Information processing device, power supply system operation method and program

Abstract

To provide a technique that, in a power supply system that supplies power to a complex facility including a plurality of power supply destinations, prevents delinquency of electricity charges in the power supply destinations.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus is used with a power supply system that supplies power to a complex facility including a plurality of power supply destinations, and comprises: a payment history information acquisition unit that acquires information on the history of payment of electricity charges for each of the power supply destinations; a discount rate determination unit that determines a discount rate on the electricity charge for each of the power supply destinations according to the electricity charge payment history; a power usage acquisition unit that acquires information on the power usage for each of the power supply destinations; and an electricity charge calculation unit that calculates an electricity charge to be billed for each of the power supply destinations by using at least the discount rate and the power usage.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device used together with a power supply system that supplies power to a complex facility including a plurality of power supply destinations, and to an operation method and program for the power supply system. [Background technology]

[0002] It has been known that in a power supply system that supplies power to a complex facility including a plurality of power supply destinations, power is procured in a lump sum at a low price from a power company through a high-voltage lump sum power receiving contract, and the power is distributed to each power supply destination within the facility, thereby reducing the electricity bill for the entire complex facility (for example, Patent Document 1). In recent years, a power supply system has also been proposed that achieves a reduction in electricity bills by procuring power through a low-voltage lump sum power receiving contract (for example, Patent Document 2).

[0003] Incidentally, when introducing and operating such an electricity supply system, if the collection of electricity charges from each electricity supply destination (hereinafter referred to as the occupants) within the facility is delayed, the profits of the bulk electricity receiving business (i.e., the facility owner) will decrease, so it is important to maintain a high rate of electricity charge payment by the occupants. For this reason, it has been common practice in the past to urge payment of electricity charges by cutting off the supply of electricity to the occupants when their electricity charges are continuously overdue.

[0004] However, the above method requires the work of reminding tenants who are behind on their electricity bills and cutting off the power supply. Also, there may be tenants who think, "I can deal with it after the power supply is cut off," and there is a problem that the effect of proactively encouraging such tenants to pay their electricity bills before the power supply is cut off is not sufficient. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2002-118961 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2017-17779 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described situation, and aims to provide a technology for preventing a power supply destination from defaulting on payment of electricity bills in a power supply system that supplies power to a complex facility including a plurality of power supply destinations. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following configuration: That is, an information processing device used together with a power supply system that supplies power to a complex facility including a plurality of power supply destinations, a payment history information acquisition unit that acquires information on a payment history of an electricity charge for each of the power supply destinations; a discount rate determination unit that determines a discount rate for the electricity charge for each of the power supply destinations in accordance with a payment history of the electricity charge; a power usage acquisition unit that acquires information on the amount of power usage for each power supply destination; an electricity fee calculation unit that calculates an electricity fee to be charged for each of the power supply destinations by using at least the discount rate and the amount of power consumption; The present invention relates to an information processing device comprising:

[0008] The term "complex facility" here is not limited to commercial facilities, but also broadly includes buildings consisting of the same type of facility such as residences and offices, and even facilities where multiple such buildings are gathered. This allows tenants to receive discounts on their electricity bills based on a discount rate that varies depending on their payment history (i.e., whether or not they have been late on payments in the past, and the number of times they have been late). Therefore, by using the maintenance or increase of the discount rate on electricity bills as an incentive, it is possible to encourage tenants to voluntarily pay their electricity bills, which makes it possible to improve the rate at which electricity bills are paid.

[0009] In addition, an initial value of the discount rate is set by an owner of the complex when the power supply destination newly moves into the complex, The discount rate determination unit may determine the discount rate according to a payment history of the electricity bill, using the initial value as a reference.

[0010] According to this, the owner of the facility (hereinafter, also referred to as the owner) can arbitrarily set the initial value of the discount rate according to the attributes and credit information of each resident, etc. Since the source of the electricity fee discount is generally the owner's profit, it is preferable to allow the owner to determine this.

[0011] Furthermore, the discount rate determination unit may not decrease the discount rate if the electricity bill payment history shows that there has been no more than one overdue payment in the past year. Generally speaking, it is expected that the payment of electricity bills will be unintentionally delayed (by simply forgetting, etc.). If the discount rate were to be immediately decreased if there was even one such unintentional overdue payment of electricity bills, this could actually discourage the resident from trying to increase the discount rate, and therefore it is preferable to do so.

[0012] The discount rate determination unit may increase the discount rate if there has been no overdue payment in the past year in the electricity bill payment history. This is preferable as an incentive for paying the electricity bill, since the discount rate of the electricity bill can be increased by not overdue payment.

