Server device, power control system, and method of operating power control system

Abstract

To enable improvement of efficiency in power supply-demand control in a community.SOLUTION: A server device has a communication unit, and a control unit that communicates with a plurality of first power loads that operate for a plurality of charging targets with different timings and amounts of power by the communication unit, and communicates with a plurality of second power loads that operate with a predetermined amount of power when processing targets are accumulated. The control unit sends, by the communication unit, a first instruction for changing operation timings of the first and second power loads when a shortage of the amount of power supplied to the first and second power loads is a first period, and a second instruction for reducing the number of the first and second power loads that operate when the shortage is a second period that is longer than the first period.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a server device, a power control system, and a method of operating a power control system. [Background technology]

[0002] In communities managed by local governments, companies, etc., a Community EMS (Community Energy Management System, or CEMS) is being developed to manage the overall power generation by power generation facilities distributed within the community, the power supply by the power company's power grid, and the power demand generated within the community. Various technologies have been proposed for predicting the amount of power consumption in a community in order to supply power that matches the power demand within the community. As a related technology, Patent Document 1 discloses a power consumption control device that systematically controls the power consumption of home appliances within a specified area. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-074698 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When a community is self-sufficient in electricity, if the power supply drops for some reason, it will be necessary to purchase the shortage of electricity from the grid, which will incur additional costs. There is room for improving the efficiency of controlling such power supply and demand in order to reduce costs.

[0005] The present disclosure relates to a server device and the like that enables improved efficiency in controlling power supply and demand in a community. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The server device of the present disclosure has a communication unit and a control unit that communicates with a plurality of first power loads that operate for a plurality of charging targets at different timings and amounts of power through the communication unit, and communicates with a plurality of second power loads that operate at a predetermined amount of power when the processing target accumulates, and the control unit sends, through the communication unit, a first instruction to change the operation timing of the first and second power loads when there is a shortage of power supplied to the first and second power loads for a first period, and a second instruction to reduce the number of the first and second power loads that are operating when the shortage is for a second period longer than the first period.

[0007] The power control system of the present disclosure is a power control system having a server device, a plurality of first power loads that can communicate with the server device and operate for a plurality of charging targets at different timings and amounts of power, and a plurality of second power loads that operate at a predetermined amount of power when the processing targets accumulate, wherein the server device sends a first instruction to change the operation timing of the first and second power loads when there is a shortage of power supplied to the first and second power loads for a first period, and a second instruction to reduce the number of the first and second power loads in operation when the shortage is for a second period longer than the first period.

[0008] The method of operating a power control system disclosed herein is a method of operating a power control system having a server device, a plurality of first power loads that can communicate with the server device and operate for a plurality of charging targets at different timings and amounts of power, and a plurality of second power loads that operate at a predetermined amount of power when the processing targets accumulate, and includes a step in which the server device sends a first instruction to change the operation timing of the first and second power loads when there is a shortage of power supplied to the first and second power loads during a first period, and a second instruction to reduce the number of the first and second power loads that are operating when the shortage is during a second period that is longer than the first period. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The server device and the like according to the present disclosure can improve the efficiency of power supply and demand control in a community. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a CEMS. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the server device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The following describes the embodiments.

[0012] [Example of CEMS configuration] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a CEMS in one embodiment. In this CEMS, a server device 10 manages the supply and receipt of electricity in a community 1. Hereinafter, the community 1 refers to any block or area managed by a local government, a company, or the like. The server device 10 serves as a CEMS server and is communicatively connected to a plurality of power loads 13 and 14, one or more storage batteries 15, and one or more power generation facilities 16 via a network 11. The server device 10 is also communicatively connected to a grid 12 via a network 17. The server device 10 executes information processing to instruct the power generation facility 16 to generate electricity and to purchase electricity from the grid 12 in response to the power demands of the power loads 13 and 14 distributed within the community 1. Through the operation of the server device 10, the power loads 13 and 14 receive power from the power generation facility 16 and the grid 12. The server device 10 may control the operation of the storage battery 15 to provide additional power supply to the power loads 13 and 14. The storage battery 15 and the power generation facility 16 may be located within the community 1 or may be installed outside the community 1.

[0013] The server device 10 is, for example, a server computer belonging to a cloud computing system or other computing system. The networks 11 and 17 are, for example, the Internet, an ad hoc network, a LAN, a MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), or other networks, or any combination thereof. The power loads 13 operate at different times and with different amounts of power for multiple charging targets. The power loads 13 are charging stations that operate to charge different amounts of power for each mobile store when each mobile store stops by. The power load 14 operates with a predetermined amount of power when processing targets accumulate. The power load 14 is a washing and drying facility that operates with a predetermined amount of power to wash and dry pallets used for transporting cargo by mobile objects when a certain reference amount of pallets has accumulated. The storage battery 15 is a large-scale stationary storage battery, such as a lithium-ion battery or a nickel-metal hydride battery, and its controller. The power generation facility 16 is, for example, a power generation facility using alternative energy such as solar or wind power, and its controller, or various fuel cells and their controllers.

