Charge / Discharge Management System

Abstract

This invention provides a charge / discharge management system that can suppress processing delays caused by overlapping command transmission times. [Solution] The charge / discharge management system compares the number of transmission commands scheduled to be transmitted at each time with the maximum number of transmissions that can be transmitted at the same time without processing delay, based on a plan formulated for each of the multiple electric vehicles, to determine whether the number of transmission commands is less than or equal to the maximum number of transmissions (step S120). If it is determined that the number of transmission commands is less than or equal to the maximum number of transmissions (step S120: YES), the transmission times are maintained as planned. However, if it is determined that the number of transmission commands is greater than the maximum number of transmissions (step S120: NO), the system uses command priority information to adjust the transmission times of commands with lower command priority so that their transmission times are moved earlier or later than the time scheduled in the plan (step S140).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a charge-discharge management system.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a management device for power management of a microgrid using a plurality of power resources (such as stationary batteries and electric vehicles). The management device stores information associating an electric vehicle among a plurality of selected electric vehicles as power resources, with the electric vehicle whose power reception has stopped during the execution of the power reception plan for the microgrid, and the time when the power reception has stopped. Then, based on the stored information, the management device identifies an electric vehicle that has had its power reception stopped at a time included in the execution period of a new power reception plan, and excludes the identified electric vehicle from the power resources. In this way, electric vehicles that can respond to the response to the VPP (Virtual Power Plant) are selected based on past performance.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In Patent Document 1, it is determined whether desired charge-discharge control can be performed on a power resource, but it does not mention whether a command can be sent to the power resource at an appropriate timing. In large-scale power control such as VPP, the command transmission times for a plurality of power resources constituting a microgrid may overlap. If the command transmission times overlap, a processing delay may occur and there is a risk that the command cannot be sent at the planned time. As a result, there is a risk that appropriate power control in accordance with the requirements from the power market or the like cannot be realized. [[ID=(37)]]

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The following describes the means and effects of solving the above problems. The charge / discharge management system for solving the above problems comprises a processing circuit and a memory device. In this charge / discharge management system, the processing circuit compares the number of commands to be transmitted for each of the multiple electric vehicles at each time point, based on a plan formulated for each of the multiple electric vehicles, with the maximum number of commands that can be transmitted at the same time point without processing delay, and determines whether the number of commands to be transmitted is less than or equal to the maximum number of commands. In this charge / discharge management system, if the processing circuit determines that the number of commands to be transmitted is less than or equal to the maximum number of commands, it maintains the transmission times as planned. However, if it determines that the number of commands to be transmitted is greater than the maximum number of commands, it uses command priority information stored in advance in the memory device to adjust the transmission times of commands with lower command priority so that the transmission times of commands with lower command priority are moved to earlier or later times than those scheduled in the plan. In this charge / discharge management system, the processing circuit transmits the corresponding commands for each of the multiple electric vehicles according to the adjusted plan. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the above charge / discharge management system, processing delays caused by overlapping command transmission times can be suppressed. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a diagram showing the various functional units that constitute the charge / discharge management system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows the configuration of the schedule adjustment unit included in the charge / discharge management system shown in Figure 1. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is an example of a timing chart used to explain an energy management plan developed for a single electric vehicle. [Figure 4]Figure 4 is a table summarizing the energy management plans developed for multiple electric vehicles. Figure 4(a) shows the energy management plan for each electric vehicle, and Figure 4(b) shows the command transmission requests at each time point. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating the process for determining the timing of sending commands to each of the multiple electric vehicles in the charge / discharge management system shown in Figure 1. [Figure 6] Figure 6 illustrates how the charging management system in Figure 1 adjusts the command transmission time using the content of events. Figure 6(a) shows the command transmission requests at each time point before adjustment, Figure 6(b) shows the case where a "end" event command for electric vehicle H is added at 19:00, Figure 6(c) shows the case where a "start" event command for electric vehicle H is added at 19:00, and Figure 6(d) shows the case where a "stop" event command for electric vehicle H is added at 19:00. [Figure 7] Figure 7 illustrates a second embodiment in which the command transmission time is adjusted using the required charge amount. Figure 7(a) shows the command transmission requests at each time point before adjustment, Figure 7(b) shows the case where a command for the "start" event of electric vehicle H is added at 19:00, and Figure 7(c) shows the case where a command for the "stop" event of electric vehicle H is added at 19:00. [Figure 8] Figure 8 illustrates a third embodiment in which the command transmission time is adjusted using the number of times the command transmission time has been adjusted. Figure 8(a) shows the command transmission requests at each time before adjustment, Figure 8(b) shows the case when a command for the "start" event of electric vehicle H is added at 19:00, and Figure 8(c) shows the case when a command for the "stop" event of electric vehicle H is added at 19:00. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] (First Embodiment) The first embodiment of the charge / discharge management system 100 will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 6. Figure 1 shows the charge / discharge management system 100, which can communicate bidirectionally with multiple electric vehicles A to I. Electric vehicles A to I are all vehicles that can not only store electricity in their batteries but also supply the stored electricity to external power networks, homes, and other devices.

