JP6719672B2 - Control device, power management system, information presentation method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a control device, a power management system, an information presentation method, and a program.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there have been an increasing number of cases in which electric power consumers themselves in ordinary households own power generation facilities that generate natural energy such as sunlight and wind power. Such an electric power consumer can reduce the electric power purchased from the commercial electric power system by consuming the electric power generated by the electric power generation equipment.

For example, in Patent Document 1, the user uses hot water to be used the next day by generating electric power generated by solar power generation in the daytime of the next day instead of generating hot water by using commercial power at midnight. Disclosed is a hot-water storage water heater that reduces commercial power.

JP, 2008-002703, A

By the way, when the hot water is boiled using solar power generation to reduce the commercial power used at night as in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the amount of hot water boiled at night is reduced accordingly. .. For this reason, for example, when using more hot water than usual in the morning, hot water may run out. However, as for the technique of presenting the effect of boiling the hot water by using the electric power of the power generation facility to the user in advance, no practical proposal has been made yet.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a control device or the like that allows the user to intuitively understand the influence of the boiling operation of the water heater utilizing the surplus power generated by the power generation equipment. The purpose is to

In order to achieve the above object, the control device according to the present invention,
In the demand area, a time acquisition means for acquiring the longest duration that can perform the boiling operation of the water heater with only the surplus power, based on the predicted transition of the surplus power generated by the power generation facility,
A first hot water amount calculating means for calculating a first hot water amount, which is a hot water amount when the boiling operation is performed only with commercial power, based on the longest duration and the predicted hot water supply amount per day of the water heater.
Second hot water amount calculating means for calculating a second hot water amount, which is a hot water amount when the boiling operation is performed only with the surplus power, based on the first hot water amount and the predicted hot water supply amount,
The output terminal is provided with a presentation unit that presents notification information including information about the first amount of hot water and information about the second amount of hot water to the user.

The present invention relates to information about a first amount of hot water, which is the amount of hot water when the boiling operation of the water heater is performed only with commercial power, and information about the second amount of hot water, which is the amount of hot water when the boiling operation is performed only with surplus power. , To the user. Therefore, according to the present invention, the user can intuitively understand the influence of the boiling operation of the water heater utilizing the surplus power.

The figure which shows the whole structure of the power management system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of transition of generated power and total power consumption in the embodiment The figure which shows the structure of the heat pump unit with which the water heater which concerns on embodiment is equipped. Block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a control device according to an embodiment Block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the management server according to the embodiment Block diagram showing a functional configuration of a management server according to an embodiment The figure which shows the information memorize|stored in the database in embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the prediction information in embodiment. Block diagram showing a functional configuration of a control device according to an embodiment The figure which shows an example of the calendar information in embodiment. Block diagram showing the configuration of the operation setting unit according to the embodiment The figure which shows the example of transition of the amount of hot water storage in the water heater which concerns on embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the setting screen in embodiment The figure which shows the 1st example of the permission screen in embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the driving notification screen in embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the effect notification screen in embodiment. Flowchart showing the flow of control processing executed by the control device according to the embodiment The flowchart which shows the flow of the boiling water quantity determination processing of one day performed by the control apparatus which concerns on embodiment. The flowchart which shows the flow of the calendar margin determination process performed by the control apparatus which concerns on embodiment. Flowchart showing a flow of seasonal margin determination processing executed by the control device according to the embodiment Flowchart showing the flow of nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation processing executed by the control device according to the embodiment Flowchart showing the flow of common processing executed by the control device according to the embodiment The flowchart which shows the flow of the 1st process performed by the control apparatus which concerns on embodiment. The flowchart which shows the flow of the 2nd process performed by the control apparatus which concerns on embodiment. Flowchart showing the flow of information generation processing executed by the control device according to the embodiment The flowchart which shows the flow of the boiling process performed by the control apparatus which concerns on embodiment. The flowchart which shows the flow of the effect notification process performed by the control apparatus which concerns on embodiment. The figure which shows the whole structure of the power management system which concerns on the modification of this invention. The figure which shows the 2nd example of the permission screen The figure which shows the 3rd example of the permission screen The figure which shows the 4th example of the permission screen The figure which shows the 5th example of the permission screen Figure showing another example of the driving notification screen The flowchart which shows the flow of the calendar margin determination process performed by the control apparatus which concerns on the modification of this invention. Flowchart showing the flow of seasonal margin determination processing executed by the control device according to a modification of the present invention

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The same or corresponding parts in the drawings are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a power management system 1 according to the embodiment. The power management system 1 is a so-called HEMS (Home Energy Management System) system that manages the power consumed in the house H. As shown in FIG. 1, the power management system 1 includes a power generation facility 2, a power measuring device 3, a water heater 4, a plurality of electric devices 5 (5a, 5b,... ), a control device 6, and an operation terminal. 7, a management server 8, and a weather server 9.

<Power generation equipment 2>
The power generation facility 2 is a private power generation facility that is installed in the house H and that generates power using sunlight, which is natural energy. The commercial power system 10 supplies electric power to an unspecified large number of demand areas including the house H, whereas the power generation facility 2 is owned by a specific customer and supplies electric power to the house H which is a specific demand area. To do. The power generation facility 2 is also called a distributed power source.

The power generation facility 2 includes a PV (Photovoltaic) panel 20 for solar power generation, and a PV-PCS 21 that is a power conditioning system. The PV panel 20 is, for example, a polycrystalline silicon type solar panel. The PV panel 20 is installed on the roof of the house H, and converts solar energy into electric energy to generate electricity.

The PV-PCS 21 receives the power generated by the PV panel 20, and outputs the supplied power to the distribution board 11 via the power line D2. At that time, the PV-PCS 21 converts the electric power supplied from the PV panel 20 from DC power to AC power at a specified conversion efficiency so as to be used in the house H, and outputs the converted power.

Although not shown, the PV-PCS 21 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a wireless communication interface, and a readable/writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory. The PV-PCS 21 communicates with the control device 6 via a home network (not shown) built in the house H. The home network is, for example, a network conforming to ECHONET Lite. The PV-PCS 21 may be connected to the home network via an external communication adapter (not shown).

<Power measuring device 3>
The power measuring device 3 measures the value of the power transmitted through each of the power lines D1 to D3 arranged in the house H. The power line D1 is provided between the commercial power system 10 and the distribution board 11, the power line D2 is provided between the power generation facility 2 and the distribution board 11, and the power line D3 is provided as the distribution board 11. It is arranged between the water heater 4. The power measuring device 3 is connected to each of CTs (Current Transformers) 1 to CT3 connected to the power lines D1 to D3 via communication lines. CT1 to CT3 are sensors that measure alternating current.

The CT1 arranged on the power line D1 measures the power P1 supplied from the commercial power system 10 to the house H. The electric power P1 corresponds to the commercial electric power that is the electric power purchased from the electric utility by the customer in the house H. The CT2 arranged on the power line D2 measures the power P2 output from the power generation equipment 2 to the distribution board 11. The electric power P2 is electric power generated by the power generation facility 2, is supplied to the house H, and corresponds to electric power that can be used in the house H. The CT3 arranged on the power line D3 measures the power P3 supplied from the distribution board 11 to the water heater 4. Electric power P3 corresponds to the electric power consumed in water heater 4.

Electric power Pt, which is the total electric power consumed by all the electric devices in the house H including the water heater 4 and the plurality of electric devices 5, is electric power P1 measured by CT1, electric power P2 measured by CT2, and Is equivalent to the sum of.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a day-long transition of the electric power P2 and the electric power Pt in a general household. The curve indicated by the solid line in FIG. 2 represents the transition of the electric power P2, and becomes large during the daytime, with the peak at noon when the amount of solar radiation increases. On the other hand, the curve shown by the broken line in FIG. 2 represents the electric power Pt and increases from afternoon to evening.

When the electric power P2 is smaller than the electric power Pt as in the periods T1 and T3 in FIG. 2, the electric power P2 alone cannot supply the electric power required by the house H, so that the electric power is supplied from the commercial electric power system 10, that is, the power purchase. There is a need to. Therefore, the power P1, which is commercial power, has a positive value. On the other hand, when the electric power P2 is larger than the electric power Pt, as in the period T2 in FIG. 2, the consumer of the house H supplies the surplus electric power to the commercial power system 10 as reverse power to generate electric power. Power can be sold to persons, that is, sold. In this way, the fact that the electric power is supplied from the house H to the commercial electric power system 10 so that the electric power returns from the consumer side to the electric power company side is called “reverse power flow”. While the reverse power flow is occurring, the power P1 has a negative value, and the reverse power (sold power) is represented as (-P1).

Further, the power measuring device 3 has a wireless communication interface and communicates with the control device 6 via the home network. The power measuring device 3 may have a specification to be connected to the home network via an external communication adapter (not shown).

The power measuring device 3 stores data in which the device ID (identification) of the device itself, the current time (meaning the measurement time), the measured values of the powers P1 to P3, and the power line ID of each power line are associated with each other. The power measurement data including, is periodically transmitted to the control device 6 (for example, every one minute). The device ID is an ID for identifying a device (power measuring device 3, water heater 4, electric device 5 (5a, 5b,... )) connected to the control device 6. The power line ID is an ID for identifying the power line. The measured value of the electric power transmitted to the control device 6 by the electric power measuring device 3 may be expressed in the unit of electric power (watt), or the electric power may be integrated over a preset integration time. It may be represented by a unit of the amount of electric power.

<Water heater 4>
Returning to FIG. 1, the hot water supply device 4 is a hot water storage type hot water supply device including a heat pump unit 40 and a tank unit 41. The heat pump unit 40 and the tank unit 41 are connected by a water pipe 42 through which hot water flows. The water heater 4 is electrically connected to the commercial power system 10 and the power generation facility 2 via the power line D3 branched by the distribution board 11, and operates by obtaining power from the commercial power system 10 or the power generation facility 2. To do.

The heat pump unit 40 is a heat pump type heat source device using CO ₂ (carbon dioxide) or HFC (hydrofluorocarbon) as a refrigerant. The heat pump unit 40 uses the ambient air as a heat source to boil the low temperature water in the hot water storage tank 410 into high temperature water. As shown in FIG. 3, the heat pump unit 40 includes a compressor 400, a first heat exchanger 401, an expansion valve 402, a second heat exchanger 403, a blower 404, a water pump 405, and a control unit. A substrate 406.

The compressor 400, the first heat exchanger 401, the expansion valve 402, and the second heat exchanger 403 are annularly connected by a refrigerant pipe 407. As a result, a refrigerant circuit in which the refrigerant circulates is formed. The refrigerant circuit is also called a heat pump or a refrigeration cycle. The water pipe 42 starts from the lower part of the hot water storage tank 410 and returns to the upper part of the hot water storage tank 410 via the water pump 405 and the first heat exchanger 401. As a result, a boiling circuit in which hot and cold water circulates is formed.

The compressor 400 compresses a refrigerant and raises temperature and pressure. The compressor 400 includes an inverter circuit that can change the capacity, which is the delivery amount per unit, according to the drive frequency. The compressor 400 changes the above capacity according to an instruction from the control board 406.

The first heat exchanger 401 is a heating source for heating the city water to a target boiling temperature. The boiling temperature is also called hot water storage temperature. The first heat exchanger 401 is a plate-type, double-pipe type heat exchanger, etc., and performs heat exchange between the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant pipe 407 and the water sent from the hot water storage tank 410. Due to the heat exchange in the first heat exchanger 401, the refrigerant radiates heat to lower the temperature and the water absorbs heat to raise the temperature.

The expansion valve 402 expands the refrigerant to lower the temperature and pressure. The expansion valve 402 changes the valve opening degree according to an instruction from the control board 406.

The second heat exchanger 403 exchanges heat between the outside air sent by the blower 404 and the refrigerant. Due to the heat exchange in the second heat exchanger 403, the refrigerant absorbs heat to raise the temperature, and the outside air radiates heat to lower the temperature.

The water pump 405 conveys the low temperature water from the lower part of the hot water storage tank 410 to the first heat exchanger 401. The water pump 405 includes an inverter circuit, and changes the drive rotation speed in accordance with a control value instructed by the control board 406 to change the water flow rate during transportation.

The control board 406 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a communication interface, and a readable/writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory. The control board 406 is communicably connected to each of the compressor 400, the expansion valve 402, the blower 404, and the water pump 405 via a communication line (not shown), and controls these operations. The control board 406 is communicatively connected to the hot water supply controller 411 of the tank unit 41 via a communication line (not shown).

Returning to FIG. 1, the tank unit 41 includes a hot water storage tank 410, a hot water supply controller 411, and a mixing valve 412. These components are housed in a metal outer case.

The hot water storage tank 410 is made of metal such as stainless steel or resin. A heat insulating material is arranged outside the hot water storage tank 410. Thereby, the hot water can be kept warm in the hot water storage tank 410 for a long time.

Although not shown, the hot water supply controller 411 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a communication interface, and a readable/writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory, and controls the hot water supply device 4 as a whole. The hot water supply controller 411 is communicably connected to the control board 406 of the heat pump unit 40 via a communication line (not shown). Further, hot water supply controller 411 is communicably connected to remote controller 44 via communication line 43. Further, the hot water supply controller 411 is communicably connected to the control device 6 via the home network.

The remote controller 44 is installed in the bathroom of the house H, and receives hot water from the user for inputting operation regarding boiling, hot water supply, etc., and displaying the operating state of the water heater 4, hot water storage state, etc. to the user. It is a terminal device dedicated to the machine 4.

Although not shown, the remote controller 44 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a readable/writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory, a push button, a touch panel, an input device such as a touch pad, a display device such as an organic EL display and a liquid crystal display, and the like. It has a communication interface.

