Charging control system and charging control method

Abstract

Maximize the amount of charge generated from the solar panels. [Solution] The charging control system is a secondary battery that can be charged from a solar panel mounted on the vehicle and the vehicle's charging interface, and comprises: a battery level acquisition unit that acquires the remaining battery level of the secondary battery used for driving the vehicle; a driving plan acquisition unit that acquires a driving plan for the vehicle for a predetermined target period longer than one day; a weather information acquisition unit that acquires weather information for the target period; a charging plan determination unit that uses the battery level, driving plan and weather information to determine a charging plan that includes at least one of the amount of charge from the charging interface to the secondary battery and the charging time so as to maximize the amount of charge from the solar panel to the secondary battery during the target period; and a charging control unit that controls charging from the charging interface to the secondary battery according to the charging plan.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a charging control system and a charging control method.

Background Art

[0002] When charging a secondary battery of a vehicle through a charging interface of the vehicle from a commercial power source outside the vehicle and a solar panel outside the vehicle by the departure time of the next day, there is a known technique for creating a charging plan so as to be charged to the maximum extent from the solar panel (for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When a solar panel is mounted on a vehicle, it is possible to charge the secondary battery from the solar panel after charging from outside the vehicle through the charging interface. Therefore, by simply creating a charging plan until the next day, there is a possibility that the secondary battery reaches full charge due to charging from the solar panel after the next day, and the charging opportunity by the solar panel is lost. Therefore, a technique for suppressing the loss of the charging opportunity by the solar panel after the day following the charging day through the charging interface is desired.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The present disclosure can be realized in the following forms.

[0006] (1) According to a first embodiment of the present disclosure, a charging control system is provided. The charging control system is a secondary battery that can be charged from a solar panel mounted on a vehicle and a charging interface of the vehicle, and comprises: a battery level acquisition unit that acquires the remaining battery level of the secondary battery used for driving the vehicle; a driving plan acquisition unit that acquires a driving plan of the vehicle for a predetermined target period longer than one day; a weather information acquisition unit that acquires weather information for the target period; a charging plan determination unit that determines a charging plan including at least one of the amount of charge from the charging interface to the secondary battery and the charging time, using the battery level, the driving plan and the weather information, so as to maximize the amount of charge from the solar panel to the secondary battery during the target period; and a charging control unit that controls charging from the charging interface to the secondary battery in accordance with the charging plan. This type of charging control system makes it possible to prevent the loss of charging opportunities by solar panels on or after the day following a charging day via the charging interface. (2) In the charging control system of the above form, the charging plan determination unit may determine the charging plan such that the remaining battery charge does not fall below a predetermined threshold during the target period. This type of charging control system can prevent the secondary battery from running out of power during the specified period. (3) In the above-described charging control system, the charging plan determination unit may determine the charging plan when the remaining battery charge after charging is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value. This type of charging control system eliminates the need to determine a charging plan even when the likelihood of losing a charging opportunity is low, given that the lower the battery charge level after charging, the lower the probability of losing a charging opportunity during the target period. (4) A second embodiment of the present disclosure provides a charging control method. This charging control method provides a secondary battery that can be charged from a solar panel mounted on a vehicle and a charging interface of the vehicle, and obtains the remaining charge of the secondary battery used to run the vehicle, obtains a driving plan for the vehicle for a predetermined target period longer than one day, obtains weather information for the target period, and uses the remaining charge, the driving plan and the weather information to determine a charging plan that includes at least one of the amount of charge and the charging time from the charging interface to the secondary battery so as to maximize the amount of charge from the solar panel to the secondary battery during the target period, and controls charging from the charging interface to the secondary battery in accordance with the charging plan. This type of charging control method makes it possible to prevent the loss of charging opportunities by the solar panel on or after the day following a charging day via the charging interface. This disclosure can also be implemented in various forms other than charging control systems and charging control methods. It can be implemented in the form of a vehicle, a computer program, and a recording medium on which the computer program is stored. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] An explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the charging control system of the first embodiment. [Figure 2] An explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] An explanatory diagram showing the server configuration of the first embodiment. [Figure 4] A flowchart illustrating the procedure for controlling charging. [Figure 5] An explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the remaining battery capacity, charge level, and battery consumption of a secondary battery. [Figure 6] An explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle according to the second embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] A. First Embodiment: Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the charging control system 10 in the first embodiment. The charging control system 10 comprises a vehicle 100 and a server 200 that communicates with the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 comprises a solar panel 110, a charging interface 120 that receives power from an external charging facility ST, and a secondary battery 130 that can be charged with power generated by the solar panel 110 and power supplied from the charging facility ST via the charging interface 120. The charging control system 10 controls the charging of the secondary battery 130 from the charging facility ST via the charging interface 120.