[0009] <About each functional part of the charge / discharge management system 100> As shown in Figure 1, the charge / discharge management system 100 includes a vehicle information receiving unit 10, a vehicle status management unit 20, a planning unit 30, a command transmission scheduling unit 40, a schedule adjustment unit 50, a command instruction unit 60, and a command transmission unit 70. Internally, the charge / discharge management system 100 processes information in the following order: from the vehicle information receiving unit 10, to the vehicle status management unit 20, the planning unit 30, the command transmission scheduling unit 40, the schedule adjustment unit 50, the command instruction unit 60, and the command transmission unit 70. Then, the command transmission unit 70 transmits commands to the corresponding electric vehicles A to I. Each part of the charge / discharge management system 100 can be realized by one or more processing circuits. Examples of processing circuits include ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) designed to perform various functions. Furthermore, the processing circuit may be a dedicated hardware processing circuit, or it may be a processor that executes a program stored in memory.

[0010] The vehicle information receiving unit 10 receives vehicle information regarding the status of each vehicle from multiple electric vehicles A to I. The vehicle information is information regarding the charging and discharging status of the electric vehicles. Examples of vehicle information include the remaining SOC capacity, which indicates the current remaining charge of the vehicle battery; the target SOC, which indicates the SOC value that the vehicle battery should aim for to perform appropriately; the departure time set by the user; and the intention to participate in DR. The intention to participate in DR is an expression of the user's intention to accept charging and discharging control in response to a demand response request.

[0011] The vehicle status management unit 20 centrally manages the vehicle status of multiple electric vehicles A to I using vehicle information received by the vehicle information receiving unit 10. The vehicle status management unit 20 enables real-time monitoring of the charging status of multiple electric vehicles A to I.

[0012] The planning unit 30 uses vehicle information for multiple electric vehicles A to I managed by the vehicle condition management unit 20 to formulate an energy management plan for each of the electric vehicles A to I. For example, the planning unit 30 formulates a charge and discharge plan for each of the electric vehicles A to I, such as starting and stopping charging in multiple cycles, in order to adjust the load on the overall power supply while considering the efficient use of energy. This makes it possible, for example, to shift the peak demand for electricity or to maximize the use of renewable energy. Based on the formulated charge and discharge plan, the planning unit 30 generates commands to start, stop, and end charging and discharging for each of the electric vehicles A to I.

[0013] The command transmission scheduling unit 40 manages the timing and order in which to send charge and discharge commands for multiple electric vehicles A to I, based on the energy management plan formulated by the planning unit 30. Specifically, the command transmission scheduling unit 40 schedules which command to send and when, that is, the transmission time of each command.

[0014] The scheduling unit 50 adjusts the command transmission times determined by the command transmission scheduling unit 40 if the number of commands scheduled to be transmitted at the same time exceeds a default value.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 2, the schedule adjustment unit 50 includes a processing circuit 51 and a storage device 52. The processing circuit 51 adjusts the transmission time of the command determined by the command transmission scheduler 40. The storage device 52 stores the adjusted command transmission time, the upper limit of the number of transmissions, the command priority information, and the like. The upper limit of the number of transmissions and the command priority information will be described later. The schedule adjustment unit 50 suppresses the number of commands scheduled to be transmitted at the same time to a default value or less.

[0016] The command instruction unit 60 instructs command transmission at the timing when the transmission time of the command determined by the command transmission scheduler 40 or the adjusted command transmission time by the schedule adjustment unit 50 arrives. When the command transmission unit 70 is instructed to transmit a command by the command instruction unit 60, it transmits the command to the corresponding electric vehicle.

[0017] In this way, the charge / discharge management system 100 transmits commands to each of the plurality of electric vehicles A to I, and causes the plurality of electric vehicles A to I to perform charge / discharge according to the commands received respectively.

[0018] <Planning Department 30> FIG. 3 is an example of a timing chart showing an energy management plan for one electric vehicle formulated by the planning department 30. In FIG. 3, the vertical axis represents the charging output, and the horizontal axis represents the time. Here, one electric vehicle is, for example, electric vehicle A. Although FIG. 3 shows a charging timing chart, the same energy management plan is applied in the case of discharging. In the case of discharging, the vertical axis corresponding to the charging output represents the discharging output.

