Power supply service system

Abstract

This system provides a power supply service that enables effective utilization of electricity generated by mobile power supply units. [Solution] The power supply service system 1 that supplies power to a device to be charged 5 owned by a power purchase user 50 comprises one or more power supply units 2, each power supply unit 2 having a power input unit 21 that receives power from a mobile power supply device 4 owned by a power selling user 40, a power storage unit 22 that stores the power input to the power input unit 21, and a power output unit 23 that outputs the power stored in the power storage unit 22 to the device to be charged 5.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a power supply service system that supplies power to a device to be charged held by a user.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a large number of power supply spots where rechargeable electronic devices such as smartphones and notebook computers can be charged have been installed in public facilities such as parks, stations of transportation facilities, or large stores. For example, in the charging service system described in Patent Document 1, when a user who has previously registered for the service receives the charging service, the service server acquires the battery ID and user ID from the user's mobile communication terminal, and based on the user ID, an authentication process for determining the validity of the right to receive the charging service for the mobile battery specified by the battery ID is executed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, in recent years, mobile power supply devices that generate electricity using natural energy such as portable solar panels have been becoming popular, and for example, electronic devices are used using the power obtained from sunlight or the like during activities outdoors. In such a scenario, surplus power may be generated when the sunlight is strong or when the capacity of the solar panel is large relative to the power to be used. The surplus power generated in this way is not necessarily used effectively and may become waste power in some cases.

[0005] Therefore, the inventors diligently studied methods for effectively utilizing the electricity generated by a mobile power supply device and conceived the idea that the electricity generated by the mobile power supply device could be effectively utilized by providing surplus electricity to users who need it through a charging service system. In other words, the present invention aims to provide a power supply service system that can effectively utilize the electricity generated by a mobile power supply device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention provides the following power supply service system to achieve the above objective.

[0007] [1] A power supply service system that supplies power to a device to be charged owned by a power purchase user, comprising one or more power supply units, the power supply unit having a power input unit that receives power from a mobile power supply device owned by a power seller, a power storage unit that stores the power input to the power input unit, and a power output unit that outputs the power stored in the power storage unit to the device to be charged. [2] The power supply service system according to [1] above, wherein the mobile power supply device supplies power obtained by a solar cell to the power input section of the power supply unit. [3] The power supply service system according to [2] above, wherein the mobile power supply unit supplies power to the power input section of the power supply unit by a wireless power supply method. [4] The power supply service system according to [2] or [3] above, wherein when the amount of power generated by the solar cell is small, the mobile power supply device is capable of storing the power obtained by the solar cell in a battery and then supplying the power stored in the battery to the power input of the power supply device, and when the amount of power generated by the solar cell is large, the power obtained by the solar cell is capable of supplying the power obtained by the solar cell to the power input of the power supply device without storing it in the battery. [5] The power supply service system according to [1] above, wherein the power supply unit grants points usable with the power supply unit to the power supply user who has supplied power to the power input unit by the mobile power supply unit, and when the power supply user uses the power supply unit as the power purchase user, the user can use the points to receive power from the power output unit to the equipment to be charged. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the power supply service system of the present invention, it becomes possible to effectively utilize the electricity generated by a mobile power supply device. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a schematic system configuration diagram of a power supply service system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Figure 1 is a schematic system configuration diagram of a power supply service system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This power supply service system 1 consists of a plurality of power supply units 2, a service server 3 connected to the plurality of power supply units 2 by a communication network 10 such as the Internet, a mobile power supply unit 4 owned by a power selling user 40, and a device to be charged 5 owned by a power buying user 50. The plurality of power supply units 2 are installed in a single power supply spot 11, for example, in a public facility such as a park, a transportation station, or a large store. The arrows shown in Figure 1 indicate the flow of power in the mobile power supply unit 4, the power supply units 2, and the device to be charged 5.

[0011] The power supply unit 2 includes a power input unit 21 that receives power from the mobile power supply unit 4, a power storage unit 22 that stores the power input to the power input unit 21, a power output unit 23 that outputs the power stored in the power storage unit 22 to the device to be charged 5, and a control unit 24 that controls the power input unit 21 and the power output unit 23 and communicates with the service server 3.

[0012] In this embodiment, the power supply unit 2 is a spot power supply unit that receives power from the mobile power supply unit 4 via a wireless power supply method and also supplies power to the device to be charged 5 via a wireless power supply method. More specifically, the wireless power supply method can be an electromagnetic induction method, an electromagnetic resonance method, or a microwave power supply method. The power input unit 21 is composed of a power receiving coil, and the power output unit 23 is composed of a power transmitting coil.

