per kWh of power consumption).

[0033] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the charger data 106 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] The charger data 106 includes a charger ID 1051, a charger output 1052, and a charger installation location 1053 in one record. The charger data 106 stores data representing the rated output value of the charger, the installation location of the charger, and the contract power of the building in which the charger is installed. The charger ID 1051 is an identifier of the charger. The charger output 1052 is the rated output value of the installed charger. The charger installation location 1053 is an identifier representing the installation location of the charger.

[0035] In the example of Fig. 4, charger A is installed in customer building C and has a rated output of 100 kW. Charger B is installed at the customer's location and has a rated output of 6 kW.

[0036] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the structure of the facility data 107 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] The facility data 107 includes, in one record, a facility ID 1061, a contracted power 1062, a CO2 intensity 1063, a charging cost 1064, a contracted power cost 1065, a metered cost 1066, and a target profit 1067. The facility data 107 stores information on the power contract of the facility (e.g., building 300), a target profit for installing a charger, and data on the charging cost for charger users.

[0038] The facility ID 1061 is an identifier of the facility. The contracted power 1062 is the upper limit of power consumption that the facility has contracted with the electric power company. The CO2 intensity 1063 is a conversion coefficient for calculating the amount of CO2 emissions resulting from the power consumed by the facility. The charging unit price 1064 is the charging unit price charged to a user who uses the charger 301 installed at the facility. The contracted power unit price 1065 is the unit price per kW of power consumption that the facility has contracted with the electric power company. The metered unit price 1066 is the unit price per kWh of power consumption that the facility has contracted with the electric power company. The target profit 1067 is a target value of profit to be obtained by the charger 301 installed at the facility.

[0039] 6 is a flowchart showing the process in the charge management system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The charge management system 100 periodically executes the process shown in FIG.

[0040] In step S101, the power consumption prediction unit 101 predicts the power consumption of the building 300 for a 30-minute time frame including the current time. For example, if the current time is 9:10, the power consumption from 9:00 to 9:30 is predicted. If the current time is 9:33, the power consumption from 9:30 to 10:00 is predicted. Note that the power consumption predicted here is the sum of the power consumption of the building 300 itself (i.e., the facility only) and the power consumption for charging by the chargers 301 installed in the building 300 for that 30-minute time frame.

[0041] In step S102, the contracted power 1062 of the facility data 107 is referred to, and it is determined whether the power consumption in the 30-minute frame predicted in step S101 exceeds the contracted power of the building 300 in which the charger 301 is installed. At this time, the power consumption (kWh) in the 30-minute frame is converted to power consumption (kW) for comparison with the contracted power. For example, if the power consumption in the 30-minute frame predicted in step S101 is 10 kWh, the contracted power is compared with 10 kWh / (30 minutes / 60 minutes)=20 kW. If it exceeds, the process proceeds to step S103. If it does not exceed, the process ends. If the predicted power consumption does not exceed the contracted power, the basic charge for electricity will not increase, so it can be said that there is no impact on the expected balance. If it exceeds, the contracted power charge will increase, which may deteriorate the profitability of the charging service. Therefore, it is necessary to calculate an allowable upper limit value in order to ensure the target profit, and to control the charging amount within a range that does not exceed the upper limit value.

[0042] In step S103, the total route charging amount estimation unit 102 estimates the total charging amount by the chargers 301 installed in the building 300. Specifically, the total route charging amount estimation unit 102 uses the route delivery data 104 collected from the delivery plan system 201 to estimate the charging amount to be charged in the building 300 from a future delivery plan. For example, the total route charging amount estimation unit 102 estimates the total charging amount for the next few months.

[0043] In step S104, the power upper limit calculation unit 103 calculates a power upper limit value using the facility data 107 that stores the total charged amount estimated in step S103 and information related to the power contract of the building 300.

[0044] In step S105, it is determined whether the predicted power consumption of only the facility (building 300), excluding the power consumption of the charger 301 from the current time onwards, exceeds the power upper limit. If it does, the process proceeds to step S106. If it does not, the process ends.

[0045] In step S106, the power supply by the charger 301 is stopped. That is, the charge management system 100 stops the power supply by the charger 301 so that the power consumption in the building 300 does not exceed the power upper limit value calculated in step S104.

[0046] In step S107, if the power consumption during the 30-minute time frame exceeds the contracted power at the time when the 30-minute time frame ends, the charge management system 100 sets the power consumption as a new contracted power and updates the value of the contracted power 1062.

