Distribution control method, program, and distribution control device

Abstract

To provide a distribution control method or the like capable of suitably distributing computer resources using surplus power generated in a power system to a consumer who wants to use the computer resources.SOLUTION: The computer acquires, from a plurality of consumers, an operation amount of operation processing desired to be executed by an operation device that receives power supply from a power system to which a power generation facility using renewable energy is interconnected. The computer acquires a predicted amount of surplus power generated in each of the plurality of power systems. Then, the computer allocates the surplus power generated in the power system to each arithmetic processing on the basis of the operation amount of the arithmetic processing acquired from the plurality of consumers and the predicted amount of the surplus power in each of the plurality of power systems.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a distribution control method, a program, and a distribution control device. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, power generation facilities that use renewable energy such as solar, wind, and hydropower have become widespread. When a large number of power generation facilities are connected to a power grid, the power supplied from the power generation facilities to the power grid may become excessive. In such cases, output suppression is implemented to reduce the amount of power supplied from the power generation facilities in order to maintain a balance between power supply and demand. Therefore, a system that can optimally utilize power when the power supplied from the power generation facilities becomes excessive is required. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that uses surplus power generated in a power grid for cryptocurrency mining processing. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-202702 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] On the other hand, users who wish to use computer resources that utilize surplus power are likely to have a variety of requests, such as the computer resources they wish to use, the date and time they wish to use them (whether the task is urgent or not), etc. However, it is not easy to allocate computer resources while taking into account the requests of each user, and this cannot be achieved even with the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1.

[0005] The present disclosure aims to provide an allocation control method, etc., that can suitably allocate computer resources (computing devices) that utilize surplus power generated in a power grid to users (consumers) who wish to use the computer resources. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An allocation control method according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a computer that acquires the amount of computation for a desired computation process to be executed by a computation device that receives power supply from a power system to which power generation facilities that use renewable energy are connected, acquires a predicted amount of surplus power generated in each of the multiple power systems, and allocates the surplus power generated in the power system to each computation process based on the amount of computation for the computation acquired from the multiple consumers and the predicted amount of surplus power in each of the multiple power systems. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present disclosure, computer resources (computing devices) that utilize surplus power generated in a power grid can be suitably allocated to users (consumers) who wish to use the computer resources. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration example of a distribution control system. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a server and a customer terminal. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the record layout of a substation DB and a member DB. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a contract application screen. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a record layout of an allocation status DB. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an allocation process procedure. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an interrupt processing procedure. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an interrupt processing procedure. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a reallocation process procedure for a computation process whose allocation has been released by an interrupt process; [Figure 10]10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a reallocation process procedure for a computation process whose allocation has been released by an interrupt process; [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an interrupt process. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an interrupt process. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a notification process procedure. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen. [Figure 15] FIG. [Figure 16] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a reallocation process procedure. [Figure 17] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a reallocation process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The distribution control method, program, and distribution control device of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings showing embodiments thereof.

[0010] (Embodiment 1) In this embodiment, a distribution control system is described that distributes surplus power generated in a power system to which power generation facilities using renewable energy are interconnected to arithmetic processing executed by computer resources provided in the power system. Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the distribution control system, where Figure 1A shows a state in which each device of the distribution control system is connected to a power supply network, and Figure 1B shows a state in which each device of the distribution control system is connected to a communication network.

[0011] In system S, which is a commercial power system (system power supply), electricity generated at power plants and other facilities is transmitted via a high-voltage transmission network, and passes through extra-high-voltage substations and primary substations before reaching distribution substations located in each region. The distribution substations step down the transmitted electricity and supply (distribute) it to loads (demand facilities, equipment) via the distribution network. The loads to which electricity is supplied include, for example, home appliances used in homes, electrical appliances used in offices, stores, hospitals, schools, and the like, and electrical equipment operating in factories.

[0012] The distribution control system of this embodiment includes a substation 1, a power generation facility 2, a computing device 3 (computer resource), a server 4, a consumer terminal 5, etc. The substation 1 is a substation facility having a transformer and the like, for example a distribution substation, which reduces the voltage of power transmitted via an upstream power transmission network and supplies the power to loads via a downstream power distribution network. Note that the substation 1 may also be an extra-high voltage substation, a primary substation, a secondary substation (intermediate substation), etc. In this embodiment, the downstream power distribution network connected to one substation 1 is one grid G, and each substation 1 is responsible for distributing power to loads connected to the power distribution network within the grid G.

[0013] In the power supply network of this embodiment, a power generation facility 2 is connected to the power distribution network of each grid G. The power generation facility 2 is a power generation facility that generates power using renewable energy, such as a solar power generation facility. Note that the power generation method used by the power generation facility 2 may be any method that uses renewable energy, such as a wind power plant, a hydroelectric power plant, or a geothermal power plant. The power generation facility 2 may be, for example, a small-scale facility for private power generation installed by a small-scale consumer, or a large-scale facility installed by a power generation company for selling power. The power generation facility 2 can supply the power generated by itself to the grid S via the distribution network within the grid G ​​and sell the power to the power company that manages the grid S. Note that the substation 1 receives power supplied from the power generation facility 2. The power generated by the power generation facility 2 is consumed by home appliances in the home where the power generation facility 2 is installed, and any surplus power is distributed via the distribution network. In this embodiment, in a situation where surplus power generated by the power generation facility 2 is supplied to the grid G, the difference between the total power supply and the consumed power in the power distribution network managed by the substation 1 in each grid G ​​is defined as "surplus power." The consumed power is the power consumed by the loads in the power distribution network managed by the substation 1.

[0014] The arithmetic device 3 and the server 4 are information processing devices capable of various information processing and transmitting and receiving information, such as a server computer or a personal computer. The arithmetic device 3 is assumed to be located in the substation 1, but may be connected to a power distribution network connected to the substation 1. The server 4 is a server of a power company that manages the grid S and functions as a control device for controlling the transmission and distribution of power in the grid S. The server 4 may also be a server of a company that creates an allocation plan for surplus power generated in the grid S. The customer terminal 5 is an information processing device capable of various information processing and transmitting and receiving information, such as a personal computer, a tablet terminal, or a smartphone. The customer terminal 5 is a terminal of a customer that uses the arithmetic device 3 that operates using surplus power generated in the grid S. Although the server 4 and each customer terminal 5 are not illustrated in FIG. 1A, the server 4 and each customer terminal 5 are connected to the wiring network of one of the grids G and receive power via the power distribution network. In addition to the above-mentioned devices, the customer terminal 5 may also be an electrical device that requires timing-based arithmetic processing, such as a control device for an autonomous vehicle.

[0015] In this embodiment, surplus power generated in each grid G ​​is supplied to a computing device 3 (computer resource) provided in the same grid G ​​and consumed (absorbed). That is, when an oversupply of power occurs in each grid G, the computing device 3 creates demand to resolve this state. Specifically, surplus power generated in each grid G ​​is supplied to the computing device 3 in the same grid G, and the computing device 3 executes a computation process requested by a consumer, thereby allowing the computing device 3 to consume the surplus power. Note that in one grid G, at least one power generation facility 2 and at least one computing device 3 are connected to a power distribution network extending from a substation 1.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 1B , the server 4, the multiple arithmetic devices 3, and the multiple consumer terminals 5 are connectable to a network N such as the Internet and are configured to transmit and receive information via the network N. In the distribution control system of this embodiment, the consumer terminal 5 performs a process of requesting the server 4 to use surplus power generated in the grid S. The server 4 accepts requests from consumers (consumer terminals 5) to use the arithmetic devices 3 that use the surplus power, allocates the surplus power generated in each grid G ​​to the processes requested by each consumer, and creates a distribution plan. The server 4 then causes the arithmetic devices 3 that use the allocated surplus power (the arithmetic devices 3 installed in the grid G ​​where the surplus power is generated) to execute the processes requested by each consumer. As a result, the surplus power generated in each grid G ​​is consumed by the arithmetic devices 3 installed in the same grid G.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of the server 4 and the customer terminal 5. The server 4 includes a control unit 41, a storage unit 42, a communication unit 43, an input unit 44, a display unit 45, a reading unit 46, etc., and these units are connected to each other via a bus. The control unit 41 includes one or more processors such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro-Processing Unit), or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The control unit 41 performs various information processing, control processing, etc. to be performed by the server 4 by appropriately executing a program 42P stored in the storage unit 42. Note that if the control unit 41 has multiple processors, the control unit 41 may execute each process using a different processor.

