What Is the Smart Grid?

U.S. Department of Energy
4 Jun 201305:19
EducationalLearning
32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThe video script explores the evolution of the electric grid from its 100-year-old conception to the modern smart grid. It highlights the limitations of the traditional one-way grid and introduces the smart grid's two-way communication between utilities and consumers, enhancing efficiency, reliability, and sustainability. The smart grid integrates renewable energy sources like wind and solar, manages peak demand, and supports electric vehicles. It also uses smart meters and home area networks to enable consumers to actively manage their electricity usage, reducing costs and environmental impact.

Takeaways
  • 🕰️ The current electric grid was designed over 100 years ago for simple electricity needs and localized power generation.
  • 🔄 The smart grid facilitates a two-way interaction between utilities and consumers, making the grid more responsive to modern energy demands.
  • 🌐 It integrates a network of communications, controls, computers, automation, and new technologies to improve grid efficiency, reliability, security, and sustainability.
  • 🌞 The smart grid supports newer technologies like wind and solar energy production, as well as plug-in electric vehicle charging.
  • 🏠 Smart homes equipped with smart meters and home area networks (HAN) allow consumers to manage their electricity usage more effectively.
  • 📈 Smart appliances and devices can adjust their operation to reduce demand on the grid during peak times, thereby lowering energy bills.
  • 🌬️ Renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, add complexity to grid operations due to their variability, but the smart grid can optimize their integration.
  • 📊 The smart grid provides utilities with real-time data and automation to manage electricity production and consumption more precisely.
  • 🛠️ Distribution intelligence in the smart grid helps to automatically identify and resolve issues, reducing outages and improving power delivery.
  • 🚗 The smart grid can manage the charging of electric vehicles, balancing demand and optimizing electricity usage for cost efficiency.
  • 🌳 Increased adoption of electric vehicles supported by smart grid technologies can lead to reduced fuel costs, decreased dependency on foreign oil, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Q & A

  • What was the original purpose of the electric grid over 100 years ago?

    -The original electric grid was designed to deliver electricity from utilities to consumers' homes, with a focus on localized power generation and simple energy demands such as lighting and radios.

  • How does the smart grid differ from the traditional electric grid?

    -The smart grid introduces a two-way dialogue where electricity and information can be exchanged between the utility and its customers, enabling more efficient, reliable, secure, and greener energy management.

  • What role do consumers play in the smart grid system?

    -Consumers participate in the smart grid by managing their electricity usage through smart meters and home area networks, which help utilities communicate with them and better handle electricity needs.

  • How does a smart meter benefit consumers in a smart home?

    -Smart meters allow for more frequent measurement of a home's electricity consumption, providing better information to consumers for managing their electricity bills and usage.

  • What is a home area network (HAN) and how does it function within a smart home?

    -A home area network (HAN) connects smart appliances, thermostats, and other electric devices to an energy management system, enabling them to adjust their run schedules to reduce electricity demand and lower energy bills.

  • How does the smart grid accommodate renewable energy sources like wind and solar?

    -The smart grid provides the necessary data and automation to integrate renewable energy sources, such as solar panels and wind farms, optimizing their energy output to meet the grid's constantly changing demands.

  • Why is electricity more costly to deliver during peak times?

    -Electricity is more costly during peak times because additional, often less efficient power plants must be run to meet the higher demand, leading to increased operating costs.

  • How can the smart grid help utilities manage electricity usage during peak demand times?

    -The smart grid enables utilities to manage and moderate electricity usage with the cooperation of their customers, especially during peak demand times, by deferring electricity usage away from peak hours.

  • What benefits does the smart grid offer in terms of electricity production and distribution?

    -The smart grid provides detailed information for real-time management of electricity consumption, reduces outages, lowers the need for peak power, and allows for more precise and predictable management of electricity production.

  • How does the smart grid's distribution intelligence help manage electricity usage and reduce costs?

    -The smart grid's distribution intelligence automatically identifies problems, reroutes and restores power delivery, and predicts and manages electricity usage with customer cooperation, leading to lower production costs.

  • What impact can plug-in electric vehicles have on the smart grid and the environment?

    -Plug-in electric vehicles can increase the demand for power on the smart grid, but with smart grid technologies and consumer participation, utilities can handle this increased demand. This can lead to reduced fuel costs, lower dependency on foreign oil, and a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.

Outlines
00:00
🔌 Evolution and Advancement of the Electric Grid

The script discusses the origins and limitations of the current electric grid, which was designed over a century ago for simple energy demands and localized power generation. It contrasts the outdated one-way utility-consumer interaction with the modern smart grid's two-way communication, which facilitates a more efficient, reliable, secure, and environmentally friendly energy network. The smart grid integrates advanced technologies and renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, and supports plug-in electric vehicle charging. It also allows consumers to actively manage their electricity usage through smart meters and home area networks, leading to better demand response and cost savings. The script emphasizes the importance of consumer participation and the smart grid's ability to optimize energy distribution and reduce peak power demand, ultimately lowering operating costs for utilities.

05:01
🚗 Impact of Electric Vehicles on Energy Grid and Environment

This paragraph highlights the potential environmental and economic benefits of integrating plug-in electric vehicles into the smart grid system. It suggests that with increased adoption of electric vehicles, there is an opportunity to decrease reliance on foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The script implies that the smart grid's capabilities can support the charging needs of these vehicles, ensuring a sustainable and cost-effective energy solution that contributes to a cleaner environment.

