Facility Equipment Control for Time-Slot Energy Suppression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users' comfort is compromised when energy consumption is excessively suppressed during peak energy demand hours due to time-of-use energy unit price schemes, leading to impaired comfort levels.
Innovation Solution
A control device that divides a period into three time slots: one with peak energy unit price suppression, one prior with lower suppression, and one subsequent with suppression intensity equal to or less than the peak, ensuring comfort is maintained while optimizing energy adjustment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If energy consumption is suppressed during peak hours to reduce energy costs, then energy cost is reduced, but user comfort is impaired
Solution Approach 1:
The control device segments the time period into multiple time slots (first time slot with peak suppression, second time slot prior to peak with lower suppression, and third time slot subsequent to peak with suppression intensity equal to or less than peak). This segmentation allows different suppression intensities to be applied to different time periods, thereby reducing overall energy cost while maintaining user comfort during critical periods.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device applies local quality by implementing differentiated suppression intensities for different time slots. The first time slot experiences highest suppression intensity to capture peak price benefits, while the second and third time slots have lower suppression intensities to maintain comfort, creating a localized optimization strategy rather than uniform suppression.
2Loss of energy
If energy consumption is strongly suppressed during peak hours, then energy cost is reduced, but comfort is severely impaired
Solution Approach 1:
The control device implements dynamic suppression intensity adjustment based on time slot characteristics. The suppression intensity is highest during the first time slot (peak hours) and transitions to lower intensities during the second and third time slots. This dynamic adjustment ensures that comfort is maintained during periods when strong suppression would be harmful, while still achieving significant cost reduction during peak pricing periods.
3Loss of energy
If energy adjustment control is applied uniformly across all time slots, then energy cost is reduced, but flexibility in maintaining comfort is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The control device divides the time period into distinct segments (time slots) with different suppression characteristics. This segmentation enables flexible energy adjustment by allowing the system to apply appropriate suppression intensities to each segment based on pricing conditions and comfort requirements, rather than applying a uniform suppression strategy across all hours.
Data Source
AI summary
The control device controls facility equipment and includes a receiving unit, first and second decision units and an adjustment control unit. The receiving unit receives time-of-use unit price information of an energy supplied to the facility equipment. The first decision unit decides a first time slot in which an index that includes a factor of an energy unit price approaches a peak in a first period based on the time-of-use unit price information. The second decision unit decides a second time slot prior to the first time slot and a third time slot subsequent to the first time slot in the first period. The adjustment control unit executes an energy adjustment control to adjust an energy consumption of the facility equipment so that an amount of suppression of the energy consumption is higher in the first time slot than in the second and the third time slots.