JP6227944B2 - COMMUNICATION DEVICE, COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND POWER CONDITIONER - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device, a communication method, and a power conditioner.

  The power conditioner includes a plurality of DC / DC converters connected to a plurality of solar cell strings, and a DC / AC inverter that converts DC power output from each DC / DC converter into AC power.

  Each DC / DC converter is provided with a slave control unit that performs maximum power point tracking control and the like for the solar cell string. Each slave control unit is controlled by the master control unit, and the control state of each DC / DC converter is controlled. It is configured to be transmitted to the master control unit via the slave control unit.

  The master control unit to which the operation display unit is connected controls each DC / DC converter via the slave control unit based on the operation information input by the operator, and the control state obtained via the slave control unit Are managed and displayed on the operation display unit.

  Each slave control unit and the master control unit are connected by a communication line, and a polling method is adopted in which a corresponding slave control unit returns a control state in response to a transmission request from the master control unit.

  When using the polling method, it is assumed that the master control unit can identify each slave control unit individually, so a jig for setting the ID code, which is identification information at the time of manufacture, is connected to each slave control unit Then, a setting process for storing each ID code in a memory provided in the slave control unit is performed. Usually, a dedicated computer terminal is often used as a jig.

  However, it is very cumbersome to manage the ID code of the slave control unit individually at each stage of shipment and distribution from the time of manufacture, and the problem is that the management cost increases, the slave control unit of the power conditioner after shipment When a failure occurs and it is necessary to replace it, it is difficult to grasp the ID code of the failed slave control unit. For this reason, replacement personnel have jigs and set the ID code on site. There is a problem that the maintenance cost increases, and there is a problem that the ID code may be set incorrectly when the ID code is manually set.

  In order to solve such a problem, Patent Document 1 proposes an address setting method in which a master station can automatically set a slave station address by polling.

  As a premise, there is a means to set an effective address range that can be assigned to each slave station, and an unset address in the valid address range by grasping the set address of the slave station by polling, and within this unset address Next, a master station that has means for determining the next set address to be set next, a means for holding the address of its own station, and if its own address has been set, the address is fixed to a specific value. Each slave station is provided with an address counter that is cyclically updated with a value outside the effective address setting range at regular intervals when not set.

  First, the master station transmits an address unset slave station detection request to each slave station (100 is exemplified as the number of slave stations) by polling, and only the address unset slave station responds to this request. By doing this, when the slave station with no address set is detected, and the master station responds with one slave station with no address set, the master station transmits the next set address to the slave station with the address not set, and the slave station without the address set next The address is set to the address of the own station, the address counter is fixed to a specific value, and an address setting completion response is transmitted. Upon receipt of this response, the master station updates the unset address and the next set address.

  When a plurality of address-unset slave stations respond to the master station, the master station makes an address random setting request to each address-unset slave station to set the address counter value to its own address, and for a certain period Later, special polling is performed for an address-unset slave station whose address counter value is outside the valid address range. When one slave station with no address responds by special polling, each slave station uses the next set address. When an address setting request is made, the slave station whose address has not been set sets the address. When a plurality of slave stations respond in the special polling, the master station requests a random address setting and obtains a response with different address counter values. The special polling is repeated until.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-217852

  However, in the address setting method disclosed in Patent Document 1, after the master station performs normal polling to grasp the address of an effective slave station, dedicated polling is performed on the slave station whose address has not been set. When there is a response from one unaddressed slave station, the address setting information is sent to the single unaddressed slave station. There is a problem that it takes a very long time because it is necessary to perform dedicated polling for unset slave stations.

  Also, when there are responses from a plurality of address-unset slave stations at the same time, an address random setting request is made, and after a certain period, special polling is performed for address-unset slave stations whose address counter value is outside the valid address range. When one unaddressed slave station responds, address setting information is sent to the unaddressed slave station, and when multiple slave stations respond to special polling, the process from address random setting request to special polling is performed. It has to be repeated, and not only the effective address range, but also a plurality of addresses outside the effective address range must be managed for special polling, and very complicated control is required.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication device, a communication method, and a power conditioner that can automatically set identification information of a slave station quickly by reducing the number of polls from the master station. It is in.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the first characteristic configuration of the communication apparatus according to the present invention is a plurality of slave stations each having unique identification information set, as described in claim 1 of the claims. And a plurality of slave stations responding to a first time zone set for each identification information in response to the simultaneous transmission request. In addition, a second time zone in which a slave station in which the identification information is not set in response to the simultaneous transmission request can be set is further set, and the master station newly sets a slave station responding to the second time zone. An operation unit that permits a response of only one slave station for each simultaneous transmission request to a plurality of slave stations for which the identification information is not set. There is in point.

