APPARATUS FOR MANAGING ENERGY SUPPLIED TO FUNCTIONAL DEVICE UNITS REALIZING A SPECIFIC FUNCTION

• US 20100312425A1
• Filed: 06/07/2010
• Published: 12/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Sakamoto, Akira, OBAYASHI, Kazuyoshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,504,228 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/22
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 16/00 Arrangements in connection with power supply of propulsion units in vehicles from forces of nature, e.g. sun or wind electric propulsion with power supply from forces of nature, e.g. sun or wind B60L8/00; marine propulsion by wind motors driving water-engaging propulsive elements B63H13/00; wind motors specially adapted for installation on vehicles F03D9/32
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2016/003 solar power driven
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/48 Parallel type
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/08 including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/26 for electrical energy, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/30 including control of auxiliary equipment, e.g. air-conditioning compressors or oil pumps
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/00 Control systems specially adapted for hybrid vehicles hybrid vehicle design, B60K6/00; electric vehicles B60L
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/10 Controlling the power contribution of each of the prime movers to meet required power demand
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/62 Hybrid vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/84 Data processing systems or methods, management, administration
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/90 Energy harvesting concepts as power supply for auxiliaries' energy consumption, e.g. photovoltaic sun-roof

Abstract

An energy management apparatus is used to manage energy to be supplied to a system. A paid energy resource can be supplied to the system from the outside. The system is provided with two or more functional device units realizing a specific function using the input energy and adapted to satisfy an external request using at least one of the two or more functional device units such that supply of energy to the functional device units can be controlled. In the apparatus, a standardizing means standardizes input energy of each of the two or more functional device units in terms of the cost of the paid energy resource required for producing the input energy. In addition, a determining means determines to which of the two or more functional device units a predetermined quantity of energy should be fed such that the cost incurred in the system can be reduced.

Claims

1. An energy management apparatus for managing energy to be supplied to a system, to which a paid energy resource can be supplied from outside, which is provided with two or more functional device units realizing a specific function using the input energy and adapted to satisfy an external request using at least one of the two or more functional device units such that supply of energy to the functional device units can be controlled, the apparatus comprising:

a standardizing means for standardizing input energy of each of the two or more functional device units in terms of the cost of the paid energy resource required for producing the input energy; and

a determining means for determining to which of the two or more functional device units a predetermined quantity of energy should be fed such that the cost incurred in the system can be reduced.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising two or more functional device units, an input energy form of a specific functional device unit of the two or more functional device units being an output energy form, wherein the standardizing means includes a calculating means for calculating an average cost that is the cost required for producing a unit quantity of energy in the output energy form, and the determining means is adapted to determine utilizing the calculated average cost, to which of the two or more functional device units a predetermined quantity of energy should be fed.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the two or more functional device units include two or more functional device units having a similar function;

the predetermined quantity of energy is used by the two or more functional device units having the similar function to realize the similar function; and

the determining means is adapted to determine a usage ratio of each of the two or more functional device units having the similar function for realizing the similar function.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the determining means comprises:

a requested input quantity calculating means for, when a request that can be realized using the two or more functional device units having the similar function is input from outside, calculating a requested input quantity when using each of functional device units usable to satisfy the request;

a cost calculating means for calculating a cost that will be incurred in the required input for each of the two or more functional device units having the similar function, using the standardizing means; and

a usage ratio determining means for determining the usage ratio of each functional device unit based on the calculated cost.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the determining means is adapted to calculate in the case where a request that can be realized by the functional device units is input from outside, by the requested input quantity calculating means, an input quantity required by each of the two or more similar functional device units having the similar function in the case where the external request can be cooperatively satisfied by the similar functional device units, in addition to the case where the external request can be satisfied by one of the similar functional device units.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, comprising two or more functional device units, an input energy form of a specific functional device unit of the two or more functional device units being an output energy form, wherein

the standardizing means includes an average cost calculating means for calculating an average cost that is the cost required to produce a unit quantity of energy in the output energy form;

the cost calculating means is adapted to determine using the calculated average cost, the cost that will be incurred in the required input.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the average cost is calculated based on the history of the paid energy resource required for producing every unit quantity of output energy.

8. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the system comprises a vehicle system, wherein

the two or more functional device units include an internal combustion engine and a rotary electric machine as on-vehicle main engines.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the determining means is adapted to determine whether the internal combustion engine should be operated or stopped, based on the direct comparison between a cost incurred in the system with the internal combustion engine being operated and a cost incurred in the system with the internal combustion engine being stopped.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the determining means is adapted to determine that the engine should be used to realize a requested driving force, when the requested driving force cannot be realized by the motor-generator alone.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the two or more functional device units include an internal combustion engine and a rotary electric machine as on-vehicle main engines, a first heating means intended to heat the vehicle interior using the waste-heat of the internal combustion engine, and a second heating means including a heat-pump.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the determining means is adapted to determine which of the first heating means and the second heating means should be used, based on the direct comparison between a cost for the case where the efficiency of the internal combustion engine is lowered and thus the waste heat is increased and a cost for the case where the second heating means is used.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the determining means is adapted to calculate a cost for the case where the first heating means is used assuming that the internal combustion engine is in a quasi-stationary operating state, while the internal combustion engine is stopped.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the determining means is adapted to predict a continuous traveling period of the vehicle while the internal combustion engine is stopped, and then to, if the predicted period is equal to or less than a predetermined length, determine that only the second heating means should be used.

15. The apparatus of claim 3, comprising:

a priority determining means for determining whether or not there is any request having a higher priority than the reduction of the cost for the system; and

a prohibiting means for if it determined by the priority determining means that there is a request having a higher priority than the reduction of the cost, prohibiting assignment of a usage ratio to a functional device unit against the detected higher priority request.

16. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the determining means is further adapted to determine to which of the functional device units the charge-free energy should be fed such that the cost consumed by the system can be reduced.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the predetermined quantity of energy is charge-free energy.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the determining means is further adapted to determine into which of output energy forms of the two or more functional device units having different functions the charge-free energy should be preferentially converted, and feed the charge-free energy to a functional device unit whose input is given by the determined output energy form.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the determining means includes:

a conversion quantity calculating means for calculating a conversion quantity when the predetermined charge-free energy is converted into each of the output energy forms of the two or more functional device units having different functions;

a compensation cost calculating means for by using the standardizing means, for each of the output energy forms of the two or more functional device units having different functions, calculating a cost incurred in compensating the conversion quantity by energy other than the predetermined charge-free energy; and

a priority assigning means for assigning a higher priority to the output energy form into which the predetermined charge-free energy is converted with a larger compensation cost.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the determining means includes an average cost calculating means for calculating an average cost of output energy of the functional device units having a similar function, based on the history of the quantity of the paid energy resource required for producing every unit quantity of energy, for each of the functional device units having the similar function, and the compensation cost calculating means is adapted to calculate the cost incurred in compensating, based on the calculated average cost.

21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the standardizing means includes:

a first defining means for by using the conversion means in converting the charge-free energy into output energy of the functional device units, defining a restricted usage cost that is the cost required for converting energy other than the charge-free energy into output energy of the present functional device unit; and

a second defining means for defining an average cost for output energy for each of the functional device units having a similar function,

wherein the determining means includes a priority assigning means for assigning a higher priority to the output energy form into which the predetermined charge-free energy is converted, with a smaller ratio of the restricted usage cost to the average cost.

22. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the determining means includes:

a second determining means for determining whether or not there is any functional device unit undesirable to use in satisfying an external request, among the two or more functional device units; and

a removing means for if it determined that there is such an undesirable functional device unit, removing the undesirable functional device unit from the candidate destinations of feeding the charge-free energy.

23. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein

the system comprises a vehicle system, wherein

the charge-free energy includes energy extracted from drive wheels during deceleration of the vehicle, and

the two or more functional device units include a charging means that charges electric power and discharging the power to the exterior, and an on-vehicle air conditioning means that includes a compressor driven by application of torque.

24. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein

the system comprises a vehicle system equipped with an internal combustion engine, wherein

the charge-free energy includes waste-heat energy from the internal combustion engine, and

the two or more functional device units include a heating means for heating the vehicle interior using the waste heat and a generating means for performing electric power generation using the waste heat.

25. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein

the system comprises a system installed in a residential building,

the charge-free energy includes solar-generated energy, and

the two or more functional device units include a supplying means for supplying the solar-generated energy to an electric power company and a converting means for converting the solar-generated energy into thermal energy.

26. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein

the system comprises a functional device unit installed in a vehicle and a functional device unit installed in a residential building, and

the determining means is adapted to let one of the candidates of feeding the charge-free energy output from the functional device unit installed in the residential building be a charging means equipped with the vehicle.

27. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the standardizing means is adapted to calculate the cost incurred in producing output energy of at least one functional device unit by referring to the history of the paid resource quantity required for producing every output energy of the at least one functional device unit.

28. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the standardizing means is adapted to calculate the cost estimated to be incurred in producing every output energy of at least one functional device unit, based on future prediction information of the environments where the at least one functional device unit is situated.

29. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the two or more functional device units include a functional device unit that uses a paid energy resource as a direct energy source and a functional device unit that uses the output of the former functional device unit as a direct energy source.

30. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the system comprises both a functional device unit installed in a vehicle and a functional device unit installed in a residential building.