Smart Grid Technology

Aditi Harugade1, Priyanka Karunglikar2, Nikita Lokhande3, Avani Jagani4

1,2,3,4
Electronics and Telecommunication Department, Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Engineering, NM
1 2 3
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
4
[email protected]

Abstract— For 100 years, there has been no change in the basic Advanced through each decade. Today, it consists of more
Structure of the electrical power grid. Experiences have shown than 9,200 electric generating units with more than 1 million
that the hierarchical, centrally controlled grid of the 20th megawatts of generating capacity connected to more than
Century is ill-suited to the needs of the 21st Century. To address 300,000 miles of transmission lines. Although the electric grid
the Challenges of the existing power grid, the new concept of is considered an engineering marvel, we are stretching its
smart Grid has emerged. The smart grid can be considered as a
Patchwork nature to its capacity. To move forward, we need a
modern Electric power grid infrastructure for enhanced
efficiency and reliability through automated control, high-power
new kind of electric grid, one that is built from the bottom up
converters, modern communications infrastructure, sensing and to handle the groundswell of digital and computerized
metering technologies, and modern energy management equipment and technology dependent on it—and one that can
techniques based on the optimization of demand, energy and automate and manage the increasing complexity and needs of
network availability, and so on. This paper discusses concept of electricity in the 21st Century.
smart grid and energy management in smart grid and smart
metering.

Keywords— Smart grid, Smart meter.

I. INTRODUCTION

A common element to most definitions is the

application of digital processing and communications to the
power grid, making data flow and information management
central to the smart grid. Among the deficiencies are lacks of
automated analysis, poor visibility, mechanical switches
causing slow response times, lack of situational awareness,
etc. These have contributed to the blackouts happening over
the past 40 years. Some additional inhibiting factors are the
growing population and demand for energy, the global climate
change, equipment failures, energy storage problems, the
capacity limitations of electricity generation, one-way
communication, decrease in fossil fuels, and resilience
problems. Also, the greenhouse gas emissions on Earth have Fig no.1 Smart Grid Architecture
been a significant threat that is caused by the electricity and
transportation industries. Consequently, a new grid
infrastructure is urgently needed to address these challenges. II. WHAT MAKES A GRID ―SMART?‖

To realize these capabilities, a new concept of next In short, the digital technology that allows for two-
generation electric power system, the smart grid, has emerged. way communication between the utility and its customers and
Various capabilities result from the deeply integrated use of the sensing along the transmission lines is what makes the grid
digital technology with power grids. Integration of the new smart. Like the Internet, the Smart Grid will consist of
grid information is one of the key issues in the design of smart controls, computers, automation and new technologies and
grids. "The grid," refers to the electric grid, a network of equipment working together, but in this case, these
transmission lines, substations, transformers and more that technologies will work with the electrical grid to respond
deliver electricity from the power plant to your home or digitally to our quickly changing electric demand.
business. It’s what you plug into when you flip on your light
switch or power up your computer. Our current electric grid
was built in the 1890s and improved upon as technology
 III. BUILDING AND TESTING THE SMART GRID instrumentation and manual configuration. They also relied on
extensive interaction with the customer to be useful. These
The Smart Grid will consist of millions of pieces and factors posed an entry barrier, which prevented their large-
scale adoption. This scenario is changing rapidly because of
parts, controls, computers, power lines, and new technologies several technological advances. First, the growth in non-
and equipment. It will take some time for all the technologies intrusive load monitoring (NILM) techniques is now making it
to be perfected, equipment installed, and systems tested before possible to collect energy consumption data down to the level
of appliances. The disaggregated energy data thus collected is
it comes fully on line. And it won’t happen all at once—the
more meaningful to the consumers. Second, due to the
Smart Grid is evolving, piece by piece, over the next decade pervasive availability of sensors, it has become easier to
or so. Once mature, the Smart Grid will likely bring the same collect different dimensions of data, including ambient
temperature, humidity, and lighting, that can be integrated by
kind of transformation that the Internet has already brought to
EM systems to provide more contextual information and thus
the way we live, work, play, and learn [2]. increase their effectiveness. Third, cloud computing and
mobile platforms have made it possible to perform large scale
analytics on sensor data and offer advanced real-time
feedback to the consumers. Finally, the growing popularity of
Existing Grid Smart Grid social networks, like Facebook has made it easier to
Electromechanical Digital incorporate comparative and persuasive features into EM
systems to motivate behavioral changes in consumers [1].
One-way communication Two-way communication
Centralized generation Distributed generation
Few sensors Sensors throughout
Manual monitoring Self-monitoring
Manual restoration Self-healing
Failures and blackouts Adaptive and islanding
Limited control Pervasive control
Few customer choices Many customer choices