[0018] The storage unit 42 includes a RAM (Random Access Memory), a flash memory, a hard disk, an SSD (Solid State Drive), etc. The storage unit 42 pre-stores a program 42P (program product) executed by the control unit 41 and various data necessary for executing the program 42P. The storage unit 42 also temporarily stores data generated when the control unit 41 executes the program 42P. The storage unit 42 also stores a substation DB 42a, a member DB 42b, and an allocation status DB 42c. At least one of the substation DB 42a, the member DB 42b, and the allocation status DB 42c may be stored in another storage device connected to the server 4, or in another storage device with which the server 4 can communicate.

[0019] The communication unit 43 is an interface for connecting to the network N by wireless or wired communication, and transmits and receives information to other devices via the network N. The input unit 44 accepts operation input by the user and sends a control signal corresponding to the operation content to the control unit 41. The display unit 45 is a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like, and displays various information according to instructions from the control unit 41. The input unit 44 and the display unit 45 may be a touch panel configured as an integrated unit.

[0020] The reading unit 46 reads information stored in a portable storage medium 4a such as a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, an SD card, a micro SD card, or a CompactFlash (registered trademark). The program 42P and various data stored in the storage unit 42 may be read by the control unit 41 from the portable storage medium 4a via the reading unit 46 and stored in the storage unit 42. The program 42P and various data may be written to the storage unit 42 during the manufacturing stage of the server 4, or may be downloaded by the control unit 41 from another device via the communication unit 43 and stored in the storage unit 42.

[0021] The server 4 is not limited to a single computer, but may be a multi-computer including multiple computers, or may be a virtual machine virtually constructed within a single device using software. The server 4 may also be a local server installed in an office of a power company or the like, or a cloud server connected via the Internet. The following description assumes that the server 4 is a single computer. The program 42P may be deployed on a single computer or at a single site, or may be distributed across multiple sites and executed on multiple computers interconnected via a network. The input unit 44 and the display unit 45 are not essential to the server 4; the server 4 may be configured to accept operations via a connected computer or to output information to be displayed to an external display device.

[0022] The customer terminal 5 includes a control unit 51, a memory unit 52, a communication unit 53, an input unit 54, a display unit 55, etc., and these units are interconnected via a bus. The control unit 51, the memory unit 52, the communication unit 53, the input unit 54, and the display unit 55 of the customer terminal 5 have the same configuration as the control unit 41, the memory unit 42, the communication unit 43, the input unit 44, and the display unit 45 of the server 4, respectively, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted. Note that the customer terminal 5 may be, for example, a control device in an autonomously driving automobile, and in this case, it has each component required by the control device.

[0023] The arithmetic device 3 has a configuration similar to that of the server 4 and the consumer terminal 5, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted, but it is sufficient if it includes at least a control unit, a storage unit, and a communication unit. The arithmetic device 3 may also be a multi-computer consisting of multiple computers, or may be a virtual machine virtually constructed within a single device by software. The arithmetic device 3 may be configured to receive power directly from the substation 1, or may be configured to receive power via a power distribution network within the grid G ​​that includes the substation 1.

[0024] FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the record layout of the substation DB 42a and the member DB 42b. FIG. 3A shows the substation DB 42a, and FIG. 3B shows the member DB 42b. The substation DB 42a stores information about the power generation facilities 2 and the computing device 3 installed in the power distribution network for each grid G ​​in which a substation 1 is installed. The substation DB 42a shown in FIG. 3A includes a substation ID column, a connected system column, a power generation facility column, a predicted surplus power amount column, a computer resource column, a slot column, etc., and stores information about facilities in the grid G ​​in association with the substation ID. The substation ID column stores identification information (substation ID) for identifying each substation 1. The connected system column stores information about the grid G ​​in which the substation 1 is installed. The information about the grid G ​​includes, for example, information about the connection (interconnection) points in the system S (for example, the system name of the power system of the grid G), information about the area in which the substation 1 is installed, etc. The power generation facility column stores information about power generation facilities 2 installed in the power distribution network within the grid G. The information about the power generation facilities 2 includes identification information for identifying each power generation facility 2, the power generation method, the amount of power generated, the installation location, information about the power generation equipment, and information about the owner of the power generation facility 2. The predicted surplus power amount column stores the predicted amount of surplus power generated within the grid G. The predicted amount of surplus power is predicted based on the history of past surplus power generated within the grid G ​​and information about the weather. For example, if surplus power is predicted once a day, the amount of surplus power (generation amount) to be generated on the next day is predicted based on the history of past surplus power generated within the most recent specified period and the weather. In addition to the amount of surplus power within the grid G, the amount of surplus power supplied from each power generation facility 2 may be predicted, and the predicted amount of surplus power for each power generation facility 2 may be stored. The computer resource column stores information about the computing device 3 installed within the grid G. The information on the computing device 3 includes identification information for identifying each computing device 3, executable processing content, amount of calculation and power consumption per unit time, and information on the owner of the computing device 3. The slot column stores the number of slots, which is the smallest unit when allocating the use of computer resources by the computing device 3 to each consumer, and information indicating whether the power allocated to each slot is surplus power generated within the grid G ​​(system S) or system power supplied from the system S.A slot indicates the amount of calculation that each arithmetic device 3 can perform using surplus power in a predetermined time (one period), divided into a predetermined number (number of slots). The length of one period can be any length, such as one hour to several hours, 12 hours, or one day, and the number of slots in one period, i.e., the amount of calculation per slot, can be any value. In the example of FIG. 3A, the arithmetic device 3 provided in the substation 1 with the substation ID A001 has eight slots prepared for one period, with the first to seventh slots being executable using surplus power and the eighth slot being executable using grid power. The contents stored in the substation DB 42a are not limited to the example shown in FIG. 3A. For example, the history of surplus power generated in the grid G ​​or in each power generation facility 2 may be stored together with weather information at that time.

[0025] The member DB 42b stores information about consumers who have registered as members to use the computing device 3 that utilizes surplus power generated in each grid G. The member DB 42b shown in FIG. 3B includes a member ID column, a member information column, a contract plan column, a preference information column, etc., and stores consumer information in association with the member ID. The member ID column stores identification information (member ID) for identifying each consumer. The member information column stores information such as the consumer's name, email address, and other contact information. The contract plan column stores information about the plan that the consumer has contracted for to use the computing device 3. Multiple contract plans are prepared according to the priority set for the consumer when the computing device 3 is allocated. In this embodiment, for simplicity of explanation, two types of contract plans are used: an upper plan and a lower plan. Note that multiple types of contract plans are prepared according to the priority level when the computing device 3 (surplus power) is allocated, whether or not other consumers (computing processes) are allowed to interrupt after allocation, etc. The preference information sequence stores the consumer's preference for the arithmetic device 3 installed in each substation 1. The preference for the arithmetic device 3 indicates the order (order) in which the consumer wishes to use the arithmetic device 3, and is specified, for example, when the consumer signs a contract, via a screen such as that shown in FIG.

[0026] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a contract application screen. The screen of FIG. 4 has an input field for the contract plan and an input field for the preference for each substation 1 (processing device 3). The preference input field is provided for each selectable time period (period) for each substation 1. Each input field has a pull-down menu that allows the user to select any one of multiple options, as shown in FIG. 4. The input field for the contract plan may be configured to allow the user to directly input the plan name, etc., and the input field for the preference may be configured to allow the user to directly input the preference value. When applying for a contract, a consumer specifies the contract plan and the preference for each period for each substation 1 via the screen of FIG. 4, and the specified content is registered in the member DB 42b. The screen of FIG. 4 may also display the specifications of the computing resources of each processing device 3, which the consumer can use as a reference when determining the preference for each substation 1. The contents stored in the member DB 42b are not limited to the example shown in FIG. 3B, and may store, for example, personal information of the customer and information on the electrical appliance of the customer that uses the arithmetic device 3.

[0027] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the record layout of the allocation status DB 42c. The allocation status DB 42c stores an allocation status in which a computing device 3 that uses surplus power in each grid G ​​is allocated to each consumer. The allocation status DB 42c shown in FIG. 5 includes a substation ID column, a slot column, an allocation status column, etc., and stores information about consumers to which each slot (computer resource) of the computing device 3 in the grid G ​​is allocated and information about programs to be executed, in association with the substation ID. In the example of FIG. 5, in the substation 1, consumer information and program information are stored for each slot for each period. The stored contents of the allocation status DB 42c are not limited to the example shown in FIG. 5.

