Electric power interchange system

• US 8,990,114 B2
• Filed: 11/02/2010
• Issued: 03/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Terano, Masaaki, Ichii, Yoshitaka
• Primary Examiner(s): JOHNSON, GREGORY L
• Application Number:
  US13/508,122
• Publication Number:
  US 20120233060A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,603 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/008 involving trading of energy or energy transmission rights
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 50/10 Energy trading, including energy flowing from end-user application to grid

Abstract

In a power interchange system, a power generated by a power generation device is interchanged between power consumers which receive an electric power supply from a power supply system. The amount of electric power sold by a power consumer is defined as an amount of selling power, and the amount of electric power that the power consumer demands from another electricity consumer is defined as an amount of purchasing power. Power interchange groups are formed, in which power consumers interchanges an electric power thereamong, and each power consumer is provided with a power control device which manages the electric power from the power generation device.

Claims

1. A power interchange system for enabling a plurality of power consuming units, which are supplied with a power from a power supply system, to interchange a power generated by their power generation devices among themselves, wherein each of the power consuming units comprises a power control device which transmits and receives power selling amount information indicating an amount of a selling power and power purchasing amount information indicating an amount of a purchasing power to and from the other power consuming units, trades a power with one or more power consuming units based on the power selling amount information and the power purchasing amount information and issues an instruction to discharge a power corresponding to the amount of the selling power to the power supply system based on a power trading condition, wherein:

the plurality of the power consuming units form a power interchanging group;

the power control device of each power consuming unit manages the power from the power generation device in the corresponding power consuming unit, transmits and receives the power selling amount information and the power purchasing amount information to and from the other power consuming units in the power interchanging group, establishes a power trade between two or more of the power consuming units based on the power selling amount information and the power purchasing amount information, and issues an instruction to discharge a power corresponding to the amount of the selling power to the power supply system based on the power trading condition that have been made between the corresponding power consuming unit which sells the power and the one or more power consuming units which purchase the power;

each of the power consuming units further comprises a battery for storing the power generated by the power generation device;

when a charge level of the battery exceeds a first threshold value, each of the power consuming units determines the amount of the selling power based on an amount of a power stored in the battery above the first threshold value;

when the charge level of the battery is lower than a second threshold value, each of the power consuming units determines the amount of the purchasing power based on an amount of a power corresponding to a shortage to reach the second threshold value.

2. The power interchange system of claim 1, wherein the power control device has a function of setting a power trading condition between specific power consuming units in advance, and executes a power trade between the specific power consuming units based on the set power trading condition.

3. The power interchange system of claim 1, wherein the amount of the selling power is a difference between an amount of the power generated by the power generation device and an amount of a power consumed by the corresponding power consuming unit when the amount of the generated power is larger than the amount of the consumed power.

4. The power interchange system of claim 1, wherein an electricity meter for measuring an amount of a power flowing through a base portion is provided in the base portion of the power supply system, the base portion being provided at upstream of a power supply junction branching into the individual power consuming units, and the power trade by the power control device is restrained when a reverse flow of a current is detected by the electricity meter.

5. The power interchange system of claim 1, wherein the power consuming units correspond to dwellings.

6. The power interchange system of claim 1, wherein the power consuming units correspond to dwellings that generate electric power by themselves in addition to power supplied from a commercial AC power source.

7. The power interchange system of claim 1, wherein the power consuming units correspond to dwellings and each of the dwellings first ensures an amount of power required by the dwelling and then interchanges any remaining power with other dwellings.

8. The power interchange system of claim 1, wherein the power consuming units correspond to dwellings that form part of a power interchanging group that trade power with each other.

9. The power interchange system of claim 1, wherein when the charge level of the battery reaches a third threshold value, a power discharge from the battery is restrained to preserve an electric power for emergency,

the first threshold value is greater than the third threshold value, and

the first threshold value is equal to the second threshold value.

10. The power interchange system of claim 1, wherein when two or more power consuming units require purchasing powers, the selling power is distributed thereamong in a ratio of amounts of the purchasing powers required by the two or more power consuming units.