Power management system and power management method

• US 9,136,706 B2
• Filed: 06/18/2012
• Issued: 09/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Mitsumoto, Kenji, Murayama, Dai, Saito, Masaaki, Ooba, Yoshikazu, Tamaru, Shingo, Takagi, Yasuo, Nishimura, Nobutaka, Iino, Yutaka, Yamaguchi, Shuichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunn, Darrin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mia, MD N
• Application Number:
  US13/576,518
• Publication Number:
  US 20130173075A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,184 Days
• Field of Search: 700/19, 700/21, 700/22, 700/90, 700/291, 700/297, 702/106, 702/188, 702/57, 702/60, 702/61, 702/62
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/60 Limiting power consumption in the network or in one section of the network, e.g. load shedding or peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/00 Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/003 Load forecast, e.g. methods or systems for forecasting future load demand
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/144 Demand-response operation of the power transmission or distribution network
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 30/00 Adapting or protecting infrastructure or their operation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving

Abstract

A power management system includes: customer terminals; and a power management apparatus connected to the customer terminals, wherein each of the customer terminals includes a weather forecast acquisition unit that acquires a local weather forecast for a corresponding customer terminal, and a power prediction unit that predicts a power consumption and an amount of power that can be reduced for a predetermined period based on the weather forecast, and the power management apparatus includes an integration processing unit that integrates the power consumptions and the amounts of power that can be reduced that are predicted for the respective customer terminals to calculate a total power consumption and a total amount of power that can be reduced for all of the customer terminals.

Claims

1. A power management system comprising:

customer terminals; and

a power management apparatus connected to the customer terminals, wherein each of the customer terminals includes

a weather forecast acquisition unit that acquires a local weather forecast for a corresponding customer terminal, and

a power prediction unit that predicts a power consumption and an amount of power that can be reduced for a predetermined period based on the weather forecast, and

the power management apparatus includes

an integration processing unit that integrates the power consumptions and the amounts of power that can be reduced that are predicted for the respective customer terminals to calculate a total power consumption and a total amount of power that can be reduced for all of the customer terminals,

a wide-area weather forecast acquisition unit that acquires a wide-area weather forecast,

a weather forecast unit that derives the local weather forecast for the corresponding customer terminal based on the wide-area weather forecast and an existing position of the customer terminal in an area corresponding to the wide-area weather forecast, wherein

the weather forecast acquisition unit acquires the local weather forecast for the corresponding customer terminal that is derived by the weather forecast unit,

each of the customer terminals further includes an actual weather acquisition unit that acquires an actual local weather of the corresponding customer terminal,

the power management apparatus further includes an error calculation unit that calculates error information by using the actual weather acquired by each of the customer terminals and the weather forecast corresponding to the customer terminal and a period in which the actual weather is acquired, wherein

the weather forecast unit adds a change range in accordance with the error information to the weather forecast,

the power management apparatus further includes an adjustment unit that adjusts the power consumption and the amount of power that are predicted in the customer terminal in accordance with the change range added to the weather forecast for the customer terminal.

2. The power management system of claim 1, wherein, the weather forecast unit adds the change range in accordance with the error information to the weather forecast when the error information exceeds a predetermined threshold.

3. The power management system of claim 2, wherein when the change range is added to the weather forecast, the power prediction unit predicts the power consumption and the amount of power that can be reduced by using the change range.

4. The power management system of claim 1, wherein the wide-area weather forecast acquisition unit acquires the wide-area weather forecast from a third party that makes a weather forecast for a wide area including an area in which the customer terminals exist.

5. The power management system of claim 1, the weather forecast includes at least one of elements including temperature, humidity, CO₂ concentration, a wind direction, wind velocity, weather, an amount of solar radiation, cloud cover, an amount of precipitation, and an amount of snowfall.

6. A power management method comprising:

acquiring, by a weather forecast acquisition unit, a local weather forecast for each of customer terminals;

predicting, by a power prediction unit, a power consumption and an amount of power that can be reduced for a predetermined period based on the weather forecast;

integrating, by an integration processing unit, the power consumptions and the amounts of power that can be reduced that are predicted for the respective customer terminals to calculate a total power consumption and a total amount of power that can be reduced for all of the customer terminals;

acquiring, by a wide-area weather forecast acquisition unit, a wide-area weather forecast,

deriving by a weather forecast unit, the local weather forecast for the corresponding customer terminal based on the wide-area weather forecast and an existing position of the customer terminal in an area corresponding to the wide-area weather forecast,

wherein

the acquiring by the weather forecast acquisition unit includes acquiring the local weather forecast for the corresponding customer terminal that is derived by the weather forecast unit,

the method further includes acquiring, an actual weather acquisition unit, an actual local weather of the corresponding customer terminal,

calculating, by an error calculation unit, error information by using the actual weather acquired by the each of the customer terminals and the weather forecast corresponding to the customer terminal and a period in which the actual weather is acquired,

adding, by the weather forecast unit, a change range in accordance with the error information to the weather forecast,

adjusting, by an adjustment unit, the power consumption and the amount of power that are predicted in the customer terminal in accordance with the change range added to the weather forecast for the customer terminal.