[0028] Hereinafter, a process will be described in which the server 4 allocates the arithmetic devices 3 that use surplus power generated in each grid G ​​to each arithmetic process based on requests for execution of arithmetic processes by the arithmetic devices 3 acquired from each consumer (member) in the distribution control system of this embodiment. Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the allocation process procedure.

[0029] In the distribution control system of this embodiment, the server 4 performs a process, for example, once a day, to allocate computer resources (computing devices 3) that operate using surplus power expected to be generated the next day to consumers that have requested the use of the surplus power (computing devices 3). In this case, the control unit 41 of the server 4 performs the following process when a predetermined time arrives to create an allocation plan for the next day. When creating an allocation plan once a day, the length of one period is set to be one to several hours, six hours, 12 hours, or any other length within one day (24 hours). For example, if one period is set to six hours, four periods of allocation plans are created. In the following process, the allocation plan for the target day is created the day before the target day. However, the creation of the allocation plan is not limited to once a day, and may be performed at an appropriate timing, such as once every several hours, once every 12 hours, once every few days, or once a week. The length of one period can be set appropriately depending on the timing of creation of the allocation plan.

[0030] The control unit 41 of the server 4 receives requests (desires) to use the arithmetic device 3 from each consumer. For example, the control unit 41 acquires, from the consumer terminal 5, consumer information (e.g., member ID), execution desire information including a program related to the arithmetic processing desired to be executed by the arithmetic device 3 and the amount of calculation, and stores the information in the memory unit 42. The control unit 41 extracts members with the highest plan (the plan with the highest priority) from among the consumers who desire to use the arithmetic device 3 on the target day (here, the next day) (S11). The control unit 41 selects one of the extracted members (S12). For example, the control unit 41 randomly selects one member.

[0031] The control unit 41 acquires preference information and execution desire information for each period of each substation 1 of the selected member (S13). The preference information for each period of each substation 1 can be acquired from the member DB 42b. The control unit 41 calculates the number of slots required to execute this arithmetic process based on the amount of calculation included in the acquired execution desire information (S14). For example, a table in which the number of slots required for execution of each arithmetic process by each arithmetic device is registered may be stored in the storage unit 12, and the control unit 41 may determine the number of slots required for the arithmetic process desired to be executed by referring to the table.

[0032] The control unit 41 sets a parameter k indicating the member's desired ranking and initializes the parameter k to 1 (S15). Then, the control unit 41 identifies the period of the substation 1 (grid G) whose desired ranking is kth (here, number 1) (S16). Here, if there are multiple periods of each substation 1 with the same kth ranking, the control unit 41 may identify any one of them or may identify all of them. For the identified period of the substation 1, the control unit 41 determines whether or not there is an empty slot among the slots to which surplus power is allocated, and if there is an empty slot, allocates it to the process that the member wishes to execute (S17). For example, in the allocation status DB 42c shown in FIG. 5, if the substation 1 and period ranked first in the member's preference order is the first period of the substation 1 with the substation ID A001, the sixth to seventh slots are available in the first period of this substation 1, and so the control unit 41 allocates the sixth to seventh slots to the member's desired process. Note that in each period of each substation 1, a predetermined percentage of slots to which surplus power is allocated are reserved as available buffer slots. Therefore, for the period of the identified substation 1, if there are any available slots after reserving a predetermined percentage of slots as buffer slots among the available slots to which surplus power is allocated, the control unit 41 allocates these slots to the member's desired process. In addition, in each period of each substation 1, a predetermined percentage of the slots to which surplus power is allocated may be reserved exclusively for members of the lower plan. In this case, the control unit 41 allocates, for the period of the identified substation 1, slots that are available to which surplus power is allocated, other than the slots reserved exclusively for members of the lower plan, to the process that the member wishes to execute.

[0033] The control unit 41 stores information about the member to whom the slot has been assigned and information about the program in the assignment status DB 42c, in association with the period of the substation 1 assigned to the process desired by the member and the assigned slot (S18). The control unit 41 performs the processes of steps S16 to S18 until it has completed the assignment of the number of slots calculated in step S14 to the process desired to be executed, or until there are no more slots left for the period of the substation 1 with the kth desired ranking.

[0034] The control unit 41 determines whether the allocation of the number of slots calculated in step S14 to the member's desired processes selected in step S12 has been completed (S19). If it determines that the allocation has not been completed (S19: NO), the control unit 41 adds 1 to the parameter k indicating the desired order (S20) and returns to step S16. The control unit 41 then performs the processes of steps S16 to S18 for the period of the substation 1 whose desired order is kth (here, number 2). The control unit 41 repeats the processes of steps S16 to S20 until the slot allocation is completed. In this way, the control unit 41 can allocate vacant slots in each period of each substation 1 to the member's desired processes, starting from number 1. Note that the desired processes of one member may be allocated vacant slots in the same period of different substations 1, or vacant slots in different periods of one substation 1, or vacant slots in any period of any substation 1.

[0035] If it is determined that slot allocation has been completed (S19: YES), the control unit 41 determines whether slot allocation processing has been completed for all members of the higher-level plan extracted in step S11 (S21). If it is determined that slot allocation processing has not been completed (S21: NO), the control unit 41 returns to step S12. Then, the control unit 41 selects one unprocessed member (S12) and performs the processing of steps S13 to S20 for the selected member. If it is determined that allocation processing has been completed for all members of the higher-level plan extracted in step S11 (S21: YES), the control unit 41 determines whether slot allocation processing has been completed for members of all contract plans (S22). If it is determined that allocation processing has not been completed for members of all contract plans (S22: NO), the control unit 41 extracts a member of the next-highest priority plan (a lower-level plan in this embodiment) (S23) and returns to step S12. Then, the control unit 41 selects one of the members of the extracted lower-level plan (S12), and performs the processes of steps S13 to S20 for the selected member. As a result, the free slots to which surplus power is allocated among the slots of each period of each substation 1 are allocated to the process desired to be executed by that member in descending order of preference of that member.

[0036] The control unit 41 repeats the processes of steps S12 to S23 until allocating slots to the processes desired by members of all contract plans is completed, and ends the process when it determines that the allocation process has been completed for all members of all contract plans (S22: YES). Through the above-described process, for consumers who have requested use of the arithmetic device 3, slots can be allocated to the processes desired by each consumer in descending order of priority according to the contract plan, according to each consumer's preference for substations 1 and periods. After performing the above-described allocation process, the control unit 41 transmits programs related to the processes desired by members to which slots for each period have been allocated to the arithmetic devices 3 installed in each substation 1 before the start of each period, and instructs them to execute them in each period. The arithmetic device 3 stores the programs acquired from the server 4 in the memory in association with each period, and executes the programs using surplus power in the grid G ​​after the start of each period, thereby realizing the execution of the processes desired by the members.

[0037] In the above-described process, for each substation 1, the number of slots that the calculation device 3 can execute using surplus power generated in the grid G ​​of each substation 1 is set in advance, and the surplus power (computer resources that operate on surplus power) is allocated in slot units to the process that each consumer wishes to execute, but this configuration is not limiting. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which a predicted amount of surplus power in each grid G ​​is stored, and the surplus power of each grid G ​​is allocated to each process that each consumer wishes to execute based on the amount of calculation of the process that each consumer wishes to execute and the predicted amount of surplus power of each grid G.

[0038] Next, a process will be described in which the server 4 allocates the arithmetic unit 3 (computer resource) to an interrupt process when it receives a request to execute an urgent task (interrupt process) after the slots of each period in each substation 1 have been allocated to the processes desired by each consumer through the above-described process. In this embodiment, the server 4 is configured to receive an instruction to deallocate the slots already allocated to the arithmetic process in addition to the interrupt process. The server 4 then deallocates the slots according to the deallocation instruction and reallocates the slots to the deallocated arithmetic process. For example, when it is determined that the amount of surplus power predicted in advance will not be generated, or when it is determined that the amount of surplus power already allocated to the arithmetic unit 3 of a certain grid G ​​cannot be supplied (the surplus power that was scheduled to be consumed by a certain arithmetic unit 3 will be insufficient), an instruction is issued to deallocate the slots already allocated to the arithmetic process. Note that the necessity of deallocation may be determined by another server. In this case, the server 4 receives an instruction to deallocate the slots from the other server. 7 and 8 are flowcharts showing an example of an interrupt processing procedure, FIGS. 9 and 10 are flowcharts showing an example of a reallocation processing procedure for a calculation process whose allocation has been deallocated by an interrupt processing, and FIGS. 11 and 12 are explanatory diagrams of the interrupt processing.

