System, program and method

Abstract

To provide a system, a program and a method for effectively using energy.SOLUTION: A system comprises a control unit which performs control for selecting a vehicle caused to turn a power state on to stand by in a state capable of providing a power resource to a power network from among a plurality of vehicles, making the selected vehicle into a state capable of providing the power resource to the power network and causing other vehicles to sleep. The control unit selects vehicles to be caused to stand by in the state capable of providing the power resource to provide primary adjustment force to the power network in order from among the plurality of vehicles belonging to the same group grouped by estimating a power resource amount which can be provided to the power network.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system, a program and a method. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Documents 1 to 4 disclose techniques relating to charging and discharging of storage batteries. [Prior art document] [Patent documents] Patent Document 1: JP 2018-160364 A Patent Document 2: JP 2018-160073 A Patent Document 3: JP 2019-164989 A Patent Document 4: JP 2021-103549 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] It is known that effective use of batteries is an effective way to utilize energy efficiently, but there is a problem that this is not easy to achieve. [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] In a first aspect of the present invention, a system is provided. The system includes a control unit that selects, from a plurality of vehicles, a vehicle to be turned on and placed on standby in a state where it can provide power resources to a power network, and controls the selected vehicle to be placed on standby in a state where it can provide power resources to the power network and the other vehicles to be put to sleep. The control unit selects, in order, from a plurality of vehicles belonging to the same group that have been grouped by estimating the amount of power resources that can be provided to the power network, a vehicle to be placed on standby in a state where it can provide the power resources in order to provide primary control reserve to the power network.

[0005] The control unit may select at least three vehicle groups from among the plurality of vehicles belonging to the same group. The control unit may set one of the three vehicle groups to a first state in which power resources are provided to the power network, set another of the three vehicle groups to a second state in which power resources can be provided to the power network but are not provided to the power network, and set yet another of the three vehicle groups to a third state in which a sleep state. The control unit may switch the state of each of the three vehicle groups among the first state, the second state, and the third state in a predetermined order.

[0006] When providing the primary control power to the power network, the control unit may switch the state of each of the three vehicle groups in an order selected from the first state, the second state, and the third state in a predetermined order.

[0007] When the control unit does not provide the primary control power to the power network, it may set one of the three vehicle groups to the second state and the other two of the three vehicle groups to the third state, and switch the state of each of the three vehicle groups in an order selected from the second state and the third state in a predetermined order.

[0008] The control unit may divide the plurality of vehicles into three or more groups based on a state of charge of a battery included in each of the plurality of vehicles. The control unit may select, in order, from the plurality of vehicles belonging to a group among the three or more groups excluding the group with the highest state of charge and the group with the lowest state of charge, a vehicle to be placed on standby in a state capable of providing the power resource in order to provide the primary control reserve.

[0009] The battery may be a battery that is installed on board the vehicle and that can be replaced at a station that charges the battery.

[0010] In a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program that causes a computer to function as the above-described system.

[0011] In a third aspect of the present invention, a method is provided. The method includes a step of selecting, from a plurality of vehicles, a vehicle to be turned on and placed on standby in a state where it can provide power resources to a power network. The method also includes a step of controlling the vehicle selected in the selecting step to be placed on standby in a state where it can provide power resources to the power network, and putting other vehicles to sleep. The selecting step includes a step of selecting, in order, from a plurality of vehicles belonging to the same group that are grouped by estimating the power resources that can be provided, a vehicle to be placed on standby in a state where it can provide the power resources in order to provide primary control reserve to the power network.

[0012] The above summary of the invention does not list all of the features of the present invention. In addition, subcombinations of these features may also constitute inventions. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 conceptually illustrates a usage pattern of a power system 5 in one embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 shows an example of the system configuration of the system 100. [Figure 3] 1 shows a schematic diagram of grouping of vehicles 10. [Figure 4] 10A and 10B show schematic state transitions of a vehicle 10 that can be charged. [Figure 5] 10A and 10B show schematic state transitions of a vehicle 10 in a state where only charging is possible. [Figure 6] This shows the state of each vehicle group when neither an upward DR nor a downward DR requesting the provision of primary control reserve has been notified. [Figure 7] The state of each vehicle group is shown when an upward DR and downward DR request requiring the provision of primary control reserve is notified. [Figure 8] 10A and 10B show a schematic diagram of the charging and discharging of one vehicle 10d over time. [Figure 9] The graph shows the change in the proportion of the number of vehicles 10 belonging to groups A to D. [Figure 10] An example of a computer 2000 is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] The present invention will be described below through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention according to the claims. Furthermore, not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0015] 1 conceptually illustrates a usage pattern of a power system 5 in one embodiment. The power system 5 includes a station 30a, a station 30b, a station 30c, and a station 30d, a power generation device 80, a system 100, a server 180, and vehicles 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e, and 20.