[0014] In this embodiment, the server device 10 includes a communication unit 101 and a control unit 103. The control unit 103 communicates with a plurality of first power loads 13, each of which operates at different timings and with different amounts of power for a plurality of charging targets, via the communication unit 101, and with a plurality of second power loads 14, which operate with a predetermined amount of power when the processing targets accumulate. Furthermore, the control unit 103 transmits, via the communication unit 101, a first instruction (hereinafter referred to as a plan change instruction) for changing the operation timing of the plurality of power loads 13, 14 when the shortage of the amount of power supplied to the plurality of power loads 13, 14 occurs during a first period, and a second instruction (hereinafter referred to as a load reduction instruction) for reducing the number of operating power loads 13, 14 when the shortage occurs during a second period longer than the first period. The power loads 13 charge in response to the relatively random charging demands of individual mobile stores, while the power loads 14 start operating in a batch processing manner when a certain number of pallets accumulate. When community 1 self-supplies power for power loads 13 and 14 using power generation equipment 16 and storage battery 15, a power supply failure can cause a temporary power shortage, necessitating the purchase of power from grid 12, which can incur additional costs. In this regard, the operation of server device 10 as described above can change the operation timing of power loads 13 and 14 or reduce the number of loads in operation depending on the length of the power shortage period, thereby quickly resolving the power shortage and reducing additional costs. This makes it possible to improve the efficiency of power supply and demand control in community 1.

[0015] [Configuration of server device 10] 1, the server device 10 includes a communication unit 101, a storage unit 102, and a control unit 103. The server device 10 may be a single server computer, or may be configured with two or more computers that are communicatively connected and operate in cooperation with each other. In the case of two or more computers, the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is appropriately arranged in the two or more computers.

[0016] The communication unit 101 includes one or more communication interfaces. The communication interface is, for example, a LAN interface. The communication unit 101 receives information used in the operation of the server device 10 and transmits information obtained by the operation of the server device 10. The server device 10 is connected to a network 11 by the communication unit 101 and communicates information with power loads 13, 14, a storage battery 15, a power generation facility 16, etc. via the network 11.

[0017] The storage unit 102 includes, for example, one or more semiconductor memories, one or more magnetic memories, one or more optical memories, or a combination of at least two of them, that function as a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The semiconductor memory is, for example, a random access memory (RAM) or a read only memory (ROM). The RAM is, for example, a static RAM (SRAM) or a dynamic RAM (DRAM). The ROM is, for example, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM). The storage unit 102 stores information used in the operation of the server device 10 and information obtained by the operation of the server device 10.

[0018] The control unit 103 includes one or more processors, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The processor is, for example, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor such as a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) specialized for a specific process. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), etc. The control unit 103 executes information processing related to the operation of the server device 10 while controlling each unit of the server device 10.

[0019] The functions of the server device 10 are realized by executing a control program on a processor included in the control unit 103. The control program is a program that causes a computer to execute processing of steps included in the operation of the server device 10, thereby causing the computer to realize functions corresponding to the processing of those steps. In other words, the control program is a program that causes a computer to function as the server device 10. Also, some or all of the functions of the server device 10 may be realized by a dedicated circuit included in the control unit 103. Also, the control program may be stored in a non-transitory recording / storage medium that is readable by the server device 10, and read by the server device 10 from the medium.

[0020] [Example of operation of server device 10] Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation procedure of the server device 10. The procedure shown in Fig. 2 is executed by the control unit 103 at an arbitrary interval, for example, every one minute to every few minutes.

[0021] In step S21, the control unit 103 determines that a power shortage has occurred. For example, the control unit 103 acquires information on the power generation from the power generation facility 16 and information on whether an abnormality has been detected at an arbitrary period, for example, every few seconds to every few tens of seconds. If the power generation falls below an arbitrary standard that indicates a malfunction of the power generation facility 16, or if information indicating the detection of an abnormality has been acquired, or if both of these occur, the control unit 103 determines that a power shortage has occurred (Yes), and proceeds to step S22. If the control unit 103 determines that a power shortage has not occurred (No), it ends the processing cycle of FIG. 2.