[0047] 7 is a flowchart showing details of the process of the power consumption prediction unit 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The power consumption prediction unit 101 receives charging power from a charger 301 and total power consumption of a building from a power meter 302 as input, and outputs a predicted value of power consumption for a 30-minute frame.

[0048] In step S1011 , the power consumption prediction unit 101 acquires the current charging power value from the charger 301 and the power consumption value of the building 300 from the power meter 302 .

[0049] In step S1012, the power consumption prediction unit 101 calculates the integrated power consumption at the current time in the 30-minute frame.

[0050] In step S1013, the power consumption prediction unit 101 estimates the integrated power consumption at the end of the 30-minute slot from the transition of the integrated power consumption from the start of the 30-minute slot to the current time and the charging power of the charger 301. Here, the power consumption prediction unit 101 estimates the power consumption including the power consumption due to charging by the charger 301 and the power consumption only of the facility excluding the power consumption due to charging by the charger 301.

[0051] FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the transition of the integrated amount of power based on the power consumption collected from the charger 301 and the power meter 302 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0052] The power consumption prediction unit 101 periodically executes the process shown in Fig. 7 to manage the integrated power consumption at the current time in a 30-minute frame and its transition as shown in Fig. 8, and calculates a predicted value of the final integrated power consumption in the 30-minute frame. The example in Fig. 8 shows the status of the integrated power consumption in the 30-minute frame from 9:00 to 9:30. Here, the power consumption prediction unit 101 estimates both the power consumption including the charger and the power consumption only of the facility excluding the charger for the period from the current time in the 30-minute frame onwards.

[0053] 9 is a flowchart showing details of the process of the total route charging amount estimating unit 102 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The total route charging amount estimating unit 102 calculates the future total charging amount of the chargers 301 installed in the building 300.

[0054] In step S1021 , the total route charging amount estimation unit 102 acquires the route delivery data 104 , the charger data 106 , and the electricity cost data 105 .

[0055] In step S1022, the total route charging amount estimation unit 102 assigns EVs to travel on each route so as to minimize the charging amount or CO2 emissions based on data such as the travel distance, electricity consumption, and CO2 emission unit, and calculates the charging amount for each charger 301.

[0056] In step S1023, the total route charging amount estimation unit 102 calculates the total charging amount of the chargers 301 installed in the corresponding building 300.

[0057] 10 is a flowchart showing details of the process of the power upper limit calculation unit 103 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The power upper limit calculation unit 103 uses the charge amount x estimated by the total route charge amount estimation unit 102 to calculate an excess upper limit when the contracted power is exceeded.

[0058] In step S1031 , the power upper limit calculation unit 103 acquires the facility data 107 .

[0059] In step S1032, the power upper limit calculation unit 103 uses the charging amount x for the future one year estimated by the total route charging amount estimation unit 102, the value J of the metered unit price 1066 acquired from the facility data 107, the value C of the charging unit price 1064, the value R of the annual target profit 1067, and the value K of the contracted power unit price 1065 to calculate an excess upper limit value a of the contracted power by Equation (1). If the accumulated power amount for the 30-minute frame exceeds the accumulated power amount based on the current contracted power by continuing charging after the current time and the excess amount is a or more, the profit from the charging service will fall below the target profit 1067.

[0060]

number

[0061] The above calculation is based on the premise that the contract power unit price K is determined based on the maximum value of the power consumption for each month in the past year. In other words, if the power consumption in a certain month exceeds the value of the contract power 1062 at that time, the value of the contract power 1062 is raised to a value based on the power consumption in that month for the next year, even if the actual power consumption is low, and the payment amount to the power company based on the contract power unit price K also increases. If there is a month in the year with even higher power consumption, the contract power 1062 for the next year is raised to match the power consumption at that time. Note that one year is an example of a predetermined period, and a period other than one year may be set depending on the contract with the power company.

[0062] Even if the power consumption in a certain month exceeds the contracted power at that time, and as a result the payment to the power company for the following year increases, if the charging amount x in the following year is large, the profit based on the difference between the charging cost C and the unit price J will be large, and as a result, there is a possibility that the target profit R can be secured. The above formula (1) is used to calculate the upper limit of the excess of the accumulated power amount that can secure the target profit R, based on the future charging amount x estimated at the present time. The larger the estimated value of the future charging amount x, and the larger the difference between the charging cost C and the unit price J, the higher the upper limit of the excess of the accumulated power amount will be.

