Whether the coming generations will have
enough energy to power lights, or have to resort to oil lamps and wax
candles depends on how smart our power grids become—and fortunately they
are gearing up quite fast, in cohort with the Internet of Things, to
manage energy requirements smartly
Janani Gopalakrishnan Vikram
Despite the fact that the current generation of devices and appliances, including lights and fans, are smart and capable of conserving power to a large extent, there is still a clear shortage of power. The issue is discussed widely in newspapers and manifested inconveniently as long power outages. What is the way out?
“The smart grid is a concept that will keep all the lights on not only for this generation but the next generation as well. It would not only give us independence in our energy requirements but will also enable a reliable source to keep our ever-increasing energy demands in control. Technically, a smart grid is a bi-directional grid which facilitates an integration of all players in the energy ecosystem in a reliable, economical and sustainable model,” says Reddy Karri, executive vice president, Symphony Teleca Corp.
Satish
Mohanram, technical marketing manager, National Instruments, India,
explains, “A smart grid is termed so because it can understand the load
and supply behaviour and manage the same in the most optimised fashion
with very less or even no manual intervention. It delivers higher
performance, lower cost and essential new features such as seamless
integration of loads, grid-level energy storage and distributed
renewable energy generation.”
The smart grid, networked grid or digital grid primarily aims at balancing limited power-production capacity and increasing demand for energy, by reducing losses, increasing efficiency, optimising the demand distribution and integrating small and large renewable energy sources like solar and wind. “Structurally speaking, the smart grid is a network between the generation plant, transmission and distribution stations, which in turn extends to smart meters in homes, businesses or factories,” says Shailesh Thakurdesai, business development manager, Microcontrollers, Texas Instruments (India).
Making a grid smart
“In my opinion, the scope of smart grid is very vast, as there are many details that impact design from grid infrastructure to end nodes. To deploy a smart grid, it would be very important to first understand and establish the scope of the project. Predominantly, the scope of a smart grid project will aim to achieve some of the following: reduction of distribution losses, achieving bi-directional response for real-time control, increasing overall capacity, managing and controlling for peak demand and multi-tariff implementation. Based on this objective, one can proceed to evaluate the current technology and topology to be used. On assessing this, a pilot project can be conducted to see the actual results of the smart grid,” says Thakurdesai.
Typically, the evolution of a smart grid happens organically across four areas: generation, transmission, distribution and retail.
At
the generation level, one of the main benefits of the smart grid is
that it enables distributed energy production. Theoretically, it enables
even individuals to be contributors to the power grid. If you have a
solar panel on your terrace and are producing more power than you
consume, you can contribute that to the grid and get a discount on your
next bill. Although that is still not very common, the smart grid has
definitely made it possible to integrate several small producers of
electricity, including wind and solar power. This is done using advanced
power electronics that help to combine DC storage with renewable energy
resources, by mitigating the variability.
Transmission too is made smarter in a modern grid using a wide network of sensors and control tools that avoid, detect and overcome faults. Advanced power electronics are being used to ensure normal voltage at all times, increase line capacity by series compensation and ride through smoothly when faults occur or large motors start.
The distribution of power to sub-stations is perhaps the area of the grid most impacted by smart technologies. By studying consumption patterns and planning distribution accordingly, it is possible to manage demand-supply vagaries. There are also several technologies developed for this crucial segment of the smart grid. One recent development, for example, is conservation voltage reduction (CVR), a set of technologies that lowers voltages on distribution circuits to save energy.
At the retail level, utilities use automated metering infrastructure (AMI) with smart meters that help customers to understand their own consumption patterns and empower them to alter it positively using schemes like happy-hour discounts.
A job for electronics and communications...
As you would have surmised by now, there is a lot of work for electronics in a smart grid, from sensors, reclosers and phasor measurement units (PMUs), to data concentrators and power line communication (PLC) systems, wireless chips and smart meters with bidirectional communications. Most of these electronics are ‘smart’ in the sense that they can communicate with each other and a central server through a robust communication backbone, thereby enabling collection of data, their analysis and actions based on that. The backbone of all this smartness is therefore ‘big data’ sitting on the Cloud and integrated software solutions that support decision-making.
Grid infrastructure. There are components from data concentrators to PLC systems and wireless chips embedded in grid infrastructure. The data concentrators, for example, help to aggregate data from a certain number of meters and send them to the utility servers. These concentrators would generally need some wireless communication capability to acquire data and communication from the concentrator to the utility servers via Ethernet, GSM, GPRS, WiMAX or telecom networks.
Similarly, sub-station control is also an electronics-intensive job today. Microprocessor-based relays are used for online monitoring and control replacing older SCADA systems; traditional switchboards with panels, switches and lights have given way to graphical user interfaces that can be accessed through PCs. Sundry sensors are used to collect information on the performance and health of station equipment including transformers and circuit breakers.
