Energy Grid is a system of transmission mediums that delivers energy from power plants to your home.
Smart Grid is an evolved grid system that manages electricity demand in a sustainable, reliable and economic manner, built on advanced infrastructure and tuned to facilitate the integration of all involved.
How They work??
Smart Metering – this technology replaces analog meters at points of consumption with digital meters which can transmit their readings much more regularly without manual intervention. A common timing is 15 minutes vs monthly for manual reading. The much larger volume of data allows much greater understanding of patterns of consumption, but more importantly allows time-of-day billing to give consumers an economic incentive to shift load to night time use.
Sensored distribution grid – The electrical distribution side of the grid that carries electricity to consumers is full of sensors and settings. Those used to be manually read and set which meant imbalances could go undetected longer leading to poorer quality electricity for consumers, excessive losses. In the worst case scenario, the imbalance could combine with other grid events to trigger blackouts, which in turn could trigger cascading blackouts. Now, most of the sensors are smart sensors that provide data back to operational centers without manual intervention. This allows analytics to determine imbalances quickly and greater refinement of settings for best quality of electricity and robustness of the grid. Settings are also remotely adjustable via SCADA interfaces allowing much more rapid adjustments at lower cost.
Autonomous distribution grid balancing – This is a less common technology but is part of the spectrum. Using a central distribution management system, autonomous distribution points or more likely a combination of both, computer software interacts with real time data to make adjustments in distribution without human intervention at all. This reduces operator error, increases speed of reaction and improved both quality of electricity and robustness of the distribution grid.
Smart transmission – All of the distribution intelligence is mirrored on the transmission side and arguably arrived first.
Grid market management – Fifteen minute spot markets for electricity where they exist allow competition for generation to drive down the wholesale price of electricity especially at peak. These short term markets and the benefits of the merit order effect wouldn’t be possible without computerization.
Billing systems – Grids exist as economic entities. Billing systems allow them to ensure customers get the right bills quickly and inexpensively. No one does this without computers.
Analytics – Grids produce a lot of data. Smarter grids produce a lot more data. Whether it is modeling potential transmission capacity increases or the impact of new distribution autonomy on the grid, computers are constantly churning through the available data looking for insights. Smart Metering – this technology replaces analog meters at points of consumption with digital meters which can transmit their readings much more regularly without manual intervention. A common timing is 15 minutes vs monthly for manual reading. The much larger volume of data allows much greater understanding of patterns of consumption, but more importantly allows time-of-day billing to give consumers an economic incentive to shift load to night time use.
The pros of a smart grid
1.More efficient transmission of electricity
2.Quicker restoration of electricity after power disturbances
3.Reduced operations and management costs for utilities, and ultimately lower 4.power costs for consumers
5.Reduced peak demand, which will also help lower electricity rates
6.Increased integration of large-scale renewable energy systems
7.Better integration of customer-owner power generation systems, including 8.renewable energy systems
9.Improved security
The cons of a smart grid
1.the internet to provide real time grid data increases the risk of privacy and security breaches.
2.the real-time pricing of smart meters may negatively affect particular industries
3.rebuilding the existing electrical grid will be extremely time consuming and expensive.
references
https://www.smartgrid.gov/the_smart_grid/smart_grid.html
https://www.smartgrid.gov/the_smart_grid/