[0019] The planning unit 30 calculates an energy management plan for starting and stopping charging for electric vehicle A, based on the vehicle information of electric vehicle A managed by the vehicle condition management unit 20, while considering the efficient use of energy. Specifically, in the energy management plan shown in Figure 3, electric vehicle A first starts charging at time T1 and stops temporarily at time T2. Next, electric vehicle A starts charging again at time T3 and stops again at time T4. Finally, electric vehicle A starts charging again at time T5 and finishes charging at time T6.

[0020] Based on the calculated energy management plan, the planning unit 30 generates commands to instruct electric vehicle A to start, stop, and end charging at each time point from T1 to T6. Specifically, the planning unit 30 generates three "start charging" commands to instruct electric vehicle A to start charging at T1, T3, and T5. The planning unit 30 generates two "stop charging" commands to instruct electric vehicle A to temporarily stop charging at T2 and T4. The planning unit 30 generates one "end charging" command to instruct electric vehicle A to end charging at T6. These commands are scheduled to be sent to electric vehicle A at each time point from T1 to T6.

[0021] In this manner, the planning unit 30 calculates an energy management plan for electric vehicle A and generates a command to send to electric vehicle A. The planning unit 30 also calculates energy management plans for electric vehicles B through I in the same way as electric vehicle A and generates commands to send to them.

[0022] <Command transmission scheduling unit 40> The following describes scheduling the timing of sending commands to each of the multiple electric vehicles A to I. Figure 4 is a table showing the commands to be sent to each of the multiple electric vehicles A to I by the planning unit 30. Figure 4(a) shows, as an example, the commands to be sent for each of the electric vehicles A to D, and the corresponding transmission times for each command. As shown in Figure 4(a), the rows correspond to each of the electric vehicles A to D, and the columns represent the stages of the charging and discharging process. In the case of row A, for electric vehicle A, the command transmission requests include the start of charging at 13:00, the stop of charging at 14:30, the start of charging at 16:15, the stop of charging at 17:00, and the end of charging at 19:00. At each time, commands for "start," "stop," and "end" of discharging may also be scheduled.

[0023] In Figure 4(a), as shown in the area enclosed by the thick line, at 19:00, there are "end" commands for electric vehicle A, "start" commands for electric vehicle B, and "start" commands for electric vehicle C.

[0024] Figure 4(b) shows an example of command transmission requests at different times. As described above, multiple command transmission requests may be scheduled for the same time. In the example shown in Figure 4(b), the command transmission scheduling unit 40 schedules a stop command for electric vehicle C and a start command for electric vehicle F at 18:45. The command transmission scheduling unit 40 also schedules an end command for electric vehicle A, a start command for electric vehicle B, a start command for electric vehicle C, a stop command for electric vehicle E, and a stop command for electric vehicle E at 19:00. Furthermore, the command transmission scheduling unit 40 schedules a stop command for electric vehicle D at 19:15.

[0025] In this way, the command transmission scheduling unit 40 organizes multiple transmission commands for multiple electric vehicles A to I by time and schedules the transmission commands. <Process flow for determining the time to send a command by the charge / discharge management system 100> Next, referring to Figure 5, the process flow for determining the timing at which the charge / discharge management system 100 sends commands to each of the multiple electric vehicles A to I will be explained. For example, the charge / discharge management system 100 executes this series of processes when it confirms that all of the following conditions are met: there is a DR request to balance the demand and supply of electricity, the electric vehicle is connected to the charging plug, and the user intends to participate in the DR.

[0026] First, in step S100, the charging and discharging management system 100, using the planning unit 30, calculates an energy management plan for each of the multiple electric vehicles A to I, as shown in Figure 3, and generates commands that are scheduled to be sent to each of the multiple electric vehicles A to I.

[0027] Next, the charge / discharge management system 100 proceeds to step S110, and the command transmission scheduling unit 40 schedules transmission commands for multiple electric vehicles A to I at each transmission time, as shown in the example of scheduling commands as described with reference to Figure 4.

[0028] The charge / discharge management system 100 then proceeds to step S120. In step S120, the charge / discharge management system 100 uses the processing circuit 51 of the schedule adjustment unit 50 to compare the number of transmission commands, which is the number of commands scheduled to be transmitted at each time for multiple electric vehicles A to I, with the upper limit of transmissions stored in the storage device 52, and determines whether the number of transmission commands is less than or equal to the upper limit of transmissions. The upper limit of transmissions is the number of commands that the charge / discharge management system 100 can transmit at the same time without causing processing delays. The upper limit of transmissions is set after considering resource constraints, load management of the charge / discharge process, I / O bandwidth, communication infrastructure, etc., and is stored in the storage device 52 in advance.

