Smart grid

Historical Background and Development:
– First alternating current power grid system installed in 1886 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
– Electric grids of developed countries interconnected by the 1960s
– Topology of the 1960s grid due to economies of scale
– Siting of power stations near fossil fuel reserves and water sources
– Increasing demand for electricity from the 1970s to 1990s
– Introduction of peaking power generators for daily peaks in demand
– Reliance on electricity for industry, heating, communication, and entertainment
– High costs to electricity companies due to redundancy in the grid
– Developing countries like China, India, and Brazil pioneers in smart grid deployment

Modernization Opportunities and Infrastructure:
– Technological advancements in electronic communication technology
– Desire to use renewable energy due to environmental concerns
– Need for more sophisticated control systems for variable energy sources
– Transition from centralized to distributed power generation
– Call for a more robust energy grid in the face of potential terrorist attacks
– Advanced metering infrastructure for improved monitoring
– Smart distribution boards and circuit breakers for efficient energy distribution
– Load control switches and smart appliances for demand response
– Integration of renewable energy resources for sustainable power generation
– Utility-grade fiber broadband for connectivity and monitoring

Management and Policy Framework:
– Efficient electronic power conditioning and control of electricity production
– Demand-side management for improved energy efficiency
– Greater penetration of renewable energy sources like solar and wind power
– Monitoring and control of residential devices during peak power consumption
– Policy frameworks to support smart grid deployment and operation
– European organization for smart grid policy development
– U.S. policy framework for smart grid implementation

Definition and Technological Innovations:
– The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 provides the first official definition of Smart Grid in the United States
– Common elements in Smart Grid definitions include digital processing, communication technology, and data flow management
– Smart grid technologies evolved from electronic control, metering, and monitoring efforts in the past
– Automatic meter reading in the 1980s led to Advanced Metering Infrastructure in the 1990s
– Smart meters with continuous communication enable real-time monitoring and demand response capabilities

Reliability, Integration, and Efficiency:
– Smart grid technologies like state estimation improve fault detection and enable self-healing of the network
– Enhanced reliability in the smart grid reduces vulnerability to natural disasters and attacks
– Smart grid deployments aim to enhance monitoring and synchronization of wide-area networks
– Smart grid technology improves energy infrastructure efficiency
– Includes demand-side management strategies like load adjustment and balancing
– Reduces redundancy in transmission and distribution lines
– Enhances outage management using data from Advanced Metering Infrastructure systems

Smart grid (Wikipedia)

The smart grid is an enhancement of the 20th century electrical grid, using two-way communications and distributed so-called intelligent devices. Two-way flows of electricity and information could improve the delivery network. Research is mainly focused on three systems of a smart grid – the infrastructure system, the management system, and the protection system. Electronic power conditioning and control of the production and distribution of electricity are important aspects of the smart grid.

The smart grid represents the full suite of current and proposed responses to the challenges of electricity supply. Numerous contributions to the overall improvement of the efficiency of energy infrastructure are anticipated from the deployment of smart grid technology, in particular including demand-side management. The improved flexibility of the smart grid permits greater penetration of highly variable renewable energy sources such as solar power and wind power, even without the addition of energy storage. Smart grids could also monitor/control residential devices that are noncritical during periods of peak power consumption, and return their function during nonpeak hours.

A smart grid includes a variety of operation and energy measures:

• Advanced metering infrastructure (of which smart meters are a generic name for any utility side device even if it is more capable e.g. a fiber optic router)
• Smart distribution boards and circuit breakers integrated with home control and demand response (behind the meter from a utility perspective)
  • Load control switches and smart appliances, often financed by efficiency gains on municipal programs (e.g. PACE financing)
• Renewable energy resources, including the capacity to charge parked (electric vehicle) batteries or larger arrays of batteries recycled from these, or other energy storage.
• Energy efficient resources
• Electric surplus distribution by power lines and auto-smart switch
• Sufficient utility grade fiber broadband to connect and monitor the above, with wireless as a backup. Sufficient spare if "dark" capacity to ensure failover, often leased for revenue.

Concerns with smart grid technology mostly focus on smart meters, items enabled by them, and general security issues. Roll-out of smart grid technology also implies a fundamental re-engineering of the electricity services industry, although typical usage of the term is focused on the technical infrastructure.

Smart grid policy is organized in Europe as Smart Grid European Technology Platform. Policy in the United States is described in 42 U.S.C. ch. 152, subch. IX § 17381.