JP7175338B2 - Controllers, air conditioning systems and programs - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a control device, an air conditioning system and a program.

In recent years, the concept of negawatts has emerged, which treats the power saved by power consuming devices as the amount of power generated. A virtual power plant concept that utilizes distributed energy resources introduced on the consumer side, such as cogeneration such as solar power generation and household fuel cells, storage batteries, and electric vehicles, and a new power supply and demand adjustment service market. is under construction. In the demand response (DR) service for power supply and demand adjustment related to this power frequency adjustment, for example, the consumer side controls power with an accuracy of ± 10% every 5 minutes in response to the power reduction instruction from the system operator. A duration of 3 hours is required to operate the equipment. In other words, during the period when the power consumer participates in the DR service (DR period), the group of power consuming devices such as air conditioners and lighting should be kept as flat as possible (up and down movement) so as to maintain the target power consumption value. is not present).

On the other hand, for example, in the case of power consumption equipment equipped with an inverter compressor, such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and heat pump water heaters, the operating frequency of the compressor changes from moment to moment depending on user operations, room temperature, temperature, and various protective control operations. Change. For this reason, the power consumption of a power consuming device equipped with a compressor changes greatly from moment to moment. Particularly in air conditioners, the power consumption of the compressor, which accounts for most of the power consumption, may fluctuate significantly in a certain phase. In an air-conditioning system in which a large number of air conditioners are connected, when the power fluctuation cycles of individual devices are synchronized, the power consumption of the entire system may eventually fluctuate significantly.

In patent document 1, in a coordinated power control system for a plurality of electrical devices, patterns of inrush currents of each electrical device are stored, and a plurality of inrush currents are prevented from overlapping each other so that a certain total power is not exceeded. A technique for doing so is disclosed. Also, since a large inrush current is generally generated when the power supply is turned on (at the start of operation), for example, there is a mechanism for shifting the operation restart time of each device in the house at the time of power failure recovery. As a result, it is possible to prevent the generation of a large amount of electric power due to simultaneous resumption of operation of devices in the house.

JP 2003-299264 A

The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 can prevent an instantaneous increase in power consumption at startup. However, in the DR service, it is necessary to perform control such that the power consumption is continuously within a certain error range with respect to the target power for a certain period of time. cannot be applied to

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to smooth the total power consumption of a plurality of devices.

The present invention is a control device for controlling the power consumption of a plurality of devices that consume power, wherein at least some of the plurality of devices start operating before the start time of a demand response service. and an operation control unit for differentiating operation start timings of the at least some devices and differentiating periods of time change of power consumption during the demand response service period of the at least some devices.

Another aspect of the present invention is an air conditioning system comprising a plurality of air conditioners having compressors, and a controller connected to the plurality of air conditioners via a network, wherein the controller includes a demand response Before the service start time, at least some of the plurality of air conditioners are started to operate, the operation start timings of the at least some of the air conditioners are varied, and the operation of the at least some of the air conditioners is started. An operation control unit is provided for varying the period of time change of power consumption during the period of the demand response service.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer connected to a plurality of power-consuming devices via a network causes at least some of the plurality of devices to operate before the start time of the demand response service. functioning as an operation control unit that causes the at least some of the devices to start operating at different timings , and that the power consumption of the at least some of the devices changes with time during the demand response service period. It's a program.

According to the present invention, it is possible to smooth the total power consumption of a plurality of devices.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an air conditioning system; FIG. It is a block diagram of a control apparatus. It is a figure which shows the data structure of a device information storage part. It is a figure which shows the data structure of a periodic characteristic memory|storage part. It is a figure which shows the time change of the power consumption of 1 unit|set of an air conditioner. It is a principal block diagram of an outdoor unit. 4 is a flowchart showing DR control processing; 6 is a flowchart showing smoothing processing; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of power change with a period sufficiently shorter than an evaluation period; It is a figure which shows the data structural example of a smoothing plan. It is a figure which shows the electric power change at the time of starting five air conditioners simultaneously. It is a figure which shows the electric power change when 5 units|sets of air conditioners are started at a different timing. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing power changes when 86 air conditioners are activated at different timings; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of grouping processing; FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of an eighth modified example;

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an air conditioning system 1 according to an embodiment. The air-conditioning system 1 performs power management corresponding to the demand response (hereinafter referred to as DR service) of power supply and demand adjustment. The air conditioning system 1 includes a control device 10 and a plurality of air conditioners (air conditioners) 20 . The control device 10 manages multiple air conditioners 20 . The control device 10 is also connected via a network 3 to a DR management server 2 operated by a DR service provider. Communication between the control device 10 and the DR management server 2 may be wired or wireless. The control device 10 receives a command to enter the DR service, a command to withdraw from the DR service, a power reduction command, a target power, etc. from the DR management server 2 as necessary for the DR service. , controls the power consumption of the air conditioner 20 under its control. The control device 10 also transmits information such as actual power consumption of the air conditioner 20 to the DR management server 2 .

The air conditioner 20 includes one outdoor unit 21 and four indoor units 22 connected to the outdoor unit 21 via refrigerant pipes 4 . For example, multiple air conditioners 20 are provided in one building. Examples of the air conditioner 20 include commercial air conditioners, so-called building multi-air conditioners, and the like. For example, four indoor units 22 belonging to one air conditioner 20 are installed on each floor of one building. Each outdoor unit 21 is installed outdoors such as on the roof of a building. The indoor unit 22 is installed, for example, on the ceiling.