[0013] The power supplied by the power input unit 21 is stored in the energy storage unit 22. The energy storage unit 22 can use, for example, a lead-acid battery, which is heavy but inexpensive. The power output unit 23 supplies power to the device to be charged 5 using the power stored in the energy storage unit 22, but if the power stored in the energy storage unit 22 is insufficient, it is also possible to supply power to the device to be charged 5 using power obtained from the commercial power supply.

[0014] The mobile power supply unit 4 includes a power generation unit 41, a control circuit 42, a battery 43, and a power transmission unit 44. In this embodiment, the power generation unit 41 is a solar cell, which converts light energy into electrical energy to generate electricity and supplies the resulting power to the power input unit 21 of the power supply unit 2. The more specific type of solar cell is not limited, but for example, a perovskite type or a single-crystal silicon type can be used. If the power generation unit 41 is a perovskite solar cell, its flexibility can be utilized to configure the mobile power supply unit 4 as, for example, a wearable solar cell.

[0015] In this embodiment, the mobile power supply unit 4 supplies power to the power input unit 21 of the power supply device 2 via a wireless power supply method using the power transmission unit 44. However, the invention is not limited to this, and power may also be supplied to the power supply device 2 via a wired power supply method using an electrical cable. When the mobile power supply unit 4 supplies power to the power supply device 2 via a wired power supply method, for example, even if the power supply device 2 is installed in a covered installation space, power can be supplied from the mobile power supply unit 4 located outside the installation space by running an electrical cable from the installation space.

[0016] A lithium-ion battery with high energy density, light weight, and high capacity can be used as the battery 43. The control circuit 42 uses the power generated by the power generation unit 41, which is a solar cell, to charge the battery 43 when the output voltage of the power generation unit 41 is below a predetermined value, and supplies the power stored in the battery 43 to the power supply unit 2 once the charge level of the battery 43 reaches or exceeds a predetermined value. In addition, the control circuit 42 supplies the power generated by the power generation unit 41 directly to the power supply unit 2 when the output voltage of the power generation unit 41 is above a predetermined value and the power transmission unit 44 and the power input unit 21 of the power supply unit 2 are electromagnetically coupled.

[0017] In other words, when the amount of power generated by the solar cell power generation unit 41 is low, the mobile power supply unit 4 can store the power obtained by the power generation unit 41 in the battery 43 and then supply the power stored in the battery 43 to the power input unit 21 of the power supply unit 2. When the amount of power generated by the power generation unit 41 is high, it is possible to supply the power obtained by the power generation unit 41 to the power input unit 21 of the power supply unit 2 without storing it in the battery 43.

[0018] The device to be charged 5 is, for example, a rechargeable portable electronic device, more specifically a smartphone or a laptop computer. The device to be charged 5 has a power receiving unit 51, a battery 52, and a main body 53. The power receiving unit 51 is composed of a power receiving coil that can be electromagnetically coupled to the power output unit 23 of the power supply unit 2. However, it is not limited to this, and power may also be supplied from the power supply unit 2 to the device to be charged 5 using a wired power supply method with an electrical cable.

[0019] Battery 52 is a lithium-ion battery, similar to, for example, the battery 43 of the portable power supply unit 4. The main unit 53 includes, for example, a processing unit, a display, a camera, a microphone, and electronic components for communication with external devices, and operates using the power stored in battery 52.

[0020] When the power supply device 2 receives power supply from the mobile power supply device 4, it pays a price according to the amount of power to the power selling user 40 who holds the mobile power supply device 4, and when it supplies power to the device to be charged 5, it receives a price from the power buying user 50 who holds the device to be charged 5. The exchange of this price may be made by, for example, cash or virtual currency, etc., but in this embodiment, the case where the exchange of the price is made by points having economic value will be described.

[0021] The power selling user 40 and the power buying user 50 who use the power supply service system 1 access the service server 3 in advance by an information terminal such as a smartphone they hold and perform user registration.

[0022] When the power selling user 40 supplies power from the mobile power supply device 4 to the power supply device 2, after logging in to the service server 3 by using the application software installed in the information terminal or by inputting the login ID and password to the power supply device 2, the power selling user 40 supplies power from the mobile power supply device 4 to the power supply device 2. When the power supply from the mobile power supply device 4 ends, the power supply device 2 grants points corresponding to the amount of power provided to the power selling user 40. These points can be used when the power selling user 40 uses the power supply device 2 as a power buying user 50.