[0022] In step S22, the control unit 103 determines whether the power shortage will continue until the target control time. The target control time is set arbitrarily, for example, one to several hours after the current time, or the earliest of the times set intermittently in advance. The time from the current time to the target control time corresponds to the "first period" in this embodiment. The control unit 103 determines whether the power shortage will continue until the target control time based on various information acquired from other servers, etc. For example, the control unit 103 determines that the power shortage will continue until the target control time when the amount of power generated by the power generation equipment 16 using solar power generation or wind power generation is insufficient and insufficient sunlight or calm is predicted based on weather forecast information. Furthermore, for example, the control unit 103 determines that the power shortage will continue until the target control time when the type of abnormality detected in the power generation equipment 16 is one that requires a long time to recover. Information on the correspondence between the type of abnormality and the recovery time used for the determination is stored in advance in the storage unit 102. The control unit 103 may acquire remaining charge information from the storage battery 15 and determine that the power shortage will continue until the target control time on the condition that the power shortage caused by the malfunction of the power generation equipment 16 cannot be compensated for by the remaining charge of the storage battery 15. If the control unit 103 determines that the power shortage will continue until the target control time (Yes), the control unit 103 proceeds to step S25. If the control unit 103 determines that the power shortage will not continue until the target control time (No), the control unit 103 proceeds to step S23.

[0023] In step S23, the control unit 103 creates a power suppression plan. The power suppression plan is a plan to change the operation timing of the power loads 13 and 14 in order to suppress peak power consumption due to the operation of the power loads 13 and 14. The control unit 103 uses an arbitrary algorithm to derive the time when the power load 13 operates to charge the mobile store and the time when the power load 14 operates to wash and dry the accumulated pallets, based on, for example, information about the mobile store's movement plan for that day and information about the pallet-based transportation plan. The pallet-based transportation plan includes, for example, the time when each of multiple pallets is brought to a cleaning facility after being used for transportation. The control unit 103 derives the time when a reference amount of pallets will be accumulated in the cleaning facility and derives the timing when the power load 14 will operate after that time. The reference amount is determined in advance according to the processing capacity of the power load 14. Furthermore, the control unit 103 integrates the amount of power consumed due to the operation of the power loads 13 and 14 for each unit time period to derive the peak amount of consumed power. Information such as the mobile store's travel plan, the amount of power consumed by the power load 13 for charging each mobile store, the transportation plan, and the amount of power consumed by the operation of the power load 14 is stored in advance in the storage unit 102. The control unit 103 then identifies a time period in which the peak exceeds an arbitrary standard, and changes the timing of the operation of the power load 13 for charging the mobile store or the operation of the power load 14 during that time period to, for example, an earlier or later time period. For example, the control unit 103 changes the operation of the power loads 13, 14 with a lower priority. The priority is determined in advance in accordance with the economic value expected from the operation of the power loads 13, 14. The economic value is arbitrarily set based on, for example, the profit expected from the operation of the mobile store or the profit expected from the transport of pallets by the mobile unit. The priority information is stored in advance in the storage unit 102.

[0024] In the power suppression plan, the control unit 103 may change the charging speed when the power load 13 operates to charge the mobile object. For example, when the power load 13 charges the mobile object, the control unit 103 can instruct the operation of the power load 13 to perform rapid charging until the SOC (State of Charge) value of the storage battery of the mobile object reaches 80%, and then perform slow charging thereafter. This makes it possible to level out the integrated value of power consumption in a unit time period and suppress peaks.

[0025] In step S24, the control unit 103 sends a plan change instruction. Based on the power suppression plan, the control unit 103 sends an instruction to change the operation timing to the power loads 13, 14 whose operation timing should be changed. After executing step S24, the control unit 103 ends the processing cycle of FIG. 2.

[0026] In step S25, the control unit 103 determines whether the contracted power is exceeded. The control unit 103 determines whether the power shortage that continues until the target control time can be made up by the contracted power from the grid 12, based on information about the amount of power available from the contracted power. Information about the amount of power available from the contracted power is stored in advance in the storage unit 102. The control unit 103 may determine whether the power shortage can be made up by taking into account the remaining capacity of the storage battery 15 being used for consumption. If the control unit 103 determines that the power shortage cannot be made up by the contracted power, that is, that the contracted power is exceeded (Yes), the control unit 103 proceeds to step S26. If the control unit 103 determines that the contracted power is not exceeded (No), the control unit 103 ends the processing cycle of FIG. 2.