Next, the basic operation of the water heater 4 will be described. The water heater 4 roughly performs a boiling operation and a hot water supplying operation.
<<Boiling operation>>
At the start of the boiling operation, the high temperature water in the hot water storage tank 410 is consumed, and low temperature water near the temperature of city water is stored in the lower portion of the hot water storage tank 410. By operating the water pump 405, this low-temperature water enters the first heat exchanger 401 of the heat pump unit 40 and is heated by heat exchange with the refrigerant to become high-temperature water. This high temperature water is returned to the upper part of the hot water storage tank 410, and in the hot water storage tank 410, temperature stratification is formed by retaining high temperature water in the upper part and low temperature water in the lower part, and forming a temperature boundary between the high temperature water and the low temperature water. A layer is created.

When the boiling amount increases and the area of the high-temperature water increases, the temperature boundary layer approaches the lower portion of the hot water storage tank 410, and the temperature of water entering the first heat exchanger 401 gradually rises.

<<Hot water supply operation>>
A hot water outlet pipe is connected to an upper portion of the hot water storage tank 410, and high temperature water discharged from the hot water storage tank 410 via the hot water outlet pipe is mixed with city water by a mixing valve 412. Thereby, hot water having a temperature desired by the user (for example, 40° C.) is supplied to hot water supply terminals such as the shower 45 and the faucet 46 arranged in the bathroom. At this time, in the hot water storage tank 410, city water is supplied from a water supply pipe (not shown) connected to the lower portion of the hot water tank 410 due to the volume of the high temperature water flowing out from the upper portion and the water pressure. As a result, the temperature boundary layer moves upward in the hot water storage tank 410. When the high-temperature water becomes less than the preset hot water storage amount Won, the water heater 4 performs additional boiling.

The hot water pipe described above is provided with a hot water amount sensor (not shown) for measuring the hot water amount (also called hot water supply amount), which is the amount of hot water discharged from the hot water storage tank 410. The amount of hot water used corresponds to the amount of hot water used in the house H. Further, the hot water storage tank 410 is provided with a hot water storage amount sensor (not shown) that measures the hot water storage amount, which is the amount of hot water stored in the hot water storage tank 410. The hot water amount sensor and the hot water storage amount sensor are communicably connected to the hot water supply controller 411 via a communication line (not shown). The hot water supply controller 411 generates hot water amount measurement data including the used hot water amount obtained by the measurement of the hot water amount sensor and the hot water storage amount obtained by the measurement of the hot water amount sensor, and periodically transmits the hot water amount measurement data to the control device 6. Specifically, the hot water supply controller 411 generates hot water amount measurement data every minute and transmits the hot water amount measurement data to the control device 6. The transmitted hot water amount measurement data includes the device ID of the water heater 4 and the measurement time.

The water heater 4 has a plurality of control modes, and boils the hot water according to any one of the control modes selected by the user. Specifically, the water heater 4 has a control mode including a stop mode, a normal mode, a larger mode, a smaller mode, an automatic mode, and a suggestion mode. Details of each control mode will be described later.

<Electrical equipment 5a, 5b,...>
The electric devices 5 (electric devices 5a, 5b,...) Are electric devices such as an air conditioner, an illuminator, a floor heating system, a refrigerator, an IH (Induction Heating) cooker, and a television. The electric devices 5a, 5b,... Are installed in the house H or the site thereof, and are electrically connected to the commercial power system 10 and the power generation facility 2 via the power lines D4, D5,. Has been done.

Each electric device 5 has a wireless communication interface and communicates with the control device 6 via the home network. Each electric device 5 may be connected to the home network via an external communication adapter (not shown). In response to the request from the control device 6, each electric device 5 transmits the operation state data, which stores the device ID, the current time, and the information indicating the current operation state, to the control device 6 via the home network. ..

<Control device 6>
The control device 6 is an information collecting unit that is installed in an appropriate place in the house H and collects information transmitted from each device installed in the house H via the home network. The control device 6 is, for example, a HEMS controller capable of integrally controlling each device installed in the house H. As shown in FIG. 4, the control device 6 includes a control unit 60, a storage unit 61, a timer unit 62, a home communication unit 63, and an outside communication unit 64. These units are connected via a bus 65.

The control unit 60 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, which are not shown. The CPU is a processing unit that executes various processes and calculations, and is also called a central processing unit, a central processing unit, a processor, a microprocessor, a microcomputer, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or the like. In the control unit 60, the CPU reads out the programs and data stored in the ROM and uses the RAM as a work area to integrally control the control device 6.

The storage unit 61 is, for example, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and is a so-called secondary storage device (auxiliary storage). Also referred to as a device)). The storage unit 61 stores various programs and data used by the control unit 60 to perform various processes, and various data generated or acquired by the control unit 60 performing various processes.

The time counting unit 62 is a time counting device that includes an RTC (Real Time Clock) and continues time counting while the power supply of the control device 6 is off.

The home communication unit 63 includes a NIC (Network Interface Card controller) for communicating via the home network built in the house H. Under the control of the control unit 60, the in-home communication unit 63 communicates with each of the power generation facility 2, the power measuring device 3, the water heater 4 and the electric device 5 via the in-home network.

The in-home communication unit 63 also includes an NIC for performing wireless communication or wired communication with the operation terminal 7. The in-home communication unit 63 communicates with the operation terminal 7 in accordance with known communication standards such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Wi-SUN (registered trademark), and wired LAN.

The out-of-home communication unit 64 includes a communication interface for connecting to the wide area network N via the router 12, and under the control of the control unit 60, the outside including the management server 8 and the weather server 9 via the wide area network N. Communicate with other devices. The router 12 is a device capable of communicating with an external device via the wide area network N, and is, for example, a broadband router. The wide area network N is, for example, the Internet.

Details of the function of the control device 6 will be described later.

<Operation terminal 7>
Returning to FIG. 1, the operation terminal 7 is a mobile device such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a mobile phone, or a laptop computer, and functions as a user interface. The operation terminal 7 is an example of the output terminal according to the present invention. The operation terminal 7 includes an input device such as a push button, a touch panel, and a touch pad, a display device such as an organic EL (Electroluminescence) display and a liquid crystal display, and a communication interface. The operation terminal 7 receives an operation from the user and transmits information indicating the received operation content to the control device 6. Further, the operation terminal 7 receives the information transmitted from the control device 6 for presenting to the user, and presents the received information to the user.

<Management server 8>
The management server 8 is a server that is managed by the manufacturer of the control device 6, a sales company, or the like, and causes the power management system 1 to function in cooperation with the control device 6. The management server 8 is a server that provides resources in cloud computing, for example. The management server 8 manages the energy usage status in the customer's house including the house H. As shown in FIG. 5, the management server 8 includes a control unit 80, a storage unit 81, and a communication unit 82. These respective units are connected via a bus 83.

The control unit 80 includes a CPU, ROM and RAM. The CPU is a processing unit that executes various processes and calculations, and is also called a central processing unit, a central processing unit, a processor, a microprocessor, a microcomputer, a DSP, or the like. In the control unit 80, the CPU reads out the programs and data stored in the ROM, and uses the RAM as a work area to centrally control the management server 8.

The storage unit 81 is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory, an EPROM, an EEPROM, or an HDD, and plays a role as a so-called secondary storage device. The storage unit 81 stores programs and data used by the control unit 80 to perform various processes, and data generated or acquired by the control unit 80 performing various processes.

The communication unit 82 includes a communication interface for connecting to the wide area network N, and communicates with the control device 6 and the weather server 9 via the wide area network N under the control of the control unit 80. Details of the functions of the management server 8 will be described later.

<Weather server 9>
Returning to FIG. 1, the meteorological server 9 is a data server operated by the Meteorological Agency, a meteorological business operator, etc., and provides meteorological information to the general public. The weather information is information on weather forecasts and results such as weather, temperature, solar radiation amount, sunshine duration, wind direction, and the like. The weather server 9 is communicably connected to the control device 6 installed in each demand area via the wide area network N, and delivers the weather information via the wide area network N.

Next, the function of the management server 8 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 6, the management server 8 functionally includes a weather information acquisition unit 800, an electric power acquisition unit 810, a hot water amount acquisition unit 820, a prediction unit 830, a predicted information transmission unit 840, and hot water amount information generation. A unit 850 and a hot water amount information transmission unit 860 are provided. Each of these functions is realized by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. The software and the firmware are described as a program and stored in the ROM or the storage unit 81 of the management server 8. Then, in the control unit 80, the CPU realizes the function of each unit by executing the program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 81. The management server 8 also includes a database 870. The database 870 is constructed in the storage area of the storage unit 81.

The weather information acquisition unit 800 is realized by the control unit 80 cooperating with the communication unit 82, and acquires the weather information from the weather server 9. The meteorological information includes weather forecasts that are forecasts of weather, an amount of solar radiation, sunshine hours, temperatures, and the like in an area including the house H, and meteorological records that are past results of these. Is used as a parameter for predicting the power P2.

The weather information acquisition unit 800 transmits a request to the weather server 9 via the wide area network N, and acquires weather information from the weather server 9 as a response to the request. The weather information acquisition unit 800 acquires weather information from the weather server 9 every time the weather information is updated in the weather server 9, and stores the acquired weather information in the database 870.

The electric power acquisition unit 810 is realized by the control unit 80 cooperating with the communication unit 82, and the measured value of the electric power P1 that is the commercial electric power and the measured value of the electric power P2 that is the generated electric power from the control device 6 of each customer. And the measured value of the electric power P3 supplied to the water heater 4 and the measured value of the electric power Pt which is the total power consumption in the house H. Specifically, in the power acquisition unit 810, the power history data in which the history of the measured values of the powers P1 to P3 and Pt for a certain period (for example, one hour) is stored in the wide area network N by the control device 6 described later. When it is transmitted via the power transmission unit, the power history data is received and the history of the measured values of each power is acquired. The power acquisition unit 810 stores the acquired history of measured values of each power in the database 870. Further, the power acquisition unit 810 subtracts each history of the measured values of the power P3 from each history of the measured values of the power Pt to calculate the value of power consumption (hereinafter, referred to as the power Pc), and calculates these values. It is stored in the database 870 as a history of measured values of the power Pc.

The measured values of the electric powers P1 to P3 and Pt acquired by the electric power acquisition unit 810 may be expressed in units of electric power (watt), or the electric power may be integrated over a preset integration time. It may be expressed in units of electric energy.

The hot water amount acquisition unit 820 is realized by the control unit 80 cooperating with the communication unit 82, and acquires the measured value of the amount of hot water used and the measured value of the stored hot water amount from the control device 6 of each customer. More specifically, the hot water amount acquisition unit 820 stores the hot water amount history data in which the history of the measured value of the used hot water amount and the measured value of the hot water storage amount for a certain period (for example, one hour) is stored by the control device 6 described later. Is transmitted via the wide area network N, the hot water amount history data is received and the history of the measured values of the used hot water amount and the stored hot water amount is acquired. The hot water amount acquisition unit 820 stores the history of the acquired measurement values in the database 870.

The database 870 is, for each customer, the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 800, the measured values of the electric powers P1 to P3 and Pt acquired by the power acquisition unit 810, the hot water amount acquired by the hot water amount acquisition unit 820, and The measured value of the amount of stored hot water is stored. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the database 870 includes weather forecast information 871, meteorological record information 872, generated power information 873, power consumption information 874, hot water amount information 875, and hot water storage amount information. 876 and are stored.

The weather forecast information 871 is information indicating the weather forecast of the next day in the area including the house H. The meteorological record information 872 is information indicating past meteorological records in the area including the house H. The generated power information 873 is information indicating the measured value of the power P2 that is the generated power in the house H. The power consumption information 874 is information indicating the measured values of the power P1, P3, and Pt in the house H. The amount of hot water used 875 is information indicating the measured value of the amount of hot water used in the house H. Hot water storage amount information 876 is information indicating the measured value of the hot water storage amount in hot water storage tank 410 of water heater 4. The meteorological record information 872, the generated power information 873, and the power consumption information 874 are the meteorological record for a predetermined accumulation period (for example, one year), the measured value of the electric power P2, and the measured values of the electric powers P1, P3, and Pt. , Are stored in chronological order. Further, the used hot water amount information 875 and the stored hot water amount information 876 respectively store the measured value of the used hot water amount and the measured value of the hot water storage amount for the above accumulation period in chronological order. These pieces of information stored in the database 870 are updated each time data is acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 800, the power acquisition unit 810, or the hot water amount acquisition unit 820.

Returning to FIG. 6, the prediction unit 830 is realized by the control unit 80 cooperating with the storage unit 81, the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit 800, and the power P2 acquired by the power acquisition unit 810. , P3, Pt and the measured values of Pt, the transition of the surplus power in the house H on the next day is predicted. The surplus power (hereinafter, referred to as power Ps) here refers to excess power when the power P2 that is the power generated by the power generation facility 2 exceeds the power Pc that is the power consumption of the house H. .. That is, the power Ps corresponds to the difference between the power P2 and the power Pc.

Hereinafter, the prediction of the transition of the power Ps that is the surplus power will be described in detail. First, the prediction unit 830 predicts the transition of the power P2 that is the power generated by the house H on the next day. Therefore, the prediction unit 830 creates a power generation prediction model based on the weather record information 872 and the generated power information 873 stored in the database 870. The power generation prediction model is a model for predicting the power P2, and measures the measured value of the power P2 for a predetermined target period (for example, 2 weeks to 1 month) before today before the time (for example, 1 This is a model in which electric power P2 is averaged in each group by grouping by time (in minutes) and weather.

In detail, the prediction unit 830 refers to the past meteorological results in the target period, groups the measured values of the power P2 at each time in the target period by weather such as sunny, cloudy, and rain, The average value of the measured values of the power P2 in each group is calculated. Then, the prediction unit 830 creates a power generation prediction model by associating the calculated average value of the measured values of the power P2 with each time and weather.

The prediction unit 830 acquires the weather information of the next day in the area including the house H from the weather forecast information 871 stored in the database 870. Then, the prediction unit 830 refers to the power generation prediction model and sets the average value of the measured values of the power P2 at each time corresponding to the weather of the next day as the predicted value of the power P2 at each time of the next day. In this way, the prediction unit 830 predicts the transition of the power P2 on the next day.