The controller 10 and the air conditioner 20 are connected by an air conditioning communication network 5 to form an air conditioning network. The air conditioning communication network 5 may be wired or wireless. In this embodiment, all of the outdoor units 21 and indoor units 22 included in each air conditioner 20 are connected to the control device 10 . Equipment information of each air conditioner 20 is transmitted from the outdoor unit 21 of each air conditioner 20 to the control device 10 via the air conditioning communication network 5 . Here, the equipment information is information regarding the operating status of the equipment, such as ON/OFF of operation of each indoor unit 22, operation mode, set temperature, and the like. The device information further includes power consumption of the air conditioner 20 . Further, an operation command is transmitted from the control device 10 to each air conditioner 20 . The operation command is information indicating commands such as ON/OFF operation of each indoor unit 22, set temperature, and operation mode. Further, it is assumed that an operation command is transmitted from the control device 10 to each outdoor unit 21 . The outdoor unit 21 receives information such as on/off of operation, operation mode, and set temperature from each indoor unit 22 . Also, when receiving an operation command, the outdoor unit 21 transmits this to the indoor unit 22 that is the target of the command.

However, as long as the transmission and reception of the device information and the operation command are realized between the control device 10 and the air conditioner 20, the connection form of the communication network for that purpose and the subject of transmission and reception of each information are not limited to the embodiment. . As another example, the outdoor unit 21 may be connected to each indoor unit 22 in the same air conditioner 20 , and the indoor unit 22 may be connected to the control device 10 via the outdoor unit 21 . As another example, one representative indoor unit 22 of each air conditioner 20 is connected to the control device 10, and the outdoor unit 21 and the indoor unit 22 in the same air conditioner 20 are connected to the representative indoor unit. 22 may be connected to the control device 10 . In this case, the representative indoor unit 22 may transmit and receive information between the outdoor unit 21 and the other indoor units 22 and the control device 10 .

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the control device 10. As shown in FIG. The control device 10 includes a control section 100 , a storage section 110 , a device communication section 120 , a DR management server communication section 130 , a clock 140 and a user IF section 150 . The control unit 100 includes a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like. The control unit 100 performs processing for controlling the power consumption of the air conditioner 20 under management by executing various programs stored in the storage unit 110 and ROM. The storage unit 110 is a hard disk or the like, and stores various information and various programs. In this embodiment, the storage unit 110 stores a device information storage unit 111 , a periodic characteristic storage unit 112 , a DR information storage unit 113 and a smoothing plan storage unit 114 .

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the data configuration of the device information storage unit 111. As shown in FIG. The device information storage unit 111 stores device information of each of the plurality of air conditioners 20 under management. In this embodiment, the device information includes power consumption, operating status, operating mode, set temperature of each indoor unit, room temperature, outside temperature, and the like. The device information also includes the time when these pieces of information were detected. The device information storage unit 111 accumulates a plurality of pieces of device information in chronological order for one air conditioner as a history. Although FIG. 3 shows only the device information of one air conditioner 20 identified by “air conditioner 1”, the device information storage unit 111 stores information of all air conditioners 20 under the control of the control device 10. Device information is stored.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the data configuration of the periodic characteristic storage unit 112. As shown in FIG. The periodic characteristics storage unit 112 stores the periodic characteristics of all the air conditioners 20 under the control of the control device 10 . Specifically, the periodic characteristic storage unit 112 stores the device ID that identifies the air conditioner 20 and the periodic characteristic in association with each other. Here, the periodic characteristic is the fluctuation characteristic of power consumption with the passage of time from the start of operation of the air conditioner 20 . Fluctuations in the power consumption of the air conditioner 20 have periodicity, and the periodic characteristic is information about this period. In this embodiment, periodic characteristics include period and amplitude. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the average value of the amplitudes in each period is stored as the amplitude. However, as another example, the maximum value of amplitude in each cycle may be stored as the amplitude.

Returning to FIG. 2 , the device communication unit 120 communicates with the outdoor unit 21 and the indoor unit 22 via the air conditioning communication network 5 . DR management server communication unit 130 communicates with DR management server 2 via network 3 . A clock 140 is a real-time clock that counts time. User IF section 150 includes an input section and an output section. User IF unit 150 is, for example, a touch panel having a display.

Control unit 100 performs DR control. DR control is operation control of the air conditioner 20 corresponding to the DR service. When the DR service is started, the consumers who have participated in the DR service will find that the total power consumption of the plurality of air conditioners 20 under the control of the control device 10 is within an error range of ±10% of the target power instructed in the DR service. must be controlled to stay within Furthermore, whether or not the total power consumption falls within the error range of the target power indicated in the DR service is evaluated in units of evaluation periods defined in the DR service. Although the period for participating in the DR service (hereinafter referred to as the DR period) and the evaluation period are not particularly limited, they are 30 minutes and 5 minutes, respectively, in the present embodiment. In this case, in each of the six evaluation periods included in the DR period, an evaluation is made as to whether or not the total power consumption falls within the miscalculation range of the target power.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing temporal changes in the power consumption of one air conditioner 20. As shown in FIG. The horizontal axis of the graph shown in FIG. 5 indicates time, and the vertical axis indicates power consumption. It should be noted that the change in power consumption over time shown in FIG. 5 was obtained during a period in which operation was performed with the same settings. The power consumption of the air conditioner 20 is substantially equal to the power consumption of the compressor. The power consumption of the compressor largely depends on its rotation speed, and depending on the cycle of setting the rotation speed of the compressor, the power consumption of the air conditioner 20 may vary greatly, as shown in FIG. many. With respect to such fluctuations in power consumption, the power consumption in a five-minute evaluation period greatly fluctuates depending on the timing of the starting point of each evaluation period. Therefore, it is difficult to continuously meet the target power in the DR service during the DR period.