[0013] Furthermore, if the electricity bill payment history indicates that there have been two or more instances of default in the past year, the discount rate determination unit may reduce the discount rate in accordance with the number of instances, down to a minimum of 0. With this, since the electricity bill discount rate decreases as the number of defaults increases, it is expected that default in payment of electricity bills will be suppressed due to the psychological effect of trying to avoid a reduction in the discount rate.

[0014] The owner of the complex may set an upper limit and / or a lower limit for the discount rate determined by the discount rate determination unit, thereby making it possible to prevent the discount rate from increasing or decreasing without limit.

[0015] The present invention can also be understood as the following method. That is, a method for operating a power supply system that supplies power to a complex facility including a plurality of power supply destinations, comprising the steps of: a payment history information acquisition step of acquiring, in an information processing device used together with the power supply system, information on a payment history of an electricity charge for each of the power supply destinations; a discount rate determination step of determining, in the information processing device, a discount rate for the electricity charge for each of the power supply destinations according to a payment history of the electricity charge; a power usage acquisition step of acquiring information on the amount of power usage for each of the power supply destinations in the information processing device; an electricity fee calculation step of calculating, in the information processing device, an electricity fee to be charged for each of the power supply destinations using at least the discount rate and the amount of power consumption; The present invention relates to a method for operating a power supply system, the method comprising the steps of:

[0016] In addition, an initial value of the discount rate is set by an owner of the complex when the power supply destination newly moves into the complex, In the discount rate determination step, the discount rate may be determined based on the initial value and in accordance with a payment history of the electricity charges.

[0017] In addition, in the discount rate determination step, if the electricity bill payment history indicates that there has been no more than one overdue payment in the past year, the discount rate may not be reduced.

[0018] In addition, in the discount rate determination step, the discount rate may be increased if there has been no overdue payment in the electricity bill payment history for the past year.

[0019] In addition, in the discount rate determination step, if the electricity bill payment history shows that there have been two or more instances of late payment in the past year, the discount rate may be reduced in accordance with the number of instances, down to a minimum of zero.

[0020] Furthermore, the discount rate determined in the discount rate determination step may have an upper limit and / or a lower limit set by the owner of the complex.

[0021] Furthermore, the present invention can also be understood as a program for causing a computer to execute the above-described method, or a computer-readable recording medium on which such a program is non-transiently recorded.

[0022] The present invention can be achieved by combining the above-described configurations and processes as long as no technical contradiction occurs. Effect of the Invention

[0023] According to the present invention, in an electricity supply system that supplies electricity to a complex facility including a plurality of electricity supply destinations, a technique can be provided that prevents the electricity supply destinations from falling behind in paying their electricity charges. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a power supply system in an application example of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electricity rate determination device in an application example of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a power supply system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 4] 1 is a block diagram showing the flow of services and fees performed using the power supply system in the first embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 5] 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a management device according to the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 6]5 is a flowchart showing a process flow of a management device in the first embodiment. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of a discount rate determination process in the first embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] <Application Examples> Hereinafter, application examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a power supply system 90 to which the present invention can be applied. In FIG. 1, solid lines connecting each block indicate power lines, and dashed lines connecting each block indicate communication lines (including wireless communication). The power supply system 90 according to this application example is assumed to be applied to an apartment building 91. In this case, the apartment building 91 is an example of a complex facility including multiple power supply destinations.

[0026] 1, the power supply system 90 is electrically connected to a power grid 98. The power grid 98 may be a so-called retail electricity supplier or a general electricity supplier. A facility meter 94 is provided at the connection between the power supply system 90 and the power grid 98, and it is possible to measure the power supplied from the power grid 98 to the power supply system 90.

[0027] Also, private areas 96a, 96b, 96c, etc. are assumed as the multiple power supply destinations of power supply system 90. These private areas 96a, 96b, 96c, etc. are, for example, each room (hereinafter also referred to as the occupants) in apartment building 91. More specifically, the loads in the private areas 96a, 96b, 96c, etc. are electrical appliances (not shown) in each room of apartment building 91. In addition to the private areas 96a, 96b, 96c, etc., apartment building 91 also has a common area 97. This common area 97 is a common area in apartment building 91, and possible loads in the common area 97 include, for example, lighting in a hallway or entrance. The private sections 96a, 96b, 96c... and the common section 97 are provided with individual meters 95a, 95b, 95c..., 95d, respectively, so that the power consumed in the private sections 96a, 96b, 96c... and the common section 97 can be measured.

[0028] Furthermore, the power supply system 90 has a management device 92 configured outside the apartment building 91 to be able to communicate with the system within the apartment building 91. More specifically, this management device 92 may be a server device provided on the cloud by a management company that is the operating entity of the power supply system 90. However, as long as the management device 92 is capable of sending and receiving information between the system within the apartment building 91 in the power supply system 90, it may be connected by wired communication and does not necessarily have to be provided on the cloud.

