Smart Grid *Discussion*

[D.M.]

I have searched the forum for topics related to SMART GRID and have found none, so I thought I might start a little discussion.

I have thought about this topic for some time now and have referenced information and came up with a few things to look at or monitor in the current system. I am only a student so my understanding of electronics is yet to be polished so these may not be major at all.

SMART GRID is not really a defined sector of electronics, its more of a concept or notion as of now but there are developing technologies that will bring this to reality soon enough.

To me the term SMART GRID implies realtime information of power use and control systems among the current grid relaying information to and from houses and substations etc... The current power distribution infrastructure is becoming "out dated" (should I say) and saturated and needs to be optimized not redone.

Before any control methods can take place we need to distribute an array of sensors across the GRID as to relay real time information to and from supplier and user. This will aid in the understanding of power consumption on the consumer level and allow for the user to track and plan his/her power use as to save money and increase efficiency. This will also benefit the distribution companies because they will be able to "see" where the loads are and balance accordingly. And also the ability to detect system overloads would greatly reduce damages, or outages etc...

The sensor network will be able to detect problems in the system as well.

Power is a key factor so the sensors should be low power, and wireless. Perhaps zigbee or zwave technology to relay information to a main hub which would be connected via internet to fully connect the system.
The sensors will give information on the demand. Baseline and Peak demands and energy usage will be fully mapped out and can reduce the baseline load.

Another benefit may be substation automation, or power distribution automation.

I dont know, maybe this is not of as much importance as I had imagined but I would like to hear everyones feedback, ideas and input on this subject if anyone has ever thought about it

 

[audioguru]

My electrical utility company is modernizing in two ways:
1) They replaced all electrical billing meters with "smart" meters that sense the time you are using electricity and bill you more in the afternoon and less at night.
The meters communicate with the utility's office via 900MHz.
2) They want people to subscribe to a "cutoff" system where the utility can cutoff a homeowner's electric water heater, swimming pool pump or air conditioning when the demand for power is high. I don't like it and won't do it. It communicates with the utility on the internet. They say that you can turn on or off one of those appliances yourself over the internet if you want.