[0016] In this embodiment, stations 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d may be collectively referred to as "stations 30." Vehicles 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, and 10e may be collectively referred to as "vehicles 10." Vehicles 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, and 10e are equipped with batteries 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, and 12e, respectively. Battery 12a, battery 12b, battery 12c, battery 12d, and battery 12e may be collectively referred to as "batteries 12."

[0017] The system 100 is connected to a server 180 through a communication network 190. The server 180 is capable of communicating with the station 30 through the communication network 190. The system 100 controls the station 30 through the communication network 190. The system 100 communicates with the vehicle 10 through the communication network 190 and acquires various information about the vehicle 10, such as the driving history of the vehicle 10 and the SOC of the battery 12.

[0018] The station 30, the power consumers 70, and the power generation equipment 80 are connected to a power network 90. ​​The power generation equipment 80 includes, for example, a power plant operated by a power company. Electric power generated by the power generation equipment 80 can be supplied to the station 30 and the power consumers 70 through the power network 90. ​​The power network 90 is, for example, an electric power system.

[0019] The stations 30 charge and discharge the batteries 12 installed in the vehicles 10 connected to them. The vehicles 10 are, for example, electric vehicles. The batteries 12 are batteries that supply power for the vehicle 10 to run. The vehicles 10 may be privately owned vehicles, vehicles used by businesses for business purposes, shared cars, etc. The batteries 12 are an example of mobile batteries. The batteries 12 can be mobile when installed in the vehicles 10.

[0020] Station 30a is installed in a private home 42 and charges and discharges the battery 12a of vehicle 10a connected to station 30a. Station 30b is a public charging and discharging station and charges and discharges the batteries 12 installed in multiple vehicles 10, including vehicles 10b and 10c connected to station 30b. Station 30c is installed in a facility 44 and charges and discharges the batteries 12 installed in multiple vehicles 10, including vehicles 10d and 10e connected to station 30c.

[0021] The station 30d holds a plurality of batteries that can be mounted on the vehicle 20, and charges and discharges the plurality of batteries held therein. The vehicle 20 is, for example, an electric motorcycle. The battery 12f used in the vehicle 20 is exchanged at the station 30. As an example, the battery 12f that has been used to run the vehicle 20 is exchanged for a charged battery 12g at the station 30d and attached to the vehicle 20. The batteries 12f and 12g are examples of movable batteries. The batteries 12f and 12g can be made movable by being mounted on the vehicle 20. The batteries 12f and 12g can also be made movable by being carried by a person.

[0022] Each of the stations 30 can charge the battery 12 with power supplied from the power network 90. ​​The stations 30 can discharge the battery 12 to feed into the power network 90.

[0023] Each of the stations 30 charges and discharges the battery 12 under the control of the system 100. For example, when a power shortage occurs in the power network 90, the system 100 can cause the station 30 to discharge the battery 12 to supply power to the power network 90. ​​When a power surplus occurs in the power network 90, the system 100 can cause the station 30 to charge the battery to reduce the power surplus in the power network 90. ​​The system 100 can provide primary regulation reserve, secondary regulation reserve, and tertiary regulation reserve in the power network 90 using the station 30. In this way, the system 100 can aggregate multiple batteries 12 and manage them as a power resource for the power network 90.

[0024] The server 180 is a server used by, for example, a power aggregator. The server 180 performs power trading in the power market. The system 100 can provide the battery 12, which is managed as a power resource, to the server 180. The system 100 controls charging and discharging of the battery by the station 30, and provides the amount of power agreed upon by the server 180 to the power network 90. ​​For example, the system 100 controls charging and discharging of the battery 12 by the station 30 in response to a demand from the server 180, and provides the amount of power according to the demand.

[0025] 2 shows an example of the system configuration of the system 100. The system 100 includes a processing unit 200, a storage unit 280, and a communication device 290.

[0026] The processing unit 200 controls the communication device 290. The communication device 290 is responsible for communication between the station 30a and the server 180. The processing unit 200 is realized by an arithmetic processing unit including a processor. The storage units 280 are each realized by including a non-volatile storage medium. The processing unit 200 performs processing using information stored in the storage units 280. The processing unit 200 may be realized by a microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, buses, etc. The system 100 may be realized by a computer.

[0027] In this embodiment, the system 100 is implemented by a single computer. However, in other embodiments, the system 100 may be implemented by multiple computers. At least some of the functions of the system 100 may be implemented by one or more servers, such as a cloud server.

[0028] The processing unit 200 includes an acquisition unit 210 and a control unit 240 .