[0029] The power supply system 90 also includes an electricity rate determination device 93 configured to be able to communicate with the management device 92. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the electricity rate determination device 93. The electricity rate determination device 93 can be configured, for example, by a general-purpose computer, and includes functional modules of a payment history information acquisition unit 931, a discount rate determination unit 932, an electricity usage acquisition unit 933, and an electricity rate calculation unit 934. In addition, although not shown, various input means such as a mouse and a keyboard, output means such as a display, storage means such as a RAM and a HDD, communication means, etc. may be included. The electricity rate determination device 93 corresponds to the information processing device in the present invention.

[0030] The payment history information acquisition unit 931 is a functional module that acquires and holds information on the electricity bill payment history of each resident of the apartment building 91. The payment history information may be acquired from another database (not shown) via a communication means, or may be acquired by prompting the user to input information via an input / output unit.

[0031] The discount rate determination unit 932 is a functional module that determines a discount rate for the electricity bill of each resident according to the electricity bill payment history of the resident. The discount rate may be set by the owner of the apartment complex 91 when a new resident moves into the apartment complex 91, and may be increased or decreased according to the electricity bill payment history based on the initial value.

[0032] More specifically, for example, if the electricity bill has been paid without any defaults for one year since moving in, 0.001 may be added to the discount rate set as the initial value. Conversely, if the electricity bill has not been paid in arrears twice in the past year, the discount rate may be decreased by 0.001. Furthermore, if the electricity bill has not been paid in arrears several times in a row, the discount rate may be increased by 0.001. Alternatively, the degree of decrease may be increased to 0.005.

[0033] The power usage acquisition unit 933 is a functional module that acquires information on the amount of power usage for each resident. The power fee calculation unit 934 is a functional module that calculates the power fee to be charged to each resident using the above-mentioned discount rate, the amount of power usage, and a separately set power unit price.

[0034] In this application example, by using the electricity rate determination device 93, it is possible to calculate an electricity rate to which a discount rate according to the past payment history of the electricity rate is applied for each resident, and to bill each resident for the electricity rate to which the discount rate is applied. Since the discount rate is determined based on the past electricity rate payment history (i.e., the presence or absence of overdue payments and the number of overdue payments), it is possible to encourage residents to voluntarily pay their electricity rates by using the maintenance and increase of the discount rate of the electricity rate as an incentive, and thus to improve the payment rate of the electricity rate.

[0035] In addition, the current discount rate, the number of months remaining until the discount rate increases, etc. may be written on the electricity bill or the like issued to each resident.

[0036] In the above-described application example, the power supply system 90 is configured to procure the electricity used in the apartment building 91 only from the power grid 98. However, the present invention can also be applied to a power supply system equipped with other power procurement means, such as a distributed power source.

[0037] <Embodiment 1> (System Configuration) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a power supply system 1 according to this embodiment. In FIG. 3, solid lines connecting each block indicate power lines, and dashed lines connecting each block indicate communication lines (including wireless communication). It is assumed that the power supply system 1 according to this application example is applied to an apartment house 1a. In this case, the apartment house 1a is an example of a complex facility including multiple power supply destinations. It is also assumed that the system is equipped with distributed power sources such as solar cells, wind power generators, so-called V2H (Vehicle to Home) power sources, and storage batteries.

[0038] In Fig. 3, the power supply system 1 is electrically connected to grids 3a and 3b. When the power supplied by the distributed power sources is less than the power consumption of the multiple power supply destinations, causing a power shortage, it is possible to purchase power from grid 3a, for example. When the power supplied by the distributed power sources is more than the power consumption of the multiple power supply destinations, it is possible to sell the surplus power to grid 3b, for example. The grids 3a and 3b may be so-called retail electricity suppliers or general electricity suppliers. The grids 3a and 3b may be different electricity suppliers or may be the same electricity supplier.

[0039] Furthermore, the power supply system 1 has a management device 2 outside the apartment building 1a that is configured to be able to communicate with the system in the apartment building 1a. In this application example, wireless communication is possible between the system in the apartment building 1a and the management device 2 via an LTE router 6. More specifically, this management device 2 may be a server device provided on the cloud by a management company that is the operating entity of the power supply system 1. However, the management device 2 may be connected by wired communication and does not necessarily have to be provided on the cloud as long as it is possible to send and receive information between the management device 2 and the system in the apartment building 1a in the power supply system 1.