  Regardless of whether the identification information has been set or not set, the master station outputs the identification information set in advance when it outputs a simultaneous transmission request to all the slave stations connected to the communication line. Based on whether or not there is a response from the corresponding slave station in the first time zone set for each segment, identification information that has not yet been set is specified, and the slave station that has responded in the second time zone In addition, since the identification information is issued, all the slave stations set with the identification information can be recognized among the slave stations connected to the communication line in response to at least one simultaneous transmission request. It becomes possible to promptly issue unset identification information to the slave station that responded during the time period. Accordingly, there is no need to set individual identification information in the slave station at the time of manufacturing, and management costs and maintenance costs can be greatly reduced.

  When a plurality of slave stations for which identification information is not set are connected to the communication line, there occurs a situation in which responses are mixed in the second time zone and cannot be properly grasped by the master station. According to the above-described configuration, the response of only one of the slave stations is permitted by the operation of the operation unit. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately and promptly execute the response for each slave station without providing a special communication control unit for avoiding interference. The identification information can be set in the.

  In the second feature configuration, as described in claim 2, in addition to the first feature configuration described above, the master station sends the new identification information to the slave station responding to the second time zone next time. The slave station is configured to be issued at the time of outputting the simultaneous transmission request, and the slave station that has received the new identification information is configured to respond to the first time zone corresponding to the identification information. .

  Since the master station issues new identification information including the next broadcast transmission request, it is not necessary to send a dedicated identification information setting request only to the slave station, and a broadcast transmission request including identification information is not required. The received slave station responds that the identification information is set in the first time zone corresponding to the identification information, so that the new identification information setting process can be realized very quickly and easily. .

  In the third feature configuration, in addition to the first feature configuration described above, the second time zone is set after the first time zone, and the master station As new identification information to be issued to the slave station responding to the second time zone, a plurality of identification information corresponding to the time zone in which no response is made in the first time zone is selected in ascending or descending order. .

According to the above-described configuration, the identification information setting state becomes clear when the first time period has elapsed, and the identification information is smoothly transmitted to the slave station that has responded in the subsequent second time period. There ing to be selected.

In addition to any one of the first to third feature configurations described above, the fourth feature configuration is the power supply operation unit that feeds power only to the corresponding slave station, as described in claim 4. Or a signal generation unit capable of outputting a response permission signal only to a corresponding slave station.

  Only a single slave station that is fed via the feed operation unit or a single slave station to which a response permission signal is input from the signal generation unit can respond in the second time period, resulting in interference. There is nothing.

The first characterizing feature of a power conditioner according to the present invention, is output from the same as claimed described in claim 5, a plurality of DC / DC converter and, each DC / DC converter are respectively connected to a plurality of solar cell strings DC / AC inverter that converts DC power to AC power, multiple slave control units that perform maximum power point tracking control for each solar cell string via each DC / DC converter, and each slave control unit A power conditioner including a master control unit that monitors a control state of each DC / DC converter, and any one of the first to fourth features described above between the master control unit and the plurality of slave control units together with the communication apparatus having the arrangement is incorporated, as the identification information of the slave stations incorporated in the slave controller identification information of each solar cell string There is the point that has been constant.

  At the time of manufacturing the slave control unit in which the slave station is incorporated, the complicated operation of setting and managing the identification information individually becomes unnecessary. Furthermore, since the master control unit can grasp the state of each solar cell string based on the control state and identification information of the DC / DC converter received via the slave control unit, in addition to the identification information of the slave control unit Thus, there is no need to separately manage the identification information of the solar cell string, and it becomes possible to manage simply by suppressing an increase in the amount of information.

In the second feature configuration, as described in claim 6 , in addition to the first feature configuration described above, the master control unit monitors the operation state of each solar cell string on the display unit based on the identification information. In that it is configured to display.

