Smart Grid Technology
What is the Smart Grid?
The Smart Grid is a network system that will allow the electric companies, electricity generators (coal plants, wind turbine plants, solar plants, etc.), businesses, houses, etc. be able to communicate back and forth in order to meet the necessary supply and demands of electricity. This system will help avoid blackouts, reduce our carbon footprint, and save people & businesses money by being able to adjust the amount of electricity they use throughout the day. This network is made up of hardware, software (data management and storage), and a communication system that ties it all together
Smart grid technology includes sensors and specialized information communication systems to monitor, adjust, and optimize the flow of power through the electric grid. Ideally, smart grid technology helps utilities to minimize and meet peak demand for electricity. Smart grid technology, such as sensors, enables consumers to lower energy costs through demand pricing.
Smart electric grids intelligently optimize the flow of electricity and can help expand the contribution of renewable sources like wind and sunlight.
The following nine technologies play key roles in the expansion and development of smart grids:
#1) Batteries and other energy storage devices capture excess energy produced by wind or sunlight and retain it for later use. In addition to time-shifting energy from intermittent renewables, batteries and other storage devices help ensure that mission-critical systems continue to function even during an outage.
#2) Semiconductor switching enables remote and automated control of electrical power flow.
#3) Synchrophasors allow precise and rapid monitoring of electrical system function. This technology helps enable dynamic pricing of electricity.
#4) Smart meters sense and measure electric use by individual customers; they are a core element of AMI.
#5) Wireless and radio communications enable various parts of the grid to speak without needing wired communication transmission lines; communications are a core element of AMI.
#6) Meter data management systems include software and databases that can store and analyze electricity usage data coming in from smart meters; meter data management systems are a core element of AMI.
#7) Automated demand response (also known as automated or intelligent load shedding) tracks time-sensitive system data and automatically cuts power when necessary to stabilize the system and help prevent blackouts. Typically, automated demand response cuts power to select customers or sections of a system intentionally, to help maintain or optimize the larger system.
#8) Interoperability standards reflect efforts by industry experts to assure that all the equipment within a smart grid speaks the same language. This involves standardizing the way system data is stored and transmitted. One example of such a standard being researched is the Open Automated Demand Response Communications Specifications (OpenADR) data model, designed to communicate dynamic pricing to electricity customers.
#9) The Internet and cloud computing provide customers with online access to their smart meter readings. Web-based applications can also be used to remotely schedule and control appliance within homes or businesses linked to the smart grid.
Current Problems
Problems With Today's Electric Grid
Key problems:*
- Lack of extra-high voltage transmission lines
- Inefficient grid operation features
- The grid is one large machine, which does not allow for small individual actions
In order to transport power, from wind for example, extra-high voltage lines are needed. Transmitting large amounts of power over lower voltage lines is too inefficient because of the excessive amount of power loss in the lines and potential to overload the lines. See the AC/DC section.
Procedures for grid operation need to be improved in order to handle adding other forms of energy. For example, more coordinated supervision, and better predictability of the state of the power system. Some blackouts in the past years have been linked to people not paying attention to the loads on the system as stations, sub-stations, etc. Upgrading our current grid system to the Smart Grid would help maintain the systems efficiency, understanding the issues in real time, and help to balance the supply and demand of electricity placed on the grid durring peak and off-peak times.
The grid is really one large, synchronized machine. The current grid, as discussed in the section titled The Grid, is set up in very large sections, such as the Western section that covers the whole western U.S. The section is all one system, so adding power in one part sends that power out to everything it is connected to. You cannot add more power in one spot and direct that power to one other spot; it goes everywhere. This created a problem when energy production was de-regulated; if someone bought a lot of power from a source far away, that power was put into the system and spread across everything it was connected to. The increase in "congestion" can cause the lines to heat up and be ruined, or trip breakers and cause a blackout. The same issue makes it difficult to build a large hydroelectric or wind plant and just hook it up to the grid. Transmission lines need to be built to handle the power and move it to where it will be used.