[0040] In addition, the power supply destinations of the power supply system 1 are assumed to be private areas 12a, 12b, 12c, etc. The private areas 12a, 12b, 12c, etc. are, for example, each room (hereinafter, also referred to as a resident) in the apartment building 1a. More specifically, the private area 1 The loads in 2a, 12b, 12c... are electrical appliances (not shown) in each room of the apartment building 1a. In addition to the private areas 12a, 12b, 12c..., the apartment building 1a also has a common area 13. This common area 13 is a common part of the apartment building 1a, and possible loads in the common area 13 include, for example, lighting 13a in a corridor or entrance, and a specific load distribution board 13b that can automatically supply power to pre-connected electrical appliances during a power outage. The private areas 12a, 12b, 12c... and the common area 13 are each equipped with smart meters 11a, 11b, 11c..., 11d, making it possible to measure the power consumed in the private areas 12a, 12b, 12c... and the common area 13.

[0041] The power supply system 1 is also provided with a storage battery 14 and a solar cell 15 as distributed power sources. The storage battery 14 is connected to a storage battery power conditioner 16 including a bidirectional DC / DC converter for raising and lowering the charge / discharge voltage, and a DC / AC converter for converting the voltage related to the charge / discharge of the storage battery into DC / AC. The power output from the storage battery power conditioner 16 is measured by a smart meter 11e. On the other hand, the solar cell 15 is connected to a solar cell power conditioner 17 including a DC / DC converter for adjusting the power generation voltage of the solar cell 15, a control circuit for performing MPPT control using a hill-climbing method, and a DC / AC converter for converting the output voltage of the solar cell 15 into DC / AC. The solar cell power conditioner 17 is also electrically connected to the storage battery power conditioner 16, and the power generated by the solar cell 15 can be directly charged to the storage battery 14. In this embodiment, a distributed power source in which the storage battery 14 and the solar cell 15 are integrated may be used.

[0042] FIG. 4 shows a block diagram illustrating the flow of services and fees performed using the power supply system 1 in the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the operation form of the power supply system 1. In the figure, white arrows indicate the flow of services, and hatched arrows indicate the flow of money. First, the flow of services will be explained. As a premise of the block diagram of FIG. 4, the equipment owner 23 who is the owner of the apartment building 1a entrusts a bulk power receiving contract (power trading control contract) to the management company 21 who is the operator of the management device 2 in FIG. 3. In other words, the equipment owner 23 requests the management company 21 to collectively manage the power supply to the residents 22 and the common areas of the apartment building 1a and collect the electricity charges.

[0043] The management company 21 supplies power to each resident 22 using power from distributed power sources. Each resident 22 pays the management company 21 an electricity fee according to the power he or she has consumed. If the power supplied from the distributed power sources is less than the power consumed by the resident 22, the management company 21 procures the shortfall in power from the electric utility 20. In that case, the management company 21 pays a power purchase fee for the power purchased to the electric utility 20. In other words, the management company 21 supplies power to each resident 22 by combining the power procured from the electric utility and the power from the distributed power sources.

[0044] Here, as described above, the resident 22 pays the management company 21 an electricity fee according to the amount of power supplied. The electricity fee unit price (yen / kWh) is freely determined by the management company 21, but may be lower than the general electricity fee unit price (yen / kWh) that the resident 22 previously paid to the electric utility 20. In addition, the management company 21 pays the facility owner 23, as a self-consumption rebate, an amount obtained by deducting the power purchase fee for the power procured from the electric utility 20 and the operation fee for the power supply system 1, including the operating cost of the management device 2, from the total electricity fee paid by the resident 22 (total electricity fee).

[0045] Returning now to the explanation of Fig. 3, in the power supply system 1 shown in Fig. 3, the storage battery power conditioner 16 and the solar cell power conditioner 17 are connected to a second distribution board 10 for distributed power sources. The second distribution board 10 is connected to a first distribution board 9 that distributes power to each of the exclusive areas 12a, 12b, 12c, etc. and the common area 13. The first distribution board 9 is connected to the parent smart meters 4a, 4b, The first distribution board 9 is connected to the grids 3a and 3b via the smart meters 11a, 11b, 11c, . . . 11d, and 11e. The first distribution board 9 is also connected to the exclusive areas 12a, 12b, 12c, . . . and the common area 13 (outlets) via the smart meters 11a, 11b, 11c, . . . 11d, and 11e.

[0046] As a result, the power generated by the solar cell 15 and the power discharged from the storage battery 14 can be supplied to each of the exclusive units 12a, 12b, 12c, etc. and the common unit 13. At that time, if the power consumed by the loads in each of the exclusive units 12a, 12b, 12c, etc. and the common unit 13 is greater than the power supplied by the distributed power sources of the storage battery 14 and the solar cell 15, the shortage is replenished by purchasing power from the grid 3a. Also, if the power consumed by the loads in each of the exclusive units 12a, 12b, 12c, etc. and the common unit 13 is less than the power supplied by the distributed power sources of the storage battery 14 and the solar cell 15, the surplus can be sold to the grid 3b.

