JP5946210B2 - Power supply - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a power supply apparatus that charges a storage battery with energy generated by a solar battery and supplies power to various electrical devices from the storage battery.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various power supply apparatuses that use a solar cell to charge energy generated by the solar cell to a storage battery and supply electric power from the storage battery to various electric devices have been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration including a solar battery that employs a storage battery as a power source of a drive motor and further supplements a self-discharge current of the storage battery as an automatic operation device for a lock gate provided near a river. ing. In this type of device, a nickel cadmium battery, a nickel hydride battery, and a lead storage battery have been used as storage batteries. Nickel cadmium batteries and nickel metal hydride batteries have a memory effect while having a short charge time, and batteries that have once produced a memory effect have a difficult aspect such as requiring a refresh operation.

  Lead-acid batteries have the feature of low price per capacity and no memory effect, but they have a relatively short life of 3 to 4 years, and the charging efficiency is not good below the rated voltage. There is a problem that it is difficult to sufficiently charge only the electric power generated by the solar battery.

  Therefore, in recent years, lithium ion batteries having high energy density and low self-discharge and having no memory effect have been spreading. As disclosed in Patent Document 2, a solar battery and a lithium ion battery are combined, There has been proposed a charging device that enables efficient charging while using a battery.

JP 59-68414 JP 2009-17686 A

  By the way, there is a problem that the lithium ion battery lacks reliability in a high temperature environment, and leaving it in a place where the temperature becomes high or near a heat source may cause the battery to generate heat or ignite. There is. In particular, sufficient caution is required for charging at high temperatures because the danger is great. However, when a lithium ion battery is charged using a solar battery, the ambient temperature of the lithium ion battery is not affected by the fact that the casing is exposed to direct sunlight even if the lithium ion battery is housed in an outdoor casing. It is fully considered that the battery is charged in a high state. Therefore, a cooling structure is required to prevent overheating of the lithium ion battery while using a part of the power generated by the solar battery or the power charged in the lithium ion battery. However, in this case, it is necessary to consider a cooling structure in consideration of the balance between the cooling effect and the power consumption, and a structure for preventing overheating of the battery while suppressing power consumption is required. For example, although a high cooling effect can be obtained by using a temperature control means such as a Peltier element, the amount of power consumed is increased accordingly, so it is suitable for a power supply device that uses only solar cells and does not rely on commercial power sources. I can't say. Since the power supply to the electrical equipment that is the original load is given the highest priority, it is necessary to suppress the power consumption spent for maintaining the function of the power supply device as much as possible. Therefore, an air cooling system that blows air around the lithium ion battery with a cooling fan and takes outside air outside the casing and applies it to the lithium ion battery to prevent temperature rise is preferable in terms of cooling effect and power consumption. A cooling structure.

  The environmental conditions required when using a lithium ion battery are generally specified in different temperature ranges when charging and discharging, particularly in a high temperature state of 50 ° C to 60 ° C. Since the deterioration is remarkable when the charging operation is performed, the upper limit temperature is specified to be about 45 ° C. for the charging operation and about 60 ° C. for the discharging operation. Therefore, the upper limit of the ambient temperature in which the lithium ion battery is placed is set to 45 ° C, and the rotation of the cooling fan is controlled based on this upper limit temperature, so that both the environmental conditions of the charging operation and the discharging operation are satisfied. I have to.