[0009] Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of vehicle 100. Vehicle 100 includes a solar panel 110, a charging interface 120, a secondary battery 130, a driving motor 140, and a control device 150. In this embodiment, vehicle 100 is an electric vehicle (BEV: Battery Electric Vehicle).

[0010] The solar panel 110 generates electricity using sunlight. In this embodiment, the solar panel 110 is located on the roof of the vehicle 100. However, the solar panel 110 may also be located on the hood. Preferably, the solar panel 110 is a flexible solar panel that can be positioned to conform to the shape of the roof or hood. The solar panel 110 is electrically connected to the secondary battery 130 via a DC / DC converter 115. The DC power generated by the solar panel 110 is boosted or stepped down by the DC / DC converter 115 and used to charge the secondary battery 130.

[0011] The charging interface 120 receives power supplied from an external charging device ST. In this embodiment, the charging interface 120 has a standard charging port 121 to which the standard charging connector of the charging device ST is connected, and a fast charging port 122 to which the fast charging connector of the charging device ST is connected. That is, in this embodiment, the charging interface 120 is configured to receive power from outside the vehicle by contact power supply. However, the charging interface 120 may be configured to receive power from outside the vehicle by contactless power supply.

[0012] AC power is supplied to the standard charging port 121 from the standard charging connector of the charging equipment ST. The standard charging port 121 is electrically connected to the secondary battery 130 via an AC / DC converter 126. The AC power supplied to the standard charging port 121 is converted to DC power by the AC / DC converter 126 and used to charge the secondary battery 130. The AC / DC converter 126 can be used to switch the power supply from the standard charging port 121 to the secondary battery 130 on and off.

[0013] DC power is supplied to the rapid charging port 122 from the rapid charging connector of the charging equipment ST. The rapid charging port 122 is electrically connected to the secondary battery 130 via a relay 127. The DC power supplied to the rapid charging port 122 charges the secondary battery 130. The start and stop of the power supply from the rapid charging port 122 to the secondary battery 130 can be switched on and off by the relay 127. The AC / DC converter 126 and the relay 127 are sometimes referred to as the switching unit 125.

[0014] The secondary battery 130 stores the electric power generated by the solar panel 110 mounted on the vehicle 100 and the electric power supplied from the charging facility ST to the charging interface 120. For the secondary battery 130, for example, a nickel-hydrogen storage battery or a lithium-ion secondary battery can be used. The secondary battery 130 is provided with a battery remaining amount meter 135 that detects the remaining amount of the battery of the secondary battery 130.

[0015] The driving motor 140 is electrically connected to the secondary battery 130 via an inverter 145. The DC power discharged from the secondary battery 130 is converted into AC power by the inverter 145 and supplied to the driving motor 140. The driving motor 140 generates the driving force of the vehicle 100 using the electric power supplied from the secondary battery 130. That is, the electric power stored in the secondary battery 130 is used for the running of the vehicle 100. In the present embodiment, when the vehicle 100 is braked, the driving motor 140 functions as a generator and generates regenerative power. The regenerative power generated by the driving motor 140 is charged into the secondary battery 130.

[0016] The control device 150 is composed of a computer including a processor 151, a memory 152, an input / output interface 153, and an internal bus 154. The processor 151, the memory 152, and the input / output interface 153 are connected to be communicable bidirectionally via the internal bus 154. The input / output interface 153 is connected with a communication device 155 that communicates with the server 200 by wireless communication, an AC / DC converter 126, a relay 127, and a battery remaining amount meter 135. The processor 151 functions as a charge control unit 15 that controls the amount of charge from the charging interface 120 to the secondary battery 130 by executing a computer program PG1 stored in advance in the memory 152.