[0029] In step S120, if the processing circuit 51 determines that the number of transmission commands is less than or equal to the upper limit (step S120: YES), it proceeds to step S130. In step S130, the processing circuit 51 sets the command schedule to maintain the transmission times of the commands scheduled in step S110.

[0030] On the other hand, in step S120, if the processing circuit 51 determines that the number of commands to be transmitted is greater than the upper limit of the number of commands to be transmitted (step S120: NO), it proceeds to step S140. In step S140, the processing circuit 51 uses the command priority information pre-stored in the memory device 52 to adjust the transmission time of commands with lower command priority to an earlier or later time than the time scheduled in step S110. The charge / discharge management system 100 returns the transmission time of the commands adjusted in step S140 back to step S110 and reschedules the commands. In this way, if the number of commands to be transmitted is greater than the upper limit of the number of commands to be transmitted, the processing in steps S110, S120, and S140 is repeated to ultimately keep the number of commands to be transmitted below the upper limit.

[0031] In this way, the charge / discharge management system 100 proceeds to step S130 using commands whose number of transmitted commands is kept below the upper limit, and sets the command schedule in step S130.

[0032] Furthermore, the charge / discharge management system 100 proceeds to step S150 and determines whether the transmission time for each command has arrived based on the command schedule set in step S130. If the charge / discharge management system 100 determines in step S150 that the transmission time for each command has arrived, it proceeds to step S160 and executes the transmission of the command set for that transmission time. In this way, this series of processes is temporarily terminated.

[0033] <An example of processing by processing circuit 51> Referring to Figure 6, the processing by the processing circuit 51 will be explained with an example. In the example shown in Figure 6, the content of the event corresponding to the command is used as command priority information. The content of the event includes "end," which indicates ending charging or discharging; "start," which indicates starting charging or discharging; and "stop," which indicates temporarily stopping charging or discharging during charging or discharging. The command priority for the content of the event is set to decrease in the order of end, start, and stop. The maximum number of commands that the charging / discharging management system 100 can send at the same time without processing delay is set to, for example, 5.

[0034] Figure 6(a) shows the command transmission requests at each time point, with the commands to be sent for each of the multiple electric vehicles A to G scheduled in each column. In the example shown in Figure 6(a), at 18:45, there are commands for the "stop" event of electric vehicle C and the "start" event of electric vehicle F. Even if a "start" event command for electric vehicle I were to be added at 18:45, the number of commands to be sent at this time would be 3, which is less than or equal to the maximum number of commands to be sent (step S120: YES). Therefore, the "start" event command for electric vehicle I is added at 18:45 as is (see Figures 6(b) to (d)).

[0035] On the other hand, at 19:00, there are commands for the "end" event of electric vehicle A, the "start" events of electric vehicles B and C, and the "stop" events of electric vehicles E and G. Therefore, at 19:00, the number of commands to be sent has reached the upper limit of 5. In this case, if a command for electric vehicle H is added at 19:00, the number of commands to be sent will exceed the upper limit (step S120: NO). If this happens, the processing circuit 51 compares the priority of each command.

[0036] Figure 6(b) shows the case where a "terminate" event command for electric vehicle H is added at 19:00. By comparing the priorities of each command at 19:00, the processing circuit 51 can determine that the "stop" event command for electric vehicle G has the lowest priority. In this case, the processing circuit 51 adds the "terminate" event command for electric vehicle H at 19:00 as is, and moves the "stop" event command for electric vehicle G to a later time, namely 19:15.

[0037] Figure 6(c) shows the case where a "start" event command for electric vehicle H is added at 19:00. By comparing the priorities of each command at 19:00, the processing circuit 51 can determine that the "stop" event command for electric vehicle G has the lowest priority. In this case, the processing circuit 51 adds the "start" event command for electric vehicle H at 19:00 as is, and moves the "stop" event command for electric vehicle G to a later time, namely 19:15.

[0038] Figure 6(d) shows the case where a "stop" event command for electric vehicle H is added at 19:00. By comparing the priorities of each command at 19:00, the processing circuit 51 can determine that the "stop" event command for electric vehicle H has the lowest priority. In this case, the processing circuit 51 adds the "stop" event command for electric vehicle H not at 19:00, but at a later time, i.e., 19:15. If there are multiple commands for the same event at the same time, the processing circuit 51 determines that the command added later has the lowest priority among the multiple commands for the same event at the same time.

[0039] In this way, by adjusting the command transmission times so that commands with lower command priority are sent away from the scheduled 19:00 time, the number of commands sent at 19:00 can be limited to five or less, which is the maximum number of commands that can be sent.