[0023] When the power buying user 50 receives power supply from the power supply device 2 to the device to be charged 5, the power buying user 50 logs in to the service server 3 by using the application software installed in the information terminal or by inputting the login ID and password to the power supply device 2. The power buying user 50 can receive power supply from the power supply device 2 to the device to be charged 5 in an amount corresponding to the points the user holds. Also, when the power buying user 50 does not hold points corresponding to the amount of power to be supplied, the power buying user 50 can purchase points, for example, by cash payment or electronic payment.

[0024] Furthermore, electricity users 50 can also use the power supply service system 1 without registering as a user. In this case, they pay a fee in cash or electronically, corresponding to the amount of electricity they wish to receive supplied to the equipment being charged 5.

[0025] According to the embodiment described above, by providing the power supplied by the power selling user 40 to the power supply unit 2 to the power purchasing user 50, the power supply unit 2 can provide power supply services while reducing the use of commercial power. Furthermore, since the power supplied from the mobile power supply device 4 to the power supply unit 2 is obtained by solar cells and has a low environmental impact, it can contribute to the realization of a sustainable energy society. Moreover, as described above, when transmitting power using a wireless power supply method, transmission losses tend to be large, but in this embodiment, since the power is obtained by solar cells, the increase in environmental impact due to transmission losses can be suppressed.

[0026] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments do not limit the invention as defined in the claims. It should also be noted that not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential for solving the problem of the invention. Furthermore, the present invention can be modified as appropriate without departing from its spirit, and can be modified as follows, for example.

[0027] In the above embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, the case in which three power supply units 2 are installed at the power supply spot 11 was described, but it is also possible for only one power supply unit 2 to be installed at the power supply spot 11. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case in which the power generation unit 41 of the mobile power supply device 4 is a solar cell, which is a type of natural energy, was described, but it is not limited to this, and the power generation unit 41 may generate electricity using natural energy other than sunlight (for example, wind power or hydropower).

[0028] The device to be charged 5 is not limited to information devices such as smartphones and laptop computers, but may also be a means of transporting people or things, such as an electric bicycle, electric trolley, or electric vehicle. The mobile power supply unit 4 may also be a mobile device, such as a vehicle with perovskite solar cells attached. Furthermore, the device to be charged that receives power for charging is not limited to a portable device, but may also be a fixed device installed in a predetermined location. Examples of fixed devices to be charged include sensors that measure physical quantities such as temperature and humidity, cameras for observing the environment or pedestrian flow or for security purposes, information and communication equipment that transmits and receives information such as power demand at power supply spots or disaster information, or digital signage that displays various information on a large display.

[0029] Furthermore, an electronic device having a power generation unit, such as a smartphone with a solar cell, may be used as the mobile power supply unit 4 and the device to be charged 5. In this case, the electronic device functions as the mobile power supply unit 4 when it provides power to the power supply unit 2, and functions as the device to be charged 5 when it receives power from the power supply unit 2. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0030] 1. Power supply service system 11 Power supply spots 2 Power supply 21 Power Input Section 22 Energy Storage Unit 23 Power output section 4 Mobile power supply 40 Electricity Sellers 5 Device to be charged 50 electricity users

Claims

1. A power supply service system that supplies power to devices owned by electricity purchase users, Equipped with one or more power supply units, The power supply unit comprises a power input unit that receives power from a mobile power supply device owned by the power selling user, a power storage unit that stores the power input to the power input unit, and a power output unit that outputs the power stored in the power storage unit to the device to be charged. Power supply service system.

2. The aforementioned mobile power supply device supplies power obtained by the solar cell to the power input section of the power supply unit. The power supply service system according to claim 1.

3. The mobile power supply unit supplies power to the power input section of the power supply unit by a wireless power supply system. The power supply service system according to claim 2.

4. The aforementioned portable power supply device is When the amount of power generated by the solar cell is low, it is possible to store the power obtained by the solar cell in a battery, and then supply the power stored in the battery to the power input section of the power supply unit. When the amount of power generated by the solar cell is large, it is possible to supply the power obtained by the solar cell to the power input of the power supply unit without storing it in the battery. The power supply service system according to claim 2 or 3.

5. The power supply unit grants points usable by the power supply unit to the power-selling user who has supplied power to the power input unit by the mobile power supply unit, and when the power-selling user uses the power supply unit as the power-buying user, the user can use the points to receive power from the power output unit to the device to be charged. The power supply service system according to claim 1.

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