[0029] The acquisition unit 210 acquires the driving history of the vehicle 10 and the charge / discharge history of the battery 12. The acquisition unit 210 may acquire the driving history transmitted from the vehicle 10 to the system 100. The driving history of the vehicle 10 may include information associating the location of the vehicle 10 and the SOC of the battery 12 with date and time. The acquisition unit 210 may acquire the charge / discharge history transmitted from the vehicle 10 to the system 100. The acquisition unit 210 may acquire the charge / discharge history of the battery 12 transmitted from the station 30. The charge / discharge history may include information associating the charge / discharge amount of the battery 12 with date and time. The acquisition unit 210 may acquire information indicating the current state of the vehicle 10. The current state of the vehicle 10 may include the current location of the vehicle 10, the current SOC of the battery 12, etc. The control unit 240 may perform processing based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit 210.

[0030] The control unit 240 selects, from the plurality of vehicles 10, a vehicle 10 to be turned on and put into standby in a state where it can provide power resources to the power network 90, and controls the selected vehicle 10 to be put into a state where it can provide power resources to the power network 90, and puts the other vehicles 10 into sleep mode. The control unit 240 selects, in order, from the plurality of vehicles 10 belonging to the same group that have been grouped by estimating the amount of power resources that can be provided to the power network 90, a vehicle 10 to be put into standby in a state where it can provide power resources in order to provide primary control power to the power network 90. ​​The power resources may be power or an amount of power. Providing power resources to the power network 90 includes increasing the power demand of the power network 90 and decreasing the power demand of the power network 90, and does not mean only supplying power to the power network 90.

[0031] The control unit 240 may select at least three vehicle groups from among the multiple vehicles 10 belonging to the same group, and may set one of the three vehicle groups to a first state in which power resources are provided to the power network 90, set another of the three vehicle groups to a second state in which power resources can be provided to the power network 90 but are not provided to the power network 90, and set yet another of the three vehicle groups to a third state in which the state is a sleep state. The control unit 240 may switch the state of each of the three vehicle groups among the first state, the second state, and the third state in a predetermined order selected from the first state, the second state, and the third state.

[0032] When providing primary control power to the power network 90, the control unit 240 may switch the state of each of the three vehicle groups in an order selected from a first state, a second state, and a third state in a predetermined order.

[0033] When the control unit 240 does not provide primary control power to the power network 90, it may set one of the three vehicle groups to a second state and the other two of the three vehicle groups to a third state, and switch the state of each of the three vehicle groups in an order selected from the second state and the third state in a predetermined order.

[0034] The control unit 240 may divide the multiple vehicles 10 into three or more groups based on the state of charge of the batteries 12 each equipped in the multiple vehicles 10, and sequentially select vehicles 10 to be placed on standby in a state where they can provide power resources in order to provide primary control power from among the multiple vehicles 10 belonging to a group other than the group with the highest state of charge and the group with the lowest state of charge among the three or more groups.

[0035] 3 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of grouping of the vehicles 10. The control unit 240 divides the vehicles 10 connected to the station 30 into groups.

[0036] Specifically, the control unit 240 classifies the vehicles 10 into those that can be charged and those that can only be charged. A vehicle 10 that can be charged is a vehicle 10 that is connected to a station 30 that has not only the function of charging the battery 12 but also the function of supplying the power obtained by discharging the battery 12 to the power network 90. ​​A vehicle 10 that can only be charged is a vehicle 10 that is connected to a station 30 that has the function of charging the battery 12 but does not have the function of supplying the power obtained by discharging the battery 12 to the power network 90.

[0037] The control unit 240 classifies the vehicles 10 that can be charged and the vehicles 10 that can only be charged into groups A to D based on the SOC of the batteries 12. As an example, group A is vehicles equipped with batteries 12 with an SOC of 95% or more and 100% or less. group B is vehicles equipped with batteries 12 with an SOC of 61% or more and 94% or less. group C is vehicles equipped with batteries 12 with an SOC of 40% or more and 60% or less. group D is vehicles equipped with batteries 12 with an SOC of 0% or more and 39% or less.

[0038] Vehicles 10 belonging to group A are vehicles that are available for driving, i.e., vehicles that are ready to drive. Vehicles 10 belonging to group B are vehicles equipped with batteries 12 that have a predetermined remaining battery capacity that can be used primarily for downward demand response (DR). Vehicles 10 belonging to group C are vehicles equipped with batteries 12 that have a remaining battery capacity that can be used primarily for both downward DR and upward DR. Vehicles 10 belonging to group D are vehicles equipped with batteries 12 that have a remaining battery capacity that can be used primarily for upward DR.