Secondly, the prediction unit 830 predicts the transition of the power Pc that is the power consumption of the house H on the next day. The electric power Pc corresponds to the difference between the electric power Pt, which is the total electric power consumption, and the electric power P3 supplied to the water heater 4, as described above. In order to predict the transition of the power Pc, the prediction unit 830 creates a consumption prediction model based on the power consumption information 874 stored in the database 870. The consumption prediction model is a model for predicting the electric power Pc that is the electric power consumption in the house H, and the measured value of the electric power Pc for the target period is the time (for example, the time indicated in units of 1 minute) and the day of the week. Is a model in which the electric power Pc is averaged in each group.

Specifically, the prediction unit 830 groups the measured values of the power Pc at each time in the past target period by day of the week, and calculates the average value of the measured values of the power Pc in each group. Then, the prediction unit 830 creates a consumption prediction model by associating the calculated average value of the measured values of the power P2 with the day of the week. The prediction unit 830 refers to the consumption prediction model and sets the average value of the measured values of the power Pc at each time corresponding to the day of the next day as the predicted value of the power Pc at each time of the next day. In this way, the prediction unit 830 predicts the transition of the power Pc on the next day.

Secondly, the prediction unit 830 predicts the transition of the power Ps, which is the surplus power, from the respective predicted transitions of the power P2 and the power Pc of the next day. Specifically, the prediction unit 830 predicts the power Ps at the time by subtracting the predicted value of the power Pc from the predicted value of the power P2 at each time of the next day (for example, the time indicated in units of 1 minute). Calculate the value. In this way, the prediction unit 830 predicts the transition of the power Ps that is the surplus power, as illustrated in FIG. 8.

Returning to FIG. 6, the prediction information transmission unit 840 is realized by the control unit 80 cooperating with the communication unit 82, and transmits the prediction information indicating the transition of the power Ps predicted by the prediction unit 830 to the control device 6. To do. Specifically, the prediction information transmission unit 840 transmits the prediction information indicating the predicted value of the power Ps at each time of the next day shown in FIG. 8 to the control device 6 via the wide area network N. The prediction information transmission unit 840 transmits the prediction information to the control device 6 periodically or in response to a request from the control device 6.

The hot water amount information generation unit 850 is realized by the control unit 80 cooperating with the storage unit 81, and based on the used hot water amount information 875 and the hot water storage amount information 876 stored in the database 870, in a preset learning period. Hot water amount information representing the average value of the amount of hot water used and the minimum hot water storage amount Wlow that is the minimum value of the hot water storage amount during this learning period is generated. In the present embodiment, the learning period is two weeks, and the hot water amount information generation unit 850 represents the average value of the hot water amount used in the past two weeks and the minimum hot water storage amount Wlow that is the minimum value of the hot water storage amount in the past two weeks. Hot water amount information is generated.

The hot water amount information transmission unit 860 is realized by the control unit 80 cooperating with the communication unit 82, and sends the hot water amount information generated by the hot water amount information generation unit 850 to the control device 6. The hot water amount information transmission unit 860 transmits hot water amount information to the control device 6 via the wide area network N periodically or in response to a request from the control device 6.

Next, a functional configuration of the control device 6 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, the control device 6 functionally includes a measurement data acquisition unit 600, a history data transmission unit 610, an information reception unit 620, an operation setting unit 630, an operation control unit 640, and an information input. And an output unit 650. Each of these functions is realized by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. The software and the firmware are described as a program and stored in the ROM or the storage unit 61 of the control device 6. Then, in the control unit 60, the CPU realizes the function of each unit by executing the program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 61. The control device 6 also includes a measurement data storage unit 660 and an information storage unit 670. The measurement data storage unit 660 and the information storage unit 670 are constructed in a storage area in the storage unit 61.

The measurement data acquisition unit 600 is realized by the control unit 60 cooperating with the in-home communication unit 63 and the storage unit 61, and is the power P1 that is commercial power, the power P2 that is generated power, and the power supplied to the water heater 4. The power measurement data in which the measured value of P3 is stored is acquired from the power measurement device 3 via the home network. Specifically, as described above, the power measurement device 3 periodically (for example, every one minute) transmits the power measurement data including the measured values of the powers P1 to P3 and the measurement time to the control device 6. The measurement data acquisition unit 600 may periodically transmit a request for power measurement data to the power measurement device 3, and the power measurement device 3 may transmit the power measurement data to the control device 6 in response to the request. .. When the measurement data acquisition unit 600 receives and acquires the power measurement data from the power measurement device 3, the measurement data acquisition unit 600 stores the acquired power measurement data in the measurement data storage unit 660. At that time, the measurement data acquisition unit 600 adds up the power P1 and the power P2 to calculate the power Pt, and stores the calculated power Pt in the measurement data storage unit 660 by including it in the power measurement data.

Further, the measurement data acquisition unit 600 acquires hot water amount measurement data in which the used hot water amount and the measured value of the stored hot water are stored from the water heater 4 via the home network. Specifically, as described above, the hot water supply device 4 periodically (for example, every one minute) transmits the hot water amount measurement data including the measured values of the used hot water amount and the stored hot water amount and the measurement time to the control device 6. The measurement data acquisition unit 600 may periodically send a request for hot water amount measurement data to the hot water supply device 4, and the hot water supply device 4 may send the hot water amount measurement data to the control device 6 in response to the request. When the measurement data acquisition unit 600 receives and acquires the hot water amount measurement data from the water heater 4, the measurement data acquisition unit 600 stores the acquired hot water amount measurement data in the measurement data storage unit 660.

The measured data storage unit 660 stores electric power measurement data and hot water amount measurement data for a certain past period (for example, for two weeks).

The history data transmission unit 610 is realized by the control unit 60 cooperating with the out-of-home communication unit 64, periodically generates power history data (for example, every hour), and manages the power via the wide area network N. Send to 8. In the electric power history data, the history of each measured value of the electric power P1 which is the commercial electric power, the electric power P2 which is the generated electric power, the electric power P3 which is supplied to the water heater 4 and the electric power Pt which is the total electric power consumption is for a certain period (for example, 1 hour). The history data transmission unit 610 may separately transmit the history of the measured values of the power P1 to the power P3 and Pt. The history data transmission unit 610 may also transmit the power history data to the management server 8 in response to a request from the management server 8.

The history data transmission unit 610 also periodically (for example, every hour) generates hot water amount history data and transmits the hot water amount history data to the management server 8 via the wide area network N. The history of the measured value of the amount of hot water used and the measured value of the stored amount of hot water are stored in the hot water amount history data for a certain period (for example, one hour). Note that history data transmitting unit 610 may separately transmit the history of the measured value of the amount of hot water used and the history of the measured value of the amount of hot water storage. Further, the history data transmission unit 610 may transmit history history data to the management server 8 in response to a request from the management server 8.

The information receiving unit 620 is realized by the control unit 60 cooperating with the outside communication unit 64, communicates with the management server 8 via the wide area network N, and outputs the prediction information and the hot water amount information transmitted from the management server 8. To receive. The management server 8 periodically transmits the prediction information and the hot water amount information to the control device 6, for example. Alternatively, the information receiving unit 620 sends a request for prediction information and hot water amount information to the management server 8 as necessary, and the management server 8 sends the prediction information and hot water amount information to the control device 6 in response to this request. May be. Upon receiving the prediction information and the hot water amount information, the information receiving unit 620 stores the received prediction information and the hot water amount information in the information storage unit 670.

The information receiving unit 620 also communicates with the weather server 9 via the wide area network N and receives the weather information transmitted from the weather server 9. The weather server 9 transmits weather information to the control device 6 periodically, for example. Alternatively, the information receiving unit 620 may send a request for weather information to the weather server 9 as necessary, and the weather server 9 may send the weather information to the control device 6 in response to the request. Upon receiving the weather information, the information receiving unit 620 stores the received weather information in the information storage unit 670.

The information storage unit 670 stores the prediction information, the hot water amount information, and the weather information received by the information receiving unit 620. The information storage unit 670 also stores the mode information and calendar information received from the operation terminal 7 by the information input/output unit 650. In addition, the information storage unit 670 stores notification information, which will be described later, generated by the information input/output unit 650. The prediction information, the amount of hot water information, and the weather information stored in the information storage unit 670 are updated every time the information receiving unit 620 receives these pieces of information. The mode information and calendar information stored in the information storage unit 670 are updated each time the information input/output unit 650 receives these information. The notification information stored in the information storage unit 670 is updated every time the information input/output unit 650 generates the notification information.

The mode information is information indicating which of the plurality of control modes included in the water heater 4 is selected by the user. As will be described later, the operation terminal 7 generates mode information by accepting a user's operation of selecting a control mode, and transmits the generated mode information to the control device 6 via the communication interface. The information input/output unit 650 receives the mode information transmitted by the operation terminal 7, and stores the received mode information in the information storage unit 670.

The calendar information is information indicating an event occurrence schedule in the house H. As will be described later, the operation terminal 7 generates calendar information by accepting an input of an event occurrence schedule by the user, and transmits the generated calendar information to the control device 6 via the communication interface. The information input/output unit 650 receives the calendar information transmitted by the operation terminal 7, and stores the received calendar information in the information storage unit 670.

As shown in FIG. 10, the calendar information includes event information that is information about events scheduled to occur in the house H. The event information includes data indicating the content of the event, data indicating the date and time when the event is scheduled to occur, data indicating the number of people margin, and data indicating the hot water amount margin in association with each other.

The number of people margin is the amount of change in the number of people at home in the house H due to the influence of the event. When the number of people at home increases due to the influence of an event, the number of people margin takes a positive value, and when the number of people at home decreases due to the influence of an event, the margin of people takes a negative value. The number of people margin corresponds to the amount of increase or decrease in the number of people who use the hot water supplied by the water heater 4 due to the influence of the event. The hot water amount margin is the amount of change in the amount of hot water used in the house H due to the influence of the event. The hot water amount margin takes a positive value when the hot water amount increases due to the event, and takes a negative value when the hot water amount decreases due to the event. The hot water amount margin is preset according to the content of the event. The hot water amount margin corresponds to an increase/decrease amount of the hot water supply amount of the water heater 4 due to the influence of the event.

As shown in FIG. 11, the operation setting unit 630 includes a daily boiling water amount determining unit 631, a period determining unit 632, a daytime boiling water amount setting unit 633, a nighttime target hot water storage amount calculating unit 634, and a daytime boiling temperature. And a rising hot water amount calculation unit 635. The operation setting unit 630 is realized by the control unit 60 cooperating with the storage unit 61.

The daily boiling water amount determining unit 631 determines the daily boiling water amount Wday, which is a predicted value of the hot water supply amount of the water heater 4 per day. The daily boiling water amount Wday corresponds to the predicted value of the daily hot water amount used in the house H.

The boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day uses a value obtained by adding the calendar margin and the seasonal margin to the average value of the amount of hot water used for the past two weeks indicated by the water amount information stored in the information storage unit 670. It is determined as the boiling water amount Wday.

The calendar margin is an adjustment value of the amount of hot water supplied according to the event occurrence schedule in the house H. The amount of hot water supplied by the water heater 4 changes due to the influence of an event that occurs in the house H. The daily boiling water amount determining unit 631 determines the boiling water amount Wday for one day based on the calendar margin to reduce the possibility of hot water shortage and to excessively heat the hot water. Reduce the possibility of wasting. Based on the calendar information stored in the information storage unit 670, the daily boiling water amount determination unit 631 determines a calendar margin according to the amount of change in the number of people at home in the house H due to the event. Specifically, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day extracts event information related to an event scheduled to occur on the next day from the event information included in the calendar information, and includes the extracted event information in the extracted event information. By summing the number of people who are present, the amount of change in the number of people at home in the house H on the next day is calculated. The boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day determines a value obtained by multiplying the calculated change amount of the number of people at home as a preset margin average hot water amount per person. In this embodiment, the average amount of hot water used per person is set to 75L.

The seasonal margin is an adjusted value of hot water supply according to the season. The amount of hot water supplied by the water heater 4 changes depending on the season. For example, in general, the amount of hot water supply tends to increase sharply in early winter, which is the transition of the season from autumn to winter. The daily boiling water amount determining unit 631 determines the daily boiling water amount Wday based on the seasonal margin to reduce the possibility of hot water shortage and to excessively boil the power. Reduce the possibility of wasting. Specifically, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day determines whether or not the next day is early winter. When the next day's boiling water amount determining unit 631 determines that the next day is early winter, it determines a preset early winter water amount (for example, 100 L) as a seasonal margin, while the next day is not early winter. When the determination is made, a preset amount of hot water (for example, 0L) smaller than the amount of hot water for early winter is determined as the seasonal margin.

The boiling water amount determining unit 631 of the day indicates the actual temperature of the day in the area including the house H, which indicates whether the next day is early winter or not, and the weather information stored by the information storage unit 670 indicates the day. And the predicted value of the temperature of the next day in the area including the value and the house H. To be more specific, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for the day has a date of November or December, and the predicted value of the temperature of the next day is 5 degrees Celsius as compared with the actual value of the temperature of the day. If it is predicted to be lower than the above, it is determined that the next day is early winter. On the other hand, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 of the day, when the date of the day is neither November nor December, or the predicted value of the temperature of the next day is 5 degrees Celsius or more compared to the actual value of the temperature of the day. If it is predicted that it is not low, it is determined that the next day is not early winter.

The period determination unit 632 determines the daytime boiling period. The daytime boiling period is a period in which the hot water supply device 4 is operated using only the electric power Ps to cause the hot water supply device 4 to boil hot water during the daytime when the electric power Ps that is the surplus electric power is generated.

FIG. 12 shows changes in the amount of hot water stored in the hot water storage tank 410 when the water heater 4 boils hot water in the daytime and when it does not boil hot water in the daytime. In FIG. 12, the solid line L1 represents the hot water storage amount when the hot water is not boiled in the daytime, and the broken line L2 represents the hot water storage amount when the hot water is boiled in the daytime.