[0039] The server 4 creates an allocation plan, for example, as shown in FIG. 11A through the allocation process described above. In FIG. 11A, a solid white square indicates a slot to which calculation processing has already been assigned among the slots to which surplus power has been assigned, a solid gray square indicates a slot to which surplus power has been assigned that is empty, and a dashed square indicates a slot to which grid power that can be purchased additionally has been assigned. Furthermore, A, B, and C in each square in FIG. 11A indicate the members (member A, member B, and member C) to which each slot has been assigned. In the example of FIG. 11A, eight slots are prepared for each period in the first substation (first calculation device), and seven slots in the first period are slots to which surplus power has been assigned and one slot is a slot to which grid power has been assigned. Furthermore, of the seven slots to which surplus power has been assigned, five are assigned to the calculation processing of member A, one is assigned to the calculation processing of member C, and the remaining one is empty. In the following process, Member A and Member B are subscribers of a higher plan that does not generally allow other consumers to cut in after allocation, and Member C is a subscriber of a lower plan that allows other consumers to cut in after allocation. Also, Member A is assumed to have set the same preference of "1" for the first period of Substation 1 and the first period of Substation 2.

[0040] After creating the allocation plan, the control unit 41 receives an emergency use request (interruption request) for the calculation device 3 from one of the consumers. Specifically, the control unit 41 acquires interruption processing information from one of the consumer terminals 5, including consumer information (member ID), a program related to the interruption processing, and the amount of calculation involved. Therefore, the control unit 41 determines whether or not an interruption processing has been acquired (S31). If it determines that an interruption processing has been acquired (S31: YES), the control unit 41 acquires preference information for each period of each substation 1 of the member who made the interruption request and the amount of calculation involved in the interruption processing (S32). The control unit 41 calculates the number of slots required to execute the interruption processing based on the amount of calculation involved in the interruption processing (S33). Step S33 is the same process as step S14. Here, the number of slots required for the allocation processing is assumed to be 6, and the consumer who made the interruption request is assumed to be member D (see FIG. 11B).

[0041] The control unit 41 initializes a parameter k, which indicates the desired ranking of member D who requested the interruption process, to 1 (S34), and identifies the period of substation 1 (grid G) whose desired ranking is kth (here, number 1) (S35). Then, for the identified period of substation 1, the control unit 41 determines whether there is an available slot among the slots to which surplus power is allocated, and if there is an available slot, assigns it to the interruption process (S36). In the situation of FIG. 11A, if the substation 1 and period whose desired ranking is number 1 for member D is the first period of the first substation, there is an available slot in the first period of the first substation (the slot shown in gray), so this slot is assigned to the interruption process. FIG. 11B shows a state in which the slot shown as "D1" is assigned to the interruption process. The control unit 41 stores the information of member D and the information of the interruption processing program in the allocation status DB 42c in association with the period of the substation 1 allocated to the interruption processing and the allocated slot (S37). Note that if there is no available slot to which surplus power is allocated, the control unit 41 skips the processing of steps S36 to S37.

[0042] The control unit 41 determines whether the allocation of the number of slots calculated in step S33 to the interrupt process has been completed (S38), and if it determines that the allocation has been completed (S38: YES), it transmits a program related to the interrupt process to the calculation device 3 provided in the substation 1 assigned to the interrupt process, and instructs it to execute the interrupt process (S39). The calculation device 3 executes the program obtained from the server 4 using surplus power in the grid G, thereby consuming the surplus power and executing the interrupt process.

[0043] When it is determined that slot allocation for the interrupt process has not been completed (S38: NO), the control unit 41 determines whether there is an available slot among the slots to which grid power is allocated for the period of the substation 1 identified in step S35, and if there is an available slot, allocates the slot to the interrupt process (S40). In the situation of FIG. 11A, there is an available slot to which grid power is allocated in the first period of the first substation (the slot indicated by the dashed square), so this slot is allocated to the interrupt process. FIG. 11B shows a state in which the slot indicated by "D2" is allocated to the interrupt process. Here, too, the control unit 41 stores information about member D and information about the program for the interrupt process in the allocation status DB 42c, in association with the period of the substation 1 allocated to the interrupt process and the allocated slot (S41). Note that if there is no available slot to which grid power is allocated, the control unit 41 skips the processes of steps S40 to S41.

[0044] The control unit 41 determines whether slot allocation for the interruption process has been completed (S42). If it is determined that the allocation has been completed (S42: YES), the process proceeds to step S39. In this case, the calculation device 3 executes the program acquired from the server 4 using surplus power in the grid G ​​or system power, thereby executing the interruption process. If it is determined that slot allocation for the interruption process has not been completed (S42: NO), the control unit 41 determines whether there are any slots allocated to members of a contract plan that allows other members to interrupt for the period of the substation 1 identified in step S35 (S43). In this embodiment, the contract plan that allows other members to interrupt (the plan that allows interruption) is a lower-level plan, so here, the control unit 41 determines whether there are any slots allocated to members of the lower-level plan. In the example of FIG. 11A, one slot has been allocated to member C of the lower-level plan for the first period of the first substation, so here, the control unit 41 determines that there are any slots allocated to members of the lower-level plan.

[0045] If the control unit 41 determines that there is a slot that has already been allocated to a member of a lower plan (S43: YES), it cancels the allocation of this slot (an interruptible slot) to member C of the lower plan (S44), and allocates the released slot to the interrupt process (S45). FIG. 11B shows a state in which the slot indicated by "D3" has been released from allocation to member C and allocated to the interrupt process. Then, the control unit 41 deletes the information about member C and the program information stored in the allocation status DB 42c in association with the period and slot of the substation 1 whose allocation has been cancelled, and stores the information about member D of the interrupt process and the information about the program for the interrupt process in the allocation status DB 42c (S46).

[0046] The control unit 41 determines whether or not the allocation of slots to the interrupt process has been completed (S47), and if it is determined that the allocation has been completed (S47: YES), the process proceeds to step S48. Step S48 is the same process as step S39.

[0047] If the control unit 41 determines that there are no slots allocated to members of lower plans (S43: NO), or if it determines that slot allocation for the interruption process has not been completed (S47: NO), it determines whether there are any interruptible slots that have been allocated to members of contract plans that basically do not allow interruptions by other members for the period of substation 1 identified in step S35 (S49). In this embodiment, the contract plan that basically does not allow interruptions by other members (a plan that does not allow interruptions) is the higher plan, so here the control unit 41 determines whether there are any interruptible slots that have been allocated to members of the higher plan. In addition, an interruptible slot is one that can be interrupted if there is an available slot with the same preference as the preference for the slot (period of substation 1). In the examples of Figures 11A and 11B, three slots (the number of unallocated slots among the number of slots for interrupt processing) have been allocated to member A of the higher plan in the first period of the first substation, and member A has set the same preference of "1" for the first period of the first substation and the first period of the second substation.In the first period of the second substation, there are three slots: an empty slot (gray slot) to which surplus power has been allocated, an empty slot (dashed slot) to which system power has been allocated, and a slot allocated to member C of the lower plan.Therefore, in this case, the control unit 41 determines that there is a slot that has been allocated to member A of the higher plan that can be interrupted.

[0048] If the control unit 41 determines that there is an interruptible slot that has been allocated to a member of a higher-level plan (S49: YES), it cancels the allocation of this slot (interruptible slot) to member A of the higher-level plan (S50) and allocates the canceled slot to the interrupt process (S51). FIG. 11B shows a state in which the allocation of three slots indicated by "D4" to member A has been cancelled and allocated to the interrupt process. The control unit 41 then deletes the information about member A and the program stored in the allocation status DB 42c in association with the period and slot of the cancelled substation 1, and stores the information about member D of the interrupt process and the program for the interrupt process in the allocation status DB 42c (S52). The control unit 41 determines whether the allocation of slots to the interrupt process has been completed (S53), and if it determines that the allocation has been completed (S53: YES), it proceeds to step S48.