  Since each solar cell string is associated with the identification information of the slave control unit, the master control unit can monitor and display the operation state of each solar cell string without special association information.

The first characteristic configuration of the communication method according to the present invention is that, as described in claim 7 , the master station and a plurality of slave stations set with unique identification information are connected by a communication line and transmitted from the master station. The communication method is configured such that each slave station responds to the simultaneous transmission request in a first time zone set for each piece of the identification information, and the identification information is transmitted to the simultaneous transmission request. There slave station is not set is the second time period to provide a configuration capable of responding, the master station is configured to issue a new identifier to the slave station in response to said second time period, wherein A plurality of slave stations for which identification information is not set are configured such that a response from only one slave station is permitted for each simultaneous transmission request .

The second feature structure, as described in the claim 8, in addition to the first characterizing feature described above, wherein the second time period before or after the first time period is set, the master station As new identification information to be issued to the slave station responding in the second time zone, the identification information corresponding to the time zone in which no response has been made in the first time zone is selected.

The third feature structure, as described in the claim 9, in addition to the first characterizing feature described above, wherein the second time period before or after the first time period is set, the master station A point of selecting a plurality of pieces of identification information corresponding to a time zone in which no response has been made in the first time zone in ascending or descending order as new identification information issued to the slave station responding to the second time zone. near Ru.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a communication device, a communication method, and a power conditioner that can automatically set identification information of a slave station quickly by reducing the number of polls from the master station. It became so.

Functional block diagram of a power conditioner according to the present invention Explanatory drawing of the slave controller built in the DC / DC converter Transmission / reception data format illustration (A) is an explanatory diagram of a communication sequence when a transmission request is output to an individual slave controller, and (b) is an explanatory diagram of a communication sequence when a simultaneous transmission request is output to all slave controllers. (A) is explanatory drawing of the response sequence with respect to the simultaneous transmission request when identification information is not set in a part of slave control part, (b) is description of the response sequence when identification information is issued from a master control part. Figure Flowchart showing output processing of simultaneous transmission request by master control unit Flow chart showing output processing of simultaneous transmission request by slave control unit

Hereinafter, a communication device, a communication method, and a power conditioner according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a functional block configuration of a power conditioner PC for general households. The power conditioner PC is connected to four solar cell strings 1 (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d), four DC / DC converters 2 (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d), and one DC / DC An AC inverter 5 is provided.

  A DC / DC converter 2 (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) is connected to each of the four solar cell strings 1 (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d), and the DC power output from each DC / DC converter 2 is DC. It is configured to be converted into AC power by the AC inverter 5 and to be fed to the home load via a system linkage protection device (not shown) for connection to the commercial power system A.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the solar cell string 1 has four systems assuming a case where the solar cell string 1 is installed in four directions, east, west, north, and south of the roof of a private house will be described. However, the power conditioner PC according to the present invention has four systems. However, the present invention is not limited to the configuration including the solar cell string 1, and any configuration including a plurality of solar cell strings 1 and connected to the individual DC / DC converters 2 is applicable.

  The power conditioner PC further includes an inverter control unit 6 that controls the DC / AC inverter 5 to adjust and output a desired AC voltage, a master control unit 4 that performs overall control of each DC / DC converter 2, A slave control unit that is incorporated in the DC / DC converter 2 (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) and controls each DC / DC converter 2 (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) based on a control command from the master control unit 4 3 (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) is provided.

  Each control unit 3, 4, 6 includes a CPU, a memory, an input / output circuit including an AD converter, and the like. The memory includes flash memory and ROM that are rewritable nonvolatile memories, and RAM that is volatile memory. The flash memory is used for an important data storage area such as identification information and error information, the ROM is mainly used for a control program storage area, and the RAM is mainly used for a program working area.

  An operation display unit 7 is connected to the master control unit 4. The master control unit 4 controls each DC / DC converter 2 via each slave control unit 3 based on the operation information input by the operator, and each DC / DC converter obtained via the slave control unit 3 2 is managed, and the operation display unit 7 is configured to display the state, that is, the power generation state and the presence / absence of a failure.