[0039] The control unit 240 classifies the vehicles 10 that are in a state where they can be charged and that belong to group C into four vehicle groups including a first vehicle group 301, a second vehicle group 302, a third vehicle group 303, and a fourth vehicle group 304. The first vehicle group 301, the second vehicle group 302, and the third vehicle group 303 are vehicles selected to provide primary control power to the power network 90. ​​The fourth vehicle group 304 is a vehicle other than the vehicles selected to provide primary control power to the power network 90.

[0040] FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the state transitions of the chargeable vehicle 10. The vehicle 10 has an active state and a sleep state. In the active state, the system power supply of the vehicle 10 is on and power can be exchanged with the power network 90. ​​When the vehicle 10 is active, the vehicle 10 can be in two states: a charging / power supplying state in which the battery 12 is being charged or power is being supplied from the battery 12 to the outside of the vehicle 10, and a non-charging / power supplying state in which the battery 12 is not being charged or discharged.

[0041] If the vehicle 10 belongs to group D in an activated state, the vehicle 10 may transition to a state belonging to group C by charging the battery 12 in accordance with the planned charge or the upward DR of the battery 12. If the vehicle 10 belongs to group C in an activated state, the vehicle 10 may transition to a state belonging to group B by charging the battery 12 in accordance with the planned charge or the upward DR of the battery 12. If the vehicle 10 belongs to group B in an activated state, the vehicle 10 may transition to a state belonging to group A by charging the battery 12 in accordance with the planned charge or the upward DR of the battery 12. Group A is a state in which the vehicle 10 is able to travel, and when it enters group A, the vehicle 10 enters a sleep state, and power is not supplied to the outside from the battery 12 installed in the vehicle 10.

[0042] When the vehicle 10 belongs to group A, power is supplied from the battery 12 to the outside in accordance with the lowering DR, which may cause the vehicle 10 to transition to a state where it belongs to group B in the activated state. When the vehicle 10 belongs to group B in the activated state, power is supplied from the battery 12 to the outside in accordance with the lowering DR, which may cause the vehicle 10 to transition to a state where it belongs to group C. When the vehicle 10 belongs to group C in the activated state, power is supplied from the battery 12 to the outside in accordance with the lowering DR, which may cause the vehicle 10 to transition to a state where it belongs to group D.

[0043] If the vehicle 10 belongs to group D in the active state, and receives a sleep request from the system 100 while DR is being supported, the vehicle 10 transitions to a state in which it belongs to group D in the sleep state. If the vehicle 10 belongs to group D in the sleep state, and receives a request from the system 100 to start planned charging or an up-DR request, the vehicle 10 transitions to a state in which it belongs to group D in the active state. If the vehicle 10 belongs to group C in the active state, and receives a sleep request from the system 100 while DR is being supported, the vehicle 10 transitions to a state in which it belongs to group C in the sleep state. If the vehicle 10 belongs to group C in the sleep state, and receives a request from the system 100 to start planned charging, an up-DR, or a down-DR request, the vehicle 10 transitions to a state in which it belongs to group C in the active state. If the vehicle 10 belongs to group B in the active state, and receives a sleep request from the system 100 while DR is being supported, the vehicle 10 transitions to a state in which it belongs to group B in the sleep state. If the vehicle 10 belongs to group B in the sleep state, when it receives a request from the system 100 to start planned charging or to lower the DR, the vehicle 10 transitions to a state in which it belongs to group B in the wake-up state.

[0044] Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of state transitions of vehicle 10 in a state where only charging is possible. Explanation of parts in Fig. 5 that are common to Fig. 4 will be omitted, and only parts that differ from Fig. 4 will be explained.

[0045] In a vehicle 10 that is in a state where only charging is possible, power cannot be supplied from the battery 12 to the outside, and therefore state transitions from group A to group B, from group B to group C, and from group C to group D do not occur. Since power cannot be supplied from the battery 12 to the outside, when the vehicle 10 belongs to group B, group C, or group D and receives a downward DR request, it can only respond by restricting the charging of the battery 12, and no state transition occurs.

[0046] Figure 6 shows the state of each vehicle fleet when neither an up DR nor a down DR requesting the provision of primary control reserve has been notified. Time t0 in Figure 6 is assumed to be a time within the contracted power delivery period in the electricity market.

[0047] As shown in Figure 6, the supply and demand of power in the power network 90 is balanced, and power consumption is approximately constant. In this case, neither an upward DR nor a downward DR request is issued. In this case, of the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301, the second vehicle group 302, and the third vehicle group 303 selected as vehicles for providing primary control reserve, only the vehicle 10 of the first vehicle group 301 is in an active state, while the second vehicle group 302 and the third vehicle group 303 are in a sleep state. Because the supply and demand of power in the power network 90 is balanced, the state of the vehicle 10 of the first vehicle group 301 is in an active state where neither charging nor power feeding is being performed.

