System, method and computer program for energy consumption management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10049373-B2
Application number	US-201113982599-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 7, 2011
Priority date	Mar 7, 2011
Publication date	Aug 14, 2018
Grant date	Aug 14, 2018

Abstract

Energy demand in an entire community including multiple demanders is properly predicted and energy consumption thereof is properly controlled. Every day, some demanders are selected from the community and a request to adjust energy consumption for the following day is sent to the selected demanders. To decide a content of the request, energy demand for the following day is predicted. In this case, demanders which did not receive a request on past days are specified, and demand in the community for the following day is predicted based on the actual energy consumption by those demanders on the past days.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for managing energy consumption in a community including multiple demanders, the system comprising:
at least one computer having a non-transitory, physical storage medium which stores a computer program and a microprocessor which executes the computer program,
wherein the processor executes the computer program which includes commands which cause the processor to carry out the following processing A), B), C) and D):
A) predicting energy demand in the community at a specific time in the future;
B) generating a consumption adjustment request for the specific time in the future based on the predicted energy demand at the specific time in the future;
C) selecting one or more demanders which are a part of the community as one or more destination demanders for the specific time in the future; and
D) sending the energy consumption adjustment request for the specific time in the future to the one or more destination demanders for the specific time in the future,
wherein reception of the energy consumption adjustment request for the specific time in the future is configured to cause the one or more destination demanders to adjust power consumption of at least one electric power consuming apparatus thereof for the specific time in the future based on the received energy consumption adjustment request for the specific time in the future, and
wherein the command to carry out the processing A) includes commands which cause the processor to carry out the following processing AA), AB) and AC):
AA) specifying one or more demanders which are a part of the community other than the one or more destination demanders for a specific time in the past selected in a previous processing C) which was performed in the past as one or more non-destination demanders for the specific time in the past;
AB) determining actual energy consumption at the specific time in the past by the one or more non-destination demanders for the specific time in the past; and
AC) predicting the energy demand in the community at the specific time in the future based on the determined actual energy consumption by the one or more non-destination demanders for the specific time in the past.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the command to carry out the processing C) includes commands to carry out the following processing CA) and CB):
CA) determining a number of times or a frequency at which each of the demanders in the community is selected as one of the destination demanders in the past; and
CB) selecting the one or more destination demanders for the specific time in the future from within the community based on the determined number of times or frequency for each of the demanders.

3. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the command to carry out the processing C) includes commands to carry out the following processing CC) and CD):
CC) determining actual energy consumption in the past by each of the demanders in the community; and
CD) selecting the one or more destination demanders for the specific time in the future from within the community based on the determined actual energy consumption in the past by the each of the demanders.

4. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the command to carry out the processing C) includes commands to carry out the following processing CE) and CF):
CE) determining a past incentive value given to each of the demanders in the community; and
CF) selecting the one or more destination demanders for the specific time in the future from within the community based on the determined past incentive value of the each of the demanders.

5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the command to carry out the processing C) includes commands to carry out the following processing CG) and CH):
CG) determining a layout of each of the demanders in the community on an electricity distribution network; and
CI) selecting the one or more destination demanders for the specific time in the future from within the community based on the determined layout of the each of the demanders on the electricity distribution network and a prescribed electric power supply voltage of the community.

6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the command to carry out the processing AC) includes commands to carry out the following processing ACA), ACB) and ACC):
ACA) determining a ratio of a number of the demanders in the community to a number of the non-destination demanders;
ACB) expanding the actual energy consumption at the specific time in the past by the non-destination demanders using the ratio; and
ACC) predicting the energy demand in the community at the specific time in the future based on the expanded value of the actual energy consumption at the specific time in the past by the non-destination demanders.

7. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the command to carry out the processing B) includes commands to carry out the following processing BA), BB), BC) and BE):
BA) deciding an adjustment value of energy consumption at the specific time in the future in the community based on the predicted energy demand in the community at the specific time in the future;
BB) determining actual energy consumption by the one or more destination demanders for a predetermined time in the past selected in the processing C) in the past, at the predetermined time in the past;
BC) determining a request value of a consumption adjustment request for the predetermined time in the past generated in the processing B) in the past;
BD) determining a relation between the actual energy consumption and the request value based on the actual energy consumption determined in the processing BB) and the request value determined in the processing BC); and
BE) applying the request value decided in the processing BA) to the relation determined in the processing BD) and thus deciding the request value of the consumption adjustment request for the specific time in the future.

8. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the computer program further includes commands which cause the processor to carry out the following processing E), F) and G):
E) determining actual energy consumption in the community at a predetermined time in the past;
F) changing a consumption adjustment request for the predetermined time in the past that is sent in the past based on the actual energy consumption in the community at the predetermined time in the past determined in the processing F), and thus generating the consumption adjustment request for the specific time in the future; and
G) selecting one of a set of the processing A) and B) and a set of the processing E) and F).

9. The system according to claim 8 , wherein the command to carry out the processing G) includes commands to carry out the following processing GA) and GB):
GA) selecting the set of the processing E) and F) during a predetermined initial period after the system starts operating; and
GB) selecting the set of the processing A) and B) after the initial period.

10. A method executed by at least one computer for managing energy consumption in a community including multiple demanders: the method comprising the following steps A), B), C) and D) executed by the at least one computer:
A) predicting energy demand in the community at a specific time in the future;
B) generating a consumption adjustment request for the specific time in the future based on the predicted energy demand at the specific time in the future;
C) selecting one or more demanders which are a part of the community as one or more destination demanders for the specific time in the future; and
D) sending the energy consumption adjustment request for the specific time in the future to the one o

Assignees

• Takahashi Hirotaka
• Tomita Yasushi
• Kawamura Hideyuki
• Ogawa Jumpei
• Hitachi Ltd

Inventors

• Takahashi Hirotaka
• Tomita Yasushi
• Kawamura Hideyuki
• Ogawa Jumpei

Classifications

• G06Q50/06

  Energy or water supply · CPC title

• G06Q30/0202 Primary

  Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities · CPC title

• G06Q10/06 Primary

  Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling · CPC title