[0017] FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the server 200. The server 200 is configured by a computer including a processor 201, a memory 202, an input / output interface 203, and an internal bus 204. The processor 201, the memory 202, and the input / output interface 203 are connected to be communicable bidirectionally via the internal bus 204. A communication device 205 that communicates with the vehicle 100 by wireless communication is connected to the input / output interface 203. The processor 201 functions as a battery remaining amount acquisition unit 11 that acquires the remaining amount of the secondary battery 130 mounted on the vehicle 100, a travel plan acquisition unit 12 that acquires the travel plan of the vehicle 100, a weather information acquisition unit 13 that acquires weather information, and a charge plan determination unit 14 that determines a charge plan for the vehicle 100 using the remaining battery amount, the travel plan, and the weather information by executing a computer program PG2 stored in advance in the memory 202.

[0018] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the charge control method executed by the charge control system 10. This charge control method is started, for example, when the connector of the charging facility ST is connected to the charging interface 120. In step S10, the battery remaining amount acquisition unit 11 of the server 200 acquires the current remaining amount of the secondary battery 130 from the vehicle 100. The battery remaining amount acquisition unit 11 acquires the current remaining amount of the battery detected by the battery remaining amount meter 135 mounted on the vehicle 100.

[0019] In step S20, the driving plan acquisition unit 12 of the server 200 acquires the driving plan of the vehicle 100 for a predetermined target period. The target period is longer than one day. In this embodiment, the target period is one week from the present to one week from now. However, the target period may be one week or longer. The driving plan includes information about the location of the vehicle 100 at each point in time during the target period, and information about the battery consumption of the vehicle 100 at each point in time during the target period. More specifically, the driving plan includes the departure point and destination of the vehicle 100, the departure time from the departure point and the arrival time at the destination, the driving route and distance from the departure point to the destination, and the battery consumption per unit distance traveled. The usage pattern of the vehicle 100 by the user is often one cycle per week. For example, if the vehicle 100 is used for commuting on weekdays, it is often driven on the same route at the same time on weekdays. Therefore, the driving plan can be determined, for example, from the past driving history data of the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the driving plan is determined on the vehicle 100. However, the server 200 may acquire driving history data from the vehicle 100 and determine the driving plan. When the vehicle 100 is used in a pattern different from the usual, such as when the user takes a long trip using the vehicle 100, the driving plan may be entered by the user via the vehicle 100's navigation device (not shown).

[0020] In step S30, the weather information acquisition unit 13 of the server 200 acquires weather information for the target period. The weather information includes, for example, sunrise time, sunset time, weather, temperature, etc., at the location of the vehicle 100 at each point in time during the target period. The weather information acquisition unit 13 can acquire weather information from, for example, a weather information distribution server SV (see Figure 1) outside the charging system 10.

[0021] Furthermore, the processes from step S10 to step S30 are not limited to the order described above and may be executed in any order. Also, the processes up to step S30 may be executed simultaneously and in parallel.

[0022] In step S40, the charging plan determination unit 14 of the server 200 determines a charging plan for the secondary battery 130 using the remaining battery charge acquired by the battery charge acquisition unit 11, the driving plan acquired by the driving plan acquisition unit 12, and the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 13. In this embodiment, the charging plan includes the amount of charge from the charging interface 120 to the secondary battery 130. However, the charging plan may include the charging time from the charging interface 120 to the secondary battery 130 instead of, or in addition to, the above charge amount.

[0023] If the amount of charge from the charging interface 120 to the secondary battery 130 is too much, the amount of charge from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 during the target period will increase the likelihood that the battery level of the secondary battery 130 will reach 100%. If the battery level of the secondary battery 130 reaches 100%, the opportunity to charge the secondary battery 130 from the solar panel 110 will be lost, resulting in a decrease in the total amount of charge from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 during the target period. Therefore, in this embodiment, the charging plan determination unit 14 determines the amount of charge from the charging interface 120 to the secondary battery 130 so as to maximize the total amount of charge from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 during the target period. Specifically, first, the charging plan determination unit 14 predicts the battery consumption at each point in time during the target period from the driving plan. While the vehicle 100 is running, regenerative power charging and discharging of the secondary battery 130 occurs. The battery consumption referred to here corresponds to the amount obtained by subtracting the regenerative power from the power consumption of the driving motor 140. Next, the charging plan determination unit 14 predicts the amount of charge to be transferred from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 at each point in time, based on the location of the vehicle 100 at each point in time included in the driving plan and the weather information for that location. Then, the charging plan determination unit 14 determines the amount of charge to be transferred from the charging interface 120 to the secondary battery 130 so that the remaining battery level at each point in time, calculated from the current battery level, the battery consumption at each point in time, and the amount of charge transferred from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 at each point in time, does not exceed 100%.