[0049] If the control unit 41 determines that there are no slots available for interruption that have already been allocated to members of a higher plan (S49: NO), or if it determines that slot allocation has not been completed for the interruption process (S53: NO), it determines whether there is a period of substation 1 with the same preference as the period of substation 1 identified in step S35 (S54). Periods of substation 1 with the same preference include different periods of the same substation 1 as the substation 1 identified in step S35, and periods of substation 1 different from the substation 1 identified in step S35. If it determines that there is a period of substation 1 with the same preference (S54: YES), the control unit 41 proceeds to step S35, identifies a period of substation 1 with the same preference (desired rank k) (S35), and repeats the processes of steps S36 to S53 for the period of the identified substation 1.

[0050] If the control unit 41 determines that there is no period of a substation 1 with the same preference (S54: NO), it adds 1 to the parameter k indicating the desired order (S55) and returns to step S35. Then, the control unit 41 performs the processes of steps S35 to S53 for the period of the substation 1 with the kth desired order (here, number 2). The control unit 41 repeats the processes of steps S35 to S55 until it has completed allocating slots to the interruption process. In this way, when an interruption process is requested, the control unit 41 can allocate to the interruption process an available slot or an already allocated slot in each period of each substation 1 in order of the member's desired order of the interruption process, starting from number 1. Note that the interruption process may be configured so that the substation 1 and period desired for execution can be specified with pinpoint accuracy. In this case, the control unit 41 may be configured to identify slots that can be allocated to interrupt processing during the period of the specified substation 1, and if there are not enough allocatable slots, to return an interrupt failure to the customer terminal 5, for example.

[0051] When the control unit 41 determines that an interrupt process has not been received (S31: NO), it determines whether or not an instruction to cancel the allocation of an allocated slot has been received for a calculation process to which a slot in any period of any substation 1 (calculation device 3) has been assigned according to the allocation plan (S56). In this embodiment, the server 4 is configured to cancel the allocation of the slot to the calculation process and reallocate the slot to the deallocated calculation process when an instruction to cancel the allocation of an allocated slot has been received. Therefore, when the control unit 41 determines that an instruction to cancel the allocation has been received (S56: YES), it cancels the allocation of the slot to the calculation process (allocated member) that has been instructed to be deallocated (S57). The control unit 41 then deletes the member information and program information stored in the allocation status DB 42c in association with the period and slot of the deallocated substation 1, and updates the allocation status DB 42c (S58). As a result, when a request for release of allocation is received, the control unit 41 can release the allocation of the arithmetic process to the slot for which release is requested, and the surplus power allocated to the arithmetic process can be used for another arithmetic process, etc. Note that the arithmetic process for which the slot allocation has been released is allocated another slot by a reallocation process, which will be described later. If the control unit 41 determines that an instruction for release of allocation has not been received (S56: NO), it returns to the process of step S31, and performs the processes from step S32 onwards every time an interrupt process is received, and performs the processes of steps S57 to S58 every time an instruction for release of allocation is received.

[0052] Next, a process for reallocating slots to a member (computation process) whose slot allocation has been cancelled when a slot is allocated to an interrupt process by the above-described process, or when an allocated slot is cancelled in accordance with an allocation cancellation instruction, will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. The control unit 41 determines whether there are any members of the higher plan who require reallocation when a slot allocation to a member of the higher plan is cancelled in the above-described interrupt process, or when a slot allocation to a member of the higher plan is cancelled in accordance with the above-described allocation cancellation instruction (S61). If it is determined that there are any members of the higher plan who require reallocation (S61: YES), the control unit 41 acquires the preference information (preference) of the member for the cancelled slot (period of substation 1) and the number of slots that require reallocation (S62). In the situation of FIG. 11B, the control unit 41 acquires 3 as the number of slots that have been cancelled from the higher plan member A.

[0053] The control unit 41 identifies a period of substation 1 with the same preference (desired order) as the acquired preference based on the selection information of member A stored in the member DB 42b (S63). If there are multiple periods of substation 1 with the same preference, the control unit 41 may identify any one of them or all of them. Then, for the identified period of substation 1, the control unit 41 determines whether there is an empty slot among the slots to which surplus power is allocated, and if there is an empty slot, allocates it to the arithmetic process to be reallocated (S64). In the situation of FIG. 11B, the slot whose allocation to member A was released is the first period of the first substation. If the preference for the first period of the first substation is the same as the preference for the first period of the second substation, the control unit 41 identifies the first period of the second substation. 11B, there is an empty slot (shown in gray) in the first period of the second substation to which surplus power is allocated, so the control unit 41 allocates this slot to the arithmetic process to be reallocated. FIG. 11C shows a state in which the slot shown as "A1" has been allocated to the arithmetic process. The control unit 41 stores information about member A and information about the interruption process program in the allocation status DB 42c, in association with the period of the substation 1 allocated to the arithmetic process and the allocated slot (S65). Note that if there is no empty slot to which surplus power is allocated, the control unit 41 skips the processes of steps S64 to S65.

[0054] The control unit 41 determines whether the allocation of the number of slots acquired in step S62 to the computation process to be reallocated has been completed (S66). If it determines that the allocation has not been completed (S66: NO), it determines whether there is an available slot to which grid power is allocated for the period of substation 1 identified in step S63, and if there is an available slot, allocates the slot to the computation process (S67). In the situation of FIG. 11B, there is an available slot to which grid power is allocated in the first period of the second substation (the slot indicated by the dashed square), so this slot is allocated. FIG. 11C shows a state in which the slot indicated by "A2" has been allocated to the computation process. Here again, the control unit 41 stores information about member A and information about the computation process program in the allocation status DB 42c in association with the period of substation 1 allocated to the computation process and the allocated slot (S68). Note that if there is no available slot to which grid power is allocated, the control unit 41 skips the processes of steps S67 to S68.

[0055] The control unit 41 determines whether or not the allocation of slots has been completed for the calculation process to be reallocated (S69). If it determines that the allocation has not been completed (S69: NO), it determines whether or not there is a slot already allocated to a member of a contract plan (a lower plan in this embodiment) that allows interruption by other members for the period of substation 1 identified in step S63 (S70). Step S70 is the same process as step S43 in Fig. 8. In the example of Fig. 11B, one slot has been allocated to member C of the lower plan for the first period of the second substation, so the control unit 41 determines that there is a slot already allocated to a member of the lower plan.

[0056] When the control unit 41 determines that there is a slot that has already been allocated to a member of a lower plan (S70: YES), it cancels the allocation of this slot (an interruptible slot) to member C of the lower plan (S71), and allocates the released slot to the computation process to be reallocated (S72). Steps S71 to S72 are the same processes as steps S44 to S45 in FIG. 8. FIG. 11C shows a state in which the slot indicated by "A3" has been released from allocation to member C and allocated to the computation process of member A. Then, the control unit 41 deletes the information about member C and the program information stored in the allocation status DB 42c in association with the period and slot of the substation 1 whose allocation has been released, and stores the information about the reallocated member A and the program of the computation process in the allocation status DB 42c (S73).

[0057] The control unit 41 determines whether the allocation of slots to the computation process to be reallocated has been completed (S74). If it determines that the allocation has not been completed (S74: NO), or if it determines that there are no slots allocated to members of lower-level plans (S70: NO), it cancels the allocation of slots that have been allocated to members of higher-level plans and that basically do not allow other members to interrupt the period of the substation 1 identified in step S63, and that are interruptible (S75), and allocates the canceled slots to the computation process to be reallocated (S76). Steps S75 to S76 are the same as steps S50 to S51 in FIG. 8. Then, the control unit 41 deletes the member information and program information stored in the allocation status DB 42c in association with the period and slot of the substation 1 whose allocation has been cancelled, and stores the information of member A and the program of the computation process that have been reallocated in the allocation status DB 42c (S77).

[0058] Note that for members of a higher plan, interruption of an interrupt process is permitted only if there is a slot with the same preference as the allocated slot (period of substation 1). Therefore, among other slots with the same preference, there are empty slots allocated with surplus power, empty slots allocated with grid voltage, slots allocated to members of a lower plan, and slots allocated to other members of a higher plan that can be interrupted. Therefore, reallocation of slots to the computation process to be reallocated is completed by performing at least one of the processes of steps S64 to S65, steps S67 to S68, steps S71 to S73, and steps S75 to S77. If the control unit 41 determines in step S66, S69, or S74 that slot allocation to the computation process to be reallocated has been completed (YES), or after the process of step S77, the control unit 41 returns to step S61. Then, the control unit 41 determines whether there are any members of other higher-level plans who need to be reallocated (S61), and if it determines that there are (S61: YES), it repeats steps S62 to S77.