[0047] Information on the power consumption in the private units 12a, 12b, 12c, and the common unit 13 measured by the smart meters 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d, and information on the input / output power of the storage battery power conditioner 16 measured by the smart meter 11e are provided to a VPP (Virtual Power Plant) controller 5 as a control device via the gateway 8c and the hub 7. Information on the output power of the solar battery power conditioner 17 is provided to the VPP controller 5 via the gateway 8a and the hub 7. The amount of power purchased from the grid 3a and the amount of surplus power sold to the grid 3b measured by the parent smart meters 4a and 4b are also provided to the VPP controller 5. Information on the state of MPPT control in the solar battery power conditioner 17, information on the terminal current value, voltage value, etc. of the solar battery 15, and information on the amount of power stored in the storage battery 14 are also provided to the VPP controller 5 via the gateways 8a and 8b and the hub 7.

[0048] The VPP controller 5 controls the input / output power of the battery power conditioner 16, the amount of power purchased from the grid 3a, and the amount of surplus power sold to the grid 3b, based on the owner's power management policy, the power trading market price, the power consumption in each of the exclusive areas 12a, 12b, 12c, etc. and the common area 13, the amount of power generated by the solar cells 15, the amount of power stored in the storage battery 14, etc.

[0049] Similarly, information on the power consumption in the exclusive units 12a, 12b, 12c, and the common unit 13 measured by the smart meters 11a, 11b, 11c, . . . 11d, and 11e, and information on the input / output power from the storage battery power conditioner 16 are also provided to the management device 2 via the gateway 8c, the hub 7, and the LTE router 6. Similarly, the amount of power purchased from the system 3a and the amount of surplus power sold to the system 3b measured by the parent smart meters 4a and 4b are also provided to the management device 2. Furthermore, information on the state of MPPT control in the solar cell power conditioner 17, the terminal current and voltage value of the solar cell 15, and information on the amount of power stored in the storage battery 14 are also provided to the management device 2 via the gateways 8a and 8b, the hub 7, and the LTE router 6. Note that in the embodiment, information on the amount of power purchased from the system 3a and the amount of surplus power sold to the system 3b may be obtained from billing information from the power company, rather than being provided to the management device 2 from the smart meters.

[0050] Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing detailed functions of the management device 2. As shown in Fig. 5, the management device 2 includes functional modules of an electricity fee calculation unit 201, a rebate fee calculation unit 202, an electricity purchase fee calculation unit 203, a payment history information acquisition unit 204, a discount rate determination unit 205, and an electricity usage amount acquisition unit 206. Note that the hardware configuration of the management device 2 is the same as that of a general server device, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0051] The electricity fee calculation unit 201 is a functional module that calculates the electricity fee to be imposed on the exclusive units 12a, 12b, 12c, etc., based on information on the power consumption in the exclusive units 12a, 12b, 12c, etc., and the common unit 13. More specifically, the electricity fee is calculated based on a predetermined basic fee, the amount of power consumption for each of the exclusive units 12a, 12b, 12c, etc., acquired by the power consumption acquisition unit 206, and The electricity fee may be calculated using the metered fee multiplied by the above-mentioned electricity unit price and the discount rate determined by the discount rate determination unit 205 according to the following formula. Electricity charge = (basic charge + metered charge) x (1-discount rate) + fuel adjustment fee + renewable energy generation promotion surcharge...(1)

[0052] Alternatively, if a discount that is uniformly applied to all residents is set, separate from the one calculated by the discount rate determination unit 205, Electricity charge = (basic charge + metered charge) x (1 - conventional discount rate - preferential discount rate) + Fuel adjustment fee + renewable energy power generation promotion surcharge (2) It may be so.

[0053] The rebate fee calculation unit 202 is a functional module that calculates a rebate fee to be rebated to the owner by the management company that operates the management device 2. The power purchase fee calculation unit 203 is a functional module that calculates a power purchase fee to be paid to the electric utility related to the grid 3a based on the amount of power purchased from the grid 3a, or stores the amount of the power purchase fee billed by the electric utility.

[0054] Note that the functional modules of the payment history information acquisition unit 204, the discount rate determination unit 205, and the power usage acquisition unit 206 perform the same functions as the functional modules of the payment history information acquisition unit 931, the discount rate determination unit 932, and the power usage acquisition unit 933 in the above-mentioned application example, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted here. That is, in this embodiment, the management device 2 is configured to also function as the electricity fee determination device 93 in the application example, and can be said to correspond to the information processing device of the present invention.

