Smart Grid Blog

The HomePlug® Powerline Alliance, the driving force for global powerline network technology, today announced the approval and publication of the HomePlug Green PHY (HomePlug GP) specification for Smart Grid applications. HomePlug GP is a low power, highly reliable, cost-optimized powerline networking specification targeting Smart Grid connectivity for home energy management to devices such as HVAC, smart meters, appliances and plug-in electric hybrid vehicles.

HomePlug GP was developed with direct input from major utility companies and appliance manufacturers including Consumers Energy, Duke Energy, GE, Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Southern California Edison. Their input was used to optimize the technology to meet the challenges and requirements for real-world smart energy deployments.

via HomePlug® Powerline Alliance’s Green PHY Specification for Smart Grid Applications Published | Earth Times News.

President Barack Obama has called for one million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to hit the road by 2015. If the demand for plug-ins skyrockets, a flood of new electric cars could strain America’s power networks to the limit.

Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory are working to develop a “smart grid” that will not only adapt in real-time to handle larger electricity loads, but also operate more cheaply and efficiently than the existing grid.

via Futurity.org – Could plug-in cars zap the power grid?.

The City of San Antonio released a report on October 2 that outlines its plans for developing sustainable energy. The utility CPS Energy partnered with the Texas city on the project.

The report stated that San Antonio would work with CPS Energy to develop new distributed energy sources. Greater investments will be made in renewable energy sources and other advanced technologies such as buildings that are self-sufficient, storage of renewable hydrogen energy, smart grids, and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

A three-day workshop in April of this year that was facilitated by the Foundation on Economic Trends in the United States (ETUS) was organised to discuss advanced energy technologies and options for the future. The report details the findings as a result of the workshop. CPS Energy said it will now integrate the ideas from the report into its Vision 2020 strategy on other future plans.

via San Antonio announces plans for a sustainable future.

A growing number of automakers are readying plug-in vehicles for mass market rollouts within the next 3-5 years. Racing against the clock, some of the first major deployments of smart charging technology — software, networks and devices that can manage vehicle recharging to minimize strain on the grid and maximize use of clean power sources like solar and wind — are starting to roll out. Utilities, automakers, government labs and startups have roles to play, but exactly how the technology evolves remains to be seen. Here’s 10 proposals — from high-profile companies like Better Place and Nissan, as well as under-the-radar national lab researchers and startups like Juice Technologies — that offer a glimpse of how the competition is shaping up.

via 10 Electric Car Smart Charging Players to Watch.

Ford Motor Company has announced an intelligent vehicle-to-grid communications and control system for its plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The system is meant to exchange data with the electric grid in the “smart grid” future. The data exchange is meant to help recharge the onboard battery pack without strain on the electric grid, and potentially to serve as an energy storage system for the electric grid.

This development fits into a larger picture where, supposedly, widespread adoption of electric vehicles can only be done in conjunction with developing the “smart grid”. The smart grid is able to communicate with devices on the power grid, tailor power demand by communicating data over the grid, and tapping on power storage systems on the grid to even out power demand.

via Ford’s vehicle-2-grid system for their coming plug-in hybrid vehicles.

When it rains, it often pours. That’s certainly the case now, as the U.S. Department of Energy, the states of Illinois and Colorado, and an Austrian utility all announced in recent days that they will invest many millions of dollars to create recharging networks for electric vehicles.

That’s wonderful news, because it brings electric-vehicle makers and potential EV makers a step closer to solving one of the two major problems they face: That being a lack of infrastructure to support pure EVs and plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles.

The other problem remains development of inexpensive, safe, reliable, lightweight and energy-rich batteries to power the vehicles. Many companies and governments are working on a solution to that problem.

The Energy Department on Monday awarded $47 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to eight ongoing smart-grid demonstration projects. The $47 million investment will add to the $17 million in funds DOE had awarded these eight projects last year, thereby accelerating the timelines for the projects.

Most of the projects relate to technologies to help transmission and distribution systems operate better, but a few are directly related to clean energy. For example, the city of Fort Collins, Colorado, will research, develop and demonstrate a coordinated and integrated system of mixed clean energy technologies and distributed energy resources, allowing the city to reduce its peak electrical demand by at least 15 percent.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago will focus on implementing distributed energy resources and creating demand-responsive microgrids, which are small power networks that can operate independently of the utility power grid. In addition, the University of Hawaii will explore the management of its electrical distribution system to better accommodate wind power.

via “U.S. Energy Dept. Awards $47 Million in Recovery Act Funding for EV Smart Grids” Green Car Advisor.

The U.S. electric utility industry faces the greatest challenge in its history. The demand for electric services to meet the needs of our growing population and to power our increasingly digital and connected economy continues to rise. At the same time, high demand for commodities such as steel and cement is causing cost increases for building all electric infrastructure systems, including every type of new power plant, whether it’s fueled by coal, nuclear power, natural gas, or renewable sources of energy. Concerns about global climate change and other environmental issues have created a new industry emphasis on more energy-efficient products and services and low-emission generation sources. New distribution end-use technologies, such as advanced automation and communications and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), will dramatically change how utilities deliver electricity and how customers use it, allowing new efficiencies and greater customization of electric service.

Via Transforming America’s Power Industry: The Investment Challenge 2010-2030 [PDF].

If plug-in hybrid vehicles proliferate as expected, utilities will be able to handle the added power demand without building new plants or straining transmission power grids as long as owners plug in overnight, the New York grid manager said in a report issued on Monday.

“If New York motorists start plugging in significant numbers of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), we will see new demands on the grid,” said Stephen Whitley, president of the New York Independent System Operator.

Fully electric vehicles and PHEVs are expected to increase power demand in New York state, the area covered by NYISO, some 2 percent by 2030, the NYISO report showed.

“However, if deployed with technology and incentives to encourage favorable charging patterns, PHEVs can offer valuable new ways to store electricity produced in off-peak periods,” Whitley said of his staff’s report. “That energy storage potential could enhance the grid’s use of wind power.”

via Plug-in autos charged overnight OK for grid | Green Business | Reuters.

Global warming and unsustainable energy dependence are the foremost environmental issues of our time; they are also the signature economic issues of our day, providing enormous risks to future economic growth and unparalleled opportunities to create jobs and launch a different model of economic development.

America’s energy future must create millions of new jobs; reduce our dependence on oil; shift American energy production toward cleaner, cheaper sources like wind and solar; reduce global warming pollution; and protect the planet for our children and grandchildren.

In many places, a shift to wind energy is well under way. An American Wind Energy Association report shows that last year more than 8,000 megawatts of new generating capacity was added – that’s 42 percent of all the new power-producing capacity in the United States and the equivalent of seven new large coal plants. Employing more than 85,000 people, up from 50,000 a year ago, the wind industry continues to grow.

The American Solar Energy Society reports that in 2007, renewable energy and energy efficiency provided more than 9 million jobs and $1.045 billion in revenue in the United States – and that as many as 37 million jobs can be generated by the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries in the country by 2030. This is more than 17 percent of all anticipated U.S. employment.

via Clean energy is the best option for U.S..