  As described above, energy saving is achieved by adopting an air cooling method using a cooling fan without using a temperature adjusting means such as a Peltier element, but a demand for further power saving is increasing. Specifically, for example, during the twilight hours in summer or after sunset, the solar cell does not generate power and the battery is not charged, until the ambient temperature inside the casing falls below the set upper limit value. During this period, there may occur a situation in which the cooling fan continues to operate at the maximum rotational speed, and it is considered that there is room for power saving measures in such an operation.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a power supply apparatus that charges a lithium ion battery with energy generated by a solar battery and supplies power to an electric device. Another object of the present invention is to provide a system that can save power without sacrificing safety in using a lithium ion battery even in an outdoor installation environment.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention stores a power generated by solar energy in a storage battery, and in a power supply device that supplies the stored power to an electric device, generates solar power by receiving sunlight. A battery; a storage battery that stores power generated by the solar battery; a charge / discharge control means that controls a charging operation for the storage battery and a discharge operation that discharges the power charged in the storage battery; and a battery that houses the storage battery A blower that blows cooling air to the housing unit, an ambient temperature detection unit that detects an ambient temperature of the battery housing unit, and an air flow rate of the blower based on the ambient temperature value detected by the ambient temperature detection unit comprising a blower control means for controlling the, and time management means including a real time clock, ambient temperature range at the time of performing a charging operation to the battery And charge-time ambient temperature conditions defining the advance and stored in the blower control means and a discharge-time ambient temperature conditions defining the ambient temperature range when performing the discharge operation with respect to the storage battery, determined based on the real time clock During the period from sunset to sunrise, which is a non-sunshine condition, the air temperature control at the time of discharge is controlled by the air blower control means by applying the air temperature condition at the time of discharge, and the control applying the air temperature condition at the time of discharge is applied. When the power generation amount in the solar cell reaches an amount sufficient to perform the charging operation during the operation, the control operation of the blower control means is switched to the operation applying the charging ambient temperature condition. A power supply device is proposed.

  According to the present invention, an ambient temperature condition during charging that defines an ambient temperature range when performing a charging operation on a storage battery, and an ambient temperature condition during discharging that defines an ambient temperature range when performing a discharging operation on the storage battery Are stored in advance, and under the situation where power generation is performed by a solar battery, the ambient temperature condition at the time of charging is applied and the blower control means controls the blower amount of the blower. As a result, in a situation where the storage battery is charged while being affected by the heat of sunlight, the rotation control of the blower is performed so that the ambient temperature of the storage battery becomes the upper limit temperature during the charging operation, and the storage battery is deteriorated. Charging can be performed safely in a temperature range that is not allowed to occur. Moreover, in that case, when the ambient temperature of the rechargeable battery reaches 30 ° C, the air blowing operation from the blower is started, and thereafter the air volume is increased with the temperature rising to less than 45 ° C. Since the control is performed so that the airflow of the blower is continuously driven at the maximum airflow, it is possible to save power of the storage battery as compared with the case where the blower is always driven at the maximum airflow, and the generation of noise accompanying the drive of the blower is reduced. I can do it.

  In addition, an ambient temperature condition during charging that prescribes an ambient temperature range when performing a charging operation on the storage battery, and an ambient temperature condition during discharging that defines the ambient temperature range when performing a discharging operation on the storage battery are stored in advance. In addition, when the amount of power generation in the solar cell is insufficient for performing the charging operation, when the state of non-sunshine conditions continues for a certain period of time, the atmospheric temperature condition at the time of discharge is applied, and the blower control means controls the blower air volume. I try to control it. Thereby, in the situation where the storage battery is not charged, the rotation control of the blower is performed so that the ambient temperature of the storage battery is set to the upper limit temperature during the discharge operation, and the value of the upper limit temperature is higher than that during the charge operation. The temperature is set, and the power consumption of the blower can be reduced without causing deterioration of the battery. Moreover, in that case, when the ambient temperature of the rechargeable battery reaches 45 ° C, the air blowing operation from the blower is started, and thereafter the air volume is increased with the temperature rising to less than 60 ° C. Since the control is performed so that the air volume of the blower is continuously driven at the maximum air volume, the power saving effect can be further enhanced.

  And it is set by specifying the time as a non-sunshine period during which sunlight is not irradiated from sunset to sunrise, and this non-sunshine period is based on the time information of the real-time clock. To apply. Therefore, since the setting of the upper limit temperature for performing the air blowing control is automatically switched at the designated time, the nighttime power saving operation is always executed, and a high power saving effect can be obtained.