[0040] <Operation of this embodiment> The charge / discharge management system 100 comprises a processing circuit 51 and a storage device 52. The processing circuit 51 compares the number of commands to be transmitted for each of the multiple electric vehicles A to I at each time point, based on a plan formulated for each of the multiple electric vehicles A to I, with the maximum number of commands that can be transmitted at the same time point without processing delay, and determines whether the number of commands to be transmitted is less than or equal to the maximum number of commands. If the processing circuit 51 determines that the number of commands to be transmitted is less than or equal to the maximum number of commands, it maintains the transmission times as planned. On the other hand, if the processing circuit 51 determines that the number of commands to be transmitted is greater than the maximum number of commands, it uses command priority information pre-stored in the storage device 52 to adjust the transmission times of commands with lower command priority so that their transmission times are moved to earlier or later times than those scheduled in the plan. The processing circuit 51 then transmits the corresponding commands for each of the multiple electric vehicles A to I according to the adjusted plan.

[0041] In this way, the charge / discharge management system 100 adjusts the number of transmission commands sent at the same time according to priority so that it is less than or equal to the maximum number of transmissions that can be sent without causing processing delays.

[0042] <Effects of this embodiment> (1) The charge / discharge management system 100 can suppress processing delays caused by overlapping command transmission times. Furthermore, because it can flexibly manage commands according to priority, it can prioritize the transmission of important instructions regarding the charging and discharging of electric vehicles A to I, and adjust instructions that can be postponed without issue, thereby ensuring the smooth progress of the overall charge / discharge process. As a result, it becomes possible to achieve appropriate power control in accordance with the demands of the power market and other sources.

[0043] (2) Command priority information includes the content of the event that the command causes electric vehicles A to I to execute. The content of the event includes "end," which indicates ending charging or discharging; "start," which indicates starting charging or discharging; and "stop," which indicates temporarily suspending charge / discharge control during charging or discharging. The command priority for the content of the event is set to decrease in the order of end, start, and stop.

[0044] The user of an electric vehicle may set the end time for charging. If the user has set the end time for charging, it is preferable that the "end" event be set to the charging end time set by the user. In the charge / discharge management system 100, the "end" event is given the highest priority, and the "start" event is processed with a higher priority than the "stop" event.

[0045] In this way, the charge / discharge management system 100 can flexibly adjust events with low command priority, thereby executing important events without delay. This ensures the stability of the power supply and the accuracy of the charge / discharge plan. Moreover, users can gain peace of mind knowing that their self-set condition of "completion" will be reliably met, allowing them to operate their electric vehicles according to plan.

[0046] (Second Embodiment) Next, the second embodiment will be described, focusing on the differences from the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, the content of the event corresponding to the command was used as command priority information. In addition to this, in the second embodiment, the amount of charge required to reach the target charge state set for each of the multiple electric vehicles is used as command priority information.

[0047] The storage device 52 also stores command priority information, specifically the amount of charge required for each of the multiple electric vehicles A to I to reach the set target charge state. The required charge amount is assigned a higher command priority than the event content, and a lower amount is assigned a higher command priority. The required charge amount can be determined based on the remaining SOC capacity and target SOC of each of the multiple electric vehicles A to I, acquired by the vehicle information receiving unit 10.

[0048] <Execution of processing by processing circuit 51> Referring to Figure 7, the execution of processing by the processing circuit 51 of the second embodiment will be explained with an example. In the example shown in Figure 7, the upper limit number of transmissions, which is the number of commands that the charge / discharge management system 100 can send at the same time without processing delay, is set to, for example, four.

[0049] Figure 7(a) shows the command transmission requests at each time point, with the commands to be transmitted for each of the multiple electric vehicles A to G scheduled in columns. In the example shown in Figure 7(a), at 19:00 there is a command for the "end" event of electric vehicle A, a command for the "start" event of electric vehicle B with a required charge amount of 15kWh, a command for the "start" event of electric vehicle C with a required charge amount of 6kWh, and a command for the "stop" event of electric vehicle G with a required charge amount of 11kWh. Therefore, at 19:00 the number of commands to be transmitted has reached the upper limit of 4. In this case, if a command for electric vehicle H is added at 19:00, the number of commands to be transmitted will exceed the upper limit (step S120: NO). In that case, the processing circuit 51 compares the required charge amounts for electric vehicles A, B, C, G, and H as the priority for each command.

[0050] Figure 7(b) shows the case where a "start" event command for electric vehicle H with a required charge amount of 10kWh is added at 19:00. Processing circuit 51 compares the required charge amounts for each electric vehicle A, B, C, G, and H at 19:00. Processing circuit 51 then determines that electric vehicle B's required charge amount is 15kWh, which is the highest, and therefore electric vehicle B's command has the lowest priority. In this case, processing circuit 51 adds the "start" event command for electric vehicle H with a required charge amount of 10kWh as is at 19:00, and adjusts to move the "start" event command for electric vehicle B with a required charge amount of 15kWh. Then, since the content of electric vehicle B's command is "start," processing circuit 51 adjusts to move electric vehicle B's command to an earlier time, namely 18:45. By bringing the "start" event forward in this way, the required charging can be started earlier.

