A year in green tech: Who's the smartest of them all?

Public knowledge about the concept of "smart grid" has grown consistently over the last decade.  Once relegated to far corners of the Department of Energy, operators of the existing grid, and entrepreneurial researchers at some universities, "smart grid" has become a part of the public lexicon.  In Illinois, we saw a political battle among the local utility, the state legislature, the public utility commission, and the governor trying to determine how much the citizens of the state would pay for the improvements to infrastructure necessary to accomplish the seemingly nebulous goals.  Consumers see appliances that have "smart-grid-ready" controls both to maximize energy efficiency and to minimize cost.  A decade ago, many could dismiss the concept of "smart grid" as a fad...today, we know that in some form, the infrastructure improvements and information exchanges that form the  backbone of the modern grid will remain with us for decades to come.

To understand smart grid, let us first discuss what "the grid" means. We use electricity every day in our homes, our cars, our places of work. In most cases, this electricity originates as another form of energy (coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear) which is converted into electricity through the act of burning or releasing energy to drive a rotating shaft. The places and equipment that transform these raw forms of energy into electrical energy - known as generators - create noise and air pollution (among other issues) and generally do not get built close to the customers they serve. The series of cables (to allow flow from one point to another), transformers (to match the right potential to the right situation), switches and relays (to regulate what energy can flow when) that connect these sources of electrical energy to our homes, offices, etc. are what make up "the grid".

For those that want a more detailed history of how our current grid infrastructure came into existence, the Edison Tech Center has a straightforward review of the topic. For over one hundred years, the grid has functioned to transmit electrical energy in one direction, from a small series of point-sources of power to a vast number of individual users. Relays and switches protect the system from damage, and transformers allow for the transmission of high voltage power across long distances which could then be "transformed" to lower voltage power at the building level. All of these devices maintain a steady flow of electricity from the source to the user.

The great limitation of electrical energy comes from the fact that the generators can only supply what the users need at any one time. Unlike water, natural gas, or oil, any excess generation goes to waste (at best) or oversupplies a system (at worst), so managing the grid requires a delicate balance to match generation to load (or need for electricity).

With this as a backdrop, the concept of a "smart grid" sounds simple enough: add "intelligence" to all the devices in the system and share information about real-time activity. That does not tell the whole story, however. Most leading researchers in the arena of "smart grid" more often refer to them as "micro grids" preferring to focus on the size, scale and functionality rather than solely on the additional intelligence. Micro grids have several key components that define them:

1. The grid operators have more information about the distribution of energy at all levels through digital meters and sensors strategically placed throughout the system.
2. End users have much more information about how much energy they use, at what time, for what duration, and most importantly at what cost.
3. As the name implies, the micro grid represents a finite subset of infrastructure at a particular scale. The functionality that flows from this decision allows for more local generation (mostly renewably created), more specific matching of power quality (the preciseness of the voltage and current) to the needs of the equipment using that power, and a greater amount of reliability by decreasing the need for large sources of power far away.
4. Multidirectional (although not simultaneously so) flow of electricity within and around the grid.

The increased metering, increased flow of information, and decreased reliance on distant generation resources changes the relationship between generator and user, creates a scenario in which greater accuracy of generation matches the load, and establishes more sources of electricity within a particular area. With the increased monitoring, the grid can allow a larger number of sources entering the grid, creating greater local resiliency to the users. Traditionally one-direct electricity flow gives way to more "loop" structures that provide greater stability by allowing a single load to be served from multiple points in the grid. Electricity storage in large battery systems, coupled with the intelligent information and response systems, provide more reliability about the flow of electricity, and better backup in case of failures.

The addition of information systems, replacement of old switches with new devices, and deployment of generation sources all require investment. In Illinois, some of those costs have been built into the costs that utilities charge us in order to accelerate upgrades. What do we get for that investment? We get greater reliability of service, decreased waste, and improved management of resources. This does not count the currently unquantified benefits that come from implementation of a new technology: job creation, business recruitment, etc. Although dealing with public and private utilities generally requires a heavy dose of skepticism, "smart grid" or micro grid is the real deal, and we need to take smart, significant steps toward increasing the number of areas that upgrade to the newer, more resilient infrastructure.