  In addition, when power generation is performed in the solar cell during the air blowing control operation to which the atmospheric temperature condition during discharge is applied, the air blowing control operation is switched to the operation under the atmospheric temperature condition during charging. If the storage battery is charged while the power saving operation is kept high, the operation can be immediately switched to the air blowing operation for lowering the upper limit temperature. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the storage battery from deteriorating and generating danger while performing the power saving operation.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the whole structure of the system using the power supply device which concerns on an Example of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the external appearance of the system using the power supply device which concerns on an Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the system using the power supply device which concerns on an Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the power supply device which concerns on an Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the ventilation control operation | movement of the power supply device which concerns on this invention Example.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of a system using a power supply apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, as a system using a power supply device, for example, a remote monitoring system for monitoring a river in a remote location is shown. 1 is a local monitoring device, which is equipped with a power supply device composed of a solar cell panel and a storage battery, a camera, and a mobile communication device. For example, it is installed near the river to monitor the river level and requires a commercial power supply. It has the function to generate the power necessary for itself to operate by the solar cell panel at any installation location, to capture the area to be monitored with the camera, and to transmit the captured image data to the outside ing. A mobile network 2 is capable of mobile communication via a mobile communication terminal such as a so-called mobile phone. In this embodiment, a mobile communication device provided in the local monitoring device 1 is used to connect to this mobile network, and data communication from any installation location to be monitored is enabled. Reference numeral 3 denotes an Internet network, and the local monitoring device 1 is connected to the Internet network via the mobile network 2 and can be connected to information processing terminals such as various servers and personal computers existing at remote locations. ing. Reference numeral 4 denotes a data center. This data center has a function of storing image data picked up by the local monitoring device 1 and accumulating it so that it can be viewed from the outside. Reference numeral 5 denotes an information processing terminal composed of a personal computer or the like. The user accesses the data center by connecting the information processing terminal to the Internet, and uses an ASP (Application Service Provider) service provided by the data center for data. The image data stored in the center can be browsed.

  Next, the configuration of the local monitoring device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the appearance of the local monitoring device 1, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration. 11 is a solar cell panel, and is attached to the upper position of the support | pillar 12 so that rotation is possible, and it has a structure which can be fixed at arbitrary angles with respect to an elevation angle direction. A camera 13 is attached to the lower position of the solar cell panel 11 with respect to the column 12, and the situation of the region to be monitored is imaged by the camera 13 attached to a relatively high position. Reference numeral 14 denotes a storage box in which the storage battery 16, the charge / discharge control means 31, the control unit 17, and the mobile communication device 18 are stored. An antenna 15 extending from the mobile communication device stored inside is fixed to the upper surface of the storage box. And the power supply device 30 is comprised by the solar cell panel 11, the charging / discharging control means 31, and the storage battery 16 in this block diagram.

  In the local monitoring device 1 configured as described above, when power supply is started from a state where no power is supplied to the camera 13 and the mobile communication device 18 (power off) (power on), mobile communication is first performed. The apparatus 18 becomes operable, and next, the monitoring target area is imaged by the camera 13. The captured image data is PUT by the mobile communication device 18 to the data center 4 through the mobile network 2 and the Internet 3 by FTP (File Transfer Protocol). The PUT image data is stored in the data center 4 and can be viewed from an external information processing terminal. The power on / off control by the control unit 17 is performed based on preset values of the power on time and the power off time. In this embodiment, the power-off time is set to 10 minutes and the power-on time is set to 1 minute. As a result, the camera 13 and the mobile communication device 18 are set to 1 after a state where no power is supplied for 10 minutes. Electric power is supplied for one minute, and while the electric power is supplied, a still image of one frame is captured and PUT to the data center 4 is performed. By repeating this, one frame image is accumulated in the data center 4 every 10 minutes.

  Next, a detailed configuration of the power supply device 30 will be described with reference to FIG. As already described, the solar cell panel 11 is connected to the storage battery 16 via the charge / discharge control means 31, and the power generated by receiving sunlight is charged / discharged to the storage battery 16 via the charge / discharge control means 31. The The rechargeable battery 16 uses a lithium ion battery, and when the solar panel 11 is sufficiently generated by blessing with sunshine conditions, the charge / discharge control means 31 performs floating charging up to the maximum charge amount of the lithium ion battery 16. On the other hand, when the sunshine conditions deteriorate and the amount of power generated by the solar battery panel 11 is insufficient, the lithium ion battery 16 is discharged and the power to each device constituting the local monitoring device 1 is obtained. Supply (discharge operation). In addition to the charge / discharge control function of the lithium ion battery, the charge / discharge control means 31 also has a power supply control function for the camera 13 and the mobile communication device 18 through the control unit 17. Power supply is turned on / off.