  The master control unit 4 is configured to notify the inverter control unit 6 of the control state of each DC / DC converter obtained via the slave control unit 3, and the inverter control unit 6 is configured to perform DC / DC conversion based on each control state. The AC inverter 5 is controlled.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the DC / DC converter 2 includes a switching regulator including a step-up coil 21, a diode 22, a capacitor 23, and a semiconductor switch element 24.

  Each slave control unit 3 activates the DC / DC converter 2 based on the activation command from the master control unit 4 to execute maximum power point tracking control and the like on the solar cell string 1, and the input voltage at that time The operating state such as Vi, input current Ai, output voltage Vo, etc. is transmitted to the master control unit 4.

  In the maximum power point tracking control, the DC power input from the solar cell string 1, that is, the input voltage Vi and the input current Ai are monitored, and the switch element 24 is controlled so as to maximize the power, and the DC / DC is controlled. This is control for adjusting the output voltage Vo of the converter 2.

  Each slave control unit 3 includes a communication unit 30 serving as a slave station, the master control unit 4 includes a communication unit 40 serving as a master station, and a communication device in which the communication units 30 and 40 are connected by a communication line 8 is incorporated. Yes. A polling method in which the communication unit 30 as a slave station provided in the slave control unit 3 responds to a transmission request (polling command) from the communication unit 40 as a master station provided in the master control unit 4 and returns a control state. It is configured to communicate with each other.

  In this embodiment, the communication line 8 corresponding to RS232C or RS422 is used, and the communication unit 40 of the master control unit 4 and the communication unit 30 of each slave control unit 3 are connected in a daisy chain manner (see FIG. 1). . When the number of slave control units 3 is large, it is possible to use the communication line 8 corresponding to RS485. It should be noted that other transmission schemes can be used in cases where transmission schemes other than such transmission schemes are required, such as when high-speed transmission is required.

  The communication devices 8, 30, and 40 that connect between the master control unit 4 and each slave control unit 3 will be described. In the following description, for simplification of description, “the communication unit 30 of the slave control unit 3” is simply referred to as “slave control unit 3”, and “the communication unit 40 of the master control unit 4” is simply referred to as “master control unit 4”. Abbreviated.

  FIG. 3 shows the configuration of communication data. The communication data includes STX indicating the start of data, transmission source identification information (transmission source ID), transmission destination identification information (transmission destination ID), several bytes of transmission data, and ETX indicating the end of data, Each block other than the transmission data is composed of 1 byte. Note that parity data or a CRC code may be added to the communication data as necessary.

  The identification information of the master control unit 4 is set to 0Ah, and the identification information of the four slave control units 3 is set from 01h to 04h and stored in the respective nonvolatile memories. In the following description, “identification information” may be simply expressed as “ID”.

  The master control unit 4 is configured to communicate data with each slave control unit 3 in either the first communication mode or the second communication mode. 4A shows the first communication mode, and FIG. 4B shows the second communication mode.

  In the first communication mode, the master control unit 4 transmits a simultaneous transmission request in which the transmission source ID is set to 0Ah and the transmission destination ID is set to 00h and receives responses from all the slave control units 3. The control state is received from the individual slave control unit 3 by the reception method. Note that the ID of the master control unit 4 is not limited to 0 Ah.

  The slave control unit 3 in which the ID is set is defined to respond to the preset first time zone TS1, and the slave control unit 3 in which the ID is not set is after the first time zone TS1. In response to the second time zone TS2.

  The first time zone TS1 is a fixed time zone after the elapse of the predetermined waiting time Tw from the end of reception of the simultaneous transmission request, and corresponds to the number 4 of all the slave control units 3 that can be connected to the system. It is divided into. The slave control unit 3 with ID 01h responds to Tans1, the slave control unit 3 with ID 02h responds to Tans2, the slave control unit 3 with ID 03h responds to Tans3, and the slave control unit 3 with ID 04h. Is defined to respond to Tans4. Note that the ID of the slave control unit 3 is not limited to 00h to 04h, and may be uniquely specified. These values are stored in advance in the nonvolatile memory of the master control unit 4.

  The second time zone TS2 is set to a certain time after the first time zone TS1, specifically, the same time Tans0 as Tans 1 to Tans4.

  In the second communication mode, the master control unit 4 transmits an individual transmission request in which the identification information 0Ah is set in the transmission source ID and the identification information 01h to 04h is set in the transmission destination ID, and the individual slave control unit 3 The control state is received from the individual slave control unit 3 by the polling method for receiving the response.