When the electric power Ps that is the surplus electric power is small or does not occur, for example, on a rainy or cloudy day, the water heater 4 does not boil hot water in the daytime. In this case, as shown by the solid line L1, the water heater 4 boils the boiling water amount Wday of the day at night when the electricity charge is low. On the other hand, when a large amount of electric power Ps is generated as on a sunny day, the water heater 4 supplies V1 of the boiling water amount Wday for one day as shown by a broken line L2. It boils in the daytime using electric power Ps. In this case, the amount of hot water boiled at night is reduced by V1. This reduces the amount of commercial power used for boiling water at night.

The period determination unit 632 determines the daytime boiling period based on the prediction of the transition of the power Ps that is the surplus power indicated by the prediction information stored in the information storage unit 670. Specifically, the period determination unit 632 determines, as the daytime boiling period, a period in which the predicted value of the power Ps is larger than the power Pw indicating the power consumption of the water heater 4. The period determination unit 632 refers to the prediction information to determine the magnitude of the predicted value of the power Ps and the power Pw at each time included in the period in which the power Ps occurs. When there are a plurality of periods in which the predicted value of the power Ps exceeds the power Pw, the period determination unit 632 determines the longest period of the plurality of periods as the daytime boiling period. In this way, by determining the longest possible time as the daytime boiling period, the number of times of starting and stopping the water heater 4 can be reduced, so that the water heater 4 can be operated efficiently.

Here, the electric power Pw means a rating of power consumption when the water heater 4 is performing a boiling operation, that is, when performing a boiling operation. The period determination unit 632 acquires the information on the electric power Pw from the water heater 4 by communicating with the water heater 4 via the in-home communication unit 63. Alternatively, the period determination unit 632 may determine the power Pw based on the record of the power consumption of the water heater 4, that is, the history of the power P3 measured by the power measurement device 3, or may be input by the user. Alternatively, a fixed value set as an initial value may be used as the electric power Pw.

Further, the period determination unit 632 calculates a boilable time Tmax which is the determined length of the daytime boiling period. The boilable time Tmax corresponds to the maximum value of the time in which the water heater 4 can boil the hot water using the surplus power. The boilable time Tmax is an example of the longest duration according to the present invention. The period determination unit 632 is an example of the time acquisition unit according to the present invention.

Returning to FIG. 11, the daytime boiling hot water amount setting unit 633 sets the starting hot water storage amount Won that is a preset hot water prevention hot water amount from the daily boiling hot water amount Wday determined by the daily boiling hot water amount determining unit 631. The subtracted value is set as the initial value of the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon. The startup hot water storage amount Won is, for example, 100 L and is a fixed value.

The nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 calculates a nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight, which is a target value of the amount of hot water that the water heater 4 operates by using only commercial power at night. The nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight is an example of the first hot water amount according to the present invention. The nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 is an example of a first hot water amount calculation means according to the present invention.

As described above, the water heater 4 is provided with the stop mode, the normal mode, the small mode, the large mode, the automatic mode, and the stop mode as the control modes, and among these plural control modes, the user selects the control mode. Operates according to the control mode. The nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 calculates the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight according to the control mode selected by the user indicated by the mode information stored in the information storage unit 670.

Specifically, the stop mode is a control mode in which the water heater 4 is not caused to boil the hot water using the surplus power. In other words, the stop mode is a control mode that causes the water heater 4 to boil all of the boiling water volume Wday for one day by using commercial power at night. When the stop mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4 by the user, the night-time target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines the daily boiling water amount Wday determined by the daily boiling water amount determination unit 631 as the night target. It is calculated as the hot water storage amount Wnight.

In the normal mode, the water heater 4 is used to boil the hot water using the surplus power, so that the amount of commercial power used to boil the hot water is reduced compared to the stop mode, and the hot water is boiled. This is a control mode for increasing the amount of surplus power used.

When the normal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4 by the user, the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines whether or not the boilable time Tmax calculated by the period determination unit 632 is greater than the required boiling time Tnoon. It is determined whether or not the target nighttime hot water storage amount Wnight is calculated according to the determination result. The required boiling time Tnoon is a time required for the water heater 4 to boil the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon set by the daytime boiling water amount setting unit 633. The nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 calculates a value obtained by dividing the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon set by the daytime boiling water amount setting unit 633 by the boiling capacity of the water heater 4 as a required boiling time Tnoon. The boiling capacity of the water heater 4 is an index showing how fast the water heater 4 can boil hot water, and is represented by the amount of water that the water heater 4 can boil per unit time. The nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 acquires information on the boiling capacity of the water heater 4 from the water heater 4 by communicating with the water heater 4 via the in-home communication unit 63. Alternatively, nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 may use a fixed value input by the user or set as an initial value as the boiling capacity of water heater 4.

More specifically, when the normal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4 by the user, the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines that the possible boiling time Tmax is longer than the required boiling time Tnoon, A value obtained by subtracting the daytime boiling water volume Wnoon set by the daytime boiling water volume setting unit 633 from the daily boiling water volume Wday determined by the daytime boiling water volume determination unit 631 is calculated as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight. .. On the other hand, when the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines that the boilable time Tmax is less than or equal to the required boiling time Tnoon, from the daily boiling water amount Wday determined by the daily boiling water amount determination unit 631. A value obtained by subtracting the boilable hot water amount Wmax is calculated as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight. The boilable hot water amount Wmax is the amount of hot water boiled when the water heater 4 operates for the boilable time Tmax. The nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 calculates a value obtained by multiplying the boilable time Tmax by the boiling ability of the water heater 4 as the boilable water amount Wmax.

The small mode is a control mode in which the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon is set smaller than in the normal mode. In other words, the small mode is a control mode in which the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight is set to be larger than that of the water heater 4. The larger the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight, the lower the possibility that hot water will be used and hot water will run out due to an event that occurred from the night of the day to the daytime of the next day. That is, the low mode is a control mode in which the possibility of hot water shortage is reduced compared to the normal mode by setting the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight to be higher than in the normal mode.

When the user selects the small mode as the control mode of the water heater 4, the night-time target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 calculates the night-time target hot water storage amount Wnight by executing the same process as the process in the normal mode described above. After that, the target hot water storage amount Wnight at night is further adjusted by adding a preset adjusted hot water amount Wadj. In the present embodiment, the adjusted hot water amount Wadj is set to 230L which is the sum of the average hot water amount for one shower and the average hot water amount for one hot water filling.

The large mode is a control mode in which the amount of boiling water Wnoon during the day is set to be larger than that in the normal mode. In other words, the large mode is a control mode in which the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight is set smaller than in the normal mode. The smaller the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight, the smaller the amount of commercial electric power used by the water heater 4 to boil hot water at night. That is, in the large mode, the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight is set to be smaller than that in the normal mode, so that the amount of commercial power used for boiling the water is reduced and the boiling water is heated compared to the normal mode. This is a control mode for increasing the amount of surplus power utilized for the.

When the user selects a large mode as the control mode of the water heater 4, the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines whether or not the boilable time Tmax is longer than the required boiling time Tnoon, and the determination result is shown. Accordingly, the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight is calculated. Specifically, if the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines that the boilable time Tmax is equal to or less than the required boiling time Tnoon, the daily boiling water amount determination unit 631 determines the boiling point of the day. A value obtained by subtracting the boilable hot water amount Wmax from the heated hot water amount Wday is calculated as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight. On the other hand, when the night target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines that the boilable time Tmax is longer than the required boiling time Tnoon, the daily boiling water amount Wday determined by the daily boiling water amount determination unit 631 is It is determined whether or not it is larger than the sum of the boilable hot water amount Wmax and the minimum hot water storage amount Wlow that is the minimum value of the hot water storage amounts in the past two weeks, and the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight is calculated according to the determination result. The nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 obtains the minimum hot water storage amount Wlow by referring to the hot water amount information received by the information receiving unit 620 from the management server 8. When the night target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines that the daily boiling water amount Wday is larger than the sum of the boilable hot water amount Wmax and the minimum hot water storage amount Wlow, the boilable hot water amount Wmax is calculated from the daily boiling water amount Wday. The subtracted value is calculated as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight. On the other hand, when the night target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines that the daily boiling water amount Wday is equal to or less than the sum of the boilable hot water amount Wmax and the minimum hot water storage amount Wlow, the minimum hot water storage amount Wlow is set as the night target hot water storage amount Wnight. decide.

The automatic mode is a control mode substantially similar to the oversized mode. However, the automatic mode is different from the oversized mode in that the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight is adjusted according to the event occurrence schedule in the house H.

More specifically, when the user selects the automatic mode as the control mode of the water heater 4, the night-time target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 executes the same process as the above-described oversized mode to perform the night-time target hot water storage. After calculating the amount Wnight, the calculated target nighttime hot water storage amount Wnight is adjusted according to the calendar information stored in the information storage unit 670.

More specifically, the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 extracts, from the event information included in the calendar information, event information relating to an event scheduled to occur from the night of the current day to the daytime of the next day. The nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 adjusts the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight by adding the total value of the hot water amount margins included in the extracted event information. If the total value of the amount of hot water is a positive value, it means that an event to increase the amount of hot water used is scheduled to occur from the night of the current day to the daytime of the next day. In this case, the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 increases the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight by adding the total value of the hot water amount margins that take positive values, so that hot water runs out from the night of the day to the daytime of the next day. Reduce the likelihood of On the other hand, if the total value of the amount of hot water is a negative value, it means that an event to reduce the amount of hot water used is scheduled to occur from the night of the current day to the daytime of the next day. In this case, night-time target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 decreases night-time target hot water storage amount Wnight by adding the total value of the negative hot water amount margins. This prevents unnecessarily large amounts of hot water from being boiled by using commercial power at night, suppresses waste of commercial power, and increases the amount of surplus power used for boiling water. .. In this way, when the user selects the automatic mode as the control mode of the water heater 4, the night-time target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 causes the night-time target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 to set the night-time target according to the event scheduled to occur from the night of the day to the daytime of the next day. By adjusting the amount of hot water stored, the possibility of hot water shortage is reduced, the waste of commercial power is suppressed, and the amount of surplus power used for boiling water is increased.

The proposal mode is a control mode that is almost the same as the automatic mode. However, in the proposal mode, the user is inquired whether or not it is allowed to adjust the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight according to the event occurrence schedule in the house H, and the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight is calculated according to the user's response to this inquiry. It differs from the automatic mode in that it does.

Specifically, when the user selects the proposal mode as the control mode of the water heater 4, the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 executes the same processing as the above-described processing in the automatic mode. The night-time target hot water storage amount Wnight when the night-time target hot water storage amount Wnight calculated by executing the same processing as the above-described larger mode is adjusted according to the event occurrence schedule in the house H is calculated. Hereinafter, the control for adjusting the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight according to the event occurrence schedule in the house H is referred to as adjustment control.

As will be described later, when the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4 by the user, in response to the night-time target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 calculating the night-time target hot-water storage amount Wnight when the adjustment control is performed. Then, the information input/output unit 650 causes the operation terminal 7 to present the notification information to the user. This notification information includes inquiry information for inquiring of the user whether or not to permit adjustment control. After the notification information is presented to the user, the user operates the operation terminal 7 to perform either an operation of permitting the adjustment control or an operation of rejecting the adjustment control, In response to this, the operation terminal 7 generates response information indicating whether or not the user has permitted the adjustment control. The operation terminal 7 transmits the generated response information to the control device 6. The information input/output unit 650 receives the response information transmitted by the operation terminal 7.

Night-time target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines whether or not the user has permitted adjustment control according to the response information received by information input/output unit 650. If it is determined that the user has permitted the adjustment control, the night-time target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 executes the same process as the process in the automatic mode described above to calculate the night-time target hot water storage amount Wnight as the night target hot water storage amount Wnight. To decide. On the other hand, when it is determined that the user refuses to perform the adjustment control, the night-time target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 executes the same process as the process in the above-described oversized mode to calculate the night-time target hot water storage amount Wnight. Determined as the amount Wnight.

Returning to FIG. 11, the daytime boiling hot water amount calculation unit 635 calculates the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculated by the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 from the daily boiling hot water amount Wday determined by the daily boiling hot water amount determination unit 631. A value obtained by subtracting the amount Wnight is calculated as the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon. As a result, the daytime boiling water amount calculation unit 635 calculates the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon according to the control mode selected by the user from the plurality of control modes provided in the water heater 4. The daytime boiling water amount calculation unit 635 updates the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon set by the daytime boiling water amount calculation unit 635 based on the calculated daytime boiling water amount Wnoon. The updated daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon is an example of the second hot water amount according to the present invention. The daytime boiling water amount calculation unit 635 is an example of second hot water amount calculation means according to the present invention.

Returning to FIG. 9, operation control unit 640, start time and end time of the daytime boiling period determined by period determination unit 632, night target hot water storage amount Wnight calculated by night target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634, A boiling schedule representing the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon calculated by the daytime boiling water amount calculation unit 635 is generated. The operation control unit 640 transmits the generated boiling schedule to the water heater 4 via the in-home communication unit 63, and causes the water heater 4 to perform a boiling operation of hot water according to the boiling schedule. The operation control unit 640 is realized by the control unit 60 cooperating with the in-home communication unit 63.

Operation control unit 640 causes water heater 4 to boil the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight represented by the boiling schedule using only commercial power at night. Further, operation control unit 640 causes water heater 4 to boil the hot water of the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon represented by the boiling schedule using only the surplus power during the daytime boiling period represented by the boiling schedule.