Mindmap
Keywords
💡Electric Grid
The electric grid refers to the interconnected network for delivering electricity from power stations to consumers. In the context of the video, it highlights the evolution from a simple, 100-year-old system to a more complex and responsive infrastructure needed for modern energy demands. The script mentions that the current grid was designed for utilities to deliver electricity to consumers' homes and bill them monthly, which is a limited one-way interaction.
💡Smart Grid
A smart grid is an advanced version of the traditional electric grid that uses digital technology to monitor and manage electricity from all generation and distribution sources. It's designed to be more interactive and responsive to the demands of the 21st century. The video script describes the smart grid as introducing a two-way dialogue between utilities and customers, making the grid more efficient, reliable, secure, and environmentally friendly.
💡Two-way Dialogue
The term 'two-way dialogue' in the script refers to the interactive communication between the utility companies and their customers enabled by the smart grid. This concept is central to the smart grid's operation, allowing for a more dynamic and responsive system where information and electricity can be exchanged, leading to better energy management and customer engagement.
💡Smart Meter
A smart meter is an electronic device that records electricity consumption in intervals of an hour or less and communicates that information back to the utility for monitoring and billing. The script explains that utilities can provide customers with better information to manage their electricity bills by measuring a home's electricity consumption more frequently through a smart meter.
💡Home Area Network (HAN)
A Home Area Network, or HAN, is a network that connects smart appliances, thermostats, and other electric devices within a home to an energy management system. The script mentions that inside the smart home, the HAN connects these devices, enabling them to adjust their run schedule to reduce electricity demand on the grid at critical times, thereby lowering consumers' energy bills.
💡Renewable Energy
Renewable energy refers to energy harnessed from natural resources that are replenished at a rate that exceeds their consumption, such as wind and solar power. The script discusses the integration of renewable energy sources into the smart grid, which is a sustainable and growing source for electric power, adding complexity to normal grid operations but also making the grid greener.
💡Variable Renewable Power
Variable renewable power sources are those whose output can fluctuate due to natural conditions, such as the availability of wind or sunlight. The script notes that these sources add complexity to the grid's operations because their output is not constant, requiring the smart grid to provide the necessary data and automation to manage and optimize their energy contribution to the grid.
💡Peak Demand
Peak demand refers to the highest rate of electricity consumption that occurs during certain times of the day. The script explains that electricity is more costly to deliver during peak times because additional, often less efficient, power plants must be run to meet the higher demand. The smart grid helps manage and moderate electricity usage, especially during peak demand times, to reduce operating costs.
💡Distribution System
The distribution system is the part of the electric grid that routes power from the utility to residential and commercial customers through power lines, switches, and transformers. The script describes how the smart grid's distribution intelligence can counter energy fluctuations and outages by automatically identifying problems and rerouting power delivery, improving the overall reliability of the grid.
💡Plug-in Electric Vehicle (PEV)
A plug-in electric vehicle, or PEV, is a vehicle that is charged by plugging it into an external source of electricity, rather than being fueled by gasoline or diesel. The script discusses how the smart grid can manage the charging of PEVs, balancing the demand for electricity across the household and prioritizing between the vehicle and other appliances, which can help reduce costs and increase the adoption of electric vehicles.
💡Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions are gases that trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere, contributing to climate change. The script mentions that by adding more plug-in electric vehicles to the grid, we have the potential to reduce fuel costs, lower our dependency on foreign oil, and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting the environmental benefits of the smart grid.
Highlights

The current electric grid was designed over 100 years ago for simple electricity needs and localized power generation.

The grid was originally a one-way system for utilities to deliver electricity and bill consumers monthly.

The smart grid introduces a two-way dialogue for electricity and information exchange between utilities and customers.

Smart grid incorporates communication, controls, computers, automation, and new technologies for efficiency, reliability, security, and sustainability.

It enables integration of newer technologies like wind and solar energy production and electric vehicle charging.

Consumer participation in the smart grid will replace the aging infrastructure and improve utility communication for electricity management.

Smart homes with smart meters allow for more frequent electricity consumption measurement and better bill management.

Home area networks connect smart appliances and devices to an energy management system for demand reduction and bill optimization.

Smart devices can be controlled remotely to adjust schedules and lower electricity demand during peak times.

Renewable power sources like wind and solar add complexity to grid operations due to their variability.

Smart grid provides data and automation to manage the integration of solar panels and wind farms into the grid.

Utilities manage power plant operations based on time-of-day electricity demand and cost.

Smart grid allows utilities to moderate electricity usage with customer cooperation, especially during peak times.

Smart grid technologies enable real-time management of electricity consumption, reducing outages and peak power needs.

Engineers can manage electricity production more precisely with smart grid technologies, reducing reliance on secondary power plants.

Smart grid's distribution intelligence identifies and reroutes power to manage fluctuations and outages.

Utilities use distribution intelligence to predict and manage electricity usage with customer cooperation, reducing production costs.

Smart grid technologies allow for efficient management of plug-in electric vehicle charging and demand balancing.

Increased plug-in electric vehicles on the grid can reduce fuel costs, dependency on foreign oil, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Transcripts

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Related Tags
Smart GridElectricity GridEnergy EfficiencyRenewable EnergySustainable PowerSmart HomeElectric VehiclesDemand ResponseAutomationGreen EnergyConsumer Engagement