Further, when there are many devices of the same type (air conditioners 20) as in the air conditioning system 1 according to the present embodiment, if the power consumption fluctuation cycles of the devices are synchronized, the air conditioning system 1 may also amplify the variation in the overall power consumption of the However, on the other hand, if the cycles of fluctuations in the power consumption of each device are out of sync, the fluctuations in each device are offset, thereby smoothing (averaging) the power consumption of the entire air conditioning system 1. be able to.

Therefore, the control unit 100 of the present embodiment shifts the cycle of power consumption of each device, thereby performing control to reduce fluctuations in the total power consumption of the air conditioning system 1 as a whole. In this way, when the variation in the total power consumption of the entire air conditioning system 1 is small, the total power consumption of the air conditioning system 1 can always be kept within the error range of the target power regardless of the timing of the starting point of the evaluation period. can be done. Furthermore, as described above, most of the power consumption of the air conditioner 20 is the power consumption of the compressor. Therefore, the control device 10 of the present embodiment controls the power consumption of the compressor as the power consumption of the equipment. That is, the device targeted for power consumption control by the control device 10 of the present embodiment is the compressor, and the control device 10 regards the power consumption of the compressor as the power consumption of the air conditioner 20 and controls the power consumption. conduct. That is, a compressor is an example of a device that consumes power.

The control unit 100 includes a device information acquisition unit 101, a DR information acquisition unit 102, a periodic characteristics identification unit 103, a target device determination unit 104, and a timing determination unit 105 as a functional configuration for realizing such processing. and an operation control unit 106 . These functions are realized by the CPU reading out a program stored in the storage unit 110 or the like and executing this program. That is, hereinafter, processing described as being executed by each functional unit is processing executed by the control unit 100 .

Also, in the present embodiment, the control unit 100 is implemented by a computer, but at least part of the functions of the control unit 100 may be implemented by hardware circuits. As another example, at least part of the functions and processes of the control unit 100 may be realized by, for example, cooperating a plurality of CPUs, RAMs, ROMs, and storages.

The device information acquisition unit 101 acquires device information from each outdoor unit 21 via the device communication unit 120 . It is assumed that the outdoor unit 21 is provided with a temperature sensor for detecting outside air temperature, and the indoor unit 22 is provided with a temperature sensor (not shown) for detecting room temperature.

DR information acquisition section 102 acquires DR information from DR management server 2 via DR management server communication section 130 . Here, the DR information includes DR start time, DR end time, target power in DR, DR period, and the like. DR information acquisition section 102 stores the acquired DR information in DR information storage section 302 in association with the device ID.

The periodic characteristic identifying unit 103 identifies the period and amplitude of the power consumption of each air conditioner 20, that is, the periodic characteristic, based on the power consumption included in the device information of each air conditioner acquired by the device information acquiring unit 101. FIG. The periodic characteristic specifying unit 103 stores the periodic characteristic in the periodic characteristic storage unit 112 in association with the device ID that identifies each air conditioner 20 .

The target device determination unit 104 determines the air conditioners 20 to be restarted based on the period and amplitude of each air conditioner 20 . Here, the restart process is a process of turning off the power of the air conditioner 20 once and then turning on the power again before starting the DR control. The control unit 100 of the present embodiment performs restart processing in order to change the operation start timings of the air conditioners 20 . Hereinafter, the air conditioner 20 to be restarted is referred to as a target device.

The timing determination unit 105 determines operation stop timing and operation start timing of the target device based on the cycle of each air conditioner 20 . Here, the operation stop timing is the time when the power is turned off in the restart process, that is, the stop time. The operation start timing is the time at which the power is turned on again after being turned off in the restart process, that is, the start time. A smoothing plan is generated by writing the stop time and start time of each target device determined by the target device determination unit 104 to the smoothing plan storage unit 114 .

FIG. 6 is a main configuration diagram of the outdoor unit 21. As shown in FIG. The outdoor unit 21 mainly includes a control unit 211, a storage unit 212, a communication unit 213, a compressor 214, and a sensor group 215 as a configuration related to DR control. The control unit 211 includes a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like. The control unit 211 controls the entire outdoor unit 21 by executing various programs stored in the storage unit 212 and ROM. The storage unit 110 stores various information and various programs. The communication unit 213 communicates with other devices via the air conditioning communication network 5 .