Companies like TI, ADI and Intel offer a range of energy metering ICs, power-line communication systems, data concentrators, microcontrollers for home-area networking, in-home display systems, smart meters, IoT gateways and so on.
TI offers various ARM-based system-on-chip and system-on-module solutions and software for the smart grid, as well as PLC and data concentrators. Intel offers a series of chips with remote management capabilities. Their active management technology implements a special circuit in Intel chipsets, which enables the system to be remotely accessible even when it is powered off or the software is corrupt, using an out-of-band link. The cross-platform solution can apparently be used with energy generation equipment, control systems and home energy gateways. A range of Intel Xeon, Intel Core and Intel Atom processors are used across grid infrastructure.
Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are also used widely in smart grid implementations. They offer much-needed flexibility and integration in a diverse system, and in cases such as NI’s solution, they can be customised as well as upgraded in the field, without changing the hardware, to behave as a number of different ‘personalities,’ such as PMU, power quality, smart switch, recloser, etc.
Test and Measurement. The sensing aspects of a smart grid are basically the preserve of the T&M world, which constantly improves capabilities with better embedded instrumentation systems. “Developments in the T&M sector have enabled better sensing—speed, accuracy, synchronisation across long distances; better communication—high-throughput, reliable long-distance data transfer and field upgradeability,” says Mohanram.
Communications.
The ability of the nodes to communicate and coordinate with each other
and a central system makes a grid smart, or otherwise. Both wired power
line (PLC) and wireless (Wi-Fi, ZigBee and Sub-1GHz) communication are
used in a smart grid. The 2.4GHz IEEE 802.15.4 standard is quite popular
for wireless communications in smart grids, due to its low data rate
but extremely long battery life and very low complexity. Several network
protocols including ZigBee, 6LoWPAN, WirelessHART and ISA100.11a run on
802.15.4-based networks. Thakurdesai shares that, “In smart
substations, the new standard for communication is IEC 61850 and for
PLC, standards like Prime and G3, which are certified with TI products.”
Smart meters. Smart meters can be seen as the face of the smart grid, what consumers see. These intelligent bi-directional devices help both the consumer and the utility. The former can understand their consumption patterns and alter it effectively, so as to conserve power and capitalise on utility-given discounts. Utilities, on the other hand, can use it to effectively plan their distribution, control power consumption, understand consumers, avoid power theft, implement variable pricing and so on.
And big data too…
“As the smart grid evolves with sensors distributed across the grid collecting huge amounts of data, drawing accurate and meaningful conclusions from such a large amount of data is an interesting problem, and the term Big Data describes this phenomenon,” says Mohanram. The smart grid too crunches huge amounts of data coming from analogue devices. “We call it Big Analog Data solutions, described using a three-tier solution architecture. The first two tiers are what inherit from the measurement world, namely, the sensors and the system nodes. Once through tier 2, the data moves past ‘the edge’ and usually hits a network switch and then a server where it can be stored and undergoes further analysis. This is where customers realise great value from the data they’ve acquired, and where many engineering, scientific and business decisions are made. This tier also includes the Cloud, a growing and appealing IT infrastructure that powers the smart grid,” explains Mohanram.
The data captured from the grid can be analysed and put to use at various fronts:1. Analysis of AMI data with a customer-focus can help in theft detection and revenue protection, demand-response management, happy-hour pricing and other variable pricing schemes to make customers cooperate with utilities to solve their problems. Solutions like C3, AutoGrid, Opower, GE’s Grid IQ Insight platform and Siemens’ eMeter analytics system can help in this.
2. At the utility level, the AMI data is used for outage management and operational improvements.
3. Solutions from companies like Oracle, SAP, Silver Spring Networks, Siemens/eMeter and ABB/Ventyx help in monitoring transformer health by combining AMI and other grid sensor data with weather and temperature data, asset management system data and other information.
4. With a combination of synchrophasor deployments, a study of satellite images to predict the next storm, its impact on solar and wind power generation, etc, renewable energy planning systems from grid industry players and IT vendors like IBM help plan distribution better.
5. At the strategic level, the ability to predict is a positive outcome of big data. Of course, the power sector is always ravaged by the vagaries of nature, and the eccentricities of customers, and it is impossible to accurately know things such as how fast customers will adopt rooftop PV or plug-in electric vehicles, how regulatory and economic developments will impact finances, etc.
Standards bring in order, growth
Karri says, “There are multiple standards governing the space. The key application of these standards we believe and strictly adhere to are in the interoperability space. The kinds of data communication protocol for the energy sector that Symphony Teleca implements include DLMS (preferable) and ANCI C12.22, and when the hardware systems (meters, concentrators, et al) are interoperable and software interoperability is needed, we prefer the CIM/ multispeak approach.”