  In the example of FIG. 4B, an individual transmission request is transmitted from the master control unit 4 to the slave control unit (1) whose ID is set to 01h, and then the slave control unit (3) whose ID is set to 03h. An example in which an individual transmission request is transmitted is shown in FIG.

  The control information transmitted from the master control unit 4 to the slave control unit 3 includes operation / stop command information for the DC / DC converter 2, identification information setting commands for a slave control unit for which identification information is not set, and the like.

  The control state transmitted from the slave control unit 3 to the master control unit 4 includes an input voltage from the solar cell string 1, an input current, an output voltage of the DC / DC converter 2, an error information for notifying an abnormal voltage, and the like. It is.

  The first communication mode is adopted when data common to all slave control units 3 is transmitted, and the second communication mode is selected when individual data is transmitted to a specific slave control unit 3. . The slave control unit 3 determines whether the communication mode is the first or second based on the transmission destination ID.

  The IDs of all the slave control units 3 are set to 00h at the time of initial shipment, that is, at the time of shipment from the factory, the ID is not set on the system, and the master control unit 4 via the communication line 8 performs the first communication mode. It is configured to be updated and set to a unique ID.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5A, the master control unit sends a simultaneous transmission request to all slave control units connected to the communication line regardless of whether the ID is set or not set. It is specified that the ID 002h corresponding to the section Tans2 that did not respond in each section of the first time zone TS1 is not set.

  Then, it decides to issue the ID002h to the slave controller that responded in the second time zone TS2. In addition, when there are a plurality of IDs corresponding to a time period in which there is no response in the first time period TS1, the slave control unit 3 that has responded in the second time period TS2 is in ascending order or It is configured to select IDs in descending order.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, when the next simultaneous transmission request is output, the master control unit 4 responds to the slave control unit (0) responding to the second time zone TS2 in response to the previous simultaneous transmission request. 02h is issued as a new ID.

  The slave control unit (0) that has received the new ID responds as the slave control unit (2) in the section Tans2 of the first time zone TS1 corresponding to the identification information. The ID transmitted from the master control unit 4 is set in the transmission data of FIG.

  Therefore, it is not necessary to transmit a dedicated identification information setting request only to the slave control unit 3, and the slave control unit 3 that has received the simultaneous transmission request including the identification information receives the first time corresponding to the identification information. By making a response to the effect that identification information has been set in the band TS1, new identification information setting processing can be realized extremely quickly and easily.

  When a plurality of slave control units 3 for which identification information is not set are connected to the communication line 8, responses from the plurality of slave control units 3 interfere with each other in the second time zone TS2, and the master control unit 4 There is a possibility that a situation that cannot be properly grasped may occur.

  Therefore, a response of only one slave control unit 3 is sent for each simultaneous transmission request to a plurality of slave control units 3 for which identification information is not set, that is, the slave control unit 3 set to the initial value 00h. An operation unit 31 (see FIG. 2) to be permitted is provided.

  The operation unit 31 can be configured by a power supply operation unit that supplies power only to the corresponding slave control unit 3 or a signal generation unit that can output a response permission signal only to the corresponding slave control unit 3. Only the single slave control unit 3 fed through the power supply operation unit or the single slave control unit 3 to which a response permission signal is input from the signal generation unit can respond to the second time zone TS2. Interference will not occur.

  Furthermore, it is preferable to provide a monitor display unit 32 (see FIG. 2) that allows visual confirmation that the ID is set in the slave control unit 3. An LED or the like can be used as the display unit 32. It is more preferable to mount a connector pin that can connect the LED or the like on the substrate without mounting the LED or the like on the substrate. It is only necessary to connect an LED or the like at the time of ID setting confirmation work, and the component cost can be reduced.

  A power supply switch that supplies power for control to the slave control unit 3 can be used as the power supply operation unit. For example, when the slave control unit 3 is incorporated in the substrate of each DC / DC converter 2, a power supply switch that can be manually operated may be provided on the substrate. After all the DC / DC converter 2 boards are set in the casing of the power conditioner PC, power is supplied by operating the main power switch for supplying the control power to each of the control units 3, 4 and 6. The power supply switch may be operated one by one each time the ID setting is confirmed by visually checking the display unit.