[0051] Figure 7(c) shows the case where a "stop" event command for electric vehicle H with a required charge amount of 15kWh is added at 19:00. The processing circuit 51 compares the required charge amounts for each electric vehicle A, B, C, G, and H at 19:00. From this, the processing circuit 51 can determine that the required charge amount for electric vehicle H is the same as the required charge amount for electric vehicle B, which is 15kWh, and is smaller than the required charge amount for electric vehicle C, which is 6kWh, and the required charge amount for electric vehicle G, which is 11kWh. In other words, it can be determined that the priority of the command for electric vehicle H is the same as the priority of the command for electric vehicle B, but lower than the priority of the commands for electric vehicle C and electric vehicle G. In this case, the processing circuit 51 keeps the commands for electric vehicle C and electric vehicle G to be sent at the scheduled time of 19:00, and moves either the command for electric vehicle H or the command for electric vehicle B from 19:00. In this embodiment, the processing circuit 51 determines which command's transmission time should be moved based on the event content of the commands for electric vehicle H and electric vehicle B. Since the event content of the command for electric vehicle H is "stop" and the event content of the command for electric vehicle B is "start", the processing circuit 51 decides to move the command for electric vehicle H from 19:00. If the event content of the command to be moved is "start", the processing circuit 51 moves the transmission time of that command to an earlier time than the time scheduled in the plan, while if the event content of the command to be moved is "stop", the processing circuit 51 adjusts the command's transmission time to move it to a later time than the time scheduled in the plan. In the example shown in Figure 7(c), the command for electric vehicle H, which is a "stop" event and requires a charge of 15kWh, is adjusted to move from 19:00 to a later time, i.e., 19:15.

[0052] <Operation of the second embodiment> The charge / discharge management system 100 uses the amount of charge required to reach the target charge state set for each electric vehicle A, B, C, G, and H as command priority information. The required amount of charge is set to have a higher command priority than the event content, and the smaller the amount, the higher the command priority.

[0053] In this way, the charge / discharge management system 100 manages the required charge amount for each electric vehicle A, B, C, G, and H as command priority information, and adjusts the system prioritizing the required charge amount over the content of the event.

[0054] <Effects of the second embodiment> (1) The charge / discharge management system 100 can increase the number of electric vehicles that can achieve the target charge state by not changing the plans for electric vehicles C and G, which are more likely to complete charging to the target charge state.

[0055] (2) When adjusting the transmission times of commands for electric vehicles with the same required charge level, the charge / discharge management system 100 determines which command's transmission time to move based on the content of the event. If the event content of the command to be moved is a start, the charge / discharge management system 100 moves the transmission time of that command to an earlier time than the time scheduled in the plan, while if the event content of the command to be moved is a stop, the charge / discharge management system 100 adjusts the command's transmission time to move it to a later time than the time scheduled in the plan.

[0056] In the charge / discharge management system 100, if the required charge amount does not determine priority, priority is determined by the content of the event. If the content of the event for a command to move is "start," the command is sent earlier to start the event at an earlier time. On the other hand, if the content of the event for a command to move is "stop," the charge / discharge management system 100 moves the command corresponding to that event to a later time to delay the stop timing of the event.

[0057] As a result, the charge / discharge management system 100 can efficiently manage the charge level of electric vehicle B by bringing forward the "start" event to initiate the necessary charging earlier. On the other hand, the charge / discharge management system 100 can extend the time during which charging or discharging continues by moving the "stop" event, which has the lowest priority among the events, to a later date, and adjust it so as not to affect the higher-priority charging processes of other electric vehicles A, B, C, and G. This maintains a balance in the energy supply of the entire system, prevents processing delays, and improves the overall operational efficiency of the system.

[0058] (Third embodiment) Next, the third embodiment will be described, focusing on the differences from the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, the content of the event corresponding to the command was used as command priority information. In addition to this, the third embodiment uses the adjustment count, which represents the number of times the command transmission time has been adjusted based on the command priority information for each command.

[0059] In the third embodiment, the storage device 52 further stores, as command priority information, the number of times the command transmission time has been adjusted for each command based on the command priority information. The command priority is set higher for the number of adjustments than for the event content, and the higher the number, the higher the command priority.