[0055] (Management device processing) 6 and 7, a flow of processing for billing the resident 22 for electricity charges and for paying the refund amount to the facility owner 23, which are performed by the management device 2 in this embodiment, will be described. Note that the flow of the processing can also be considered as including a method of operating the power supply system related to determining electricity charges, which is performed by the management device 2.

[0056] 6 is a flowchart explaining the flow of processing performed by the management device 2. In the management device 2, when billing for monthly electricity charges, the processing of loop L1 described below is repeatedly executed for each resident 22. In loop L1, the payment history information acquisition unit 204 acquires the payment history information of the resident's past electricity charges (S101). Then, based on the payment history information, the discount rate determination unit 205 calculates the discount rate for the electricity charges (S102).

[0057] Here, the subroutine of the discount rate determination process will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the subroutine in the discount rate determination process. As shown in Fig. 7, the discount rate determination unit 205 first judges whether or not the resident has paid electricity charges for the past 12 consecutive months (S201). If it is judged that the resident has paid electricity charges for 12 consecutive months, the discount rate is incremented by 0.001 (S202), and the subroutine ends.

[0058] On the other hand, if the answer is No in step S201, a process is performed to determine whether there have been two or more defaults in the past year (S203). If it is determined that there have not been two or more defaults in the past year, the discount rate is maintained (S204) and the subroutine is terminated.

[0059] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S203 that there have been two or more consecutive defaults in the past year, a process is performed to determine whether there have been multiple consecutive defaults (S205). If it is determined that there have not been multiple consecutive defaults, the discount rate is deducted by 0.001 (S206). ) The subroutine is then terminated. If it is determined in step S205 that there have been multiple consecutive overdue payments, the discount rate is decremented by 0.005 (S207) and the subroutine is terminated.

[0060] Returning to the explanation of the process flow in FIG. 6, once the discount rate is determined in step S102, the power usage acquisition unit 206 acquires the amount of power usage (S103). Next, the electricity fee calculation unit 201 calculates the electricity fee for the resident 22 (S104). The specific calculation method has been described above, so will not be described again here. Then, a billing process is performed for the resident 22 (S105), and the process of one loop L1 ends.

[0061] After the series of processes in the loop L1 are performed for all the residents 22, the management device 2 performs income management (S106). More specifically, it is confirmed whether or not the payment of the electricity fee for the relevant month from each resident 22 has been completed, and if the payment is unpaid, a reminder process is performed. In addition, the power purchase fee calculation unit 203 of the management device 2 acquires information on the power purchase fee (S107). More specifically, the amount billed by the electric power company 20 stored in the power purchase fee calculation unit 203 may be referenced, or the power purchase fee may be calculated from the amount of electricity purchased from the electric power company 20. Then, the amount of return to the equipment owner 23 is calculated from the amount of income calculated in step S106 and the power purchase fee calculated in step S107 (S108), and the process of paying the return amount to the equipment owner 23 is performed (S109), and the series of processes is completed.

[0062] According to the present embodiment described above, by using a power supply system equipped with distributed power sources, it is possible to flexibly set the profits that the owner can obtain and the discounts for the occupants. This allows the occupants to increase the discount rate by continuing to pay their electricity bills, which acts as an incentive to not only increase the payment rate for electricity bills, but also to increase the occupancy rate.

[0063] (others) In this embodiment, it is desirable to reduce the amount of power procured from the grid and increase the self-consumption rate (%) to lower the electricity bill. For this purpose, the following measures can be considered. (1) Charging with cheap electricity at night reduces the amount of electricity purchased during the day By using cheap late-night electricity to keep the charge rate of the storage battery 14 as high as possible, it is possible to prevent a shortage of power supply from the distributed power source in relation to the power consumption in the exclusive areas 12a, 12b, 12c, etc. and the common area 13. (2) Reducing electricity procurement costs by combining solar power generation with overnight charging power for storage batteries When the power generated by the solar cell 15 is surplus, the storage battery 14 is charged as much as possible, and the charging rate of the storage battery 14 is increased as much as possible. (3) Peak shaving of power sold through photovoltaic power generation, demand forecasting, and battery storage control Based on data such as date, day of the week, sunrise time, sunset time, temperature, humidity, and weather forecasts obtained from a server, the power consumption in the exclusive areas 12a, 12b, 12c, etc. and the common area 13 is predicted for each predetermined time from the current time. The charging rate of the storage battery 14 is controlled to minimize the shortage of power supplied by the distributed power sources relative to the predicted power consumption, and the maximum amount of purchased power is reduced to cut peak power. This allows the maximum power consumption in the basic contract with the electric power supplier 20 to be set low, and the basic fee paid to the electric power supplier 20 to be reduced.

