Smart Grid Blog

Cisco has made the smart grid a primary focus for the company, and has determined that they want to be the leader when it comes to technology used for managing electricity. They’ve identified over $20 billion in potential opportunities for businesses, from how information and energy is managed by utilities and consumers alike. And according to Cisco, the smart grid is going to be a bigger market than the Internet. Check out what Cisco’s smart grid guru Laura Ipsen has to say about how the smart grid is the next really, really big thing for technology.

via Smart Grid Will Be Bigger Than the Internet, Says Cisco (Video) : TreeHugger.

The smart grid is a big topic these days, but before there was a smart grid newspaper headline, the utilities have been experimenting with TCP/IP in the backend networks for a while now. Erich Gunther of enernex (www.enernex.com) will present a reference model and concept of network operations for the power industry including how Internet Protocols fit in that space. Along the way he will touch on what has worked, what hasn’t and some of the security issues along the way.

Another video from First Wind on their work to protect the environment surrounding their wind farms -

Find out how First Wind works to protect the environment at their wind farms from Robert Roy, Director of Ecological Services. From revegetating wind farm construction sites to performing erosion, bird, and bat studies in the area, First Wind is dedicated to environmental stewardship.

A short video from First Wind about real benefits residents of Cohocton, NY have seen from the wind farm in their community. From the video:

Hear directly from residents of Cohocton, New York about the Cohocton Wind Farm has improved their town and its economy. From increasing tax revenues to providing jobs for local residents, the wind farm is still providing power in this windy area.

From Greenmonk.net -

This is the fourth of my Smart Grid Heavy Hitters’ interviews, and in it I talked to the President and COO of Landis+Gyr, Andreas Umbach. Landis+Gyr have been in the meter business for decades now so I was very interested to hear what Andreas had to say.

It was a great chat, we talked about:

• Andreas’ and Landis+Gyr’s definition and the benefits of a Smart Grid
• The differences in smart grid rollouts around the world and
• Demand response programs which are consumer friendly

via Smart Grid Heavy Hitters series – Landis+Gyr President and COO Andreas Umbach — GreenMonk: the blog.

QNX Software Systems, a Harman International (NYSE:HAR) company, today unveiled its new smart energy reference, a pre-integrated software stack that makes it easier to design, deploy, and extend smart-home energy management systems.

The smart energy reference provides out-of-the-box support for Zigbee sensors, Insteon home area networks (HANs), streaming IP video cameras for security monitoring, an application for calculating costs of energy consumption, and Internet connectivity for retrieving weather information and performing remote control and diagnostics. Other features include zone temperature controls, individual and zone light controls, and appliance monitoring and control.

via QNX Unveils Reference Design for Smart-Home Energy Management Systems.

Have you ever wondered what’s inside one of those gigantic wind turbines? Ever wondered how it works? First Wind, a North American wind energy company, has put together a video doing just that (and sent it to the Smart Energy Blog to share with our readers). Find out how wind energy works.

Click here to see the video on First Wind’s website.

They also have a great 360-degree visual from the top of one of these wind turbines overlooking the Maine countryside. Beautiful.

Click here to see this video.

Thanks First Wind and Captains of Industry for the videos!

From The Energy Collective -

I decided to run a series of interviews with people deeply involved in the Smart Grid space. I’m calling it the Smart Grid Heavy Hitters series. I will publish a new interview every Thursday until I run out of interviewees (or out of energy – poor pun intended, sorry!).

A revolution is coming in the way we get and use power. In pilot studies, homeowners are already discovering exciting money-saving opportunities.

via Smart Grid Test – Con Edison Smart Grid – Aubrey Braz – thedailygreen.com.

From YouTube:

Watch the final Q&A where, at a recent TAG Smart Grid meeting entitled “Jobs and Economic Growth Opportunities in Georgia,” a panel of experts discussed the impact of Smart Grid technologies, the effect on green jobs and aspects of economic growth in the state, with a focus on economic stimulus opportunities associated with the strategies and experiences of organizations in the Smart Grid ecosystem.

From YouTube:

The focus of this video is on energy meters and their advancement to Smart Meters. Smart meters are breakthroughs in the metering industry, bringing in a number of advantages to consumers and utility companies. This video demonstrates a few of TI’s advanced smart meter solutions.

Here’s a video overview from Trilliant on the Smart Grid:

What is a Smart Grid? A Smart Grid network employs two-way communications throughout the grid to provide centralized command-and-control and enable energy efficiency to consumers.

The White House Blog

The Smart Grid and You

Posted by Secretary Steven Chu on November 24, 2009 at 01:24 PM EST

Today, I announced a $620 million investment in the “Smart Grid” — building on a $3.4 billion investment announced by President Obama last month as part of the Recovery Act. So what is a “Smart Grid?” How will it save your family money? Check out this video:

via The Smart Grid and You | The White House.

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore swept into Silicon Valley for two appearances on Thursday. In between takes of guest appearances on TV’s “30 Rock,” the Nobel prize winner stumped for the smart electric grid and helped hand out awards to technologists honored for their work in social justice.

At the Greenbeat conference in San Mateo, Gore made the case for the need to move to a smart grid as one of the key requirements for combating global warming. An open, digital and networked grid will open the door to the broad use of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources and raise energy efficiency, Gore said.

via EETimes.com – Video: Al Gore stumps for smart grid.

To my mind this is the best overview of what constitutes the smart grid. The video was made by a really smart guy at Kepco, the South Korean firm, Korea Electric Power Corporation. It’s in English, so no need to worry about the language!

North Carolina was rated among the highest in Energy consumption in the US. Listen to how the Consert “Smart Grid” Pilot Program is the future of energy use that can save energy and money.

Smart Grid is the name for a smart energy system. Cisco defines it as a connected, efficient and reliable end-to-end network that integrates all energy supply and demand sources. End-to-end integration means end-to-end communication and management of huge data flows in real-time. Just like in the internet, instead of routing information flows, the smart grid needs to route electricity flows in the most efficient way.

What does a smart grid enabled future look like? And what does it mean for customers? In this video, Duke Energy offers a look. It was shot on location at the company’s Envision Center near Cincinnati, Ohio.

This panel discussion was held during the 3rd annual Sustainability and Renewable Energy Forum held at the Darden School of Business.

An overview of the Smart Grid from Enspiria Solutions’ CTO. Part 2 covers what the Smart Grid actually is at a high-level.

The Smart Grid, Part 2 from Peter Batty on Vimeo.