Upon receiving the boiling schedule from the operation control unit 640, the water heater 4 responds to the fact that the current time has reached the night start time indicated by the boiling schedule, and boiled the hot water using only commercial power. Start driving. The hot water supply device 4 monitors the hot water storage amount in the hot water storage tank 410 by periodically (for example, every 30 seconds) acquiring the hot water storage amount from the hot water storage amount sensor after starting the boiling operation. As a result of monitoring the hot water storage amount, when the amount of increase from the hot water storage amount at the start time of night reaches the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight represented by the boiling schedule, the hot water heater 4 performs a hot water boiling operation using only commercial power. To stop. The water heater 4 stops the boiling operation of hot water using only commercial power, and then waits for the daytime boiling period represented by the boiling schedule. The water heater 4 starts the hot water boiling operation using only the electric power Ps, which is the surplus power, in response to the start time of the daytime boiling period represented by the boiling schedule. The hot water supply device 4 monitors the hot water storage amount in the hot water storage tank 410 by periodically acquiring the hot water storage amount from the hot water storage amount sensor after starting the hot water boiling operation using only the electric power Ps. As a result of monitoring the hot water storage amount, when the increment amount from the hot water storage amount at the start time of the daytime boiling period reaches the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon represented by the boiling schedule, the water heater 4 uses only the power Ps. Stop the boiling operation. In addition, when the present time reaches the end time of the daytime boiling period represented by the boiling schedule, the water heater 4 regardless of whether or not the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon represented by the boiling schedule is being boiled at that time, The hot water boiling operation using only the electric power Ps is stopped.

The information input/output unit 650 receives, from the operation terminal 7 via the home network, various information generated by the operation terminal 7 receiving an operation by the user with the input device. In response to generating the information, the operation terminal 7 transmits the generated information to the information input/output unit 650 using the communication interface. Alternatively, the information input/output unit 650 may send a request for information to the operation terminal 7 as necessary, and the operation terminal 7 may send information to the information input/output unit 650 in response to this request. The information input/output unit 650 also causes the operation terminal 7 to present various kinds of information to the user. More specifically, the information input/output unit 650 transmits various kinds of information to the operation terminal 7 via the home network, and the operation terminal 7 displays an image representing the received information on the display device, so that this information is displayed. Is presented to the user. The information input/output unit 650 is realized by the control unit 60 cooperating with the in-home communication unit 63.

For example, the information input/output unit 650 receives the above-mentioned mode information from the operation terminal 7. The information input/output unit 650 stores the received mode information in the information storage unit 670. The operation terminal 7 generates the mode information by accepting the operation of selecting the control mode by the user in a state where the setting screen WW1 shown in FIG. 13 is displayed on the display device. Specifically, on the setting screen WW1, the user can select the stop mode as the control mode of the water heater 4 by setting the item “daytime boiling control” to OFF. In addition, the user sets the item "daytime boiling control" to ON, and selects "automatic" in the item "daytime boiling control mode", and then selects "always" in the item "adjustment control permission". If "Allow" is selected, the automatic mode can be selected. In addition, the user sets the item “daytime boiling control” to ON and selects “automatic” in the item “daytime boiling control mode”, and then selects “control” in the item “adjustment control permission”. If you select “Confirm before”, you can select the suggestion mode. In addition, the user can select the normal mode by setting the item “daytime boiling control” to ON and selecting “normal” in the item “daytime boiling control mode”. In addition, the user can select the larger mode by setting the item "daytime boiling control" to ON and selecting "more" in the item "daytime boiling control mode". Also, the user can select the lesser mode by setting the "daytime boiling control" item to ON and selecting "less" in the "daytime boiling control mode" item.

The information input/output unit 650 also receives the above-mentioned calendar information from the operation terminal 7. The information input/output unit 650 stores the received calendar information in the information storage unit 670. The operation terminal 7 generates calendar information by accepting the input of the event occurrence schedule by the user.

Moreover, when the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of water heater 4, information input/output unit 650 generates notification information including the inquiry information described above. The information input/output unit 650 stores the generated notification information in the information storage unit 670. The information input/output unit 650 also causes the operation terminal 7 to present the generated notification information to the user. More specifically, the information input/output unit 650 transmits the generated notification information to the operation terminal 7 and causes the display device of the operation terminal 7 to display the permission screen indicating the notification information. FIG. 14 shows an example of the permission screen WW2. The information input/output unit 650 causes the operating terminal 7 to present the notification information in response to the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 calculating the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight when the adjustment control is performed.

The notification information includes information indicating the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight, the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon, and the surplus utilized power amount when the adjustment control is performed. That is, the notification information includes information indicating the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight, the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon, and the surplus utilized power amount corresponding to the automatic mode. The surplus utilized electric power amount is the amount of electric power Ps that is the surplus electric power used for boiling the hot water by the water heater 4. Furthermore, the notification information includes information representing the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon when the normal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4. Furthermore, the notification information includes information indicating the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon when the stop mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4. The information input/output unit 650 stores the above information together with the inquiry information to generate the notification information.

More specifically, the information input/output unit 650 acquires from the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight when adjustment is performed according to the event occurrence schedule. The information input/output unit 650 performs the adjustment control by subtracting the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight when the adjustment control is performed from the daily boiling water amount Wday determined by the daily boiling water amount determination unit 631. It is calculated as the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon when it is performed. Further, information input/output unit 650 calculates a value obtained by dividing daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon when the adjustment control is performed by the boiling capacity of water heater 4 as the surplus utilized electric energy when the adjustment control is performed.

Information input/output unit 650 executes the same process as the process executed by nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 in the normal mode described above, so that the normal mode is selected as the control mode of water heater 4. The nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon are acquired. That is, the information input/output unit 650 determines whether the boilable time Tmax calculated by the period determining unit 632 is longer than the required boiling time Tnoon, and the boilable time Tmax is larger than the required boiling time Tnoon. When it is determined, the nighttime target hot water storage amount is a value obtained by subtracting the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon set by the daytime boiling water amount setting unit 633 from the daily boiling water amount Wday determined by the daily boiling water amount determination unit 631. It is calculated as Wnight. On the other hand, when the information input/output unit 650 determines that the possible boiling time Tmax is less than or equal to the required boiling time Tnoon, the boiling amount Wday of the day determined by the boiling water amount determination unit 631 for one day A value obtained by subtracting the possible hot water amount Wmax is calculated as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight.

The information input/output unit 650 also acquires the daily boiling water amount Wday determined by the daily boiling water amount determining unit 631 as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight in the stop mode. Further, the information input/output unit 650 acquires 0L as the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon in the stop mode. The information input/output unit 650 also acquires 0 kWh as the surplus utilized power amount in the stop mode.

The operation terminal 7 allows the user to adjust the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight according to the event occurrence schedule in the house H or the house H in the state where the permission screen WW2 is displayed on the display device. Any of the operations for refusing to adjust the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight according to the event occurrence schedule is accepted. Operation terminal 7 generates response information indicating whether or not the user has allowed adjustment of the target nighttime hot water storage amount Wnight according to the operation by the user. More specifically, by selecting the item “permit” on the permission screen WW2, the adjustment of the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight can be permitted. Further, on the permission screen WW2, it is possible to reject the adjustment of the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight by selecting the item "not permitted".

Further, when the control mode other than the stop mode is selected as the control mode of water heater 4, information input/output unit 650 causes water heater 4 to perform a boiling water operation using only electric power Ps that is surplus power. Driving notification information for notifying the user to that effect is generated. The information input/output unit 650 causes the operation terminal 7 to present the driving notification information to the user. More specifically, the information input/output unit 650 transmits the generated driving notification information to the operation terminal 7, and causes the operation terminal 7 to display the driving notification screen indicating the driving notification information. FIG. 15 shows an example of the driving notification screen WW3. Information input/output unit 650 causes operation terminal 7 to present the operation notification information in response to operation control unit 640 transmitting the boiling schedule to water heater 4.

Further, when the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of water heater 4, information input/output unit 650 is an actual measurement value of the amount of hot water boiled by water heater 4 using only electric power Ps that is surplus power. The effect notification information, which is the information about the measured amount of hot water, is generated. The information input/output unit 650 causes the operation terminal 7 to present the effect notification information to the user. More specifically, the information input/output unit 650 transmits the generated effect notification information to the operation terminal 7, and causes the operation terminal 7 to display the effect notification screen indicating the effect notification information. FIG. 16 shows an example of the effect notification screen WW4. The information input/output unit 650 causes the operation terminal 7 to present the effect notification information in response to the current time being the start time of the daytime boiling period determined by the period determination unit 632.

The effect notification information includes information indicating the actual measurement value of the surplus utilized electric power amount, the actual measurement value of the daytime boiling time, and the actual result of the electricity charge reduction amount. The actual measured value of the surplus utilized electric power corresponds to the amount of electric power Ps that is the surplus electric power used by the water heater 4 to boil the actually measured amount of hot water. The actually measured amount of hot water corresponds to the amount of hot water when the water heater 4 performs the boiling operation with only the surplus power. The surplus utilized power amount corresponds to the amount of surplus power consumed by the water heater 4 when the water heater 4 performs the boiling operation only with the surplus power. The daytime boiling time is the length of time during which the water heater 4 boiled the hot water using only the electric power Ps, which is the surplus power. The daytime boiling time corresponds to the length of time required for the water heater 4 to boil a measured amount of hot water. The electricity bill reduction amount is the electricity bill that can be reduced by boiling the measured amount of hot water by using the electric power Ps that is the surplus electric power instead of the commercial electric power. That is, the electricity bill reduction amount is the purchase price corresponding to the consumption amount of the commercial power of the same amount as the surplus utilized power amount. In other words, the electricity bill reduction amount corresponds to the price of commercial power of the same amount as the measured value of the amount of the power Ps consumed when the water heater 4 uses the power Ps that is the surplus power to boil the hot water. To do. In addition, the effect notification information includes information indicating a predicted value of the daytime boiling time and a predicted value of the surplus utilized power amount when the normal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4. In other words, the effect notification information includes information on the predicted value of the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon when the normal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4. Further, the effect notification information includes information indicating a predicted value of the daytime boiling time and a predicted value of the surplus utilized power amount when the stop mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4. In other words, the effect notification information includes information about the predicted value of the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon when the stop mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4. The information input/output unit 650 stores the above information to generate effect notification information.

More specifically, the information input/output unit 650 refers to the measured value of the electric power P3 supplied to the water heater 4 stored in the measurement data storage unit 660, and the daytime boiling determined by the period determination unit 632. The amount of the electric power P3 in the period is acquired as the actual measurement value of the surplus utilized electric power amount. Information input/output unit 650 obtains a value obtained by dividing the obtained actual measurement value of the surplus utilization electric energy by electric power Pw indicating the power consumption of water heater 4 as the actual measurement value of the daytime boiling time. In addition, the information input/output unit 650 acquires a value obtained by multiplying the acquired actual value of the surplus utilized power amount by the unit purchase price of commercial power at night as a result of the electricity charge reduction amount. The unit purchase price of commercial power at night is obtained from the electricity price data. The electricity charge data is data indicating the electricity charge unit price (unit price of the electricity charge by time zone), and is set in the control device 6 by the user via the operation terminal 7 and stored in the storage unit 61. Alternatively, the control device 6 may obtain the electricity bill data by communication from the management server 8 or another server (not shown).

Further, the information input/output unit 650 divides the value obtained by dividing the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon in the normal mode indicated by the notification information stored in the information storage unit 670 by the boiling capacity of the water heater 4 in the normal mode. Calculate as a predicted value for daytime boiling time. The information input/output unit 650 calculates a value obtained by multiplying the calculated predicted value of the daytime boiling time in the normal mode by the power Pw as the predicted value of the surplus utilized power amount in the normal mode.

Further, the information input/output unit 650 determines 0 hour as the predicted value of the daytime boiling time in the stop mode. Further, the information input/output unit 650 determines 0 kWh as the predicted value of the surplus utilized power amount in the stop mode.

A flow of processing executed in the power management system 1 configured as above will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 to 28.

When the current time reaches the preset processing start time, the control device 6 starts the control processing shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the control device 6 starts the control process in response to the current time being 6:00 pm. At the start of the control process, it is assumed that the information storage unit 670 of the control device 6 stores the latest prediction information, hot water amount information, weather information, calendar information, and mode information.

When the control process is started, first, the control unit 60 executes a boiling water amount determining process for one day (step S101). Hereinafter, details of the boiling water amount determination processing for one day in step S101 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

When the daily boiling water amount determining process is started, first, the daily boiling water amount determining unit 631 acquires the average hot water amount used for the past two weeks represented by the hot water amount information stored in the information storage unit 670 (step S201). ). Next, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day executes a calendar margin determining process (step S202). Hereinafter, details of the calendar margin determination processing in step S202 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

When the calendar margin determination process is started, first, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for a day, among the event information included in the calendar information stored in the information storage unit 670, relates to an event related to an event scheduled to occur on the next day. All information is extracted (step S301). The boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day calculates the amount of change in the number of people at home in the house H on the next day by summing up the number of people margins included in the event information extracted in step S301 (step S302). The boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day determines a value obtained by multiplying the amount of change in the number of people at home calculated in step S303 by 75 L, which is a preset hot water amount per person, as a calendar margin (step S303), The calendar margin determination process ends.

Returning to FIG. 18, after determining the calendar margin in step S202, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day executes a seasonal margin determining process (step S203). The details of the seasonal margin determination process in step S203 will be described below with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

When the seasonal margin determination process is started, first, the boiling water amount determination unit 631 for a day determines whether the date of the day is November or December (step S401). When it is determined that the date is neither November nor December (step S401; No), the boiling water amount determination unit 631 for one day determines 0L as the seasonal margin (step S405), and ends the seasonal margin determination process. To do.

When it is determined that the date of the day is either November or December (step S401; Yes), the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day acquires the weather information stored in the information storage unit 670. (Step S402), the predicted value of the temperature of the next day in the area including the house H indicated by the weather information acquired in step S402 is 5 degrees Celsius from the actual value of the temperature of the day in the area including the house H indicated by the weather information. It is determined whether or not it is lower than the frequency (step S403). When determining that the predicted value of the temperature of the next day is not lower than the actual value of the temperature of the day by 5 degrees Celsius or more (step S403; No), the boiling water amount determination unit 631 for the day determines 0L as the seasonal margin (step S403). In step S405, the seasonal margin determination process ends. On the other hand, when it is determined that the predicted value of the temperature of the next day is lower than the actual value of the temperature of the day by 5 degrees Celsius or more (step S403; Yes), the boiling water amount determination unit 631 for the day determines 100L as the seasonal margin ( (Step S404), the seasonal margin determination process ends.

