This invention is based on the availability of Electric Vehicles with onboard inverters and receptacles to supply significant amounts of AC power from the main propulsion batteries of the vehicles. It embodies a system comprising an apparatus and methods for bidirectionally connecting one or more electric vehicles at a workplace or multifamily residence to one or more distribution panels supplying critical loads and one or more panels supplying interruptible loads such that the vehicle(s) can supply back up power to critical loads during a grid outage. The bidirectional connection also enables V2G operation to enable energy arbitrage, demand response, and ancillary services to the grid.

A control device is provided with an ECU configured to acquire a charging rate of a secondary battery, generate power supply information related to power supply using an in-vehicle outlet based on the charging rate, and output the power supply information.

Provided is an information display device for a vehicle having a display control section acquiring information of the vehicle and a display section displaying an image selected by the display control section. The vehicle includes a shift lever that can select at least a parking range and a driving range, and an in displayed on the display section includes either a first vehicle image or a second vehicle that are images of the vehicle viewed from mutually different directions. On the display section, the display control section displays the first vehicle image when the shift lever selects the parking range and the second vehicle image when the shift lever selects at least the driving range.

Provided is an information display device for a vehicle having a display control section acquiring information of the vehicle and a display section displaying an image selected by the display control section. The vehicle includes a shift lever that can select at least a parking range and a driving range, and an in displayed on the display section includes either a first vehicle image or a second vehicle that are images of the vehicle viewed from mutually different directions. On the display section, the display control section displays the first vehicle image when the shift lever selects the parking range and the second vehicle image when the shift lever selects at least the driving range.

This regional energy management device calculates the power interchange between consumers, on the basis of: storage battery level distribution indicating the relationship between storage battery levels and the position of storage batteries in a region at each time; excess or shortages of power for each consumer at each time, if a consumer has implemented a power supply equipment operation plan for fulfilling a consumer target index for that consumer; and an overall regional target index.

A power management system, comprises a power generating unit, a power output unit to distribute the electrical power generated by the power generating unit to a household and to a receiving unit, different from the household, wherein the receiving unit is a battery and/or a power grid, a grid power output unit to output electrical power supplied from a power grid to the household and/or to the receiving unit, a condition requirement setting unit to receive condition requirement data and a time period after which the receiving unit has to satisfy the required condition, a prediction data input unit to receive prediction data that indicates a prediction of the electrical power generated by the power generating unit over the time period, a control unit that is adapted to receive the condition requirement data from the condition requirement setting unit and the prediction data from the prediction data input unit.

A power management system, comprises a power generating unit, a power output unit to distribute the electrical power generated by the power generating unit to a household and to a receiving unit, different from the household, wherein the receiving unit is a battery and/or a power grid, a grid power output unit to output electrical power supplied from a power grid to the household and/or to the receiving unit, a condition requirement setting unit to receive condition requirement data and a time period after which the receiving unit has to satisfy the required condition, a prediction data input unit to receive prediction data that indicates a prediction of the electrical power generated by the power generating unit over the time period, a control unit that is adapted to receive the condition requirement data from the condition requirement setting unit and the prediction data from the prediction data input unit.

An ECU performs a process including: when a vehicle establishes a Ready-On state, selecting a CD mode; when discharging power is uncompleted and a scheduled time to return the vehicle is a time within a discharging period, setting a second target SOC as a mode switching value; and when the vehicle's power storage device has an SOC reaching the mode switching value and a surcharge imposed on a rental fee is unaccepted, switching the current control mode from the CD mode to a CS mode.

A charge/discharge management apparatus for executing charge/discharge of a battery of a vehicle electrically connected to a facility, comprising an obtaining unit for obtaining use histories of a plurality of batteries corresponding to a plurality of vehicles electrically connected to the facility, and a selection unit for selecting a battery subjected to execution of charge/discharge from the plurality of batteries based on priority decided from the use histories.

In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a surge voltage blocker circuit to couple between a distribution grid network and a grid-side power converter of a power conversion system. The surge voltage blocker circuit may include a plurality of series-coupled AC switch circuits, each including: a bidirectional switch formed of a first power transistor and a second power transistor; and a transient voltage suppression device coupled in parallel with the bidirectional switch.