In emerging spaces, where there is no clear winner, it can be confusing what standards and protocols to choose for your applications. The International Electrotechnical Commission’s Smart Grid Standards Mapping Tool (http://smartgridstandardsmap.com/) can come in handy at such times. It helps you find the best fit for your needs, and covers not just their own standards but all leading ones including IEEE’s.
Watch out for smart moves in the power grid
Thakurdesai says, “One of the main trends one can look out for is the integration of renewable energy systems into existing grids catering to higher demand and improving efficiency.”
“The world is heading towards a convergence, so we believe there would be an improved involvement of the consumer, taking an increased interest in smart grid cost-benefit analysis, forcing smart grid project leaders to achieve a higher standard for investment justification,” adds Karri.
Janani Gopalakrishnan Vikram
Despite the fact that the current generation of devices and appliances, including lights and fans, are smart and capable of conserving power to a large extent, there is still a clear shortage of power. The issue is discussed widely in newspapers and manifested inconveniently as long power outages. What is the way out?
“The smart grid is a concept that will keep all the lights on not only for this generation but the next generation as well. It would not only give us independence in our energy requirements but will also enable a reliable source to keep our ever-increasing energy demands in control. Technically, a smart grid is a bi-directional grid which facilitates an integration of all players in the energy ecosystem in a reliable, economical and sustainable model,” says Reddy Karri, executive vice president, Symphony Teleca Corp.
 Basic view of a smart grid |
The smart grid, networked grid or digital grid primarily aims at balancing limited power-production capacity and increasing demand for energy, by reducing losses, increasing efficiency, optimising the demand distribution and integrating small and large renewable energy sources like solar and wind. “Structurally speaking, the smart grid is a network between the generation plant, transmission and distribution stations, which in turn extends to smart meters in homes, businesses or factories,” says Shailesh Thakurdesai, business development manager, Microcontrollers, Texas Instruments (India).
Making a grid smart
“In my opinion, the scope of smart grid is very vast, as there are many details that impact design from grid infrastructure to end nodes. To deploy a smart grid, it would be very important to first understand and establish the scope of the project. Predominantly, the scope of a smart grid project will aim to achieve some of the following: reduction of distribution losses, achieving bi-directional response for real-time control, increasing overall capacity, managing and controlling for peak demand and multi-tariff implementation. Based on this objective, one can proceed to evaluate the current technology and topology to be used. On assessing this, a pilot project can be conducted to see the actual results of the smart grid,” says Thakurdesai.
Typically, the evolution of a smart grid happens organically across four areas: generation, transmission, distribution and retail.
 |
 |
 |
Transmission too is made smarter in a modern grid using a wide network of sensors and control tools that avoid, detect and overcome faults. Advanced power electronics are being used to ensure normal voltage at all times, increase line capacity by series compensation and ride through smoothly when faults occur or large motors start.
The distribution of power to sub-stations is perhaps the area of the grid most impacted by smart technologies. By studying consumption patterns and planning distribution accordingly, it is possible to manage demand-supply vagaries. There are also several technologies developed for this crucial segment of the smart grid. One recent development, for example, is conservation voltage reduction (CVR), a set of technologies that lowers voltages on distribution circuits to save energy.
At the retail level, utilities use automated metering infrastructure (AMI) with smart meters that help customers to understand their own consumption patterns and empower them to alter it positively using schemes like happy-hour discounts.
A job for electronics and communications...
As you would have surmised by now, there is a lot of work for electronics in a smart grid, from sensors, reclosers and phasor measurement units (PMUs), to data concentrators and power line communication (PLC) systems, wireless chips and smart meters with bidirectional communications. Most of these electronics are ‘smart’ in the sense that they can communicate with each other and a central server through a robust communication backbone, thereby enabling collection of data, their analysis and actions based on that. The backbone of all this smartness is therefore ‘big data’ sitting on the Cloud and integrated software solutions that support decision-making.
Grid infrastructure. There are components from data concentrators to PLC systems and wireless chips embedded in grid infrastructure. The data concentrators, for example, help to aggregate data from a certain number of meters and send them to the utility servers. These concentrators would generally need some wireless communication capability to acquire data and communication from the concentrator to the utility servers via Ethernet, GSM, GPRS, WiMAX or telecom networks.
Similarly, sub-station control is also an electronics-intensive job today. Microprocessor-based relays are used for online monitoring and control replacing older SCADA systems; traditional switchboards with panels, switches and lights have given way to graphical user interfaces that can be accessed through PCs. Sundry sensors are used to collect information on the performance and health of station equipment including transformers and circuit breakers.
Companies like TI, ADI and Intel offer a range of energy metering ICs, power-line communication systems, data concentrators, microcontrollers for home-area networking, in-home display systems, smart meters, IoT gateways and so on.
