Demand Control Device Rotating Appliance Groups
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional demand control technologies inconvenience users by maintaining power-saving operations for extended periods, as they selectively target low-priority appliances without efficiently managing total power consumption within the upper limit of the power supply, potentially leading to blackouts in critical situations.
Innovation Solution
A demand control system that measures total power consumption, calculates a target power-saving amount, and dynamically selects and recombines electric appliances to operate at reduced power levels for specific times, ensuring the total power consumption does not exceed the supply limit, while minimizing prolonged inconvenience to users by rotating the demand control among appliances based on elapsed time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If conventional demand control continuously maintains power-saving operation on low-priority appliances, then total power consumption is reduced to prevent exceeding supply limits, but user convenience deteriorates due to prolonged power-saving operation
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic demand control by alternating between different groups of appliances. When demand control is applied to a group, it operates for a predetermined period, then switches to another group. This periodic switching ensures that no single appliance remains in power-saving mode indefinitely, thus maintaining user convenience while still achieving overall power consumption reduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts which appliances are subject to demand control based on elapsed time and group switching. The apparatus calculation unit determines new groups of appliances to apply demand control to, creating a dynamic allocation that adapts over time rather than statically fixing which appliances are controlled, thereby balancing power savings with user convenience.
2Loss of energy
If demand control targets specific low-priority appliances, then power-saving operation is achieved, but the control system complexity increases due to priority management and continuous monitoring
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments appliances into multiple groups and applies demand control to one group at a time rather than continuously monitoring and controlling all appliances individually. This segmentation simplifies the control logic by dividing the complex task of managing multiple appliances into manageable time-based segments, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining effective power-saving operation.
Data Source
AI summary
For each of the electric apparatuses belonging to an electric apparatus combination that was created by an apparatus calculation unit according to a target power-saving amount, a demand control information creation unit creates demand control information including a predetermined power corresponding to the target power-saving amount and a predetermined time of operating at this power. A demand request creation unit creates a demand request which is a signal which requests operation based on the demand control information for the apparatuses in the combination. When the predetermined time elapses, the apparatus calculation unit selects at least one or more apparatuses other than the apparatuses which are currently selected and additionally creates a new combination that is different from the current combination according to predetermined rules, and a communication unit sends the demand control information to the apparatus selected by the apparatus calculation unit.