[0063] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a comparison between the predicted power consumption amount and the power upper limit value in the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0064] Specifically, Fig. 11 shows an example of a case where the power consumption is predicted in a 30-minute frame and the power upper limit is exceeded in step S105. That is, the power consumption prediction only for the facility, excluding the power consumption by the charger 301 after the current time, reaches the power upper limit. That is, this prediction result shows that if charging by the charger 301 is continued after the current time, the power consumption in the 30-minute frame will exceed the power upper limit, but if charging by the charger 301 is stopped at the current time, the power consumption in the 30-minute frame will not exceed the power upper limit even if the facility consumes power for the remaining time. By predicting the power consumption of the facility that cannot stop consuming power and determining that the power upper limit will be exceeded and stopping charging by the charger 301, the final power consumption can be prevented from exceeding the power upper limit (i.e., the current contracted power + a), thereby preventing a deterioration in the profitability of the charging service.

[0065] Conversely, if the predicted power consumption including that of the charger 301 does not exceed the power upper limit (current contracted power + a), there is no risk of damaging the profitability of the charging service even if charging exceeds the contracted power. Even if the contracted power is exceeded, a user of the electric vehicle 202 who uses the charging service can charge the vehicle 202 as much as is necessary for driving, so long as the power upper limit for ensuring profitability is not exceeded, which leads to improved convenience of the electric vehicle 202. In order to maximize the convenience of the electric vehicle 202 while ensuring a predetermined profitability, it is desirable to stop charging by the charger 301 at the latest time within a range in which the predicted power consumption of the facility alone, excluding power consumption by the charger 301 from the current time onwards, does not exceed the power upper limit. EXAMPLES

[0066] In the second embodiment, a case will be described in which an energy management system is installed in a building 300. In the second embodiment, configurations different from those in the first embodiment will be described, and descriptions of the same configurations as those in the first embodiment will be omitted.

[0067] FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a charge management system 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0068] When the energy management system 303 is installed in the building 300 as shown in FIG. 12 , the charging management system 100 collects data regarding the power consumption of the charger 301 and the entire building 300 from the charger 301 and the power meter 302 via the energy management system 303.

[0069] Furthermore, when the energy management system 303 has a function equivalent to that of the power consumption prediction unit 101 , the charging management system 100 may obtain a predicted value of the power consumption from the energy management system 303 . EXAMPLES

[0070] In the third embodiment, a case will be described in which the impact on revenue of continuing charging by the charger 301 after the current time is presented to the energy manager of the building, and the decision on stopping power supply by the charger 301 is left to the energy manager. In the third embodiment, a configuration different from the above-mentioned first embodiment will be described, and a description of the same configuration as in the first embodiment will be omitted.

[0071] 13 is a flowchart showing the process in the charge management system 100 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In this process, the effect on profits of continuing charging by the charger 301 after the current time, specifically, whether or not the amount of power consumption will exceed the power upper limit value by continuing charging by the charger 301 after the current time, and whether or not the target profit will be secured, are presented to the energy manager.

[0072] Steps S101 to S107 in Fig. 13 are the same as those shown in Fig. 6, and therefore description thereof will be omitted. In the process in Fig. 13, if it is determined in step S105 that the predicted value of power consumption of only the facility (building 300) excluding the power consumption of the charger 301 from the current time onwards exceeds the power upper limit value, step S108 is executed. In step S108, the charging management system 100 presents to the energy manager the predicted value of power consumption if charging is continued and the associated change in profit.

[0073] The energy manager determines whether or not to stop the power supply by the charger 301 based on the change in profit. For example, the energy manager may determine not to stop the power supply by the charger 301 while it is determined from the change in profit that the target profit can be secured by stopping the power supply by the charger 301 from the current time onwards, and may determine to stop the power supply by the charger 301 when it is determined that the target profit cannot be secured even if the power supply by the charger 301 is stopped from the current time onwards (or before such a determination is made). In order to maximize the convenience of the electric vehicle 202 while securing a predetermined profitability, it is desirable to determine to stop the power supply by the charger 301 at the latest time within a range in which the predicted power consumption in the facility alone, excluding the power consumption by the charger 301 from the current time onwards, does not exceed the power upper limit.

[0074] Step S106 is executed if the energy manager determines to stop the power supply by the charger 301. On the other hand, if the energy manager determines not to stop the power supply by the charger 301, the process ends.

[0075] The profit when charging is continued is calculated by the formula (2). The value b is obtained by subtracting the current contracted power from the power consumption based on the predicted value of the power consumption including that of the charger 301.

[0076]

number

[0077] FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of information that the charge management system 100 according to the third embodiment of the present invention presents to the energy manager.

[0078] The charging management system 100 presents the energy manager with the expected profit if charging is stopped and the expected profit if charging is continued, and encourages the energy manager to decide whether to continue or stop charging. By quantitatively presenting the change in profit to the energy manager, it becomes possible for the energy manager to flexibly decide whether to continue charging.