[0059] When the control unit 41 determines that there are no members of a higher plan who require reallocation (S61: NO), it determines whether there are any members of a lower plan who require reallocation (S78). When it determines that there are members of a lower plan who require reallocation (S78: YES), the control unit 41 performs the same processes as steps S62 to S69 for the calculation processes (calculation processes of members of lower plans) whose slot allocation has been released and which require reallocation (S79 to S86). As a result, for the calculation processes of members of lower plans who require reallocation, vacant slots to which surplus power has been allocated or vacant slots to which grid voltage has been allocated are reallocated in the periods of substation 1 that have the same preference (desired order) as the slots whose allocation has been released (period of substation 1).

[0060] The control unit 41 performs steps S81 to S86 for a period of one substation 1 having the same preference as the deallocated slot, and if it determines that slot allocation has not been completed for the calculation process to be reallocated (S86: NO), it determines whether there is a period of another substation 1 having the same preference as the deallocated slot (S87).If it determines that there is a period of another substation 1 having the same preference as the deallocated slot (S87: YES), the control unit 41 returns to step S80, identifies a period of another substation 1 having the same preference (S80), and performs the processing of steps S81 to S86 for the period of the identified substation 1. If it is determined that there is no period of substation 1 with the same preference (S87: NO), the control unit 41 identifies the period of substation 1 with the next highest preference (desired order) after the preference of the deallocated slot (period of substation 1) (S88), and proceeds to step S81. Then, the control unit 41 performs the processes of steps S81 to S86 for the period of substation 1 identified in step S88. If the control unit 41 determines that slot allocation for the arithmetic process to be reallocated has been completed in steps S83 and S86 (YES), the control unit 41 returns to step S78. Then, the control unit 41 determines whether there is a member of another lower plan who needs to be reallocated (S78), and if it determines that there is (S78: YES), it repeats steps S79 to S88, and if it determines that there is not (S78: NO), it ends the process.

[0061] The above process reallocates slots to members (computation processes) whose slot allocations were cancelled by the interruption process. If the member to be reallocated is a member of a higher plan, not only free slots (slots to which surplus power and grid voltage are allocated) but also slots already allocated to members of a lower plan or slots already allocated to other members of a higher plan that are available for interruption can be reallocated. This allows reallocation to maintain priority according to the contract plan. In the situation shown in FIG. 12A, if member C's preference for the first period of the second substation is the same as his preference for the first period of the third substation, the free slot allocated with surplus power in the first period of the third substation is allocated to member C's computation process whose allocation was cancelled in the first period of the second substation. FIG. 12A shows that the slot indicated by "C1" in the first period of the third substation is allocated to member C's computation process whose allocation was cancelled in the first period of the second substation. Furthermore, for example, if member C's preference for the second period of the first substation is second highest after his preference for the first period of the first substation, an empty slot to which surplus power is allocated in the second period of the first substation is allocated to the calculation process of member C whose allocation was deallocated in the first period of the first substation. FIG. 12A shows that the slot indicated by "C1" in the second period of the first substation is allocated to the calculation process of member C whose allocation was deallocated in the first period of the first substation.

[0062] By performing the above-described series of interrupt processes, the allocation status of members (computation processes) for each slot before the interrupt shown in FIG. 11A is changed to the allocation status shown in FIG. 12B. In FIG. 12B, the slots shown with a black background indicate slots whose allocation has been changed by the interrupt process. After performing the above-described allocation process and interrupt process, the control unit 41 transmits a program related to the computation process or interrupt process assigned to the slot of each period to the computation device 3 provided in each substation 1 before the start of each period, and instructs it to execute the program in each period. The computation device 3 executes the program obtained from the server 4 using surplus power in the grid G ​​or system power after the start of each period, thereby efficiently consuming surplus power and realizing the process requested by each member.

[0063] The above-described allocation process and interruption process can match (associate) each slot in each period of each substation 1 with the process desired by each member. Furthermore, by executing the process desired by each member based on the matching result by the arithmetic device 3 provided in each substation 1, surplus power generated in each grid G ​​can be consumed by the arithmetic device 3 in each grid G ​​at the time of generation. Therefore, surplus power is efficiently consumed, supply and demand of surplus power can be adjusted, and the quality of the grid power can be maintained. Furthermore, in this embodiment, surplus power generated in a grid G ​​is consumed by the arithmetic device 3 in the same grid G, so that supply and demand of surplus power can be adjusted without the need to install new substation equipment or the like in the power distribution network. Furthermore, when the arithmetic device 3 is provided in the substation 1 to consume surplus power, more efficient consumption of surplus power is possible.

[0064] Next, a process will be described in which the server 4 notifies each member and the electric power company or system operator, etc. of the matching results after matching has been performed between each slot in each period of each substation 1 and the process desired to be executed by each member. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the notification process procedure, and FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing an example screen. The control unit 41 of the server 4 executes the following process while performing the allocation process shown in FIG. 6 and the interrupt processes shown in FIGS. 7 to 10. That is, when allocation to each member is completed, the control unit 41 notifies each member of the allocation results, and when allocation to all members is completed, the control unit 41 notifies the electric power company, system operator, etc. of a list of the allocation results for each member.

[0065] The control unit 41 determines whether or not the allocation of slots in any period of any substation 1 has been completed for the process (including interrupt process) desired by any member (consumer) (whether or not there is a member to whom the slots have been allocated) (S91). If the control unit 41 determines that the allocation has not been completed (S91: NO), the control unit 41 proceeds to step S94. If the control unit 41 determines that the allocation has been completed (S91: YES), the control unit 41 proceeds to step S92. Specifically, if the control unit 41 determines that the allocation has been completed (YES) in any of step S19 in FIG. 6, steps S38 and S42 in FIG. 7, steps S47 and S53 in FIG. 8, steps S66, S69, and S74 in FIG. 9, and steps S83 and S86 in FIG. 10, the control unit 41 determines that there is a member to whom the slots have been allocated (S91: YES), and executes the processes from step S92 onward. Note that the control unit 41 may also execute the processes from step S92 onward after the process of step S77 in FIG. 9.

[0066] If it is determined that a member has already been allocated (S91: YES), the control unit 41 acquires the contact information of that member from the member DB 42b (S92). Then, the control unit 41 transmits information (allocation information) of the slot allocated to the process that the member wishes to execute to that member (e.g., the consumer terminal 5) using the acquired contact information (S93). The allocation information includes, for example, information on the allocated arithmetic device 3, information on computer resources including information on the substation 1 or grid G ​​where the arithmetic device 3 is installed, and information on the scheduled execution period. The allocation information can be transmitted by email or an app such as LINE (registered trademark).

[0067] After the process of step S93, or when it is determined that there are no members to whom allocation has already been performed (S91: NO), the control unit 41 determines whether allocation to all members who have requested to use the arithmetic device 3 has been completed (S94). For example, when the control unit 41 determines that allocation processing has been completed for members of all contract plans in step S22 of Fig. 6 (S22: YES), or when it determines that there are no members of lower plans that require reallocation in step S78 of Fig. 10 (S78: NO), it determines that allocation to all members has been completed (S94: YES), and executes the processes of step S95 and onward. Note that when it is determined that allocation to all members has not been completed (S94: NO), the control unit 41 returns to step S91.

