Method and apparatus for power control

• US 9,866,031 B2
• Filed: 04/08/2014
• Issued: 01/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Baba, Kenji, Enohara, Takaaki, Nishimura, Nobutaka, Nagata, Kazumi, Noda, Shuhei
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rao, Sheela S
• Application Number:
  US14/247,640
• Publication Number:
  US 20140217823A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,372 Days
• Field of Search: 700295, 713310, 361 62, 702 62
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00006 characterised by information or instructions transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated power network element or electrical equipment
• 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 3/144 Demand-response operation of the power transmission or distribution network
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 4/00 Circuit arrangements for mains or distribution networks not specified as ac or dc
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/12 characterised by data transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated electrical equipment

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a power control apparatus includes a receiving unit, an environment-data acquiring unit, and a calculation unit. The receiving unit receives, from a power supplying side, a power-consumption reduction request for reducing power consumption at a power demanding side. The environmental data acquiring unit acquires, from the power demanding side, environmental data representing environmental state of the power demanding side. The calculating unit calculates a power-reduction value based on the environmental data, in response to the power-consumption reduction request.

Claims

1. A power control system comprising:

a data communication unit configured to perform data communication with the power-supplying side that supplies power to the power-demanding side; and

a power controller configured to perform a power demand control at the power-demanding side,

wherein the power controller comprises;

a receiving unit configured to receive a power-consumption reduction request from the power-supplying side via the data communication unit;

an environmental data acquiring unit configured to acquire, from the power demanding side, environmental data representing environmental states of respective areas of the power demanding side,

wherein the environmental data contains number-of-person data representing the number of persons in each area of the power-demanding side; and

the environmental data acquiring unit is configured to acquire the number-of-person data, by using sensor units installed in the respective areas of the power-demanding side;

a calculating unit configured to calculate target power-reduction values to reduce the power consumption in the respective areas of the power-demanding side, based on the environmental data about the respective areas,

wherein the target power-reduction values are allocated to the respective areas except for an area regarded as a non-controlled area based on the power-consumption reduction request; and

a power consumption controller configured to control the power consumption in the respective areas of the power-demanding side, based on the target power-reduction values calculated by the calculating unit.

2. The power control system of claim 1, wherein each of the sensor units includes an image recognizing unit configured to detect the number of the persons in each area, by processing an image photographed by a camera.

3. The power control system of claim 1, wherein the power controller is configured to generate data for use in performing a power control on objects provided in each area, based on the target power-reduction values allocated to the respective areas of the power-demanding side.

4. The power control system of claim 3, wherein the power controller is configured to perform a power control on illumination devices and air conditioners for the power demand control and to adjust the target power-reduction values for the illumination devices and air conditioners in accordance with the environmental states of the respective areas, including the number of the persons, temperature and in each area and illuminance of each area.