TI offers various ARM-based system-on-chip and system-on-module solutions and software for the smart grid, as well as PLC and data concentrators. Intel offers a series of chips with remote management capabilities. Their active management technology implements a special circuit in Intel chipsets, which enables the system to be remotely accessible even when it is powered off or the software is corrupt, using an out-of-band link. The cross-platform solution can apparently be used with energy generation equipment, control systems and home energy gateways. A range of Intel Xeon, Intel Core and Intel Atom processors are used across grid infrastructure.
Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are also used widely in smart grid implementations. They offer much-needed flexibility and integration in a diverse system, and in cases such as NI’s solution, they can be customised as well as upgraded in the field, without changing the hardware, to behave as a number of different ‘personalities,’ such as PMU, power quality, smart switch, recloser, etc.
Test and Measurement. The sensing aspects of a smart grid are basically the preserve of the T&M world, which constantly improves capabilities with better embedded instrumentation systems. “Developments in the T&M sector have enabled better sensing—speed, accuracy, synchronisation across long distances; better communication—high-throughput, reliable long-distance data transfer and field upgradeability,” says Mohanram.
 Components in a smart grid; Concept (Courtesy: National Instruments) |
Smart meters. Smart meters can be seen as the face of the smart grid, what consumers see. These intelligent bi-directional devices help both the consumer and the utility. The former can understand their consumption patterns and alter it effectively, so as to conserve power and capitalise on utility-given discounts. Utilities, on the other hand, can use it to effectively plan their distribution, control power consumption, understand consumers, avoid power theft, implement variable pricing and so on.
And big data too…
“As the smart grid evolves with sensors distributed across the grid collecting huge amounts of data, drawing accurate and meaningful conclusions from such a large amount of data is an interesting problem, and the term Big Data describes this phenomenon,” says Mohanram. The smart grid too crunches huge amounts of data coming from analogue devices. “We call it Big Analog Data solutions, described using a three-tier solution architecture. The first two tiers are what inherit from the measurement world, namely, the sensors and the system nodes. Once through tier 2, the data moves past ‘the edge’ and usually hits a network switch and then a server where it can be stored and undergoes further analysis. This is where customers realise great value from the data they’ve acquired, and where many engineering, scientific and business decisions are made. This tier also includes the Cloud, a growing and appealing IT infrastructure that powers the smart grid,” explains Mohanram.
The data captured from the grid can be analysed and put to use at various fronts:1. Analysis of AMI data with a customer-focus can help in theft detection and revenue protection, demand-response management, happy-hour pricing and other variable pricing schemes to make customers cooperate with utilities to solve their problems. Solutions like C3, AutoGrid, Opower, GE’s Grid IQ Insight platform and Siemens’ eMeter analytics system can help in this.
2. At the utility level, the AMI data is used for outage management and operational improvements.
3. Solutions from companies like Oracle, SAP, Silver Spring Networks, Siemens/eMeter and ABB/Ventyx help in monitoring transformer health by combining AMI and other grid sensor data with weather and temperature data, asset management system data and other information.
4. With a combination of synchrophasor deployments, a study of satellite images to predict the next storm, its impact on solar and wind power generation, etc, renewable energy planning systems from grid industry players and IT vendors like IBM help plan distribution better.
5. At the strategic level, the ability to predict is a positive outcome of big data. Of course, the power sector is always ravaged by the vagaries of nature, and the eccentricities of customers, and it is impossible to accurately know things such as how fast customers will adopt rooftop PV or plug-in electric vehicles, how regulatory and economic developments will impact finances, etc.
Standards bring in order, growth
Karri says, “There are multiple standards governing the space. The key application of these standards we believe and strictly adhere to are in the interoperability space. The kinds of data communication protocol for the energy sector that Symphony Teleca implements include DLMS (preferable) and ANCI C12.22, and when the hardware systems (meters, concentrators, et al) are interoperable and software interoperability is needed, we prefer the CIM/ multispeak approach.”
In emerging spaces, where there is no clear winner, it can be confusing what standards and protocols to choose for your applications. The International Electrotechnical Commission’s Smart Grid Standards Mapping Tool (http://smartgridstandardsmap.com/) can come in handy at such times. It helps you find the best fit for your needs, and covers not just their own standards but all leading ones including IEEE’s.
Watch out for smart moves in the power grid
Thakurdesai says, “One of the main trends one can look out for is the integration of renewable energy systems into existing grids catering to higher demand and improving efficiency.”
“The world is heading towards a convergence, so we believe there would be an improved involvement of the consumer, taking an increased interest in smart grid cost-benefit analysis, forcing smart grid project leaders to achieve a higher standard for investment justification,” adds Karri.
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