[0064] In this embodiment, it is desirable to increase the amount of private power consumption. To achieve this, the following measures can be considered. (1) Reducing power consumption by controlling home appliances For example, power consumption in the private areas 12a, 12b, 12c, etc. and common area 13 can be reduced by controlling the operation of the air conditioner in common area 13 or by using a low power consumption hot water supply system that uses a natural refrigerant heat pump hot water supply unit. (2) Increasing self-consumption electricity by combining solar power generation, wind power generation, so-called V2H power sources, storage batteries, etc. In addition to the above, when there is a surplus of power generated by the solar cell 15 or the like, the storage battery 14 is charged as much as possible, and the charging rate of the storage battery 14 is increased as much as possible. By reducing the amount of power sold to the grid 3b and increasing the amount of self-power consumption, profitability is improved.

[0065] In this embodiment, it is also desirable to prevent a decrease in the amount of private power consumption. To achieve this, the following measures can be considered. (1) Detect and predict failures with a remote monitoring system The management company 21 detects a fault in the power supply system 1 using a remote monitoring system. Alternatively, the management company 21 predicts a fault from a change in the detected value of each smart meter 11a, 11b, 11c, . . . 11d, 11e. This prevents a decrease in the power supply from the distributed power sources and a decrease in the amount of self-power consumption.

[0066] In this embodiment, it is important to reduce the basic contract fee with the electric power company 20. To achieve this, the following measures are considered. (1) Peak cutting through photovoltaic power generation, demand forecasting, and battery storage control Power consumption in the private areas 12a, 12b, 12c, etc. and the common area 13 is predicted for each specified time from the present time based on data such as date, day of the week, sunrise time, sunset time, temperature, and humidity, as well as weather forecasts obtained from a server. The maximum value of purchased power is reduced and peak cut is performed by controlling the charging rate of the storage battery 14 so as to minimize the shortage of power generated by the distributed power source relative to this predicted power consumption. This allows the maximum power consumption in the basic contract with the electric power supplier to be set low, reducing the basic fee. (2) Vary the capacity of the smart meter depending on the time By changing the settings of the smart meters 11a, 11b, 11c...11d, and 11e, the contract capacity can be changed flexibly. Therefore, power demand is forecasted, the amount of power to be procured is predicted, and the capacity of each of the smart meters 11a, 11b, 11c...11d, and 11e is changed depending on time. This allows a contract with the electric power supplier 20 to always be made with the minimum required capacity, making it possible to reduce the basic fee.

[0067] In addition, the following variations in the operation of the power supply system 1 are possible. (1) Extending equipment life A plurality of storage batteries 14 are used, thereby reducing the number of times each storage battery 14 is charged and discharged, and the charge and discharge rate. (2) Detecting interruption information of the parent smart meters 4a and 4b and the smart meters 11a, 11b, ..., 11e, and determining the location of the fault (overcurrent, leakage current) (3) In the event of a power outage, the capacity of the smart meters 11a, 11b, ... 11e is automatically changed so that each resident 22 uses an independent power source. (4) Obtaining schedule information of the resident 22, predicting demand from the information, and controlling to increase self-consumption. (5) Inferring equipment failures or changes in occupancy from abnormal changes (discontinuous changes) in power consumption

[0068] In the above embodiment, the apartment house 1a is exemplified as a complex facility having a plurality of power supply destinations, but the complex facility to which the present invention is applied is not limited to an apartment house. For example, a shared office, an industrial park, etc. are also applicable. In addition, in the above embodiment, the distributed power source Although a solar cell has been given as an example, the distributed power sources that are the subject of the present invention are not limited to solar cells, but also include other power sources such as wind power generation devices, geothermal power generation devices, and biomass power generation devices.

[0069] In the above embodiment, an example has been shown in which the electricity bill is billed to the resident monthly and the discount rate is determined each time the bill is issued, but the discount rate does not have to be determined each time the electricity bill is issued. The electricity bill to the resident and the discount rate can be determined at any desired timing. For example, the discount rate may be determined once every three months, and the electricity bill may be calculated using the determined discount rate for the following two months. Furthermore, it is not necessary to bill the resident for electricity bills monthly, and several months' worth of bills may be billed at once.