[0024] In step S50, the charge control unit 15 of the vehicle 100 obtains a charge plan from the server 200, which includes the amount of charge determined by the charge plan determination unit 14, and controls the charging from the charge interface 120 to the secondary battery 130 according to the charge plan. When the amount of charge from the charge interface 120 to the secondary battery 130 reaches the amount of charge indicated in the charge plan, the charge control unit 15 controls the AC / DC converter 126 or the relay 127 to terminate the charging from the charge interface 120 to the secondary battery 130.

[0025] Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the battery level, charge amount, and battery consumption of the secondary battery 130. In the example shown in Figure 5, the user normally charges the secondary battery 130 from the charging equipment ST at home via the charging interface 120 of the vehicle 100 between 0:00 and 6:00 on Sundays. The user normally does not use the vehicle 100 on Sundays, uses the vehicle 100 for commuting between home and work from Monday to Friday, and uses the vehicle 100 for commuting between home and the supermarket on Saturdays. In the example shown in Figure 5, charging is performed via the charging interface 120 between 0:00 and 6:00 on Sundays as usual. If the battery level after charging exceeds 80%, the battery level will reach 100% between 12:00 and 18:00 on Monday, and the opportunity to charge by the solar panel 110 will be lost. However, in the example shown in Figure 5, the charging control system 10 controls the charging so that the battery level after charging is 80% using the charging control method described above. Therefore, the opportunity to charge by the solar panel 110 between 12:00 and 18:00 on Monday is not lost.

[0026] As described above, the charging control system 10 in this embodiment determines a charging plan that includes the amount of charge from the charging interface 120 to the secondary battery 130 so as to maximize the amount of charge from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 during the target period, and the charging from the charging interface 120 to the secondary battery 130 is controlled according to the charging plan. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the loss of charging opportunities from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 during the target period. Here, if the battery capacity of the secondary battery 130 is about 70kWh, the power stored in the secondary battery 130 is usually consumed over about a week. For this reason, if the forecast is made up to the day after the charging day from the charging interface 120 to the secondary battery 130, there is a high possibility that the charging opportunity from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 will be lost. However, in this embodiment, since the forecast is made up to one week after the charging day from the charging interface 120 to the secondary battery 130, it is possible to effectively suppress the loss of charging opportunities from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130.

[0027] B. Second Embodiment: Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle 100 equipped with the charging control system 10 in the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the charging control system 10 does not have a server 200, and the battery level acquisition unit 11, driving plan acquisition unit 12, weather information acquisition unit 13, and charging plan determination unit 14 are provided in the control device 150 of the vehicle 100, which is different from the first embodiment. The other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment unless otherwise specified.

[0028] In this embodiment, the battery level acquisition unit 11 acquires the current battery level of the secondary battery 130 from the battery level meter 135. The driving plan acquisition unit 12 acquires the driving plan of the vehicle 100 during the target period. In this embodiment, the weather information acquisition unit 13 acquires weather information from a weather information distribution server SV (see Figure 1) outside the charging system 10 via the communication device 155. The charging plan determination unit 14 uses the battery level acquired by the battery level acquisition unit 11, the driving plan acquired by the driving plan acquisition unit 12, and the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 13 to determine the amount of charge from the charging interface 120 to the secondary battery 130 so as to maximize the total amount of charge from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 during the target period. The charging control unit 15 controls the charging from the charging interface 120 to the secondary battery 130 according to the charging plan determined by the charging plan determination unit 14.

[0029] As described above, the charging control system 10 in this embodiment can suppress the loss of charging opportunities from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 during the target period, similar to the first embodiment. In particular, in this embodiment, the charging plan can be determined on the vehicle 100 without using a server 200, thus simplifying the configuration of the charging control system 10.

[0030] C. Other embodiments: (C1) In the charge control system 10 of each embodiment described above, the charge plan determination unit 14 always determines a charge plan such that the amount of charge from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 is maximized during the target period when performing charge via the charge interface 120. In contrast, the charge plan determination unit 14 does not necessarily have to determine a charge plan such that the amount of charge from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 is maximized during the target period when performing charge via the charge interface 120. For example, the charge plan determination unit 14 may determine a charge plan such that the amount of charge from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 is maximized during the target period only when the remaining battery level after charging via the charge interface 120 is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value. The reference value can be determined based on the amount of charge that can be charged from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 per day and the battery capacity of the secondary battery 130. For example, in each of the above embodiments, the battery capacity of the secondary battery 130 is approximately 70 kWh, and the amount of charge that can be charged from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 per day is approximately 20%. Therefore, if the remaining battery charge after charging via the charging interface 120 is less than 80%, there is a low possibility that the opportunity to charge by the solar panel 110 will be lost, so the reference value can be set to, for example, 80%. In this case, even though there is a low possibility that the opportunity to charge by the solar panel 110 will be lost, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of determining a charging plan so as to maximize the amount of charge from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 during the target period.