[0060] <Execution of processing by processing circuit 51> Referring to Figure 8, the execution of processing by the processing circuit 51 will be explained with an example. In the example shown in Figure 8, the upper limit of the number of commands that the charge / discharge management system 100 can send at the same time without processing delay is set to, for example, four.

[0061] Figure 8(a) shows the transmission requests at each time point, with the commands to be transmitted for each of the multiple electric vehicles A to I scheduled in each column. In the example shown in Figure 8(a), at 19:00, there is a "end" event command for electric vehicle A, a "start" event command for electric vehicle B with 3 adjustments, a "start" event command for electric vehicle C with 0 adjustments, and a "stop" event command for electric vehicle G with 1 adjustment. At 19:00, the number of commands to be transmitted has reached the upper limit of 4. In this case, if a command for electric vehicle H is added at 19:00, the number of commands to be transmitted will exceed the upper limit (step S120: NO). If this happens, the processing circuit 51 compares the number of adjustments for each command as the priority of each command.

[0062] Figure 8(b) shows the case where a "start" event command is added for electric vehicle H. The processing circuit 51 compares the number of adjustments for each command at 19:00 and determines that electric vehicle C has 0 adjustments and therefore the lowest command priority. In this case, based on the number of adjustments, the processing circuit 51 determines that the priority of electric vehicle H's command is the same as that of electric vehicle C's command, but lower than that of electric vehicles A, B, and G. In this case, the processing circuit 51 maintains that the commands for electric vehicles A, B, and G are sent at the scheduled time of 19:00, while moving either the command for electric vehicle H or the command for electric vehicle C from 19:00. In this embodiment, the processing circuit 51 determines which command's transmission time to move based on the content of the event for the commands for electric vehicle H and electric vehicle B. The event content for the newly added electric vehicle H's command is "start," and the event content for electric vehicle C's command is also "start." Therefore, we adjust the "start" command for electric vehicle C from 19:00 to the earlier time, 18:45. This is to prioritize the charging of electric vehicle C, which was scheduled to start charging earlier, and to start charging electric vehicle C first.

[0063] Figure 8(c) shows the case where a "stop" event command is added for electric vehicle H. The processing circuit 51 compares the number of adjustments for each command at 19:00 and determines that electric vehicle G has 0 adjustments and therefore the lowest command priority. In this case, based on the number of adjustments, the processing circuit 51 determines that the priority of electric vehicle H's command is the same as that of electric vehicle G's command, but lower than that of electric vehicles A, B, and C. In this case, the processing circuit 51 maintains the scheduled transmission of electric vehicles A, B, and C's commands at 19:00, while moving either electric vehicle H's command or electric vehicle G's command from 19:00. In this embodiment, the processing circuit 51 determines which command's transmission time to move based on the content of the event for electric vehicle H's command and electric vehicle G's command. The event content for the newly added electric vehicle H command is "stop," and the event content for the electric vehicle G command is also "stop." Therefore, adjust the time for the newly added electric vehicle H command from 19:00 to 19:15, which is a later time.

[0064] Furthermore, the storage device 52 also stores a default value, which is the upper limit of the number of adjustments. As shown in Figures 8(a) to (c), there is a "start" event for electric vehicle B at 19:00 with a command that requires 3 adjustments. For example, if the upper limit of the number of adjustments is 3, the "start" event for electric vehicle B with a command that requires 3 adjustments is set to be sent at the scheduled time of 19:00 without adjusting the transmission time, regardless of the content of the event. The default value should be set while taking into consideration that excessive adjustments or an increase in the number of adjustments will not cause load or deterioration of the charging and discharging system. The default value may be set to 2, 4 or more, in addition to 3.

[0065] <Operation of the Third Embodiment> In the charge / discharge management system 100, the command priority information includes the adjustment count, which represents the number of times the command transmission time has been adjusted based on the command priority information for each command. A higher adjustment count indicates a higher command priority. The command priority related to the adjustment count is set so that if the adjustment count exceeds a default value, the transmission time of commands whose adjustment count exceeds the default value will not be adjusted.

[0066] The transmission times of low-priority commands are more likely to be repeatedly adjusted. As a result, the charging and discharging process can be significantly delayed, increasing the risk of disrupting the overall charging plan. Moreover, users may not be able to use their electric vehicles as planned, potentially reducing their confidence in the system.

[0067] The charge / discharge management system 100 manages the number of adjustments as command priority information, and if the number of adjustments exceeds a predetermined value, it sets a priority for the number of adjustments so that the command transmission time is not adjusted. As a result, electric vehicles that have undergone many adjustments are treated with priority over other electric vehicles, and their charging and discharging schedules are given priority.

[0068] <Effects of the Third Embodiment> The charge / discharge management system 100 can handle events that tend to have lower command priority, such as shutdowns, with appropriate priority based on the number of adjustments. This prevents excessive adjustments and schedule disruptions, thereby improving the overall efficiency and reliability of the system.