[0070] In the following, the components of the present invention will be described with reference to the reference numerals in the drawings in order to make it possible to compare the components of the present invention with the configurations of the embodiments. <Invention 1> An information processing device (2; 93) used together with a power supply system (1; 90) that supplies power to a complex facility (1a; 91) including a plurality of power supply destinations (12; 96), a payment history information acquisition unit (204; 931) for acquiring information on the payment history of the electricity charges for each of the power supply destinations; A discount rate determination unit (205; 932) that determines a discount rate for the electricity charge for each of the power supply destinations according to a payment history of the electricity charge; A power usage acquisition unit (206; 933) that acquires information on the power usage for each power supply destination; an electricity charge calculation unit (201; 934) that calculates an electricity charge to be charged for each of the power supply destinations using at least the discount rate and the amount of power consumption; An information processing device comprising: <Invention 2> A method for operating a power supply system that supplies power to a complex facility including a plurality of power supply destinations, comprising: A payment history information acquisition step (S101) of acquiring information on a payment history of an electricity charge for each of the power supply destinations in an information processing device used together with the power supply system; A discount rate determination step (S102) of determining, in the information processing device, a discount rate for the electricity charge for each of the power supply destinations according to a payment history of the electricity charge; A power usage acquisition step (S103) of acquiring information on the power usage for each power supply destination in the information processing device; an electricity fee calculation step (S104) of calculating an electricity fee to be charged for each of the power supply destinations using at least the discount rate and the amount of power consumption in the information processing device; A method for operating a power supply system, comprising: [Explanation of symbols]

[0071] 1. Power supply system 1a...Apartment housing 2...Management device 3a, 3b...Strain 4a, 4b Parent smart meter 5...VPP controller 6. LTE router 7. Hub 8a, 8b, 8c... Gateway 9. First distribution board 10 Second distribution board 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d, 11e...Smart meter 12a, 12b, 12c: Private area 13...Common area 14... Storage battery 15. Solar Cell 16... Battery Power Conditioner 17 Solar power conditioner

Claims

1. An information processing device used together with a power supply system that supplies power to a complex facility including a plurality of power supply destinations, a payment history information acquisition unit that acquires information on a payment history relating to the number of times that an electricity charge for each of the power supply destinations has been overdue in the past; a discount rate determination unit that determines a discount rate for the electricity charge for each of the power supply destinations in accordance with the payment history; a power usage acquisition unit that acquires information on the amount of power usage for each power supply destination; an electricity fee calculation unit that calculates an electricity fee to be charged for each of the power supply destinations by using at least the discount rate and the amount of power consumption; Equipped with An initial value of the discount rate is set by an owner of the complex when the power supply destination newly moves into the complex, the discount rate determination unit determines the discount rate according to the payment history based on the initial value, and does not reduce the discount rate if the payment history indicates that there has been one or less default in the past year; An information processing device comprising:

2. the discount rate determination unit increases the discount rate when there has been no overdue payment in the past year in the payment history; 2. The information processing device according to claim 1.

3. When the payment history indicates that there have been two or more instances of delinquency in the past year, the discount rate determination unit reduces the discount rate in accordance with the number of instances, down to a minimum of 0.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The discount rate determined by the discount rate determination unit is set with an upper limit and / or a lower limit by the owner of the complex. The information processing device according to claim 1 ,

5. A method for operating a power supply system that supplies power to a complex facility including a plurality of power supply destinations, comprising: a payment history information acquisition step of acquiring, in an information processing device used together with the power supply system, information on a payment history relating to the number of times that an electricity charge for each of the power supply destinations has been overdue in the past; a discount rate determination step of determining, in the information processing device, a discount rate for the electricity charge for each of the power supply destinations in accordance with the payment history; a power usage acquisition step of acquiring information on the amount of power usage for each of the power supply destinations in the information processing device; an electricity fee calculation step of calculating, in the information processing device, an electricity fee to be charged for each of the power supply destinations using at least the discount rate and the amount of power consumption; It has an initial value of the discount rate is set by an owner of the complex when the power supply destination newly moves into the complex, In the discount rate determination step, the discount rate is determined according to the payment history with the initial value as a reference, and the discount rate is not reduced if the payment history indicates that there has been one or less default in the past year. A method for operating a power supply system comprising:

6. In the discount rate determination step, if there is no overdue payment in the past year in the payment history, the discount rate is increased.

6. The method for operating a power supply system according to claim 5.

7. In the discount rate determination step, if there are two or more instances of delinquency in the past year in the payment history, the discount rate is reduced in accordance with the number of instances, down to a minimum of 0.

7. A method for operating a power supply system according to claim 5 or 6.

8. The discount rate determined in the discount rate determination step has an upper limit and / or a lower limit set by the owner of the complex. A method for operating a power supply system according to any one of claims 5 to 7.

9. A program for causing an information processing device to execute each step of the method for operating a power supply system according to any one of claims 5 to 8.

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