[0048] At time t1, a certain time after time t0, a wake-up request is transmitted to the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302 under the control of the control unit 240 of the system 100. As a result, the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302 transition from a sleep state to an active state. When the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302 transition to an active state, a sleep request is transmitted to the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301 under the control of the control unit 240 of the system 100. As a result, the vehicles providing primary control reserve are switched from the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301 to the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302. Because the supply and demand of power in the power network 90 is balanced, the state of the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302 becomes a non-charging / non-power-supply state in which charging and power supply are not being performed in the active state.

[0049] At time t2, a certain time after time t1, a wake-up request is transmitted to the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 under the control of the control unit 240 of the system 100. As a result, the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 transition from a sleep state to an active state. When the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 transition to an active state, a sleep request is transmitted to the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302 under the control of the control unit 240 of the system 100. As a result, the vehicles providing primary control reserve are switched from the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302 to the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303. Because the supply and demand of power in the power network 90 is balanced, the state of the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 becomes a no-charging / no-power-supply state in which they are not charging or supplying power in the active state.

[0050] At time t3, a certain time after time t2, a wake-up request is transmitted to the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301 under the control of the control unit 240 of the system 100. As a result, the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301 transition from a sleep state to an active state. When the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301 transition to an active state, a sleep request is transmitted to the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 under the control of the control unit 240 of the system 100. As a result, the vehicles providing primary control reserve are switched from the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 to the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301. Because the supply and demand of power in the power network 90 is balanced, the state of the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301 becomes a non-charging / non-power-supply state in which charging and power supply are not being performed in the active state.

[0051] Thereafter, the switching process is repeated at times t1, t2, and t3. As a result, the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301, the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302, and the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 are selected as vehicles to provide primary control reserve in the following order: the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301, the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302, the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303, the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301, ... In other words, the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301, the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302, and the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 repeatedly transition between the awake and sleep states every certain period of time, and the vehicles 10 of one of the vehicle groups from the first vehicle group 301, the second vehicle group 302, and the third vehicle group 303 enters the awake state. By rotating the selection of the vehicles 10 to provide primary control reserve in this manner, it is possible to prevent the wake-up time of the vehicles 10 from becoming long. Therefore, the power consumption of the vehicle 10 can be reduced.

[0052] 7 shows the state of each vehicle group when an up DR and a down DR request for the provision of primary control reserve are notified. The supply and demand of electricity in the power network 90 is not balanced, and as shown in FIG. 7, the power demand fluctuates microscopically. In this case, of the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301, the second vehicle group 302, and the third vehicle group 303 selected as vehicles for providing primary control reserve, the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301 and the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302 are powered on and in an active state, while only the third vehicle group 303 is in a sleep state.

[0053] Here, the vehicle 10 of the first vehicle group 301 responds to the lower DR request by discharging the battery 12 to supply power to the power network 90, or by reducing the amount of charge if the battery 12 is being charged. On the other hand, the second vehicle group 302 is running but is not being charged or supplied with power.

[0054] At time t1, the period of the downward DR ends, and a state is reached in which an upward DR request is issued. At this time, the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302 enter a state corresponding to an upward DR. A wake-up request is sent to the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 under the control of the control unit 240 of the system 100. As a result, the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 transition from the sleep state to the wake-up state. When the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 transition to the wake-up state, a sleep request is sent to the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301 under the control of the control unit 240 of the system 100. As a result, the vehicles providing primary control reserve are switched from the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301 to the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302.

[0055] At time t2, the period of the upward DR ends, and a state is reached in which a downward DR request is issued. At this time, the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 enter a state corresponding to a downward DR. A wake-up request is sent to the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301 under the control of the control unit 240 of the system 100. As a result, the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301 transition from the sleep state to the wake-up state. When the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301 transition to the wake-up state, a sleep request is sent to the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302 under the control of the control unit 240 of the system 100. As a result, the vehicles providing primary control reserve are switched from the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302 to the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303.

[0056] At time t3, the period of the downward DR ends, and a state in which an upward DR request is issued is reached. At this time, the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301 enter a state corresponding to an upward DR. A wake-up request is sent to the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302 under the control of the control unit 240 of the system 100. As a result, the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302 transition from the sleep state to the wake-up state. When the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302 transition to the wake-up state, a sleep request is sent to the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 under the control of the control unit 240 of the system 100. As a result, the vehicles providing primary control reserve are switched from the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 to the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301.