[0079] The system according to the embodiment of the present invention may be configured as follows, for example.

[0080] (1) A charging management system (e.g., charging management system 100) includes a processor (e.g., processor 1) and a storage device (e.g., memory 2 and storage device 3). The storage device holds delivery information (e.g., route delivery data 104) including a delivery plan for an electric vehicle (e.g., electric vehicle 202), electricity cost information for the electric vehicle (e.g., electricity cost data 105), facility information (e.g., facility data 107) regarding a facility (e.g., building 300) included in the delivery route of the electric vehicle, and charger information (e.g., charger data 106) regarding the specifications of a charger (e.g., charger 301) for charging the electric vehicle installed in the facility. The facility information includes a unit price ( The information includes, for example, a contracted power unit price 1065 and a metered unit price 1066), a charging unit price (for example, charging unit price 1064) which is the unit price received from the charging power provider for the power that a charger installed in the facility provides to charge an electric vehicle, and a target value of profit from the charger providing power (for example, target profit 1067). The processor estimates the amount of charging by the charger for a predetermined future period based on the delivery information, electricity cost information, and charger information (for example, step S103), and calculates an upper limit on the amount of power consumed by the facility in a predetermined time frame including the current time (for example, the accumulated amount of power consumed in a 30-minute frame) based on the estimated amount of charging and the facility information so as to ensure the target value of profit (for example, step S104).

[0081] This enables building owners who provide charging services to ensure the profitability of their services while improving convenience for users who charge their electric vehicles.

[0082] (2) In (1) above, the facility information includes the contracted power between the facility and the power supplier (e.g., contracted power 1062), and the processor predicts the facility's power consumption, including the power consumption of the charger, for a specified time frame (e.g., step S101). If the power consumption based on the predicted power consumption exceeds the contracted power (e.g., Yes in step S102), the processor estimates the charging amount and calculates the upper limit of the power consumption.

[0083] This allows building owners who provide charging services to ensure the profitability of their services even when the contracted power is expected to be exceeded, while improving convenience for users who charge their electric vehicles.

[0084] (3) In (2) above, if the processor determines that the facility's power consumption in a specified time frame will exceed the upper limit even if charging by the charger from the current time onwards is stopped, the processor controls the charger to stop charging (for example, step S106 in FIG. 5 if the answer is Yes in step S105).

[0085] This can prevent a decline in the profitability of the service.

[0086] (4) In (2) above, the processor calculates and outputs the amount of profit that each charger will make by providing power if charging by the charger is stopped or not stopped from the current time (e.g., step S108 in FIG. 13), and when information instructing that charging by the charger be stopped is input, controls the charger to stop charging (e.g., step S106 in the case of “Stop” in step S108 in FIG. 13).

[0087] This allows users to flexibly decide whether to continue charging while being presented with information about the profitability of the service.

[0088] (5) In (2) above, the unit price paid to the power supplier for the power supplied to the facility includes a pay-per-use price (e.g., pay-per-use price 1066) for determining the fee based on the amount of power consumed by the facility and a contracted power price (e.g., contracted power price 1065) for determining the fee based on the contracted power, and the processor calculates the amount of profit from the charger providing power so that the greater the value obtained by multiplying the difference between the pay-per-use price and the charging price by the estimated charging amount, the greater the profit, and the greater the contracted power price, the smaller the profit (e.g., formula (1)).

[0089] This makes it possible to appropriately calculate the upper limit of power consumption that does not impair the profitability of the service.

[0090] The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications are included. For example, the above-mentioned embodiment has been described in detail for better understanding of the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Also, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Also, it is possible to add, delete, or replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with another configuration.

[0091] In addition, the above-mentioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in part or in whole by hardware, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. In addition, the above-mentioned configurations, functions, etc. may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function. Information such as a program, table, file, etc. that realizes each function can be stored in a storage device such as a non-volatile semiconductor memory, a hard disk drive, or an SSD (Solid State Drive), or in a computer-readable non-transitory data storage medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD.