Compressor 214 is connected to refrigerant pipe 4 and compresses the refrigerant. The sensor group 215 includes a power sensor that measures the power consumption of the compressor 214, a pressure sensor that measures pressure, and a temperature sensor that measures the outside air temperature and refrigerant pipe temperature. Note that the sensor group 215 may include sensors other than this. The control unit 211 uses the power consumption obtained by the power sensor, the outside temperature obtained by the temperature sensor, and information such as the operation mode, the set temperature, and the room temperature obtained from the indoor unit 22 as device information, and the communication unit 213 to the control device 10 via.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing DR control processing by the control device 10. As shown in FIG. The DR control process is started when the control device 10 is powered on. First, in step S101, the device information acquisition unit 101 confirms whether it is the air conditioner communication timing. The air conditioner communication timing is assumed to be a predetermined regular timing such as 10 seconds, for example. The device information acquisition unit 101 refers to the count of the clock 140 and determines whether it is time to communicate with the air conditioner. If it is not the air conditioner communication timing (N in step S100), the device information acquisition unit 101 advances the process to step S104. If it is the air conditioner communication timing (Y in step S100), the device information acquisition unit 101 advances the process to step S102.

In step S102, the device information acquisition unit 101 sends device information acquisition requests for all air conditioners 20 to each device (outdoor unit 21 and indoor unit 22), and acquires device information as a response thereto. The device information acquisition unit 101 further stores the acquired device information in the device information storage unit 111 . In this way, the device information acquisition unit 101 periodically acquires device information from all devices and stores it in the device information storage unit 111 .

Next, in step S104, the periodic characteristic specifying unit 103 refers to the count of the clock 140 and determines whether or not it is the analysis timing. The analysis timing is assumed to be a predetermined periodic timing such as 0:00 every day. If it is not the analysis timing (N in step S104), the periodic characteristic identifying unit 103 advances the process to step S108. If it is the analysis timing (Y in step S104), the periodic characteristic identifying unit 103 advances the process to step S106.

In step S106, the periodic characteristic identifying unit 103 performs frequency analysis. Specifically, the periodic characteristic identifying unit 103 refers to all the device information for 24 hours of the previous day stored in the device information storage unit 111 . Then, when the driving state continues for a certain period of time, periodic characteristic identifying section 103 performs frequency analysis on the time-series data of the power consumption, and extracts dominant frequencies as fluctuation characteristics. Here, the certain period of time is assumed to be 3 hours, for example. Also, the periodic characteristic identifying unit 103 determines that the vehicle is operating on condition that the power consumption is not zero. The periodic characteristic specifying unit 103 obtains the period and amplitude of the extracted fluctuation characteristic, and stores them as periodic characteristics in the periodic characteristic storage unit 112 in association with the device ID. In this way, the periodic characteristic identifying unit 103 is an example of a identifying unit that identifies the periodic characteristics (cycle and amplitude) of each of the plurality of devices (air conditioners 20 ) managed by the control device 10 .

Note that the air conditioner communication timing and analysis timing are set in advance, but can be arbitrarily set and changed by the user via the user IF 150, for example.

In this way, the control unit 100 periodically repeats the processing from step S100 to step S106, thereby storing the device information and the periodic characteristic in the device information storage unit 111 and the periodic characteristic storage unit 112, respectively. Note that the periodic characteristic storage unit 112 only needs to store the latest periodic characteristic, and when a new periodic characteristic is stored, the previously stored past periodic characteristic is deleted. However, as another example, the periodic characteristic storage unit 112 may also store past periodic characteristics as history.

Next, in step S<b>108 , the DR information acquisition unit 102 checks whether or not there is a notification from the DR management server 2 . The DR management server 2 notifies the control device 10 of the DR start time, the DR end time (or duration), and the evaluation period as the DR service schedule during the day before the DR service is implemented. The DR management server 2 further notifies the control device 10 of the target power for the DR service one hour before the start time of the day on which the DR service is to be implemented. DR information acquisition section 102 receives these notifications.

If there is no notification from DR management server 2 (N in step S108), DR information acquisition section 102 advances the process to step S112. If there is a notification from DR management server 2 (Y in step S108), DR information acquisition section 102 advances the process to step S110. In step S110, DR information acquisition section 102 stores the notification content in DR information storage section 113 as DR information. The DR information includes DR start time, DR end time, evaluation period, target power, and the like.

Next, in step S112, the operation control unit 106 determines whether or not the processing time is the DR preparation start time. Here, the DR preparation start time is the time before the DR start time stored in the DR information storage unit 113 by a certain period of time. Here, the certain period of time is a predetermined period of time, and is set to 1 hour in the present embodiment. If it is not the DR preparation start time (N in step S112), operation control unit 106 advances the process to step S118. If it is the DR preparation start time (Y in step S112), operation control unit 106 advances the process to step S114.

In step S<b>114 , the operation control unit 106 starts DR automatic operation of all the air conditioners 20 . Specifically, the operation control unit 106 disables the operation of all the air conditioners 20 by remote controllers (not shown), and sets the operation mode of all the air conditioners 20 to the remote automatic operation mode. Here, the remote automatic operation mode is an operation mode in which operation from the remote controller is disabled and operation is performed according to instructions from the control device 10 .

