For years, economists and environmentalists have questioned the traditional transmission system used to collect and distribute electricity. Given the world’s dependence on oil, compounded by the large amount of energy waste associated with today’s electrical system, creating a smart grid is touted as the next big thing. Do you want to conserve energy and save money? Think Smart Grid!
With that said, here is the simple overview of the traditional power grid. The traditional network transmits voltages of electricity through cables (overhead and underground) from the beginning to its destination. Once the energy approaches its destination, the voltage drops, which is a necessary safety measure for the energy to enter our home or office buildings safely. Increasing and decreasing the voltage requires more energy, therefore more money comes out of the pockets of consumers.
Get on the smart grid. An attractive feature of the smart grid for consumers would be its ability to control and regulate electrical energy use, which in turn will help users conserve energy and save money. While the process is quite complex (much like the traditional grid), the concept is simple. The concept of a smart grid is to create a system that allows electricity to move to its destinations in a more efficient and cost-effective way. We cannot underestimate that smart grids require sophisticated communication capabilities to help consumers make the necessary adjustments to save on maximum energy consumption and save money.
Essentially, while the traditional electrical grid requires electricity to flow over long distances, a smart grid reduces that requirement. A smart grid will have the ability to deliver electricity closer to consumers directly from generation points. This reduces the need to increase and decrease the voltage several times before it enters our homes or offices. That just saves money and energy.
Smart grids can also adapt to current weather conditions, thus reducing costly blackouts. Furthermore, if a natural disaster were to strike, a smart grid would be better able to ensure that electricity remains on, even in the midst of trauma. This can save people, even lives, from some of the problems that a power outage causes.
Smart grids will also allow energy to be recharged and reused. For example, a new technology has been created that allows plug-in vehicles to help return power to a smart grid, at times of peak demand. This makes peak demand power better managed when charging vehicles during periods of low demand.
In addition, smart grids are expected to ease the wear and tear of current energy systems. The voltage changes and high expectations described above create significant stress on traditional grids.
As you can imagine, smart grids will be expensive to implement. But once installed, they are expected to be more profitable than the traditional network. As concerns mount regarding the reliability of the current power system, environmentalists and advocates believe that smart grids will gain popularity and become mainstream. In particular, as more utilities move towards the price of service (think that air conditioning in the middle of the afternoon costs more than at night) where the cost of energy varies according to the time it is used), the Consumers will be even more motivated to monitor their energy requirements.
Moving to a greener world will require expensive transmission lines for the permitting process and other costly solutions in an aging electrical transmission infrastructure to solve some of the problems noted above. And the time has come to address our overloaded electrical grid as it exists today. Businesses and consumers must start planning NOW for a greener economy. The winners will be those who bite the bullet sooner rather than later.