Smart Grid Blog

Imagine you left town for a weekend vacation, accidentally leaving the air conditioning set on high. No sweat — you can adjust it with an application on your iPhone.

Or imagine getting to work and realizing you forgot to run the dishwasher. No problem, because another application can start your appliances remotely.

These scenarios may sound far out, but they are almost reality for Maryland residents. Thanks to $10.5 billion in stimulus funds from the federal government, the first stage of “Smart Grid” technology will come to your home as soon as this year.

via ‘Smart Grid’ Coming To You : The Chestertown Spy.

The Government’s plan to roll out smart energy meters to all British households by 2020 will significantly improve the customer experience, say energy suppliers.

The plan, which was unveiled on Wednesday (2 December) by energy and climate change minister Lord Hunt, outlined the government’s plans to develop smart grids and smart technology to cut energy use and emissions.

via Energy industry extols government meter plan | News | Marketing Week.

Our national power grid is inadequate and inefficient. It suffers from transmission and distribution losses, is vulnerable to power outages, lacks strong data collection, does not communicate with the consumer, and is unlikely to meet the growing demand for electricity in its current state. By looking at these issues, we can better understand the need to bring the grid into the 21st century with the application of digital “smart” technology–the “smart grid“.

Transmission and distribution (T&D) are a concern, as the web-like expansion of the grid from centralized power plants to end users often results in up to 10 percent power loss. Such losses demonstrate the grid’s inadequacy, while transmission bottlenecks illustrate the age of the grid. As more people flip the switch to power economies and lifestyles that are increasingly dependent upon energy consumption, old transmission and distribution lines are increasingly incapable of handling this demand and become congested. While new lines could be added to alleviate the problem, bringing such a solution to fruition is not as easy as it sounds. Building out new lines is expensive and faces political tension between state and federal governments over jurisdiction and funding.

Another common criticism of the grid is the system’s overall vulnerability, particularly with regard to service interruptions. Nothing better highlights this issue than the great power outage that occurred on August 14, 2003. A transmission line, compromised by contact with tree limbs, was identified as the root cause that left fifty million people up and down the Eastern seaboard without electricity. Although power interruptions of this magnitude are rare, they are dangerous and come with a high economic price tag.

via The Smart Grid, Part II: Why We Need It | GetSolar.com Blog.