Next, in step S116, the control unit 100 performs smoothing processing. The smoothing process adjusts the operation start timing so as to smooth the total power consumption so that the total power consumption of all the air conditioners 20 falls within the error range of the target power required in the DR service during the DR period. This is the process of making them different.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing detailed processing in the smoothing processing described with reference to FIG. In step S200, the target device determination unit 104 selects one air conditioner 20 as a processing target from among the plurality of air conditioners 20 under management. Then, the device information and periodic characteristics of the air conditioner 20 to be processed are read from the device information storage unit 111 and the periodic characteristic storage unit 112, respectively. Next, in step S202, the target device determination unit 104 refers to the device information of the target air conditioner 20 to check whether the target air conditioner 20 is in operation at the time of processing. If the target device determining unit 104 is not in operation (N in step S202), the process proceeds to step S208. If the target device determining unit 104 is in operation (Y in step S202), the process proceeds to step S204.

In step S204, the target device determination unit 104 determines whether or not the air conditioner 20 to be processed affects the DR evaluation based on the following first and second conditions. Here, affecting the DR evaluation means that the power consumption of the air conditioner 20 to be processed exceeds the error range of the target power for the total power consumption of the air conditioner 20 under the control of the control device 10 during the evaluation period. It is possible that The target device determination unit 104 determines that the DR evaluation is affected when the air conditioner 20 to be processed satisfies at least one of the first condition and the second condition.

The first condition is that the amplitude of the air conditioner 20 to be processed satisfies (Equation 1). Note that the value stored in the periodic characteristic storage unit 112 is used as the amplitude in (Formula 1).

Amplitude of air conditioner to be processed > total value of amplitudes of all air conditioners × 0.025 (Equation 1)

If the amplitude is sufficiently smaller than the amplitudes of the other air conditioners 20, it is less likely to affect the DR evaluation. Therefore, it is determined that such an air conditioner 20 does not affect the DR evaluation. There is a high possibility that the air conditioner 20 or the like, which is dedicated to ventilation or blowing air, is not equipped with a compressor, and has flat power consumption, does not satisfy the first condition. In the periodic characteristics shown in FIG. 4, the two air conditioners 20 specified by the device IDs "air conditioner 7" and "air conditioner 8" do not satisfy the first condition. Therefore, it is determined that these air conditioners 20 do not affect the DR evaluation.

Further, as described above, the determination that "the amplitude is small" is not based on the absolute value, but on the relative value with respect to the total power consumption of the air conditioning system 1 as a whole. This is because compared to the amplitude of the other air conditioners 20, if the amplitude is relatively small, the influence on the DR evaluation is small. In addition, although "0.025" is used as the coefficient in this embodiment, the coefficient by which the total value of all the air conditioners 20 is multiplied can be arbitrarily set by an administrator or the like.

The second condition is that the period satisfies (Equation 2). Note that the value stored in the periodic characteristic storage unit 112 is used as the period in (Formula 2).

(Evaluation period/4)<Period of air conditioner to be processed<(DR period) (Formula 2)

When the period of the air conditioner 20 to be processed is much shorter than the evaluation period, the power consumption fluctuations are averaged and the power consumption transition appears flat during the evaluation period. Therefore, when the period is equal to or less than "evaluation period/4", it is determined that the evaluation is not affected. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of power change with a period sufficiently shorter than the evaluation period. The horizontal axis of the graph shown in FIG. 9 indicates time, and the vertical axis indicates power. In this way, when the period is short, the fluctuation of the average power during the evaluation period of 5 minutes is small, and therefore the impact on the DR evaluation is small.

On the other hand, if the period is sufficiently longer than the DR period, even if the driving start timing is changed, the effect will not appear during the DR period. Therefore, when the period is equal to or longer than the "DR period", it is determined that the evaluation is not affected.

In the periodic characteristics shown in FIG. 4 , the air conditioner 20 with the device ID “air conditioning 3” having a cycle of 75 seconds (evaluation period (5 minutes)/4) or less and the device ID “air conditioning 3” having a cycle of DR period (30 minutes) or more It is determined that the air conditioners 20 of "5" and "air conditioner 13" do not affect the evaluation.

When the target device determination unit 104 determines that the DR evaluation is not affected (N in step S204), the process proceeds to step S208. When the target device determination unit 104 determines that the DR evaluation is affected (Y in step S204), the process proceeds to step S206. In step S206, the target device determination unit 104 determines the air conditioner 20 to be processed as a target device for the restart processing. In this manner, the target device determination unit 104 determines whether or not to set the air conditioner 20 as a target device based on the amplitude and cycle of the air conditioner 20, the evaluation period, and the DR period.

As another example, the target device determination unit 104 may determine the target device based on only one of the amplitude and period. For example, the target device determination unit 104 may determine the target device based on only one of the first condition and the second condition.

Next, in step S208, the target device determination unit 104 confirms whether or not all the air conditioners 20 under management have been determined as target devices by the processing of steps S200 to S206. do. If there are unprocessed air conditioners 20 left (N in step S208), the target device determination unit 104 advances the process to step S200. When the determination is completed for all the air conditioners 20 (Y in step S208), the target device determination unit 104 advances the process to step S210. As described above, the target device determination unit 104 determines the air conditioner 20 that is in operation and that affects the DR evaluation as a target device to be subjected to the restart process.