[0031] (C2) If the amount of charge to the secondary battery 130 via the charging interface 120 is too small, the amount of charge from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 may fall below expectations, increasing the likelihood of the secondary battery 130 running out of power during the target period. Therefore, in each of the above embodiments, the charging plan determination unit 14 of the charging control system 10 may determine the amount of charge from the charging interface 120 to the secondary battery 130 so that the remaining battery level of the secondary battery 130 does not fall below a predetermined threshold during the target period. The threshold can be set to, for example, 20%. In this case, it is possible to suppress the secondary battery 130 from running out of power during the target period.

[0032] (C3) In each of the embodiments described above, the vehicle 100 is an electric vehicle. However, the vehicle 100 is not limited to an electric vehicle, and may be, for example, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). Alternatively, the vehicle 100 may be a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). If the vehicle 100 is a fuel cell electric vehicle, the amount of charge from the fuel cell to the secondary battery 130 may be determined so as to maximize the total amount of charge from the solar panel 110 to the secondary battery 130 during the period in question.

[0033] This disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented in various configurations without departing from its spirit. For example, the technical features in the embodiments corresponding to the technical features in each form described in the summary of the invention can be replaced or combined as appropriate in order to solve some or all of the above-described problems, or to achieve some or all of the above-described effects. Furthermore, if a technical feature is not described as essential in this specification, it can be deleted as appropriate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 10...Charging control system, 11...Battery level acquisition unit, 12...Driving plan acquisition unit, 13...Weather information acquisition unit, 14...Charging plan determination unit, 15...Charging control unit, 100...Vehicle, 110...Solar panel, 115...DC / DC converter, 120...Charging interface, 121...Charging port for normal charging, 122...Charging port for rapid charging, 126...AC / DC converter, 127...Relay, 130...Secondary battery, 135...Battery level indicator, 140...Driving motor, 145...Inverter, 150...Control device, 151...Processor, 152...Memory, 153...Input / output interface, 154...Internal bus, 155...Communication device, 200...Server, 201...Processor, 202...Memory, 203...Input / output interface, 204...Internal bus, 205...Communication device, ST...Charging equipment, SV...Weather information distribution server

Claims

1. A charging control system, A secondary battery that can be charged from a solar panel mounted on the vehicle and the vehicle's charging interface, and a battery level acquisition unit that acquires the remaining battery level of the secondary battery used for driving the vehicle, A driving plan acquisition unit that acquires a driving plan for the vehicle for a predetermined target period longer than one day, A weather information acquisition unit that acquires weather information for the aforementioned target period, A charging plan determination unit determines a charging plan that includes at least one of the amount of charge from the charging interface to the secondary battery and the charging time, using the battery level, the driving plan and the weather information, so as to maximize the amount of charge from the solar panel to the secondary battery during the target period. A charge control unit that controls charging from the charging interface to the secondary battery according to the aforementioned charging plan, A charging control system equipped with this feature.

2. A charging control system according to claim 1, The charging plan determination unit is a charging control system that determines the charging plan so that the remaining battery charge does not fall below a predetermined threshold during the target period.

3. A charging control system according to claim 1, The charging plan determination unit is a charging control system that determines the charging plan when the remaining battery charge after charging is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value.

4. A charging control method, A secondary battery that can be charged from a solar panel mounted on the vehicle and the vehicle's charging interface, and which acquires the remaining charge of the secondary battery used for driving the vehicle, Obtain the driving plan of the aforementioned vehicle for a predetermined period longer than one day, Obtain weather information for the aforementioned period, Using the remaining battery charge, the driving plan, and the weather information, a charging plan is determined that includes at least one of the amount of charge from the charging interface to the secondary battery and the charging time, such that the amount of charge from the solar panel to the secondary battery during the target period is maximized. The charging of the secondary battery from the charging interface is controlled according to the aforementioned charging plan. Charging control method.

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