Having read a few things on this, especially this piece on NPR's site recently, I thought I'd expound a bit and hopefully clarify what the smart grid really is.
A bit of background:
Right now, our power distribution system runs like a giant bath tub. (There are big pipes between the different nationwide bath tubs that allow power to be fed from one to another... but note that those pipes leak heavily and a lot of electricity is wasted in transport. ) Every power generating system out there feeds into this bathtub of power and as more power is pulled out... more power must be fed in to keep it at the same level. This variation in power is what causes changes in the hourly price of electricity. As more expensive power generation systems are brought online to fill the tub - the price of electricity varies.
Consumer/business level equipment: Meters that report usage back to a central database. Web sites that report on that database. Smart appliances and software to more directly manage usage with time of day and calender restrictions. All of this is within reach; once a standard protocol or two is specified for this power management system. I fully expect power companies to offer discounts to people who drastically or even automatically restrict their electric power consumption when electric prices are at peak levels.
For the consumer the smart grid is going to include a web site that allows you to understand how much electricity you are using. As the NPR piece put it: wasting electricity is like leaving the water sprinkler going long after your yard has overflowed and it's flowing down the gutter. This web site, or rather web sites will be hosted by your power company, google, or any number of other service providers to try and 'help' you (read advertise to you) on ways to cut back on your usage. Overall, these web sites will be awesome for helping many people cut back on their electric bills. I foresee a plethora of web applications that will tie in things like remotely turning off and on your lights, TVs, computers, even the whole house's breaker box or perhaps just zones of the house with smart networked breakers. Appliances will tie into these applications and people will begin to manage how and when they run - based on the current cost of electricity. Home automation systems are going to get a big bump from efforts to make the consumer level grid smarter.
For the business the smart grid will be less about micromanaging the electricity usage... and more about gross usage. You'll see computers being shut off more, and older less efficient computers replaced once a company can see the actual numbers change in their own versions of the above web sites. You'll likely even see a push to get people out of the office and perhaps working from home once they see the new 'electricity cost per person'; and then again, perhaps not. Perhaps that electricity cost will simply be passed to the employee as a 'benefit' that is part of their total compensation. For companies that have some control over their buildings; I foresee many looking for ways to alter the building to be more efficient; and a market blossoming around efficient office spaces. Big windows will be OK - if they are sealed well. Daylighting and light piping into the interior spaces in order to cut down on electricity usage will be greatly desired. Companies may even begin to source their equipment on how *few* little lights are on them. Think about all those power strips in use with a small light that always runs - that's what is called a power vampire. That network switch with little blinking lights - shut the lights off when they are not needed; For many of the more advanced things like computers and network switches - it's merely a matter of a bios upgrade; but there has to be a demand for it.
For the electric industry the smart grid means something completely different.
The industry's 'smart grid' is more about upgrading their transformers and major power distribution centers to be networked and remotely controlled. Does it surprise you that most of those big fenced off transformer areas are dumb? In the past; the monitoring that is done on those systems is 'is this circuit on?' or 'how much power is flowing?' If you're lucky there might be a security camera or two. I've even heard of some companies putting up cameras aimed at the meters to be able to check the meter remotely!!! When something goes wrong an alarm sounds at the central office and someone is dispatched to take a look at what went wrong.
If all this sounds like it's decades old tech - that's because it is. The power distribution system was designed originally almost a century ago, with some fairly minor 'upgrades' since then.The 1950's and 60's saw a major nationwide deployment of electrical infrastructure that has basically sat in place ever since. When the industry talks about a 'smart grid' what they are talking about is a *major* revamp of the way they monitor and control power at all these switching and generator stations.
One additional driving force behind upgrading out nations electrical infrastructure is the fundamental, but slowly building shift from huge central, fossil fuel, nuclear and major hydro power stations; to a massively distributed alternative 'green' energy system. Right now our power system is designed to flow one direction: from the big generators toward the electrical consumer. With the entire nation beginning to focus on smaller, distributed generation systems like rooftop solar power or wind turbines the grid has to be modified if it wants to take advantage of that power generation.
Here, it's a safety thing. With the power only flowing one way - you can cut off the power at the source - like flipping the breaker in your homes breaker box and safely work with the wiring. When you have power coming at you from a bunch of different directions - it's a lot harder to stop the flow of electricity. Right now, many American power companies have basically said that solar and other alternative energy systems can *only* feed the location they are designed for and are *not* allowed to feed their extra power back to the grid. A one-way valve is installed that allows power to circulate locally, but not back into the big bathtub. This drastically reduces the value of these systems as the option of selling surplus energy to the pool of power is not allowed and that energy is basically dumped.
Some places in Europe have taken a different, and much more progressive tack. They subsidise their solar panel installations by forcing the power companies (government run usually) to buy back the surplus generation from alternative energy installations. This created a sea change in those locations. Solar power systems cannot be installed fast enough. Because all of a sudden, instead of getting a power bill every month; individual consumers and companies can get a CHECK. It becomes an income stream and drastically reduces the payoff period for solar system installations. In America right now, no power company is doing this; though I have high hopes for Austin Energy to come around fairly soon. Once they do - I'm moving away from the deregulated Oncor system, even though I can buy my Green Mountain alternative energy and into Austin proper. I'll set up a 10Kwh solar system and get a check every month instead of a bill.
This consumer stuff above is the marketing fluff and 'green' spin the electric industry is using to help get the average Joe willing to spend money on it. Smart meters are nifty tech and will catch on in a big way... but the real push for the 'smart grid' is the upgrading and advanced networking of the major power distribution systems.
So, now you know.
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