[0057] Thereafter, a similar switching process is repeated each time the DR is switched from an upward DR to a downward DR. As a result, the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301, the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302, and the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 are selected as vehicles to provide primary control reserve in the following order: the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301, the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302, the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303, the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301, ... In other words, each time the DR is switched from an upward DR to a downward DR, the vehicles 10 of the first vehicle group 301, the vehicles 10 of the second vehicle group 302, and the vehicles 10 of the third vehicle group 303 repeatedly transition between an activated state with charging and power supply, a sleep state, and an activated state without charging and power supply, and the vehicles 10 of one of the vehicle groups from the first vehicle group 301, the second vehicle group 302, and the third vehicle group 303 are selected as vehicles to provide primary control reserve.

[0058] By rotating the selection of the vehicle 10 to provide primary control reserve in this manner, it is possible to prevent the startup time of the vehicle 10 from becoming long. This makes it possible to reduce the power consumption of the vehicle 10. Furthermore, the vehicle 10 selected as the vehicle to provide primary control reserve goes into a sleep state, goes into a state in which it is activated and is not charged or fed power, and then is selected as the vehicle to provide primary control reserve. This makes it possible to prevent a decrease in response to switching of output.

[0059] 8 shows a schematic diagram of the charging and discharging of one vehicle 10d over time. At time t1, vehicle 10d enters station 30 and is connected to station 30. At this time, the SOC of battery 12 installed in vehicle 10d is relatively low, so vehicle 10d is in a state of belonging to group D.

[0060] When the control unit 240 determines that the time t8 is when vehicle 10d is predicted to leave station 30 and that there is sufficient time until time t8 to charge vehicle 10d, the control unit 240 does not immediately start charging battery 12 of vehicle 10d. The time t8 when vehicle 10d is predicted to leave station 30 is determined based on the past driving history of vehicle 10d, the charge / discharge history of battery 12d included in vehicle 10d, and the usage plan for vehicle 10.

[0061] As the DR period, which is a transfer period for providing primary control reserve to the power network 90, approaches, the control unit 240 increases the number of vehicles 10 belonging to group C in order to increase the number of vehicles 10 that can provide temporary control reserve. The control unit 240 starts charging the battery 12d between times t2 and t3 so that vehicle 10d transitions to group C. This charging increases the SOC of battery 12d, and vehicle 10d transitions to group C.

[0062] Next, during the DR period from time t4 to t5, the control unit 240 causes multiple vehicles 10, including vehicle 10d, to provide primary control reserve to the power network 90. ​​Thereafter, as the predicted departure time t8 of vehicle 10d approaches, at time t6, the control unit 240 starts charging vehicle 10d so that the SOC of battery 12d reaches the target value at the start of vehicle 10d's travel by time t8, and charging is completed at time t7. During the charging period from time t6 to time t7, the SOC of battery 12d increases, and vehicle 10d transitions to group B. Thereafter, the SOC of battery 12d increases, and at time t7 when SOC charging is completed, vehicle 10a transitions to group A. At time t8, vehicle 10d leaves station 30.

[0063] FIG. 9 shows changes in the proportion of the number of vehicles 10 belonging to groups A to D. At time t1, which is sufficiently before the start time of the DR period shown in FIG. 8, the number of vehicles 10 belonging to group C is 30%. As the DR period approaches, the control unit 240 gives priority to charging to the vehicles 10 belonging to group D, and gives priority to supplying power from the vehicles 10 belonging to group B to the power network 90. ​​In this way, by increasing the number of vehicles 10 belonging to group C to 50% by time t3, it is possible to increase the number of vehicles 10 that can provide primary control reserve to the power network 90 during the DR period.

[0064] The control unit 240 predicts the time when the vehicle 10 will enter the station 30, the time when the vehicle 10 will leave the station 30, and the SOC of the battery 12 when the vehicle 10 enters and leaves the station 30 based on the past driving history of the vehicle 10 and the charge / discharge history of the battery 12. Based on these predictions, the control unit 240 estimates the power that each vehicle 10 can provide to the power network 90 during the DR period, and creates a charge / discharge plan for the battery 12 before the start of the DR period so that the power required to be provided to the power network 90 during the DR period can be provided. The control unit 240 controls the charging and discharging of the battery 12 based on the charge / discharge plan, so that the number of vehicles 10 belonging to group C reaches or exceeds a predetermined number before the start of the DR period. The control unit 240 selects a vehicle to provide primary control reserve to the power network 90 during the DR period from the vehicles 10 belonging to group C. 6 and 7, the control unit 240 sequentially selects a vehicle group to provide primary control power, and keeps at least some of the other vehicle groups in a sleep state. This reduces the power consumed by the vehicles 10 when they are on standby to provide temporary control power.

[0065] In the above explanation, the vehicles 10 that provide primary control reserve are selected from the vehicles 10 that belong to group C. However, depending on the required amount of primary control reserve, the vehicles 10 that provide primary control reserve may be selected from the vehicles 10 that belong to group B or group C.