  Reference numeral 32 denotes an ambient temperature detection means that detects the ambient temperature of a battery housing portion (not shown) that houses the lithium ion battery 16 inside the power supply device. Reference numeral 33 denotes a blower that blows outside air taken from the outside of the power supply device 30 to the battery housing portion to cool the lithium ion battery 16. The power supply device 30 is disposed inside the storage box 14 of the local monitoring device 1, and the outside air taken in from the outside of the storage box 14 is blown to the lithium ion battery 16. Reference numeral 34 denotes a blower control means, which PWM-controls the rotation of the blower 33 based on the ambient temperature value of the lithium ion battery 16 detected by the ambient temperature detection means 32 and variably controls the blown air amount. Reference numeral 35 denotes time management means, which is composed of a real-time clock and outputs time information.

  By the way, the environmental conditions for use of the lithium ion battery 16, especially the ambient temperature, are specified. In the case of the lithium ion battery employed in this embodiment, the discharge operation is −10 ° C. as the guaranteed operating temperature range. To 60 ° C., and the charging operation is specified from 0 ° C. to 45 ° C. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the charging ambient temperature condition for defining the ambient temperature range for driving the blower 33 when performing the charging operation, and the discharging for defining the ambient temperature range for driving the blower 33 when performing the discharging operation. The ambient air temperature condition is stored in the blower control means 34, and the drive condition of the blower is divided into a case where the lithium ion battery is performing a charging operation and a case where a lithium ion battery is performing a discharging operation. The charging ambient temperature condition is 30 ° C. to 45 ° C. When the charging operation is performed, when the ambient temperature detecting means detects 30 ° C., the fan starts to rotate, and thereafter the temperature is detected to be less than 45 ° C. The amount of air flow is increased with the temperature rise by PWM control. When 45 ° C. is detected, the air flow of the blower is maximized, and at a temperature of 45 ° C. or higher, the air blower is continuously driven with the air flow being maximized.

  In addition, the atmospheric temperature condition at the time of discharge is 45 ° C to 60 ° C, and during the discharge operation, when the atmospheric temperature detecting means detects 45 ° C, the fan starts to rotate, and thereafter the temperature below 60 ° C is detected. The air flow is increased with the temperature rise by PWM control until When 60 ° C. is detected, the blower volume of the blower is maximized, and at a temperature of 60 ° C. or higher, the blower is continuously driven with the blower volume being maximized.

  Whether the lithium ion battery 16 is being charged (under sunshine conditions) or discharged (under non-sunshine conditions) is determined by the presence or absence of power generation in the solar cell panel 11. When the charging operation is performed by the charge / discharge control unit 31, the blower control unit 34 applies the ambient temperature condition at the time of charging, and when the discharging operation is performed by the charge / discharge control unit 31, the blower control unit 34 is discharged. Apply ambient temperature conditions. In this way, the operation state of the lithium ion battery 16 from the operation of the charge / discharge control means 31 that is switched depending on whether or not the solar cell panel 11 generates power, that is, the solar cell panel 11 is in the sunshine condition or in the non-sunshine condition. Is determined.

On the other hand, the distinction between the sunshine condition and the non-sunshine condition is also performed by time information output from the time management means 35. By inputting a sunset time and a sunrise time by an operation panel unit (not shown) for performing various input operations relating to the apparatus, and specifying a non-sunshine period from sunset to sunrise, the blower control means 34 Switches to non-sunshine conditions based on time information. When the current time reaches a preset sunset time, the atmospheric temperature condition at the time of discharge is applied, and the blower control of the blower is performed according to the atmospheric temperature condition at the time of discharge until the sunrise time. However, after applying the discharge ambient temperature condition based on the time information in this way, if the charging operation is performed in the charge / discharge control means 31 , the operation of the blower control means 34 is prioritized and the switching of the condition is performed. Done. When the pre-set sunset time is applied and the discharge ambient temperature condition is applied, the discharge ambient temperature condition is applied as it is until the sunrise time is reached, but charge / discharge control is performed midway from the sunset time to the sunrise time. When the charging operation is performed in the means 31 , the condition is immediately switched at that time, and the charging ambient temperature condition is applied. By doing so, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the ambient temperature exceeds the upper limit temperature specified during the charging operation even though the lithium ion battery is being charged.