Returning to FIG. 18, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day uses the average amount of hot water used for the past two weeks acquired in step S201, the calendar margin determined in step S202, and the seasonal margin determined in step S203. The added value is determined as the boiling water amount for one day (step S204), and the boiling water amount determining process for one day is ended.

Returning to FIG. 17, after the daily boiling water amount determination process of step S101 is completed, control unit 60 executes nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation process (step S102). Details of the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation processing in step S102 will be described below with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

When the target nighttime hot water storage amount calculation process is started, the control unit 60 first executes a common process (step S501). Details of the common processing in step S501 will be described below with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

When the common process is started, the period determination unit 632 first determines the daytime boiling period based on the prediction information stored in the information storage unit 670 (step S601). Specifically, the period determination unit 632 determines a period in which the predicted value of the power Ps, which is the surplus power indicated by the prediction information, is larger than the power Pw, which is the power consumption of the water heater 4, as the daytime boiling period. When there are a plurality of periods in which the predicted value of the power Ps exceeds the power Pw, the period determination unit 632 determines the longest period of the plurality of periods as the daytime boiling period. In addition, the period determination unit 632 calculates the possible boiling time Tmax, which is the time length of the daytime boiling period determined in step S601 (step S602). The nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 calculates a value obtained by multiplying the boilable time Tmax calculated in step S602 by the boiling ability of the water heater 4 as the boilable water amount Wmax (step S603).

Next, the daytime boiling water amount setting unit 633 sets an initial value of the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon based on the daily boiling water amount Wday determined in step S101 (step S604). More specifically, the daytime boiling water amount setting unit 633 sets a value obtained by subtracting the starting hot water storage amount Won from the daily boiling water amount Wday determined in step S101 as the initial value of the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon. ..

The nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 calculates a value obtained by dividing the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon set in step S604 by the boiling capacity of the water heater 4 as a required boiling time Tnoon (step S605), and performs common processing. finish.

Returning to FIG. 21, after the common process of step S501 ends, the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 sets the stop mode as the control mode of the water heater 4 based on the mode information stored in the information storage unit 670. It is determined whether or not is selected by (step S502). If it is determined that the stop mode is selected (step S502; Yes), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 calculates the daily boiling water amount Wday determined in step S101 as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight (step S502). S506), and the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation processing ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the stop mode is not selected (step S502; No), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines whether the normal mode or the low mode based on the mode information stored in the information storage unit 670. It is determined whether or not the user has selected the control mode of the water heater 4 (step S503). If it is determined that either the normal mode or the small mode is selected as the control mode (step S503; Yes), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 executes the first process (step S505) and the nighttime target hot water storage. The amount calculation process ends. Hereinafter, the details of the first process of step S505 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the first process is started, the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines whether the possible boiling time Tmax calculated in step S602 is longer than the required boiling time Tnoon calculated in step S605 (step S701). ). If it is determined that the possible boiling time Tmax is longer than the required boiling time Tnoon (step S701; Yes), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 sets in step S604 from the daily boiling water amount Wday determined in step S101. A value obtained by subtracting the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon is calculated as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight (step S702), and the process proceeds to step S703. On the other hand, if it is determined that the possible boiling time Tmax is equal to or less than the required boiling time Tnoon (step S701; No), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 proceeds from the daily boiling water amount Wday determined in step S101 to the step. A value obtained by subtracting the boilable hot water amount Wmax calculated in S603 is calculated as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight (step S705), and the process proceeds to step S703.

Next, night-time target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines whether or not the user selects the small mode as the control mode of water heater 4 based on the mode information stored in information storage unit 670 (step S703). ). If it is determined that the control mode is not the small mode (step S703; No), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 ends the first process. On the other hand, when determining that the control mode is the small mode is selected (step S703; Yes), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 presets the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight calculated in step S702 or S705. Adjustment is performed by adding the adjusted hot water amount Wadj (step S704), and the first process ends.

Returning to FIG. 21, when it is determined that the user has not selected either the normal mode or the small mode as the control mode of the water heater 4 (step S503; No), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 causes the second process. Is executed (step S504), and the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation processing is ended. Hereinafter, details of the second process of step S504 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the second process is started, the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines whether the possible boiling time Tmax calculated in step S602 is longer than the required boiling time Tnoon calculated in step S605 (step S801). ). When determining that the possible boiling time Tmax is equal to or less than the required boiling time Tnoon (step S801; No), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines from the daily boiling water amount Wday determined in step S101 in step S603. A value obtained by subtracting the calculated boilable hot water amount Wmax is calculated as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight (step S813), and the process proceeds to step S804.

When determining that the possible boiling time Tmax is longer than the required boiling time Tnoon (step S801; Yes), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines that the daily boiling water amount Wday determined in step S101 is in step S603. It is determined whether it is larger than the sum of the calculated boilable hot water amount Wmax and the minimum hot water storage amount Wlow indicated by the hot water amount information stored in the information storage unit 670 (step S802). If it is determined that the daily boiling water amount Wday is larger than the sum of the boilable hot water amount Wmax and the minimum hot water storage amount Wlow (step S802; Yes), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines the day determined in step S101. The value obtained by subtracting the boilable hot water amount Wmax calculated in step S603 from the boiling hot water amount Wday is calculated as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight (step S803), and the process proceeds to step S804. On the other hand, when it is determined that the daily boiling water amount Wday is equal to or less than the sum of the boilable hot water amount Wmax and the minimum hot water storage amount Wlow (step S802; No), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 causes the information storage unit 670 to operate. The minimum hot water storage amount Wlow indicated by the stored hot water amount information is calculated as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight (step S812), and the process proceeds to step S804.

Next, the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines whether or not the large mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4 based on the mode information stored in the information storage unit 670 (step S804). .. When it is determined that the large mode is selected as the control mode (step S804; Yes), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 ends the second process.

If it is determined that the extra mode is not selected as the control mode (step S804; No), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 performs adjustment control of the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight calculated in step S803, S812, or S813. Then, the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight in the case of adjustment is calculated (step S805). More specifically, the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 is scheduled to occur between the night of the current day and the daytime of the next day among the event information included in the calendar information stored in the information storage unit 670. The night target hot water storage amount Wnight when the adjustment control is performed is calculated by extracting the event information regarding the existing event and adding the total value of the hot water amount margins included in the extracted event information.

The nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines whether or not the automatic mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4 based on the mode information stored in the information storage unit 670 (step S806). If it is determined that the automatic mode is selected as the control mode (step S806; Yes), the process proceeds to step S811.

When the night-time target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines that the automatic mode is not selected as the control mode (step S806; No), the information input/output unit 650 executes the information generation process (step S807). The details of the information generation processing in step S807 will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the information generation process is started, first, the information input/output unit 650 acquires the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon and the surplus utilized power amount when the adjustment control is performed (step S901). Specifically, when the information input/output unit 650 performs the adjustment control on the value obtained by subtracting the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight calculated in step S805 from the daily boiling water amount Wday determined in step S101. It is calculated as the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon. Further, the information input/output unit 650 calculates a value obtained by dividing the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon when the calculated adjustment control is performed by the boiling capacity of the water heater 4 as the surplus utilization power amount when the adjustment control is performed. To do.

The information input/output unit 650 acquires the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon when the normal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4 (step S902). More specifically, the information input/output unit 650 determines whether or not the boilable time Tmax calculated in step S602 is greater than the required boiling time Tnoon calculated in step S605, and the boilable time Tmax is determined. Is determined to be larger than the required boiling time Tnoon, the value obtained by subtracting the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon set in step S604 from the daily boiling water amount Wday determined in step S101 is calculated as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight. .. On the other hand, when determining that the possible boiling time Tmax is less than or equal to the required boiling time Tnoon, the information input/output unit 650 calculates the boiling water amount calculated in step S603 from the boiling water amount Wday for one day determined in step S101. A value obtained by subtracting the hot water amount Wmax is calculated as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight. The information input/output unit 650 subtracts a value obtained by subtracting the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight in the normal mode calculated by the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 from the daily boiling hot water amount Wday determined in step S101. Is calculated as the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon in the normal mode.

The information input/output unit 650 acquires the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight, the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon, and the surplus utilization power amount when the stop mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4 (step S903). More specifically, the information input/output unit 650 acquires the boiling water amount Wday for one day determined in step S101 as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight in the stop mode. Further, the information input/output unit 650 acquires 0L as the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon in the stop mode, and 0kWh as the surplus utilization electric power amount in the stop mode.

Next, the information input/output unit 650 generates inquiry information for inquiring of the user whether or not to permit adjustment of the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight according to the event schedule in the house H (step S904).

The information input/output unit 650 generates notification information by storing the information representing each numerical value acquired in step S805 and steps S901 to S903 together with the inquiry information generated in step S904 (step S905). The information input/output unit 650 stores the notification information generated in step S905 in the information storage unit 670 (step S906), and ends the information generation process.

Returning to FIG. 24, after the information generation processing in step S807 ends, the information input/output unit 650 causes the operation terminal 7 to present the notification information generated in step S905 to the user (step S808). More specifically, the information input/output unit 650 transmits the notification information generated in step S905 to the operation terminal 7, and causes the operation terminal 7 to display the permission screen WW2 representing this notification information.

Next, the information input/output unit 650 determines whether or not the response information has been received from the operation terminal 7 (step S809). If the information input/output unit 650 determines that the response information has not been received (step S809; No), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 presents the notification information to the user in step S808 and then sets a preset waiting time. It is determined whether or not has passed (step S814). If it is determined that the waiting time has not elapsed (step S814; No), the process returns to step S809 to wait for reception of response information. If it is determined that the waiting time has elapsed (step S814; Yes), the process proceeds to step S811.

On the other hand, when the information input/output unit 650 determines that the response information is received (step S809; Yes), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 determines the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight based on the received response information. It is determined whether the user has permitted the adjustment according to the schedule (step S810). When it is determined that the user has permitted the adjustment (step S810; Yes), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 sets the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight calculated in step S803, S812, or S813 to the nighttime target hot water calculated in step S805. The amount of hot water stored is adjusted to Wnight (step S811), and the second process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that the user has not permitted the adjustment (step S810; No), the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation unit 634 does not adjust the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight calculated in step S803, S812, or S813, and 2 Finish the process.

Returning to FIG. 17, after the nighttime target hot water storage amount calculation process of step S102 ends, the daytime boiling water amount calculation unit 635 calculates the nighttime hot water amount Wday determined in step S101 at night S102. A value obtained by subtracting the target hot water storage amount Wnight is calculated as the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon, and the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon set in step S604 is updated by the calculated daytime boiling water amount Wnoon (step S103).

Next, the control unit 60 executes the boiling process (step S104). The details of the boiling process in step S104 will be described below with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

When the boiling process is started, the operation control unit 640 determines the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight calculated in step S102, the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon updated in step S103, and the daytime boiling period determined in step S601. A boiling schedule representing the start time and the end time is generated (step S1001). Operation control unit 640 transmits the boiling schedule generated in step S1001 to water heater 4 (step S1002), and causes water heater 4 to execute the boiling operation of hot water according to the boiling schedule.

Next, information input/output unit 650 determines whether or not the stop mode is selected as the control mode of water heater 4 based on the mode information stored in information storage unit 670 (step S1003). If it is determined that the stop mode is selected as the control mode (step S1003; Yes), the information input/output unit 650 ends the boiling process. On the other hand, when it is determined that the stop mode is not selected as the control mode (step S1003; No), the information input/output unit 650 generates driving notification information (step S1004). The information input/output unit 650 causes the operation terminal 7 to present the driving notification information generated in step S1004 to the user (step S1005), and ends the boiling process. More specifically, the information input/output unit 650 transmits the driving notification information generated in step S1004 to the operation terminal 7, and causes the operation terminal 7 to display the driving notification screen WW3 representing the driving notification information.

Returning to FIG. 17, after the boiling process of step S104 ends, the information input/output unit 650 executes the effect notification process (step S105) and ends the control process. Details of the effect notification process in step S105 will be described below with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

When the effect notification process is started, first, the information input/output unit 650 determines whether or not the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4 based on the mode information stored in the information storage unit 670 ( Step S1101). When determining that the suggestion mode is not selected (step S1101; No), the information input/output unit 650 ends the effect notification process. On the other hand, if it is determined that the proposal mode is selected (step S1101; Yes), the information input/output unit 650 determines whether the current time is the end time of the daytime boiling period determined in step S601. (Step S1102). If it is determined that the current time is not the end time of the daytime boiling period (step S1102; No), the process returns to step S1102 and waits for the end time of the daytime boiling period to arrive.

When it is determined that the current time is the end time of the daytime boiling period (step S1102; Yes), the information input/output unit 650 causes the actually measured value of the surplus utilized power amount, the actually measured value of the daytime boiling time, and the electricity charge reduction. The actual amount of money is acquired (step S1103). More specifically, the information input/output unit 650 refers to the measured value of the electric power P3 supplied to the water heater 4 stored in the measured data storage unit 660, and refers to the measured value of the electric power P3 in the daytime boiling period determined in step S601. The amount of the electric power P3 is acquired as the actual measurement value of the surplus utilized electric power amount. The information input/output unit 650 acquires a value obtained by dividing the acquired actual value of the surplus utilized power amount by the power consumption of the water heater 4 as the actual value of the daytime boiling time. In addition, the information input/output unit 650 acquires a value obtained by multiplying the acquired actual value of the surplus utilized power amount by the unit purchase price of commercial power at night as a result of the electricity charge reduction amount.

