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That's hardly a "smart" home entertainment setup. Our electric grid faces similar problems on a larger scale, and that's where the smart grid movement comes into play.
First, don't let the term "smart grid" bowl you over. When you break it down, the electric grid is a lot like the Internet. It encompasses data, hardware, software, users, companies and distributors. It's a vast system with numerous components. The smart grid movement simply entails upgrading the outdated parts to make the whole system more efficient. If we can do that, everybody wins: cheaper energy, less energy wasted, less reliance on fossil fuels and better control of vital energy resources.
So let's take a trip up the grid, shall we? We'll start in your home and work our way all the way back to the power plant in six easy steps. Along the way, we'll discuss how smart innovations can improve each link in the chain.
Home/Building
This level deals with how you use electricity in your home or business. Demand at this point determines how much strain the rest of the chain endures. Not surprisingly, responsible energy usage at this level is very important. Technologies such as motion detectors, smart power strips, Energy Star appliances and smart meters give responsible energy consumers the chance to manage their usage. In addition to decreasing the burden on the rest of the chain, smart grid technologies can pass detailed energy usage information back up the chain to enable more efficient, real-time power generation and management. This level requires not only smart technology, but smart users.
Distribution
If electricity were a dairy product, then this would be the milkman's link in the chain. One of the key smart grid innovations here is distribution automation. Remember, electricity still can't be stored effectively. You basically have to use it the moment you generate it, so it's a massive juggling act -- and a dropped ball means blackouts. Improved usage data from homes, along with automated distribution systems, can lessen the number of outages and improve forecasting, grid utilization and security.
Substation
This is where transformers translate voltage from high to low, or the reverse. One way to make this level smarter is through improved, automated monitoring and correcting the voltage of a transformer. Networked sensors can send up-to-the-minute voltage data back up the chain to the utility network. If the automated system detects a notably high or low voltage level reading, then the system could automatically send a corrective action to adjust the voltage back to normal. By monitoring and tweaking millions of transformers, the system could drastically reduce power waste.
Transmission
This level connects power generation to the substations. The smartest thing to do here is to improve the carrying capacity of the cables. Superconducting high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power lines represent the key innovation here, involving super-chilled cables that boost capacity to several times that of older cables.
Generation
Finally, there's generation. All the other improvements lessen the strain on power plants, but there's still room to do better. Coal and natural gas will continue to play an important role in the generation of electricity for quite some time, but nuclear and renewable energy can augment fossil fuel dependency. As energy storage technology improves, batteries can help improve the performance of less-reliable renewables such as wind energy.
Two final smart grid innovations loops electrical generation right back around to the home/building level: microgeneration and two-way energy flow at the home level. With these two phenomena, people could actually produce and store energy to offset their grid usage. They might even have the opportunity to put electricity back into the local grid.
And there you have it. That's the smart grid in a nutshell.
In addition to writing such HowStuffWorks.com articles as "How the Smart Grid Will Work," Robert Lamb regularly blogs and podcasts about science and energy for Stuff to Blow Your Mind. You can listen to the smart grid episode right here. |