[0068] When it is determined that allocation to all members has been completed (S94: YES), the control unit 41 acquires information (allocation information) of the slots allocated to the processes desired by each member from the allocation status DB 42c (S95). The control unit 41 then creates an allocation list as shown in FIG. 14 based on the slot allocation information for the processes desired by each member (S96), and transmits the created allocation list to a terminal (not shown) of the electric power company or the system operating company (S97). The allocation list shown in FIG. 14 associates each substation 1, the calculation device 3 provided in each substation 1, and each period, and displays information about the members (members A to D) to whom the corresponding slots have been allocated. The thick solid lines indicate the maximum amount of calculation that can be performed in each period at each substation 1, and each rectangle indicates information about the members (members A to D) to whom the corresponding slots have been allocated, and the allocation rate. The allocation list as shown in FIG. 14 can display, for each period of each substation 1, the allocated computation amount or its ratio to the maximum computation amount (allocation rate, availability rate), and the unallocated computation amount or its ratio (unallocated rate). Contact information for the electric power company or the system operating company, etc., is stored in the storage unit 42, and the allocation list can be transmitted using the contact information read from the storage unit 42. The allocation list can also be transmitted using email, LINE, or other applications. The transmission of allocation information to each member (consumer) and the transmission of the allocation list to the electric power company, etc., are not limited to a configuration in which they are transmitted at the timing when the allocation process is performed, but may be transmitted at any timing.

[0069] The inventors of the present application conducted a simulation using the distribution control system of the present disclosure and derived the utility of using the distribution control system of the present disclosure. FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing the utility. The simulation conditions were as follows: Member A is a member of a higher plan, Members B and C are members of a lower plan, and Member D, who performs interrupt processing, is a member of a higher plan. Initially, Members A to C wish to execute 15 slots of calculation processing, and Member D wishes to execute 10 slots of interrupt processing. Furthermore, the simulation was conducted for three patterns of preference trends of each member for each substation 1: a first pattern in which each member has a preference for each substation 1 in order from the earliest time slot; a second pattern in which each member has an indiscriminate preference (setting the same preference order) for substations 1 in order from the earliest time slot; and a third pattern in which each member has a preference for a specific substation 1. In Figures 15A and 15B, the graph on the left shows the utility in the first pattern, the graph in the middle shows the utility in the second pattern, and the graph on the right shows the utility in the third pattern.

[0070] Each graph in FIG. 15A shows the utility (satisfaction) of each member A-D and the total. For each member A-D and the total, the left bar graph shows the utility before the interruption process, and the right bar graph shows the utility after the interruption process. From the left graph in FIG. 15A, in the first pattern, the utility of member C decreases due to member D's interruption process, but the overall utility increases. From the center graph in FIG. 15A, in the second pattern, the utility of members A and C decreases due to member D's interruption process, but the overall utility increases slightly. From the right graph in FIG. 15A, in the third pattern, the utility of member B decreases due to member D's interruption process, but the overall utility increases slightly. Therefore, in the distribution control system of the present disclosure, even when an interruption process is accepted, the total utility of each member increases, demonstrating that interruption processes can be executed efficiently.

[0071] Each graph in FIG. 15B shows the utility value on the horizontal axis and the number of simulations in which each utility value was obtained on the vertical axis. For comparison, a bar graph shows the number of times each utility value was obtained when 10,000 simulations were performed in which a computing device 3 was randomly assigned to each member's desired processing and interrupt processing without using the distribution control system of the present disclosure. Each graph in FIG. 15B also plots the utility values ​​obtained by simulations using the distribution control system of the present disclosure as a straight line. The left graph in FIG. 15B shows that the first pattern achieved utility values ​​equivalent to the top 2% of the comparison simulations. The center graph in FIG. 15B shows that the second pattern achieved utility values ​​equivalent to the top 4% of the comparison simulations. The right graph in FIG. 15B shows that the third pattern achieved utility values ​​equivalent to the top 1% of the comparison simulations. This shows that high utility values ​​can be obtained by using the distribution control system of the present disclosure.

[0072] As described above, by using the distribution control system of the present disclosure, it is possible to allocate a computing device 3 to each consumer according to the preferences of each consumer, and the surplus power can be efficiently consumed by the computing device 3 in the grid G ​​where surplus power is generated. Therefore, an efficient wrinkle-reducing function can be realized in the power grid. Furthermore, even if an interruption process occurs, it is possible to efficiently reallocate the computing device 3 to each consumer (computing process) while maintaining the priority and preferences of each consumer. Furthermore, even if an instruction is issued to release the allocation of the computing process to the computing device 3, it is possible to reallocate the computing device 3 while maintaining the priority and preferences of each consumer, and the reallocated computing device 3 can execute the process.

[0073] (Embodiment 2) In the above-described first embodiment, the system executes the processes desired by each member using a computing device 3 that utilizes surplus power generated in each grid G, and is configured to reallocate the computing device 3 to the processes desired by each member when an interrupt process occurs. In this embodiment, an allocation control system will be described in which reallocation is performed when the generation of new surplus power is predicted after a computing device 3 (slot) has been allocated to the process desired by each member. The allocation control system of this embodiment can be realized using devices similar to the allocation control system of the first embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, so a description of the configuration of each device will be omitted.

[0074] Fig. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of the reallocation processing procedure, and Fig. 17 is an explanatory diagram of the reallocation processing. The server 4 creates an allocation plan, for example, as shown in Fig. 17A, by the allocation processing shown in Fig. 6, and then executes the following processing. In Fig. 17A as well, A to C in solid white squares indicate members who have been allocated each slot in each period of each substation 1. Furthermore, solid gray squares indicate empty slots to which surplus power has been allocated, and dashed squares indicate slots (empty slots) to which grid power that can be additionally purchased has been allocated.

[0075] After creating the allocation plan, the control unit 41 determines whether or not new surplus power has been generated (S101). For example, if the control unit 41 receives a cancellation of a request to execute a calculation process to which a slot in any period of any substation 1 has already been allocated from any consumer, the slot becomes vacant, and the control unit 41 determines that new surplus power will be generated. Furthermore, if the amount of power generated by the power generation facility 2 and the amount of surplus power in each grid G ​​are predicted at appropriate times, and the amount of surplus power predicted at a certain time is greater than the amount of surplus power predicted in advance, the increase may be determined as new generation of surplus power.

[0076] When it is determined that a new generation of surplus power has been detected (S101: YES), the control unit 41 selects, from among the members of the higher plan, a member (computation process) to be reassigned to a slot (period of substation 1) that has become vacant due to the new generation of surplus power (S102). For example, the control unit 41 searches for a member (computation process) that has been assigned to a slot of a period after the newly vacant slot (period of substation 1) with the same preference (desired order) as the preference for the vacant slot, and sets the computation process of the searched member as a target for reassignment. The control unit 41 may also search for a member that has been assigned to a slot of a period after the newly vacant slot with a lower preference (for example, the next highest preference) than the preference for the vacant slot, and set the computation process of the searched member as a target for reassignment.

[0077] The control unit 41 determines whether the free slots can be allocated to the calculation process to be reallocated based on the number of slots required for the selected calculation process to be reallocated and the number of newly available slots (S103). The control unit 41 determines that the free slots can be allocated if the number of available slots is equal to or greater than the number of slots for the calculation process to be reallocated, and determines that the free slots cannot be allocated if the number of available slots is less than the number of slots for the calculation process to be reallocated. If the control unit 41 determines that the free slots can be allocated (S103: YES), it allocates the free slots to the calculation process of the member selected in step S102 (S104). In the example of FIG. 17B, the calculation process of member A, which was assigned three slots in the first period of the first substation, has been canceled, and these three slots become free. In this situation, if member A's preference for the second period of the first substation is the same as his preference for the first period of the first substation, or if member A's preference for the second period of the first substation is lower than his preference for the first period of the first substation (for example, if it is the next highest preference), member A's calculation process, which has been assigned three slots in the second period of the first substation, is selected for reallocation and is assigned the three vacant slots in the first period of the first substation.

[0078] The control unit 41 cancels the allocation of the original slot (the slot of the second period of the first substation in FIG. 17B) to the calculation process of the reallocated member A (S105). As a result, as shown in FIG. 17C, the calculation process of three slots of member A that had been allocated to the second period of the first substation is reallocated to the first period of the first substation. The control unit 41 then stores information about the reallocated member A and information about the calculation process program in the allocation status DB 42c in association with the period and slot of the reallocated substation 1, and deletes from the allocation status DB 42c the information that was stored in association with the period and slot of the released substation 1, thereby updating the allocation status DB 42c (S106). The control unit 41 returns to step S101 and performs the processes from step S102 onwards every time it detects the generation of new surplus power. The control unit 41 also determines that new surplus power has been detected for slots that become vacant as a result of reallocation to new vacant slots through the above-described process (S101: YES), and performs the processes from step S102 onward. As a result, when new surplus power occurs, the calculation processes of each member that have already been allocated to slots in periods after the slot that became vacant can be reallocated to periods that precede it.