In step S<b>210 , the timing determination unit 105 determines the order of operation start of each target device, that is, the order of restart and the shift time. At this time, the timing determining unit 105 refers to the period, amplitude, and number of target devices of each air conditioner 20 determined as target devices in steps S200 to S208. The timing determination unit 105 performs an optimization calculation to calculate a combination of shift times that minimizes the average amplitude during the DR period, based on the cycles and amplitudes of all the air conditioners 20, for example. Then, the timing determination unit 105 writes the operation start order and the staggered time of each target device in the smoothing plan storage unit 114 . Next, in step S<b>212 , the timing determination unit 105 determines the start time and stop time of each target device, and writes them to the smoothing plan storage unit 114 . This completes the registration of the smoothing plan.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a data configuration example of a smoothing plan. In the smoothing plan, device IDs are stored in order of restart. Furthermore, the shift time, start time, and stop time are stored in association with each device ID.

Processing for determining the start time and stop time of each target device will be described. First, the timing determination unit 105 determines a predetermined time before the DR start time as the activation time of the reference device. The fixed time is set to 5 minutes in this embodiment. Note that this time may be before the DR start time. Also, the reference device is the device to which the last order is assigned among the target devices. Then, the timing determining unit 105 determines the time earlier by the shift time set for each target device as the activation time of the previous target device. The timing determination unit 105 repeats this process up to the first target device to calculate the activation times of all the target devices. In this way, the timing determining unit 105 determines at least some of the plurality of devices under the control of the control device 10 as target devices, and determines the activation time of each target device, that is, the operation start timing of each target device. is controlled to vary according to the period and amplitude of .

In this embodiment, the timing determination unit 105 determines the activation time (operation start timing) based on the period and the amplitude as described above. You may determine starting time based on. For example, the timing determination unit 105 may determine activation times so that the periods do not match. As another example, the timing determination unit 105 may determine activation times such that timings with large amplitudes do not match. As a result, the operation control unit 106 can perform control to vary the operation start timing of the target device according to at least one of the period and the amplitude.

The timing determination unit 105 further determines a time that is a predetermined time before the activation time of each target device as the stop time. The stop time basically does not affect operation control for shifting the cycle (phase) of the power consumption of the air conditioner 20 . Therefore, an appropriate time before the start time may be set as the stop time according to the properties and circumstances of the device. As in the present embodiment, when the device to be controlled is an air conditioner, it is preferable that the time from stop to start is short so as not to cause discomfort to the user due to changes in room temperature. On the other hand, in order to protect the compressor 214, the interval between turning on and off the compressor 214 should be 3 to 4 minutes. In the present embodiment, in view of such circumstances, it is assumed that five minutes before the start time is set as the fixed time before the start time. In other words, as a result, it is possible to prevent operation restrictions that make the user feel uncomfortable while executing the restart process.

As another example, the stop time may be the same timing, that is, the same time, for all target devices. For example, as described above, the timing determination unit 105 may determine the same time as the stop time unless there is a situation in which a shorter time from stop to start is preferable. This makes it possible to omit the process of determining the stop time according to the start time.

In step S212, when registration of the smoothing plan is completed, in step S214, the operation control unit 106 refers to the smoothing plan stored in the smoothing plan storage unit 114, and executes the smoothing plan. Start. Specifically, the operation control unit 106 refers to the count of the clock 140, powers off each target device at the stop time indicated in the smoothing plan, and restarts it at the start time. Next, in step S216, the operation control unit 106 determines whether or not execution of the smoothing plan has been completed. The operation control unit 106 determines that the smoothing plan has ended when the restart of the last target device has been completed. If the smoothing plan has not been completed (N in step S216), the operation control unit 106 continues executing the smoothing plan. When the smoothing plan is completed (Y in step S216), the operation control unit 106 ends the smoothing process. When the smoothing process ends, the amplitudes of the power consumption of the multiple air conditioners 20 including the target device are cancelled. Therefore, in the subsequent DR period, DR control of supply and demand adjustment is possible within the error range of the target power. Note that the remaining air conditioners 20 that have not been restarted in the smoothing process are not restarted before DR control is started, and continue to operate.

FIG. 11A is a diagram showing power changes when five air conditioners are started simultaneously. In the graphs of FIGS. 11A and 11B, the horizontal axis indicates time, and the vertical axis indicates power consumption. Five lines indicated by A1 indicate the power consumption of each of the five air conditioners, and A2 indicates the total power consumption of the five air conditioners. As shown in the graph of FIG. 11A, the total power consumption is increased in amplitude for air conditioners with similar periodic characteristics. On the other hand, by shifting the activation timing of each air conditioner as shown in FIG. 11B, the amplitude of the total power consumption can be reduced compared to FIG. 11A. Furthermore, FIG. 12 is a diagram showing changes over time in total power consumption when the startup timings of 86 air conditioners having similar periodic characteristics are shifted. The horizontal axis of the graph in FIG. 12 indicates time, and the vertical axis indicates power consumption. In this way, the greater the number of devices to be added, the greater the effect of differentiating the activation timings.

The control device 10 of the present embodiment can vary the activation timings by the smoothing process. Therefore, when transitioning to the DR period in this state, it is possible to suppress temporal fluctuations in the total power consumption of the air conditioners 20 under the control of the control device 10 during the DR period.

Returning to FIG. 7, after the smoothing process (step S116) ends, the operation control unit 106 performs , whether or not it is the DR start time. If it is not the DR start time (N in step S118), operation control unit 106 advances the process to step S122. If it is the DR start time (Y in step S118), operation control unit 106 advances the process to step S120. In step S120, operation control unit 106 starts DR control. Specifically, the target power stored in the DR information storage unit 113 is referenced, and each air conditioner 20 is controlled so that the total power consumption of the plurality of air conditioners 20 does not exceed the error range of the target power.