[0069] <Example of changes> The first to third embodiments can be implemented with the following modifications. The first to third embodiments and the following modifications can be combined with each other to the extent that they do not contradict each other technically.

[0070] In addition to the examples described in the first to third embodiments, the command priority information may also include the time until the departure time set by the user. In this case, the command priority is set to be higher the shorter the time until departure time, and if the time until departure time does not meet the default value, for example 3 hours, the system should be set not to adjust the transmission time for that command.

[0071] In the second embodiment, as shown in Figure 7(b), for electric vehicle B, which is determined to have a low command priority based on the required charge amount, the command for electric vehicle B is adjusted to move to an earlier time because the command content is "start". Alternatively, as shown in Figure 7(c), for electric vehicle H, which is determined to have a low command priority based on the required charge amount, the command for electric vehicle H is adjusted to move to a later time because the command content is "stop". However, the command for electric vehicle B shown in Figure 7(b) may be moved to a later time, or the command for electric vehicle H shown in Figure 7(c) may be moved to an earlier time. The number of commands scheduled to be transmitted at 19:00 should be kept to four or less.

[0072] In the third embodiment, as shown in Figure 8(b), for electric vehicle C, which was determined to have a low command priority using the number of adjustments, the command content was "start," so the command for electric vehicle C was adjusted to be moved to an earlier time. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 8(c), for electric vehicle H, which was determined to have a low command priority using the number of adjustments, the command content was "stop," so the command for electric vehicle H was adjusted to be moved to a later time. However, the command for electric vehicle C shown in Figure 8(b) may be moved to a later time, or the command for electric vehicle H shown in Figure 8(c) may be moved to an earlier time. The number of commands scheduled to be transmitted at 19:00 should be kept to four or less. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0073] 10... Vehicle information receiving unit 20... Vehicle Condition Management Department 30…Planning Department 40... Command transmission scheduling unit 50…Schedule Coordination Department 51…Processing circuit 52...Storage device 60... Command instruction unit 70... Command transmission unit 100...Charge / Discharge Management System A-I... Electric vehicles

Claims

1. A charge / discharge management system that sends a command to each of a plurality of electric vehicles and causes each of the plurality of electric vehicles to charge or discharge according to the command received, It comprises a processing circuit and a memory device. The processing circuit described above Based on the plan formulated for each of the aforementioned multiple electric vehicles, the number of transmission commands, which is the number of commands scheduled to be transmitted at each time for each of the aforementioned multiple electric vehicles, is compared with the maximum number of transmissions that can be transmitted at the same time without causing processing delays, and it is determined whether the number of transmission commands is less than or equal to the maximum number of transmissions. If it is determined that the number of commands to be transmitted is less than or equal to the upper limit of transmissions, the transmission times are maintained as planned. However, if it is determined that the number of commands to be transmitted is greater than the upper limit of transmissions, the transmission times of the commands are adjusted using the command priority information pre-stored in the storage device, so as to shift the transmission times of commands with lower command priority to earlier or later times than those scheduled in the plan. In accordance with the adjusted plan, the command corresponding to each of the multiple electric vehicles is transmitted and the execution of Charge / discharge management system.

2. The command priority information includes the content of the event that the command causes the electric vehicle to execute, The content of the aforementioned event includes an end, which indicates the termination of charging or discharging; a start, which indicates the commencement of charging or discharging; and a stop, which indicates the temporary suspension of charge / discharge control during charging or discharging. The command priority for the content of the aforementioned event is set to decrease in the order of end, start, and stop. The charge / discharge management system according to claim 1.

3. The command priority information includes the amount of charge required to reach the target charge state set for each of the multiple electric vehicles. The required charge amount is set to have a higher command priority than the content of the event, and the smaller the amount, the higher the command priority. The charge / discharge management system according to claim 2.

4. In adjusting the transmission times between the commands for the electric vehicles with the same required charge level, the content of the event determines which command's transmission time should be moved. If the event content of the command to move is a start, the transmission time of the command is shifted to an earlier time than the time scheduled in the plan. Conversely, if the event content of the command to move is a stop, the transmission time of the command is adjusted to shift to a later time than the time scheduled in the plan. The charge / discharge management system according to claim 3.

5. The command priority information includes an adjustment count for each command, which represents the number of times the transmission time of the command has been adjusted based on the command priority information. The more adjustments made, the higher the command priority is set. The command priority for the number of adjustments is set so that if the number of adjustments exceeds a default value, the transmission time of the command will not be adjusted for the command whose number of adjustments exceeds a default value. The charge / discharge management system according to claim 1.

Images