  It is also possible to use a main power switch that supplies control power to the control units 3, 4, 6 as a power supply operation unit. In this case, it is not necessary to provide a power supply switch on each board. When only one DC / DC converter board with no ID set is set in the inverter housing, the main power switch is operated and the monitor display is visually checked to confirm the ID setting. What is necessary is just to repeat the procedure of turning off the switch, setting one more DC / DC converter board with no ID set, and operating the main power switch.

  Furthermore, it is also possible to configure the signal generation unit by a dip switch, a connector pin, a jumper line or the like that can input a binary signal to the slave control unit 3, for example. After setting all the boards of the DC / DC converter 2 whose ID is not set in the inverter casing, the main power switch is operated, and then only one signal generator is operated to automatically set the ID. What is necessary is just to repeat the operation | work which operates another signal generation part, whenever a setting is confirmed. Once the ID is set, the slave control unit 3 may then ignore the signal value of the signal generation unit.

  If one DC / DC converter 2 fails after the IDs of all the slave control units 3 are set, the same ID as the original ID can be obtained by replacing the board and turning on the power. Will be set.

  FIG. 6 shows an ID setting sequence accompanying a simultaneous transmission request executed by the communication unit 40 of the master control unit 4, and FIG. 7 shows a simultaneous transmission request executed by the communication unit 30 of the slave control unit 3. The accompanying ID setting sequence is shown.

  The master control unit 4 has several tens of msec. The simultaneous transmission request is output at the interval (SA1, SA2), and the value of the sequence counter N is set to the initial value 1 (SA3).

  When it is confirmed that there is a response in each section of the first time zone TS1 (SA4), the reception information at that time is stored in the memory (SA5), and the value of the sequence counter N is incremented by 1 (SA8). When it is confirmed that there is no response in each section of the first time zone TS1 (SA4, SA6), it is determined that the ID corresponding to the section is not set, and the ID is stored in the memory (SA7). The sequence counter N is incremented by 1 (SA8).

  When the value of the sequence counter N is less than 5 (SA9), the process returns to step SA4 to prepare for the next response from the slave control unit 3, and when the value of the sequence counter N becomes 5 (SA9), the first time It is determined that the band TS1 has elapsed, and the response of the second time band TS2 is confirmed (SA10).

  If there is no response in the second time zone TS2, it is determined that the slave control unit 3 whose ID has not been set is not connected (SA11), the process returns to step SA1, and if there is a response in the second time zone TS2. (SA10), ID setting information for the slave control unit 3 is determined and stored in the memory (SA12), and the process returns to step SA1.

  When outputting the simultaneous transmission request in step SA2, if ID setting information for the slave control unit 3 in which ID is not set is determined in the previous step SA12, the slave control unit 3 in which ID is not set is determined. Issue ID setting information setting command.

  When receiving the simultaneous transmission request (SB1), the slave control unit 3 sets a response time timer to prepare for a response time corresponding to its own ID (SB2). If the ID setting command is included in the simultaneous transmission request (SB3) and the ID stored in its own nonvolatile memory is 00h, the ID of the ID setting command is fetched as its own ID and stored in the nonvolatile memory. Register (SB4).

  If the self ID is already registered (SB5), a steady response is made in the time zone corresponding to the self ID in the first time zone TS1 based on the response time timer (SB6, SB7). At this time, the response of the slave control unit 3 that has set the ID in step SB4 is an acknowledgment of the completion of ID setting to the master control unit 4. The steady response is a response in which steady data such as input current and input voltage is set in the transmission data shown in FIG.

  When the self ID is not yet registered (SB5), a response for connection confirmation is made in the second time zone TS2 (SB8, SB9). Thereafter, when the second time zone TS2 elapses (SB10), it waits for reception of the next simultaneous transmission request (SB1).

  In the communication apparatus described above, the ID of the slave control unit 3 is set as identification information of each solar cell string, and the master control unit monitors the control state of each DC / DC converter 2 and based on the ID, each solar cell string 1 is displayed on the operation display unit 7. Specifically, this can be realized by determining in advance the connection order between the DC / DC converter 2 in which the slave control unit 3 is incorporated and the solar cell string 1.