  Next, the air blowing control operation of the power supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. It is determined whether or not the current time has reached a preset sunset time (S1). If it is before the sunset time, it is next determined whether or not the lithium ion battery 16 is being charged. (S2). If it is determined by (S1) and (S2) that the solar cell panel 11 generates power during the daytime and the lithium ion battery 16 is being charged, the blower control means 34 Applies the ambient temperature condition during charging (S3), and controls the blowing of the blower 33 based on the ambient temperature around the lithium ion battery 16 detected by the ambient temperature detecting means 32 (S4). In this manner, the amount of air blown from the blower is controlled so that the ambient temperature of the lithium ion battery 16 is kept at 45 ° C. or lower under the sunshine conditions in which daytime power generation is performed.

  If the current time has reached the sunset time (S1), it is next determined whether or not the lithium ion battery 16 is being charged (S5). When it is determined by (S1) and (S5) that the power generation by the solar cell panel 11 is not performed in the time zone after sunset and the charging operation to the lithium ion battery 16 is not performed, The blower control unit 34 applies the atmospheric temperature condition during discharge charging (S6), and performs blower control of the blower 33 based on the ambient temperature around the lithium ion battery 16 detected by the ambient temperature detection unit 32 (S7). Thus, under the situation where the lithium ion battery 16 is performing a discharge operation under non-sunshine conditions, the air flow rate of the blower is controlled so as to suppress the ambient temperature of the lithium ion battery 16 to 60 ° C. or lower. This operation is executed until a preset sunrise time (S8). If the operation of the lithium ion battery 16 is switched from the discharge operation to the charge operation before the sunrise time is reached (S5), go to circle 1 Jump to and switch to blower control that applies the ambient temperature condition during charging. Similarly, when the operation of the lithium ion battery 16 is switched from the charging operation to the discharging operation while performing the air blowing control applying the charging atmosphere temperature condition (S2), the operation jumps to the circled 2 and the discharging atmosphere Switch to blower control applying temperature conditions.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, a remote monitoring system for monitoring a remote river or the like is shown as a system using the power supply device according to the present invention, but it is used for various devices and various systems that operate by receiving power supply. It is possible.

  The power supply apparatus by this invention can be utilized for the electric power supply use to the electric equipment in the place which does not have a commercial power supply facility.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Local monitoring apparatus 2 Mobile network 3 Internet network 4 Data center 5 Information processing terminal 11 Solar cell panel 13 Camera 16 Lithium ion battery (storage battery)
17 Control Unit 18 Mobile Communication Device 30 Power Supply Device 31 Charge / Discharge Control Unit 32 Atmosphere Temperature Detection Unit 33 Blower 34 Blower Control Unit 35 Real Time Clock (Time Management Unit)

Claims (1)

In a power supply device that stores electric power generated by solar energy in a storage battery and supplies the stored electric power to an electrical device,
A solar cell that generates power by receiving sunlight,
A storage battery for storing electric power generated by the solar battery;
Charge / discharge control means for controlling a charging operation for the storage battery and a discharging operation for discharging the power charged in the storage battery;
A blower that blows cooling air to a battery housing section that houses the storage battery;
An ambient temperature detecting means for detecting an ambient temperature of the battery housing;
A blower control means for controlling the air flow rate of the blower based on the value of the ambient temperature around the storage battery detected by the ambient temperature detection means;
Time management means consisting of a real-time clock ,
The blower includes: an atmospheric temperature condition during charging that defines an ambient temperature range when performing a charging operation on the storage battery; and an atmospheric temperature condition during discharging that defines an ambient temperature range when performing a discharging operation on the storage battery. In the period from sunset to sunrise, which is a non-sunshine condition determined in advance based on the real-time clock, stored in the control means in advance, the blower control means applies the discharge ambient temperature condition and the blower control means applies the air flow rate of the blower. When performing the control operation applying the atmospheric temperature condition at the time of discharge, when the amount of power generation in the solar cell reaches an amount sufficient to perform the charging operation, the control operation of the blower control means is A power supply device that switches to an operation that applies an ambient temperature condition during charging .

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