A Grid that May Be Even Smarter Than You Think

Hello class, today we are going to learn about electricity, not that old fashioned type of alternating current that was invented by Nicola Tesla, nope we are entering the world of the "Smart Grid". Doesn't that sound nice, smart energy. Based on our reliance on smart technologies, soon it will be okay to be dumb.

Lets begin by getting some of the basics out of the way. Firstly, what is the "Smart Grid"? I have provided a link to the wikipedia article on smart grids; but, if you choose not to read it I will give you a quick summary. A Smart Grid is type of electrical grid that is responsive to electrical demands as they occur. Hmmm, that sounds bizarre. Lets try again.

Electricity is generated at a power plant, the electricity is then sent to users at a certain cycle, frequency and strength. If that frequency or strength is not regulated it would blow out your appliances. If a power supply is unreliable then it is sometimes referred to as "dirty" or at least it used to be.

Lets say you have multiple electrical generation plants, one coal burning, one burning natural gas, one solar and one nuclear. They all supply the same people and they all have to be synchronised because of this. They all have to send it out in the same frequency and figure out who will produce what amount of energy at what time so that the grid is fulfilling the needs of the users. A good example is that solar power plants don't provide much electricity at night.

As we turn to green energy we need to remember that solar is usually produced during the day and wind is when it is. You can save some of the energy in batteries as direct current; but, that can get real expensive. When we transmit electricity we lose some. I seem to recall that direct current could only be sent 50 miles or so, it is one of the reasons the United States went with alternating current rather than Edison's direct current.

Now the electric companies have to guess when you will be using electricity in order to know how much to produce. They also have capacity issues, they can only produce so much at a time. Some of the benefits of "green" energy is that it is non-polluting and once paid for, the infrastructure doesn't require as much in resources to keep it going. Down side is that it is less reliable and at the whim of mother nature. Solar energy in certain areas would be insanity for months out of the year when they have no light, like in the arctic.

In order to offset the challenges of green energy it is preferable to have a smart grid. The smart grid monitors usage demand in something closer to real time. It is an interactive process. The smart grid is one that is making close to real time decisions on who gets how much energy. One of it's goals is to reduce peak loads through pricing by use and time of day.

One part of a smart grid is the use of "smart meter". Smart meters measure your usage on a almost real time basis, this allows you to be billed different rates based on the time of day, time of year or anything else. Oh, they also allow electric companies to get rid of all of their meter readers.

Now if you have a smart grid and smart meters you can then match them up with smart appliances. Appliances that identify themselves over the grid. By transmitting information along with electricity you could be informed of which appliances you have running and remotely choose which one's to shut off during peak hours.

I do not know where I read it; but, for the next year they will be testing the electric grid to look at having it transmit data and read the individual frequencies of users. Lets just say that you have a life routine, when you get home you turn on your living room lights and your television, your electric fingerprint will be the same even if you move to a new house. Your pattern will be the same.