[0066] In the above description, the primary control reserve is provided using the battery 12 mounted on the vehicle 10. However, in addition to or instead of the battery 12 mounted on the vehicle 10, the battery 12 for the vehicle 20 may be used to provide the primary control reserve through the station 30d.

[0067] 10 shows an example of a computer 2000 in which multiple embodiments of the present invention may be embodied, in whole or in part. A program installed on the computer 2000 may cause the computer 2000 to function as a system or each part of a system according to an embodiment, or as a device such as various control devices or each part of the device, to perform operations associated with the system or each part of the system or the device or each part of the device, and / or to perform a process or steps of the process according to an embodiment. Such a program may be executed by the CPU 2012 to cause the computer 2000 to perform specific operations associated with some or all of the processing procedures and blocks of the block diagrams described herein.

[0068] The computer 2000 according to this embodiment includes a CPU 2012 and a RAM 2014, which are interconnected by a host controller 2010. The computer 2000 also includes a ROM 2026, a flash memory 2024, a communication interface 2022, and an input / output chip 2040. The ROM 2026, the flash memory 2024, the communication interface 2022, and the input / output chip 2040 are connected to the host controller 2010 via the input / output controller 2020.

[0069] The CPU 2012 operates according to programs stored in the ROM 2026 and RAM 2014, thereby controlling each unit.

[0070] The communication interface 2022 communicates with other electronic devices via a network. The flash memory 2024 stores programs and data used by the CPU 2012 in the computer 2000. The ROM 2026 stores a boot program and the like executed by the computer 2000 upon activation, and / or programs dependent on the hardware of the computer 2000. The input / output chip 2040 may also connect various input / output units such as a keyboard, mouse, and monitor to the input / output controller 2020 via input / output ports such as a serial port, a parallel port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, a monitor port, a USB port, an HDMI (registered trademark) port, etc.

[0071] The programs are provided via a computer-readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a memory card, or via a network. The RAM 2014, the ROM 2026, or the flash memory 2024 are examples of computer-readable storage media. The programs are installed in the flash memory 2024, the RAM 2014, or the ROM 2026 and executed by the CPU 2012. Information processing described in these programs is read by the computer 2000, and causes cooperation between the programs and the various types of hardware resources described above. An apparatus or a method may be configured by implementing operations or processing of information in accordance with the use of the computer 2000.

[0072] For example, when communication is performed between the computer 2000 and an external device, the CPU 2012 may execute a communication program loaded into the RAM 2014 and instruct the communication interface 2022 to perform communication processing based on the processing described in the communication program. Under the control of the CPU 2012, the communication interface 2022 reads transmission data stored in a transmission buffer processing area provided in a recording medium such as the RAM 2014 or flash memory 2024, transmits the read transmission data to a network, and writes received data received from the network to a reception buffer processing area or the like provided on the recording medium.

[0073] The CPU 2012 may also cause all or a necessary portion of a file or database stored on a recording medium such as the flash memory 2024 to be read into the RAM 2014, and perform various types of processing on the data on the RAM 2014. The CPU 2012 then writes the processed data back to the recording medium.

[0074] Various types of information, such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored on the recording medium and subjected to information processing. The CPU 2012 may perform various types of processing on data read from the RAM 2014, including various types of operations, information processing, conditional judgment, conditional branching, unconditional branching, information search / replacement, etc., as described herein and specified by the instruction sequences of the programs, and write the results back to the RAM 2014. The CPU 2012 may also search for information in a file, database, etc. on the recording medium. For example, if multiple entries each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute are stored on the recording medium, the CPU 2012 may search for an entry that matches a condition specified by the attribute value of the first attribute from among the multiple entries, read the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry, and thereby obtain the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute that satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0075] The above-described programs or software modules may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium on or near the computer 2000. A recording medium such as a hard disk or RAM provided in a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as the computer-readable storage medium. The programs stored in the computer-readable storage medium may be provided to the computer 2000 via a network.

[0076] A program installed in computer 2000 and causing computer 2000 to function as system 100 may act on CPU 2012 or the like to cause computer 2000 to function as each unit of system 100. When the information processing described in these programs is read into computer 2000, it functions as each unit of system 100, which is a specific means formed by the cooperation of software and the various hardware resources described above. These specific means then perform calculations or processing of information according to the intended use of computer 2000 in this embodiment, thereby constructing a specific system 100 according to the intended use.

[0077] Various embodiments have been described with reference to block diagrams. In the block diagrams, each block may represent (1) a stage of a process where an operation is performed or (2) a portion of an apparatus responsible for performing the operation. Particular stages and portions may be implemented by dedicated circuitry, programmable circuitry provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, and / or a processor provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium. Dedicated circuitry may include digital and / or analog hardware circuitry, and may include integrated circuits (ICs) and / or discrete circuits. Programmable circuitry may include reconfigurable hardware circuitry including logical AND, logical OR, logical XOR, logical NAND, logical NOR, and other logic operations, flip-flops, registers, memory elements such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic arrays (PLAs), and the like.