  Since the master control unit 4 can grasp the state of each solar cell string 1 based on the control state and ID of the DC / DC converter 2 received via the slave control unit 3, the identification information of the slave control unit 3 In addition, it is not necessary to separately manage the identification information of the solar cell string 1, and it becomes possible to manage simply by suppressing an increase in the amount of information.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the second time zone is set after the first time zone has been described. However, in the communication method according to the present invention, the second time zone is set before the first time zone. Even if it is the structure made, it is applicable.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the communication by the polling method is performed in the first communication mode and the second communication mode and at least the ID is set when the first communication mode is set has been described. Normally, communication is performed only in the second communication mode, and communication is performed in the first communication mode after the presence of a slave control unit that does not respond to polling and during a predetermined period when the power is turned on. May be. The predetermined period at power-on is preferably a period until all scheduled IDs are set, for example. Further, the second communication mode may not be adopted, and the communication may always be performed using only the first communication mode.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the communication device and the communication method according to the present invention are applied to the power conditioner PC has been described. However, the communication device and the communication method according to the present invention can arbitrarily use a polling method other than the power conditioner PC. Applicable to any device.

1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d: Solar cell strings 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d: DC / DC converters 3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d: Slave control unit 4: Master control unit 5: DC / AC Inverter 6: Inverter control unit 7: Operation display unit 30, 40: Communication unit PC: Power conditioner

Claims (9)

A master station that outputs a simultaneous transmission request to a plurality of slave stations each having unique identification information set therein, and a plurality of responders that respond to the simultaneous transmission request in a first time zone set for each of the identification information. A communication device configured with a slave station of
A second time zone in which a slave station for which the identification information is not set in response to the simultaneous transmission request can respond is further set;
The master station is configured to issue new identification information to the slave station that responded in the second time zone ,
A communication apparatus comprising an operation unit that permits a response of only one slave station for each of the simultaneous transmission requests to a plurality of slave stations for which the identification information is not set .   The master station is configured to issue the new identification information to the slave station responding to the second time zone when the next simultaneous transmission request is output, and the slave station that has received the new identification information The communication device according to claim 1, configured to respond to a first time zone corresponding to the identification information.   The second time zone is set after the first time zone, and the master station uses the first time zone as new identification information to be issued to the slave station responding to the second time zone. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a plurality of pieces of identification information corresponding to a time zone in which no response is made are selected in ascending order or descending order. The operating unit, the feeding operation section for feeding only the corresponding slave station, or according the corresponding claim 1, which consists of the response permission signal output possible signal generating unit only to the child station to one of 3 Communication device. A plurality of DC / DC converters respectively connected to a plurality of solar cell strings, a DC / AC inverter for converting DC power output from each DC / DC converter into AC power, and each DC / DC converter via each DC / DC converter A power conditioner comprising a plurality of slave control units that perform maximum power point tracking control on a solar cell string, and a master control unit that supervises each slave control unit and monitors the control state of each DC / DC converter. And
The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is incorporated between the master control unit and the plurality of slave control units, and the identification information of the slave station incorporated in the slave control unit is identification information of each solar cell string Inverter set as. The power conditioner according to claim 5 , wherein the master control unit is configured to monitor and display the operation state of each solar cell string on the display unit based on the identification information. A first station in which a parent station and a plurality of child stations set with unique identification information are connected by a communication line, and each slave station is set for each identification information in response to a simultaneous transmission request transmitted from the parent station. A communication method configured to respond to each of the time periods,
A second time zone in which a slave station in which the identification information is not set in response to a simultaneous transmission request can respond is further set;
The master station is configured to issue new identification information to the slave station that responded in the second time zone ,
A communication method configured such that a response of only one slave station is permitted for each simultaneous transmission request to a plurality of slave stations for which the identification information is not set . The second time zone is set before or after the first time zone, and the master station uses the first time zone as new identification information to be issued to the slave station responding to the second time zone. 8. The communication method according to claim 7 , wherein identification information corresponding to a time zone in which no response is received is selected. The second time zone is set before or after the first time zone, and the master station uses the first time zone as new identification information to be issued to the slave station responding to the second time zone. 8. The communication method according to claim 7 , wherein a plurality of pieces of identification information corresponding to a time zone in which no response is received are selected in ascending order or descending order.

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