Next, information input/output unit 650 calculates the predicted value of the daytime boiling time and the predicted value of the surplus utilized power amount when the normal mode is selected as the control mode of water heater 4 (step S1104). ). More specifically, the information input/output unit 650 divides the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon in the normal mode indicated by the notification information stored in the information storage unit 670 in step S906 by the boiling capacity of the water heater 4. Is calculated as a predicted value of the daytime boiling time in the normal mode. The information input/output unit 650 predicts the surplus utilization power amount in the normal mode by multiplying the calculated predicted value of the daytime boiling time in the normal mode by the power Pw that is the power consumption of the water heater 4. Calculate as a value.

Information input/output unit 650 calculates the predicted value of the daytime boiling time and the predicted value of the surplus utilized power amount when the stop mode is selected as the control mode of water heater 4 (step S1105). Specifically, the information input/output unit 650 calculates 0 hour as the predicted value of the daytime boiling time in the stop mode. In addition, the information input/output unit 650 calculates 0 kWh as the predicted value of the surplus utilized power amount in the stop mode.

The information input/output unit 650 generates the effect notification information by storing the information representing each numerical value acquired in steps S1103 to S1105 (step S1106). The information input/output unit 650 causes the operation terminal 7 to present the generated effect notification information to the user (step S1107), and ends the effect notification process. More specifically, the information input/output unit 650 transmits the effect notification information generated in step S1106 to the operation terminal 7, and causes the operation terminal 7 to display the effect notification screen WW4 representing the effect notification information.

As described above, according to the power management system 1, when the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4, the control device 6 causes the operation terminal 7 to display information regarding the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime. The notification information including the information regarding the boiling water amount Wnoon is presented to the user. By referring to the notification information, the user can intuitively understand the influence of the boiling operation of the water heater 4 using the surplus power.

Further, the notification information includes inquiry information for inquiring of the user whether or not to permit execution of the adjustment control. The control device 6 determines the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight according to whether or not the user has permitted the execution of the adjustment control. As a result, it is possible to reduce the possibility that adjustment control will be performed against the user's intention.

Further, when the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of water heater 4, control device 6 causes operation terminal 7 to present the effect notification information to the user. This allows the user to understand the effect of the control for reducing the amount of commercial power used for boiling the hot water.

Further, the water heater 4 performs the boiling operation in accordance with the control mode selected by the user among the plurality of control modes. As a result, the water heater 4 performs the boiling operation in accordance with the user's scheduled use of the hot water, increases the amount of surplus power used in the boiling operation, and reduces the possibility of hot water shortage. You can

Further, when the automatic mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4, the control device 6 executes adjustment control to reduce the possibility that hot water will run out, and is utilized for boiling water. It is possible to increase the amount of surplus electric power. That is, when the automatic mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4, the control device 6 is utilized for boiling water while reducing the possibility that hot water runs out without the user performing an operation. The necessary adjustment processing is executed to increase the amount of surplus power. Therefore, the operability is improved.

Further, when the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4, the control device 6 provides the operation terminal 7 with information indicating the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon when the adjustment control is performed. , Notification information including the night target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon in the normal mode is presented to the user. The user refers to this notification information to set the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon when the adjustment control is performed, and the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon in the normal mode and the stop mode. By comparing, it is possible to intuitively understand the influence of the adjustment control.

Further, the control device 6 determines the boiling water amount Wday per day based on the calendar margin according to the event occurrence schedule in the house H, so that the daily boiling water amount Wday is scheduled to occur in the house H. Adjust accordingly. Thereby, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the hot water will run out and reduce the possibility that the hot water will be excessively boiled and electric power will be wasted.

Further, control device 6 determines whether the next day is early winter, and determines the seasonal margin according to the result of this determination, thereby adjusting the boiling water amount Wday for one day according to the season. Thereby, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the hot water will run out and reduce the possibility that the hot water will be excessively boiled and electric power will be wasted.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, various modifications and applications can be made in carrying out the present invention.

For example, the control device 6 may be configured to further include an input device for receiving an operation from the user and a display device for presenting information to the user.

Instead of installing the control device 6 in the house H, as shown in FIG. 28, the router 12 and the management server 8 may cooperate to perform the same role as the control device 6.

In the above embodiment, the operation terminal 7 has been described as presenting the notification information, the driving notification information, and the effect notification information to the user. However, this is only an example, and any device can present the notification information, the driving notification information, and the effect notification information to the user. For example, the remote controller 44 included in the water heater 4 may present the notification information, the driving notification information, and the effect notification information to the user. In this case, the control device 6 transmits the notification information, the driving notification information, and the effect notification information to the remote controller 44 via the home network. The remote controller 44 receives the notification information, the driving notification information, and the effect notification information transmitted by the control device 6 through the communication interface. The remote controller 44 displays a permission screen WW2, a driving notification screen WW3, and an effect notification screen WW4, which respectively represent the received notification information, driving notification information, and effect notification information, on the display device. Thereby, the notification information, the driving notification information, and the effect notification information are presented to the user.

In the above embodiment, the control device 6 and the operation terminal 7 are described as transmitting and receiving information via the home network. However, this is merely an example, and the control device 6 and the operation terminal 7 can send and receive information by an arbitrary method. For example, the control device 6 and the operation terminal 7 may send and receive information via the wide area network N. That is, the control device 6 may transmit the notification information, the driving notification information, and the effect notification information to the operation terminal 7 via the wide area network N, and cause the operation terminal 7 to present these pieces of information to the user. The operation terminal 7 may also transmit the mode information, the calendar information, and the response information generated according to the user's operation to the control device 6 via the wide area network N. According to this aspect, even when the user is in a remote place away from the house H, the control device 6 can cause the operation terminal 7 to present the notification information, the driving notification information, and the effect notification information to the user. it can. Also, the user can send an instruction to the control device 6 by operating the operation terminal 7 even when the user is in a remote place away from the house H. The control device 6 and the operation terminal 7 may directly transmit/receive information via the wide area network N, or may transmit/receive information via the management server 8. That is, the control device 6 transmits the notification information, the driving notification information, and the effect notification information to the management server 8 via the wide area network N, and the management server 8 sends the information to the operation terminal via the wide area network N. 7 may be transmitted. Further, the operation terminal 7 transmits the mode information, the calendar information, and the response information to the management server 8 via the wide area network N, and the management server 8 sends the information to the operation terminal 7 via the wide area network N. You may send it.

In the above-described embodiment, when the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4, the control device 6 causes the operation terminal 7 to present the inquiry information to the user, and when the standby time elapses, the control mode is in the higher mode. The night-time target hot water storage amount Wnight calculated by the same process as described above is adjusted as the night-time target hot water storage amount Wnight when the night-time target hot water storage amount Wnight is adjusted according to the event occurrence schedule in the house H. However, this is only an example, and when the waiting time elapses after the inquiry information is presented to the user on the operation terminal 7, the control device 6 calculates the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight calculated by the same process as in the case of the oversized mode. May be determined as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight. According to this aspect, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight is adjusted against the user's intention.

In the above-described embodiment, when the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of water heater 4, control device 6 determines that the user has refused to adjust the target nighttime hot water storage amount Wnight. It has been described that the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight calculated by executing the same process as the process is determined as the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight. However, this is only an example, and when the control device 6 determines that the user refuses to adjust the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight, it is similar to the processing in any one of the stop mode, the reduced mode, and the normal mode described above. The night-time target hot water storage amount Wnight calculated by executing the process of may be determined as the night-time target hot water storage amount Wnight. In other words, when the control device 6 determines that the user refuses to adjust the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight, the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight in the nighttime target hot water amount Wnight when the control mode different from the automatic mode and the larger mode is selected. The hot water storage amount Wnight may be adjusted.

In the above-described embodiment, when the automatic mode is selected as the control mode of water heater 4, control device 6 executes the same processing as the processing in the above-described oversized mode to calculate nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight. Has been described as being adjusted according to the event occurrence schedule in the house H. However, this is merely an example, and when the automatic mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4, the control device 6 calculates by performing the same process as the process in the normal mode or the reduced mode described above. The nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight may be adjusted according to the event schedule in the house H.

In the above embodiment, the control device 6 has been described as causing the operation terminal 7 to present the notification information to the user when the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4. However, this is merely an example, and the control device 6 may cause the operation terminal 7 to present the notification information to the user even when a control mode other than the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4. ..

In the above embodiment, the operation terminal 7 has been described as presenting the notification information to the user by displaying the permission screen WW2 representing the notification information. However, this is only an example, and the operation terminal 7 can present the notification information to the user by an arbitrary method. For example, the operation terminal 7 may include a voice output unit and present the notification information to the user by producing a voice representing the notification information.

In the above-described embodiment, the notification information is, as shown in FIG. 14, information indicating the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon corresponding to the automatic mode, and the nighttime target hot water storage amount corresponding to the stop mode and the normal mode. The description has been made assuming that the information includes Wnight and daytime boiling water amount Wnoon, respectively. However, this is merely an example, and the notification information may include information indicating the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon corresponding to the large mode or the small mode. In addition, the information indicating the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon corresponding to the automatic mode, and the information indicating the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon corresponding to the higher mode are included in the notification information. In this case, the user can grasp the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon by referring to this notification information before and after performing the adjustment control. Therefore, the user can intuitively understand the effect of the adjustment control.

In the above embodiment, the control device 6 has been described as causing the operation terminal 7 to present the notification information to the user when the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4. However, this is merely an example, and the control device 6 can cause the operation terminal 7 to present the notification information to the user even when a control mode other than the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4. ..

In the above-described embodiment, the notification information includes, as shown in FIG. 14, information indicating the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon corresponding to the automatic mode, the stop mode, and the normal mode, and the stop mode and the automatic mode. And the information indicating the surplus utilized electric energy corresponding to the above. However, this is only an example, and the notification information may include any information regarding the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon.

For example, the notification information may include information indicating surplus utilized power amounts corresponding to the stop mode, the normal mode, and the automatic mode, respectively. In this case, the control device 6 may display this notification information to the user by displaying the permission screen WW2 shown in FIG. 29 on the operation terminal 7.

Alternatively, the notification information may include information indicating the electricity charge reduction amount corresponding to each of the stop mode, the normal mode, and the automatic mode. In this case, the control device 6 may display this notification information to the user by displaying the permission screen WW2 shown in FIG. 30 on the operation terminal 7.

Alternatively, the notification information may include information that warns the user that hot water may run out, and information that includes the usage purpose of hot water and the average amount of hot water used in association with each other. In this case, the control device 6 may display this notification information to the user by displaying the permission screen WW2 shown in FIG. 31 on the operation terminal 7.

Alternatively, the notification information may include information that prompts the user to adjust the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon, and information regarding the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight adjusted according to the operation by the user. .. In this case, the control device 6 may display this notification information to the user by displaying the permission screen WW2 shown in FIG. 32 on the operation terminal 7. The permission screen WW2 shown in FIG. 32 includes, as the information regarding the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight adjusted according to the operation by the user, information indicating a change in the surplus utilization power amount before and after the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight is adjusted. .. Note that the notification information is information regarding the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight adjusted according to the operation by the user, and indicates the change in the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon, the electricity charge reduction amount, or the daytime boiling time before and after the nighttime target hot water storage amount Wnight is adjusted. The information may be included.

Alternatively, the notification information may include information indicating a daytime boiling time, which is a time required for boiling the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon.

In the above-described embodiment, when a control mode other than the stop mode is selected as the control mode of water heater 4, regardless of which control mode is selected, operation notification screen WW3 shown in FIG. 15 is uniformly displayed. I explained it as something to do. However, this is merely an example, and when the control mode other than the stop mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4, the control device 6 controls the operation terminal 7 depending on which control mode is selected. Different driving notification information may be presented to the user. For example, when the normal mode or the small mode is selected, the driving notification information represented by the driving notification screen WW3 shown in FIG. 15 is presented to the user, while when the large mode or the automatic mode is selected, The user may be presented with the driving notification information that is represented by the driving notification screen WW3 shown in FIG. 33 and that includes information that warns the user that hot water may run out.

In the above embodiment, the control device 6 is described as causing the operation terminal 7 to present the effect notification information to the user when the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4. However, this is only an example, and the control device 6 causes the operation terminal 7 to present the effect notification information to the user even when a control mode other than the proposal mode is selected as the control mode of the water heater 4. Good.

In the above embodiment, the effect notification information is information indicating the actual measurement value of the daytime boiling time, information indicating the actual measurement value of the surplus utilization electric power, information indicating the actual result of the electricity charge reduction amount, the stop mode and the normal mode. It has been described as including the information about the predicted value of the boiling water amount Wnoon during the day when the mode is selected. However, this is only an example, and the effect notification information may include other information. For example, the effect notification information includes information indicating the actual measurement value of the amount of boiling water in the daytime, which is the amount of boiling water when the water heater 4 uses only the electric power Ps that is the surplus power to boil the water. You may stay. Further, the effect notification information is, as information regarding the predicted value of the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon when the stop mode and the normal mode are respectively selected, information indicating the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon and the daytime boiling hot water amount Wnoon are supplied. Information indicating the predicted value of the time required for the machine 4 to boil, information indicating the predicted value of the amount of surplus power consumed by the water heater 4 for boiling the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon, the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon May include at least one of information indicating the price of commercial electric power of the same amount as the predicted value of the amount of surplus electric power consumed by the water heater 4 for boiling.

In the above embodiment, the effect notification information has been described as including information on the predicted value of the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon when the stop mode and the normal mode are selected. However, this is only an example, and the effect notification information may include information on the predicted value of the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon when the oversized mode or the undersized mode is selected. Alternatively, the effect notification information may include information about the predicted value of the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon calculated by the daytime boiling water amount calculation unit 635 when the proposal mode is selected. According to this aspect, the user calculates, by the daytime boiling water amount calculation unit 635, information regarding the actual measurement value of the daytime boiling water amount Wnoon when the water heater 4 boiled the water according to the suggestion mode. This can be compared with the information about the predicted value of the boiling water amount Wnoon during the day when the mode is selected. This allows the user to intuitively understand the effect of boiling in the daytime.