[0092] In addition, the control lines and information lines are shown as those considered necessary for the explanation, and not all control lines and information lines in the product are shown. In reality, it can be considered that almost all components are connected to each other. [Explanation of symbols]

[0093] 100 Charging Management System 101 Power Consumption Prediction Unit 102 Total route charge amount estimation unit 103 Power upper limit calculation unit 104 Route delivery data 105 Electricity consumption data 106 Charger Data 107 Facility Data 200 Logistics Bases 201 Delivery Planning System 202 Electric vehicle 300 Building 301 charger 302 Power Meter 303 Energy Management Systems

Claims

1. A charging management system, A processor and a storage device, the storage device holds delivery information including a delivery plan for an electric vehicle, electricity cost information for the electric vehicle, facility information regarding facilities included in a delivery route for the electric vehicle, and charger information regarding specifications of chargers installed at the facilities for charging the electric vehicle; the facility information includes a unit price of a fee paid to a power supplier for power supplied to the facility, a charging unit price which is a unit price received from a charging power provider for power provided by the charger installed at the facility to charge the electric vehicle, and a target value of profit from the provision of power by the charger, The processor, estimating a charging amount for a predetermined period of time in the future by the charger based on the delivery information, the electricity cost information, and the charger information; A charging management system comprising: a charging management system that calculates an upper limit of the amount of power consumption of the facility in a specified time frame including a current time based on the estimated charging amount and the facility information, so as to ensure the target value of the profit.

2. The charge management system according to claim 1, The facility information includes a contracted power supply between the facility and a power supplier, The processor, predicting the amount of power consumption of the facility including the amount of power consumption of the charger during the predetermined time frame; A charging management system comprising: a charging control unit that estimates a charging amount and calculates an upper limit of the power consumption when power consumption based on the predicted power consumption exceeds a contracted power.

3. The charge management system according to claim 2, a charging management system characterized in that the processor controls the charger to stop charging when it determines that the amount of power consumption of the facility in the specified time frame will exceed the upper limit even if charging by the charger is stopped from the current time onwards.

4. The charge management system according to claim 2, The processor calculates and outputs the amount of profit to be obtained by each of the chargers providing electric power in a case where charging by the charger is stopped and a case where charging by the charger is not stopped from the current time onward; A charge management system comprising: a charger management unit that controls the charger to stop charging when information instructing the charger to stop charging is input.

5. The charge management system according to claim 2, a unit price of a fee to be paid to a power supplier for the power supplied to the facility includes a pay-per-use unit price for determining a fee according to an amount of power consumed by the facility and a contract power unit price for determining a fee according to the contract power, the processor calculates the amount of profit from the charger providing electric power so that the profit increases as the difference between the metered price and the charging price multiplied by the estimated charging amount increases, and the profit decreases as the contracted electric power price increases.

6. A charge management method executed by a charge management system, The charging management system includes a processor and a storage device. the storage device holds delivery information including a delivery plan for an electric vehicle, electricity cost information for the electric vehicle, facility information regarding facilities included in a delivery route for the electric vehicle, and charger information regarding specifications of chargers installed at the facilities for charging the electric vehicle; the facility information includes a unit price of a fee paid to a power supplier for power supplied to the facility, a charging unit price which is a unit price received from a charging power provider for power provided by the charger installed at the facility to charge the electric vehicle, and a target value of profit from the provision of power by the charger, The charging management method includes: A first step of estimating a charging amount by the charger for a predetermined period in the future based on the delivery information, the electricity cost information, and the charger information by the processor; and a second step of calculating, by the processor, an upper limit on the amount of power consumption of the facility in a specified time frame including a current time based on the estimated amount of charge and the facility information so as to ensure the target value of the profit.

7. The charge management method according to claim 6, The facility information includes a contracted power supply between the facility and a power supplier, The charging management method further includes a step of predicting an amount of power consumption of the facility, including an amount of power consumption of the charger, during the predetermined time frame, by the processor; A charging management method, comprising: when power consumption based on the predicted power consumption amount exceeds the contracted power, the processor executes the first step and the second step.

8. The charge management method according to claim 7, The charging management method further comprises a step of controlling the charger to stop charging when the processor determines that the amount of power consumption of the facility in the specified time frame will exceed the upper limit even if charging by the charger is stopped from the current time onwards.

9. The charge management method according to claim 7, a step of the processor calculating and outputting an amount of profit to be obtained by each of the chargers providing electric power in a case where charging by the charger is stopped or not stopped after the current time; The charging management method further comprises a step of controlling the charger to stop charging when information instructing the charger to stop charging is input.

10. The charge management method according to claim 7, a unit price of a fee to be paid to a power supplier for the power supplied to the facility includes a pay-per-use unit price for determining a fee according to an amount of power consumed by the facility and a contract power unit price for determining a fee according to the contract power, The charging management method is characterized in that in the second step, the processor calculates an amount of profit from the charger providing electric power so that the profit increases as the value obtained by multiplying the difference between the metered price and the charging price by the estimated charging amount increases, and the profit decreases as the contracted electric power price increases.

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