[0078] A computer-readable storage medium may include any tangible device capable of storing instructions that are executed by an appropriate device, such that the computer-readable storage medium with instructions stored thereon constitutes at least a portion of an article of manufacture containing instructions that can be executed to provide means for performing the operations specified in a process or block diagram. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include electronic storage media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, electromagnetic storage media, semiconductor storage media, etc. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include floppy disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), static random access memory (SRAM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray (RTM) disc, memory stick, integrated circuit card, etc.

[0079] The computer readable instructions may include either assembler instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or source or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Smalltalk®, JAVA®, C++, etc., and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages.

[0080] The computer-readable instructions may be provided to a processor or programmable circuitry of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, either locally or over a wide-area network (WAN) such as a local area network (LAN), the Internet, etc., and executed to provide means for performing the operations specified in the process steps or block diagrams described. Examples of processors include computer processors, processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, microcontrollers, etc.

[0081] Although the present invention has been described above using embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiments. It is clear from the claims that such modifications and improvements can also be included within the technical scope of the present invention.

[0082] It should be noted that the execution order of each process, such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages, in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, specifications, and drawings is not specifically stated as "before," "prior to," etc., and that the processes can be performed in any order unless the output of a previous process is used in a subsequent process. Even if the operational flow in the claims, specifications, and drawings is described using "first," "next," etc. for convenience, this does not mean that the processes must be performed in this order. [Explanation of symbols]

[0083] 10 vehicles 20 vehicles 42 Private residence 44 facilities 12 Battery 30 Stations 70 Electricity consumers 80 Power Generation Equipment 90 Electricity Network 180 servers 190 Communication Network 200 Processing section 210 Acquisition Department 240 Control Unit 280 Storage section 290 Communication Equipment 100 systems 2000 Computer 2010 Host Controller 2012 CPU 2014 RAM 2020 Input / Output Controller 2022 Communication Interface 2024 flash memory 2026 ROM 2040 Input / Output Chip

Claims

1. A control unit that selects a vehicle from a plurality of vehicles to be turned on and put into standby in a state in which it can provide power resources to the power network, puts the selected vehicle into a state in which it can provide power resources to the power network, and puts the other vehicles into sleep mode. Equipped with The control unit sequentially selects, from among a plurality of vehicles belonging to the same group that have been grouped by estimating the amount of power resources that can be provided to the power network, a vehicle to be placed on standby in a state capable of providing the power resources in order to provide primary control power to the power network. system.

2. The control unit selecting at least three vehicle groups from the plurality of vehicles belonging to the same group; one of the three vehicle groups is set to a first state in which power resources are provided to the power network, another of the three vehicle groups is set to a second state in which power resources can be provided to the power network but are not provided to the power network, and yet another of the three vehicle groups is set to a third state in which the still another vehicle group is in a sleep state; The state of each of the three vehicle groups is switched in a predetermined order selected from the first state, the second state, and the third state. The system of claim 1 .

3. The control unit When providing the primary control reserve to the power network, the state of each of the three vehicle groups is switched in a predetermined order selected from the first state, the second state, and the third state. The system of claim 2 .

4. When the control unit does not provide the primary control reserve to the power network, placing one vehicle group of the three vehicle groups in the second state and placing the other two vehicle groups of the three vehicle groups in the third state; The state of each vehicle group among the three vehicle groups is switched in a predetermined order selected from the second state and the third state. The system of claim 3.

5. The control unit Dividing the plurality of vehicles into three or more groups based on the state of charge of batteries included in each of the plurality of vehicles; Selecting in order from among the plurality of vehicles belonging to groups excluding the group with the highest state of charge and the group with the lowest state of charge among the three or more groups, a vehicle to be placed on standby in a state capable of providing the power resource in order to provide the primary control power. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The battery is installed in the vehicle and is replaceable at a station that charges the battery. The system of claim 5.

7. A program for causing a computer to function as the system according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. selecting a vehicle from the plurality of vehicles to be turned on and placed on standby in a state in which the vehicle is capable of providing power resources to the power network; a step of controlling the vehicle selected in the selecting step to be able to provide power resources to the power network and putting other vehicles to sleep; Equipped with The selecting step includes a step of sequentially selecting, from among a plurality of vehicles belonging to the same group that are grouped by estimating the power resources that can be provided, a vehicle to be placed on standby in a state in which the power resources can be provided in order to provide primary control power to the power network. method.

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