In the above embodiment, the description has been made assuming that the daily boiling water amount determination unit 631 determines the calendar margin according to the amount of change in the number of people at home in the house H due to the event. However, this is only an example, and the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day can determine the calendar margin according to the event schedule in the house H by an arbitrary method. For example, the daily boiling water amount determination unit 631 can determine the calendar margin according to the amount of change in the amount of hot water used in the house H due to the event, based on the calendar information stored in the information storage unit 670.

Specifically, the daily boiling water amount determining unit 631 may determine the calendar margin according to the amount of change in the amount of hot water used by executing the calendar margin determining process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 34. When the calendar margin determination process is started, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for a day first extracts, from the event information included in the calendar information, event information regarding an event scheduled to occur on the next day (step S1201). The boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day determines a value obtained by summing the water amount margins included in the event information extracted in step S1201 as a calendar margin (step S1202), and ends the calendar margin determining process.

The calendar margin determining method according to the above-described embodiment and the calendar margin determining method according to the present modification can be used together. For example, the weighted average value of the calendar margins respectively determined by these two determination methods may be determined as the calendar margin.

In the above-described embodiment, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day determines whether or not the next day is early winter and the actual value of the temperature on the day indicated by the date of the day and the weather information stored by the information storage unit 670. And the predicted value of the temperature of the next day, and the seasonal margin is determined according to the result of this determination. However, this is only an example, and the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day may determine whether the next day is early winter by an arbitrary method, and determine the seasonal margin according to the result of this determination. it can. For example, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day determines whether the next day is early winter according to the date of the day and the amount information of hot water used for the past two weeks stored by the information storage unit 670. However, the seasonal margin can be determined according to the result of this determination.

Specifically, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day may determine the seasonal margin by executing the seasonal margin determining process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 35. When the seasonal margin determination process is started, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for the day first determines whether the date of the day is November or December (step S1301). If it is determined that the current day is neither November nor December (step S1301; No), the boiling water amount determination unit 631 for one day determines 0L as the seasonal margin (step S1304), and ends the seasonal margin determination process. To do. When it is determined that the date of the current day is either November or December (step S1301; Yes), the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for the day indicates the current day indicated by the hot water amount information stored by the information storage unit 670. It is determined whether or not the amount of hot water used is 100 L or more larger than the amount of hot water used the previous day indicated by the hot water amount information (step S1302). If it is determined that the amount of hot water used on the day is not more than 100 L or more than the amount of hot water used on the previous day (step S1302; No), the boiling water amount determination unit 631 for the day determines 0L as the seasonal margin (step S1304), and determines the seasonal margin. The process ends. On the other hand, when determining that the amount of hot water used on the day is 100 L or more than the amount of hot water used on the previous day (step S1302; Yes), the boiling water amount determination unit 631 for the day determines 100 L as the seasonal margin (step S1303), and the seasonal margin. The determination process ends.

The season determination method according to the above-described embodiment and the season determination according to the present modification can be used together. For example, each of these two determination methods may be used to determine whether or not the next day is early winter, and if both determination methods determine that the next day is early winter, then the next day may be determined to be early winter. In the above-described embodiment, the daily boiling water amount determination unit 631 is configured to boil the day according to both the event margin according to the event occurrence schedule and the seasonal margin according to the season determination result. The description has been made assuming that the amount of hot water Wday is determined. However, this is merely an example, and the daily boiling water amount determining unit 631 can determine the daily boiling water amount Wday by an arbitrary method. For example, the daily boiling water amount determining unit 631 may determine the daily boiling water amount Wday according to only one of the event margin and the seasonal margin. Specifically, the daily boiling water amount determination unit 631 adds only one of the event margin and the seasonal margin to the average hot water amount for the past two weeks indicated by the hot water amount information, to thereby increase the daily boiling water amount. Wday may be calculated. Further, the daily boiling water amount determining unit 631 may determine the daily boiling water amount Wday based on a preset hot water amount instead of the average hot water amount used for the past two weeks. Specifically, the daily boiling water amount determining unit 631 may calculate the daily boiling water amount Wday by adding the event margin and the seasonal margin to the preset hot water amount.

In the above-described embodiment, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day determines whether or not the next day is early winter, and determines the seasonal margin according to the result of this determination. However, this is merely an example, and the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day can determine whether the next day is an arbitrary season, and can determine the seasonal margin according to the result of this determination. For example, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day may determine whether or not the next day is the early summer, which is the transition of the season from spring to summer, and determine the seasonal margin according to the result of this determination. it can. In this case, when the next day's boiling water amount determination unit 631 determines that the next day is early summer, it determines one preset amount of hot water as a seasonal margin, while it determines that the next day is not early summer. May determine another preset amount of hot water, which is smaller than the one hot water amount, as the seasonal margin. The boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day determines whether the next day is early summer or not, and the actual value of the temperature of the day indicated by the date of the day and the weather information stored by the information storage unit 670 and the temperature of the next day. It may be determined according to the predicted value of. More specifically, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day indicates that the date of the day is either May or June, and the predicted value of the temperature of the next day is lower than the actual value of the temperature of the day. If the temperature is higher than 5 degrees Celsius, it may be determined that the next day is early summer. In addition, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 of the day, when the date of the day is neither May nor June, and the predicted value of the temperature of the next day is 5 degrees Celsius or more than the actual value of the temperature of the day. If it is not high, it may be determined that the next day is not early summer. Alternatively, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day determines whether or not the next day is early summer according to the date of the day and hot water amount information indicating the hot water amount used for the past two weeks stored by the information storage unit 670. Just make a decision. More specifically, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 for one day indicates that the date of the day is either May or June, and the amount of hot water used on the day indicated by the amount information of hot water is indicated by this amount of hot water. If the amount of hot water used on the previous day is 100 L or more, it may be determined that the next day is early summer. Further, the boiling water amount determining unit 631 of the day uses the hot water amount on the previous day indicated by the hot water amount information when the date is neither May nor June, and the hot water amount on the day indicated by the hot water amount information is When there is not more than 100 L or more, it may be determined that the next day is not early summer.

In the above embodiment, the power generation facility 2 has been described as generating electric power by solar power generation. However, this is merely an example, and the power generation facility 2 can generate electric power by an arbitrary method such as wind power generation or geothermal power generation.

In the above embodiment, the house H has been described as an example of the target to which the power management system 1 is applied. However, in the present invention, the target to which the power management system 1 is applied is not limited to a general house such as the house H, but may be an apartment house, a facility, a building, a factory, or the like.

In the above-described embodiment, in the control unit 60 of the control device 6 and the control unit 80 of the management server 8, the CPU executes the programs stored in the ROM or the storage units 61 and 81, so that the processes shown in FIGS. Functioned as various parts. However, in the present invention, the control units 60 and 80 may be dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware is, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a combination thereof. When the control units 60 and 80 are dedicated hardware, the functions of the respective units may be realized by individual hardware, or the functions of the respective units may be collectively realized by a single hardware.

In addition, a part of the functions of each unit may be realized by dedicated hardware and the other part may be realized by software or firmware. As described above, the control units 60 and 80 can realize the above-described functions by hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof.

By applying the operation program that defines the operations of the control device 6 and the management server 8 according to the present invention to a computer such as an existing personal computer or information terminal device, the computer is used to control the control device 6 and the management server according to the present invention. It is also possible to function as 8.

In addition, a method of distributing such a program is arbitrary, and for example, a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk ROM), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), an MO (Magneto Optical Disk), or a memory card is used. It may be stored and distributed, or may be distributed via a communication network such as the Internet.

The present invention allows various embodiments and modifications without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the present invention. Further, the above-described embodiments are for explaining the present invention and do not limit the scope of the present invention. That is, the scope of the present invention is shown not by the embodiments but by the scope of the claims. Various modifications made within the scope of the claims and within the scope of the meaning of the invention equivalent thereto are considered within the scope of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be suitably applied to a system that manages power.

1 power management system, 2 power generation equipment, 3 power measuring device, 4 water heater, 5 (5a, 5b,...) electrical equipment, 6 control device, 7 operation terminal, 8 management server, 9 weather server, 10 commercial power system, 11 distribution board, 12 router, 20 PV panel, 21 PV-PCS, 40 heat pump unit, 41 tank unit, 42 water pipe, 43 communication line, 44 remote controller, 45 shower, 46 faucet, 60 control unit, 61 storage unit, 62 timekeeping unit, 63 in-home communication unit, 64 outside communication unit, 65 bus, 80 control unit, 81 storage unit, 82 communication unit, 83 bus, 400 compressor, 401 first heat exchanger, 402 expansion valve, 403 2nd heat exchanger, 404 Blower, 405 Water pump, 406 Control board, 407 Refrigerant piping, 410 Hot water storage tank, 411 Hot water supply controller, 412 Mixing valve, 600 Measurement data acquisition part, 610 Historical data transmission part, 620 Information reception part , 630 operation setting unit, 631 daily boiling hot water amount determining unit, 632 period determining unit, 633 daytime boiling hot water amount setting unit, 634 night target hot water storage amount calculating unit, 635 daytime boiling hot water amount calculating unit, 640 operation control unit, 650 information input/output unit, 660 measurement data storage unit, 670 information storage unit, 800 weather information acquisition unit, 810 power acquisition unit, 820 hot water amount acquisition unit, 830 prediction unit, 840 prediction information transmission unit, 850 hot water amount information generation unit, 860 Hot water information transmission unit, 870 database, 871 weather forecast information, 872 meteorological performance information, 873 power generation information, 874 power consumption information, 875 hot water usage information, 876 hot water storage information, D1 to D5 power lines, H houses, N wide area network, WW1 setting screen, WW2 permission screen, WW3 operation notification screen, WW4 effect notification screen

Claims (12)

In the demand area, a time acquisition means for acquiring the longest duration that can perform the boiling operation of the water heater with only the surplus power, based on the predicted transition of the surplus power generated by the power generation facility,
A first hot water amount calculating means for calculating a first hot water amount, which is a hot water amount when the boiling operation is performed only with commercial power, based on the longest duration and the predicted hot water supply amount per day of the water heater.
Second hot water amount calculating means for calculating a second hot water amount, which is a hot water amount when the boiling operation is performed only with the surplus power, based on the first hot water amount and the predicted hot water supply amount,
A control device comprising: an output terminal that presents notification information including information about the first amount of hot water and information about the second amount of hot water to a user. The notification information further includes inquiry information for inquiring of a user whether or not to permit adjustment of the first amount of hot water based on an event schedule.
The control according to claim 1, wherein the first amount of hot water calculation unit adjusts the first amount of hot water based on a schedule of occurrence of the event in response to a user's permission to adjust the amount of first hot water. apparatus. The presenting means, on the output terminal, information indicating the measured value of the amount of hot water when the boiling operation is performed only with excess power, and information indicating the measured value of the time when the boiling operation is performed only with excess power. And, information indicating the measured value of the amount of excess power consumed by the water heater when performing the boiling operation only with excess power, and the water heater when performing the boiling operation only with excess power The effect notification information including at least one of the information indicating the price of the commercial power corresponding to the actual amount of the consumed surplus power and the information regarding the predicted value of the second hot water amount is presented to the user. The control device according to claim 1 or 2. The water heater has a first control mode and a second control mode as control modes,
The first hot water amount calculating means calculates the first hot water amount according to a control mode selected by the user from the first control mode and the second control mode,
The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second hot water amount calculating means calculates the second hot water amount according to the control mode selected by the user. The notification information includes information about the first hot water amount and the second hot water amount according to the first control mode, and information about the first hot water amount and the second hot water amount according to the second control mode. The control device according to claim 4. The control device according to claim 1, further comprising a predicted hot water supply amount acquisition unit that acquires the predicted hot water supply amount according to at least one of an event occurrence schedule and a season determination result. The predictive hot water supply amount acquiring means increases or decreases the number of people using the hot water supplied by the water heater due to the influence of an event scheduled to occur, and the water heater due to the influence of an event scheduled to occur. The control device according to claim 6, wherein the predicted hot water supply amount is acquired according to at least one of an increase and a decrease amount of the hot water supply amount. The predicted hot water supply amount acquisition means determines a season according to at least one of a date, an air temperature in an area including the demand area, and a hot water supply amount by the water heater, and the predicted hot water supply amount according to a result of the determination. The control device according to claim 6 or 7, which acquires. The notification information includes information indicating the second amount of hot water, information indicating an amount of excess power used by the water heater when boiling the second amount of water, and the amount of excess power used. Includes information indicating the amount of electricity bill reduction that is the price of commercial power corresponding to the same amount, information that warns the user of the possibility of hot water shortage, and the usage purpose of hot water and the average hot water usage in association with each other 9. The information according to claim 1, comprising at least one of information, information for prompting a user to adjust the second amount of hot water, and information on the second amount of hot water adjusted by the user. Control device. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
With the water heater,
The power generation facility,
A power management system comprising: the output terminal. In the demand area, based on the forecasted transition of the surplus power generated by the power generation equipment, obtain the longest duration that can perform the boiling operation of the water heater with only the surplus power,
Based on the longest duration and the predicted hot water supply amount per day of the water heater, the first hot water amount that is the hot water amount when the boiling operation is performed only with commercial power is calculated,
Based on the first hot water amount and the predicted hot water supply amount, a second hot water amount that is a hot water amount when the boiling operation is performed only with the surplus power is calculated,
An information presenting method for causing an output terminal to present notification information including information about the first amount of hot water and information about the second amount of hot water to a user. Computer,
In the demand area, the time acquisition means for acquiring the longest continuous time that the boiling operation of the water heater can be performed only with the surplus power, based on the predicted transition of the surplus power generated by the power generation equipment,
A first hot water amount calculating means for calculating a first hot water amount, which is a hot water amount when the boiling operation is performed only with commercial power, based on the longest duration and the predicted hot water supply amount per day of the water heater.
Second hot water amount calculating means for calculating a second hot water amount which is a hot water amount when the boiling operation is performed only with the surplus power, based on the first hot water amount and the predicted hot water supply amount,
A program that causes an output terminal to function as a presentation unit that presents notification information including information about the first amount of hot water and information about the second amount of hot water to a user.