Next, in step S<b>122 , the operation control unit 106 confirms whether or not a target power instruction has been received from the DR management server 2 . Note that the DR management server 2 periodically transmits a target power instruction to the control device 10 during the DR period. If the operation control unit 106 has not received the target power instruction (N in step S122), the process proceeds to step S126. When the operation control unit 106 receives the target power instruction (Y in step S122), the operation control unit 106 proceeds to step S124. In step S124, the operation control unit 106 sets the target power indicated in the received target power instruction as a new target power. Specifically, the target power stored in DR information storage section 113 is updated to the newly received target power.

Next, in step S<b>126 , the operation control unit 106 determines whether it is the DR end time based on the DR end time stored in the DR information storage unit 113 and the count of the clock 140 . If it is not the DR end time (N in step S126), operation control unit 106 advances the process to step S122. In this case, DR control is continued. If it is the DR end time (Y in step S126), operation control unit 106 advances the process to step S128. In step S128, the operation control unit 106 ends the DR automatic operation, and then advances the process to step S100. It should be noted that if the operation start timing is adjusted so that the total power consumption of the plurality of air conditioners 20 is smoothed, and the normal operation mode is returned to, it is inconvenient for both the air conditioners 20 and the user. no. Therefore, when the DR period ends, there is no need to process the operation start timing.

As described above, the control device 10 of the present embodiment makes the operation start timings of the target devices different before the DR control start time. Thus, the amplitude of the total power consumption of the plurality of air conditioners 20 can be reduced by a relatively simple method. As a result, the error range of the target power required in the DR service can be accommodated.

As a first modified example, the device whose power consumption is to be controlled by the control device may be any device that consumes power, and is not limited to an air conditioner. However, in a device using a compressor, the power consumption fluctuates greatly with time as in an air conditioner. Therefore, the smoothing effect is particularly large when the target is a device using a compressor. Examples of such devices include heat pumps and refrigerators.

A second modification will be described. The control device 10 of this embodiment stops the operation of the air conditioner 20 and performs the process of restarting. However, the control device 10 may perform processing for restarting the operation after stopping the operation of the compressor 214, and the specific processing for that purpose is not limited to the embodiment. As another example, the control device 10 may change the operation mode such as stopping and restarting the operation of the compressor 214 and change the set temperature. Specifically, in order to stop the operation of the compressor 214, the control device 10 may change to a mode that does not use the refrigeration cycle, such as air blowing or ventilation. In addition, in order to stop the operation of the compressor 214, the control device 10 should set the temperature below the room temperature in the heating operation so that the load becomes zero, and set the temperature above the room temperature in the cooling operation. is the set temperature. Furthermore, the method for controlling the on/off of the operation of the compressor 214 for each device may be changed according to the user's operation.

As a third modification, the control device 10 does not need to specify the periodic characteristics. For example, the periodic characteristics of each air conditioner may be specified by each air conditioner 20, and the periodic characteristics may be periodically transmitted from each air conditioner 20 to the control device 10. FIG.

As a fourth modification, the controller 10 controls the power consumption of the compressor 214 of the air conditioner 20. Alternatively, the power consumption of the entire air conditioner 20 may be controlled. good.

As a fifth modification, the control device 10 may not restart one of the target devices. For example, when one of the target devices is in operation, the control device 10 uses the start timing of the operation, that is, the past timing as a reference, and sequentially controls the remaining target devices so as not to overlap with the period of the target device. The operation start timing (restart timing) of the target device may be determined.

As a sixth modification, the control device 10 may at least differentiate the operation start timings of target devices having similar periodic characteristics. For example, target devices with similar periodic characteristics may be grouped based on at least one of the period and amplitude of the target devices, and the activation time may be determined so that the operation start timings of the target devices within each group are different. . In this case, it is preferable to determine the shift time so as to satisfy (Equation 3).

Shift time of each device in the group<evaluation period<sum of shift time of each device in the group (Formula 3)

For example, the periodic characteristics shown in FIG. 4 are grouped into three groups (groups 1 to 3) as shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 13, they are grouped into a group 1 with a period of about 120 seconds, a group 2 with a period of about 240 seconds, and a group 3 with other periods. In this case, the timing determination unit 105 may independently determine the activation time for the target devices in each group. This simplifies the process for determining the activation time.

As another example, the control device 10 may include devices of different types in the management target. The activation time may be determined so that the timing is different. The different types of devices include air conditioners, ventilation fans, water-cooled air conditioners (chillers), refrigerators, and electric fans. If the type of equipment is different, the cycle characteristics are also different, so the amplitude of the total power consumption will not be amplified due to overlapping cycles. Therefore, it is sufficient to separately shift the power start timings for devices of different types.

Furthermore, as another example, the control device 10 may randomly vary the operation start timing of the target device regardless of the period and amplitude. In this way, even when the operation start timings of the target devices are randomly varied, the total power consumption of the plurality of devices can be smoothed more than when the operation start timings are not varied.