[0027] In step S26, the control unit 103 creates a power restriction plan in the same manner as in step S23. Then, in step S27, the control unit 103 determines whether the contracted power will be exceeded if the power restriction plan is executed. If the control unit 103 determines that the contracted power will be exceeded (Yes), the control unit 103 proceeds to step S28. If the control unit 103 determines that the contracted power will not be exceeded (No), the control unit 103 proceeds to step S24, sends a plan change instruction, and ends the processing cycle of FIG. 2.

[0028] In step S28, the control unit 103 creates a load reduction plan. The load reduction plan is a plan to reduce the number of operating power loads 13, 14 in order to reduce the total amount of power consumed by the operation of the operating power loads 13, 14. The control unit 103 derives the times at which the power loads 13, 14 will operate using an arbitrary algorithm, based on, for example, information on the mobile store's movement plan for that day, information on the pallet-based transportation plan, etc. Furthermore, the control unit 103 integrates the amount of power consumed by the operation of the power loads 13, 14 for each arbitrary unit time period to derive the peak amount of power consumption. The amount of power consumed by the operation of the power loads 13, 14 is predetermined for each power load based on actual measurements, etc., and this information is stored in the memory unit 102. The control unit 103 derives the amount of power consumed by the operation of the power loads 13, 14 using the information stored in the memory unit 102. Then, the control unit 103 identifies a time period in which the peak exceeds an arbitrary standard, and suspends operation of the power load 13 or the power load 14 during that time period. For example, the control unit 103 suspends the operation of the power load 13, 14 that has a lower priority, i.e., a lower economic value.

[0029] In step S29, the control unit 103 sends a load reduction instruction. Based on the load reduction plan, the control unit 103 sends an instruction to stop operation to the power loads 13, 14 that should stop operation. After executing step S29, the control unit 103 ends the processing cycle of FIG. 2.

[0030] As described above, according to this embodiment, by changing the operation timing of the power loads 13, 14 or reducing the number of loads in operation depending on the length of the power shortage period, it is possible to quickly resolve the power shortage and reduce additional costs. Furthermore, by changing the operation depending on the economic value of the power loads 13, 14, it is possible to reduce additional costs associated with purchasing power and optimize the economic value. In other words, it is possible to improve the efficiency of power supply and demand control in the community 1.

[0031] In the above-described embodiment, the processing / control program that defines the operation of the control unit 103 of the server device 10 may be stored in the memory unit 102 of the server device 10 or in the memory unit of another server device, and may be downloaded to each device via the network 11, or may be stored in a non-transitory recording / storage medium that is readable by each device, and may be read from the medium by each device.

[0032] Although the embodiments have been described above based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that those skilled in the art can easily make various modifications and alterations based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are included in the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the functions included in each means, step, etc. can be rearranged so as not to be logically inconsistent, and multiple means, steps, etc. can be combined or divided into one. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] 1. Community 10 Server device 11, 17 Network 12 strains 13, 14 Power load 15 Storage battery 16 Power generation facilities 101 Communications Department 102 Storage section 103 Control Unit

Claims

1. The Communications Department and a control unit that communicates with a plurality of first power loads that operate for a plurality of charging targets at different timings and with different amounts of power, and communicates with a plurality of second power loads that operate with a predetermined amount of power when a processing target accumulates, using the communication unit; the control unit transmits, via the communication unit, a first instruction to change operation timings of the first and second power loads when the shortage of the amount of power supplied to the first and second power loads occurs during a first period, and a second instruction to reduce the number of the first and second power loads in operation when the shortage occurs during a second period longer than the first period. Server device.

2. In claim 1, The control unit further sends an instruction to the plurality of first power loads to reduce a charging rate of the object to be charged. Server device.

3. In claim 1, the control unit transmits the first or second instruction to the first or second power load having a lower priority based on information on the priority of the first and second power loads; Server device.

4. A power control system including a server device, a plurality of first power loads that can communicate with the server device and operate for a plurality of charging targets at different timings and with different amounts of power, and a plurality of second power loads that operate with a predetermined amount of power when a processing target accumulates, the server device transmits a first instruction to change the operation timings of the first and second power loads when the shortage of the amount of power supplied to the first and second power loads occurs during a first period, and transmits a second instruction to reduce the number of the first and second power loads in operation when the shortage occurs during a second period longer than the first period; Power control system.

5. An operation method of a power control system having a server device, a plurality of first power loads that can communicate with the server device and operate for a plurality of charging targets at different timings and with different amounts of power, and a plurality of second power loads that operate with a predetermined amount of power when a processing target accumulates, the server device transmitting a first instruction to change the operation timings of the first and second power loads when the shortage of the amount of power supplied to the first and second power loads occurs during a first period, and a second instruction to reduce the number of the first and second power loads in operation when the shortage occurs during a second period longer than the first period; How the power control system operates.

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