[0079] If the control unit 41 determines that allocation is not possible (S103: NO), it performs the same process as in step S102 and determines whether there are other members (computation processes) among the members of the higher plan who are eligible for reallocation (S107). If the control unit 41 determines that there are other members (S107: YES), it selects this member (S108) and returns to step S103 to determine whether it is possible to allocate an empty slot to this member's computation process. If it determines that there are no other members eligible for reallocation (S107: NO), it performs the same process as in step S102 for the members of the lower plan and selects a member (computation process) among the members of the lower plan who is eligible for reallocation (S109). Then, the control unit 41 determines whether it is possible to allocate a newly available slot to the computation process of the selected member who is eligible for reallocation (S110). If the control unit 41 determines that allocation is possible (S110: YES), it proceeds to step S104 and performs steps S104 to S106.

[0080] If the control unit 41 determines that allocation is not possible (S110: NO), it performs the same process as in step S109 and determines whether there are other members (computation processes) among the members of the lower plan that are eligible for reallocation (S111). If the control unit 41 determines that there are other members (computation processes) that are eligible for reallocation (S111: YES), it selects this member (S112), returns to step S110, and determines whether it is possible to allocate an empty slot to this member's computation process. If the control unit 41 determines that there are no other members that are eligible for reallocation (S111: NO) or if it determines that no new surplus power has been detected (S101: NO), it ends the process.

[0081] The control unit 41 repeats the above process until it determines that there are no new available slots (S101: NO) or that there are no members eligible for reallocation (S111: NO). As a result, when a new available slot occurs, the control unit 41 reallocates the computational processes of each member in order, starting with the member who has subscribed to the highest priority plan (the higher-level plan in this embodiment). This allows for reallocation while maintaining the priority according to each member's contracted plan, and also allows for efficient use of surplus power. Furthermore, since the members (computational processes) to be reallocated are determined taking into account each member's preference for each substation 1, it is possible to reallocate computer resources taking into account each member's preference for each substation 1.

[0082] The configuration of this embodiment is applicable to the distribution control system of the above-mentioned embodiment 1, and provides the same effects as those of the above-mentioned embodiment 1. Furthermore, in this embodiment, not only when an interruption occurs in the calculation processing executed by the calculation device 3, but also when surplus power newly occurs to be used by the calculation device 3, it is possible to reallocate (re-match) the calculation processing of each member and each calculation device 3 (computer resource), and it is possible to efficiently consume surplus power. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the modified examples described as appropriate in the above-mentioned embodiment 1 can also be applied.

[0083] The matters described in each embodiment can be combined with each other. Furthermore, the independent claims and dependent claims described in the claims can be combined with each other in any and all combinations, regardless of the reference format. Furthermore, the claims use a format in which a claim references two or more other claims (multiple claim format), but this is not limited to this. A multiple claim (multi-multi claim) that references at least one other multiple claim may also be used.

[0084] The embodiments disclosed herein are to be considered as illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims, not by the above meaning, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0085] 1. Substation 2. Power generation facilities 3 Computing device 4 Server 41 Control Unit 42 Storage section 43 Communications Department 5 Consumer terminal 51 Control section 52 Storage section 53 Communications Department

Claims

1. A calculation amount for a calculation process that a plurality of consumers wish to execute is obtained from a calculation device that receives a supply of power from a power grid to which power generation facilities that use renewable energy are interconnected, Obtaining a predicted amount of surplus power generated in each of the plurality of power grids; Allocating surplus power generated in the power grid to each of the calculation processes based on the calculation amount of the calculation process acquired from the plurality of consumers and the predicted amount of surplus power in each of the plurality of power grids. A distribution control method in which processing is performed by a computer.

2. a transformer facility that receives power supplied from the power generation facility is provided in each of the plurality of power systems, and the computing device is disposed in each transformer facility; Allocating surplus power generated in a plurality of the plurality of power systems to each of the arithmetic processes The distribution control method according to claim 1 , wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

3. a desired order of use of each of the plurality of power grids is obtained from the consumer; Based on the order of preference for each power grid obtained from each consumer, surplus power generated in each power grid is allocated to each calculation process obtained from each consumer. The distribution control method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

4. Priorities are set for the consumers, The surplus power generated in each power grid is allocated to each calculation process obtained from each consumer in order of priority. The distribution control method according to claim 3, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

5. receiving an instruction to execute an interrupt process for the arithmetic device from the consumer; The surplus power not allocated to the arithmetic processing is allocated to the interrupt processing. The distribution control method according to claim 1 , wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

6. a desired order of use of each of the plurality of power grids is obtained from the consumer; Based on the desired order of use of each power system obtained from the consumer, surplus power generated in the power system is allocated to the interruption process obtained from the consumer. The distribution control method according to claim 5, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

7. The power supply from the system power supply in the power grid is allocated to the remaining processes to which the surplus power generated in the power grid has not been allocated among the interrupt processes.

7. The distribution control method according to claim 5, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

8. The surplus power already allocated to any of the arithmetic processes is released and allocated to the remaining processes to which the surplus power generated in the power system has not been allocated among the interrupt processes.

7. The distribution control method according to claim 5, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

9. a desired order of use of each of the plurality of power grids is obtained from the consumer; When there is a power system with the same desired usage order as the power system allocated to the arithmetic processing among the arithmetic processing to which surplus power of each power system has been allocated, the allocation of the surplus power of the power system allocated to the arithmetic processing is cancelled. The distribution control method according to claim 8, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

10. Priorities are set for the consumers, Among the calculation processes to which surplus power from each power system has been allocated, the allocation of surplus power from the power system that has been allocated to the calculation process acquired from the consumer is released in order from the consumer with the lowest priority. The distribution control method according to claim 8, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

11. Accepting a selection of one of a plurality of priorities from the consumer The distribution control method according to claim 10, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

12. The surplus power of the power grid that is not allocated to other arithmetic processes is allocated to the arithmetic process from which the allocation of the surplus power of the power grid has been released. The distribution control method according to claim 8, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

13. receiving an instruction to cancel allocation of surplus power from any one of the power systems to the computing process to which the surplus power has already been allocated; canceling the allocation of the surplus power to the arithmetic processing for which the cancellation of the allocation has been instructed; The surplus power of the power system that is not allocated to other arithmetic processes is allocated to the arithmetic process from which the allocation of the surplus power has been released. The distribution control method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

14. Obtaining a predicted amount of surplus power that will be newly generated in each of the power grids; canceling the allocation of the surplus power that has already been allocated to the calculation process at a time after the timing of the new surplus power generation; The newly generated surplus power is allocated to the calculation process from which the allocation of the surplus power has been released. The distribution control method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

15. Priorities are set for the consumers, A calculation process for canceling the allocation of the allocated surplus power is selected in order from the consumer with the highest priority. The distribution control method according to claim 14, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

16. Outputting information on the power system allocated to the calculation process obtained from each of the plurality of consumers to each of the plurality of consumers. The distribution control method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

17. outputting a screen displaying information on the arithmetic processing to which each of the surplus powers is allocated for the plurality of power systems; The distribution control method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

18. acquiring a program related to the arithmetic processing or the interrupt processing from the consumer; An instruction to execute the program is output to the arithmetic device that receives power supply from a power system to which surplus power is allocated for the arithmetic processing or the interrupt processing. The distribution control method according to claim 5, wherein the processing is executed by the computer.

19. A calculation amount for a calculation process that a plurality of consumers wish to execute is obtained from a calculation device that receives a supply of power from a power grid to which power generation facilities that use renewable energy are interconnected, Obtaining a predicted amount of surplus power generated in each of the plurality of power grids; Allocating surplus power generated in the power grid to each of the calculation processes based on the calculation amount of the calculation process acquired from the plurality of consumers and the predicted amount of surplus power in each of the plurality of power grids. A program that causes a computer to perform a process.

20. A distribution control device having a control unit, The control unit A calculation amount for a calculation process that a plurality of consumers wish to execute is obtained from a calculation device that receives a supply of power from a power grid to which power generation facilities that use renewable energy are interconnected, Obtaining a predicted amount of surplus power generated in each of the plurality of power grids; Allocating surplus power generated in the power grid to each of the calculation processes based on the calculation amount of the calculation process acquired from the plurality of consumers and the predicted amount of surplus power in each of the plurality of power grids. Allocation control device.

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