As a seventh modification, the main device that controls the power consumption of a plurality of devices is not limited to the control device 10 . Another example may be the DR management server 2 . As another example, the main control device may be the outdoor unit 21 of the master air conditioner 20 among the plurality of air conditioners 20, or the master air conditioner 20 among the plurality of air conditioners 20. The indoor unit 22 may be the master among the plurality of indoor units 22 of the unit 20 . In this case, it is assumed that the device information of all the devices is transmitted to the master device.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of an eighth modified example. As shown in FIG. 14, a plurality of devices may be controlled by different controllers 10A-10F. In the example of FIG. 14, the controllers 10A to 10C control the air conditioner 20, and the controller 10D controls the heat pump (HP) water heater 30. In the example of FIG. The controller E controls the refrigerator 40 and the controller 10F controls the chiller 50 . In this case, if the plurality of control devices 10A to 10F independently determine the activation time of each device, there is a possibility that the cycles of the devices under the control of different control devices will match. Therefore, in order to avoid such a situation, each of the control devices 10A to 10F shall set different times for the activation times of the devices, which are used as the reference when determining the activation times.

As another example, the upper control device of each of the control devices 10A to 10F may determine the activation time of all devices. The host controller may be the DR management server 2, for example. In this case, the DR management server 2 refers to the periodic characteristics stored in the periodic characteristic storage unit 112 of each of the control devices 10A to 10F, and generates a plurality of smoothing plans for each device managed by each of the control devices 10A to 10F. and transmits it to each of the control devices 10A to 10F. Each of the control devices 10A to 10F may perform restart processing according to the received smoothing plan. Note that the device described above may be a device different from the DR management server 2 .

The control device for equipment such as an air conditioner has been described in detail above with reference to the above-described embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. Other embodiments, additions, changes, deletions, etc. can be changed within the range that those skilled in the art can conceive, and as long as the action and effect of the present invention can be achieved in any aspect, it is within the scope of the present invention. It is included. Therefore, program products such as recording media on which the above programs are recorded are also included in the scope of the present invention.

1 air conditioning system 2 DR management server 3 network 4 refrigerant pipe 5 air conditioning communication network 10, 10A to 10F control device 20 air conditioner 21 outdoor unit 22 indoor unit 30 HP hot water machine 40 refrigerator 50 chiller 100 control unit 101 device information acquisition unit 102 DR information acquisition unit 103 Periodic characteristics identification unit 104 Target device determination unit 105 Timing determination unit 106 Operation control unit 110 Storage unit 111 Device information storage unit 112 Periodic characteristics storage unit 113 DR information storage unit 114 Smoothing plan storage unit 120 Device communication unit 130 DR management server communication unit 140 clock 150 user IF unit 211 control unit 212 storage unit 213 communication unit 214 compressor 215 sensor group

Claims (15)

A control device for controlling power consumption of a plurality of devices that consume power,
Before the start time of the demand response service, at least some of the plurality of devices start operating, the at least some devices have different operation start timings, and the at least some devices start operating A control device comprising an operation control unit that varies the period of time change of power consumption during a demand response service period. 2. The operation control unit according to claim 1, wherein the operation of the at least part of the equipment is stopped before the start time of the demand response service, and then the operation of the at least part of the equipment is started. Control device. An acquisition unit that acquires the start time of the demand response service,
The control device according to claim 1, wherein the operation control unit causes the at least some devices to start operating after the acquisition unit acquires the start time and before the start time of the demand response service. . 2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the operation control unit varies the operation start timing of the at least some devices according to at least one of a period of time change of power consumption of each device and an amplitude of power consumption. . 5. The control device according to claim 4, further comprising a specifying unit that specifies at least one of said period and said amplitude based on the power consumption of each of said plurality of devices. 6. The control device according to claim 4, further comprising a device determination unit that determines a target device for which said operation start timing is to be changed based on at least one of said period and said amplitude. 7. The control device according to claim 6, wherein said device determination unit determines said target device based on a power evaluation period defined in said demand response service and said cycle of each of said plurality of devices. The control device according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising a timing determination unit that determines the operation start timing of each of the target devices based on the period. 9. The control device according to claim 8, wherein said timing determination unit further determines said operation start timing based on said amplitude. 7. The control device according to claim 6 , wherein the operation control unit stops the operation of the target device at the same timing before any of the operation start timings of the target device. 10. The operation control unit according to any one of claims 4 to 9, wherein the operation control unit groups the plurality of devices based on at least one of the period and the amplitude, and causes the devices belonging to the same group to have different operation start timings. The control device according to . 11. The operation control unit according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the operation control unit groups the plurality of devices based on the types of the devices, and causes the devices belonging to the same group to have different operation start timings. controller. The device is an air conditioner or a compressor included in the air conditioner,
The operation control unit controls the operation start timing of the air conditioner or the compressor by turning on the power of the air conditioner, changing the operation mode of the air conditioner, or changing the set temperature of the air conditioner. 13. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein . An air conditioning system comprising a plurality of air conditioners having compressors and a control device connected to the plurality of air conditioners via a network,
The control device is
Before the start time of the demand response service, at least some of the plurality of air conditioners are started to operate, operation start timings of the at least some air conditioners are varied, and at least some of the air conditioners An air-conditioning system comprising an operation control unit that varies the period of time change of power consumption during a demand response service period of equipment. Computers connected via a network to multiple devices that consume power
Before the start time of the demand response service, at least some of the plurality of devices start operating, the at least some devices have different operation start timings, and the at least some devices start operating A program for functioning as an operation control unit that varies the period of time change of power consumption during the period of the demand response service.

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