Table no 1. Difference between traditional grids

And Smart grid

IV. ENERGY MANAGEMENT IN SMART GRID

There is a growing worldwide interest in the

evolution of the smart grid, a modern power grid that supports
bidirectional communication between energy providers and Fig no. 2 Energy Management Systems
consumers for fine-grained metering, control, and feedback.
One of the keyfeatures of the smart grid is enhanced energy
efficiency and manageability of available resources. Energy V. REQUIREMENTS FOR EM SYSTEMS
management (EM) systems, often integrated with home
automation systems, play an important role in controlling EM systems must provide advanced and versatile
home energy consumption. functionality while keeping the installation simple and
running cost low. The systems should integrate with user’s
These systems provide an infrastructure to the daily activities and offer actionable feedback. We define
consumers to understand, control, and optimize energy below the key requirements for EM systems that will facilitate
consumption. For example, EM systems can help consumers effortless energy monitoring and control.
avoid consumption during peak hours and thus benefit from
financial incentives offered by the utility.  Monitoring: The system must provide energy
consumption information at various temporal
EM systems have been around for a couple of granularities such as 15 min, hourly, daily, and
decades, but until recently, they required specialized
weekly. Fischer noted that the feedback is most
 successful when it is provided frequently and over  Control: The system should be able to provide
along period of time. Consumers can then directly remote, programmable and automatic control of
relate near-real time information with their energy devices. Generally, the consumer is expected to
use actions. perform necessary control operations manually.
However, a digital control option or automated
actions are more effective.
 Disaggregation: Often, consumers have a
misperception about the energy consumed by
individual appliances, which can be corrected by  Cyber-Security and Privacy: The communication of
providing disaggregated data for different appliances. data and control signals by EM systems poses
Consumers canalso benefit greatly from information security challenges. There are also privacy issues
about thereal-time impact of specific appliances related to disclosing personal consumption profiles of
being powered on or off. The disaggregated data also consumers. The system must authenticate all
highlights the impact of long-term changes such as transactions to ensure that consumer’s data and
switching to an energy-efficient appliance. Many EM control operations are secure, and not accessible to
systems use indirect load sensing methods to provide third parties without explicit consent.
disaggregated information based on specific current
and voltage waveform ―signatures‖ of individual
appliances.  Intelligence and Analytics: A desirable feature in
new generation EM systemsis that of intelligence.
Consumers often lack adeep understanding of
 Availability and Accessibility: The system must electrical systems and have limited time to make
make the information availableto the consumer at all energy-related decisions. Thus, it is desirable to have
times through an easy-to use interface, either in the the system perform intelligent actions that balance
form of a physical device, or through a web or energy consumption and consumer comfort. This can
mobile portal that also gives remote access to the require techniques from machine learning, human–
information. EM systems may also use push computer interaction, and ―big data‖ analytics to
technology to send urgent notifications to consumer’s discernusage patterns and predictive actions. This
smart phones or system screens. reduces the onus on the consumer to directly control
and manipulate all appliances all the time [3].

 Information Integration: Besides current energy

consumption, EM systems must also integrate other VI. SMART METER
types of information such as indoor temperature,
humidity, acoustics, light and consumer’s historical A smart meter is usually an electronic device that records
consumption of electric energy in intervals of an hour or less
data, usage data related to different appliances, as
and communicates that information at least daily back to the
well as peer’s consumption data. This type of data is utility for monitoring and billing. Smart meters enable two-
collected at different time stamps, and needs way communication between the meter and the central
interpolation before being presented to the consumer. system. Unlike home energy monitors, smart meters can
Semantic web technologies have been used for this gather data for remote reporting. Such an advanced metering
purpose. infrastructure (AMI) differs from traditional automatic meter
reading (AMR) in that it enables two-way communications
with the meter.
 Affordability: The system should allow easy
installation without professional help. Its A. What is a smart meter?
configuration and maintenance should be simple. It
Smart meters are a new kind of energy meter. This "next
should consume minimal energy with a low running generation" of meters is a replacement for your existing
cost. These factors help reduce the entry barrier of meters (referred to as "dumb" meters) and sends electronic
the system and facilitate wide spread adoption. meter readings to your energy supplier automatically. Smart
meters come with in-home displays, which give you real-time
feedback on your energy usage and what it is costing. There
are both gas smart meters and electricity smart meters.
 B. How does a smart meterwork? bill. Smart grid makes it possible to monitor and adjust your
energy use through smart meters and home energy
A smart meter works by communicating directly with management systems that offer 24/7 rate and usage readings.
your energy supplier, so the company will always have an That means no surprises on your electric bill and even better,
accurate meter reading and there's no need for you to take a you can schedule your most energy-intensive tasks for low-
meter reading yourself. Smart meters can work in a variety of demand periods when you pay less. Control of your electric
different ways, including using wireless mobilephone type usage is in your hands and dollars stay in your wallet, month
technology to send data. after month.

It facilitates real-time trouble shooting when

C. What are the benefits of having a smart meter? something goes wrong in today’s electrical system, a utility
worker must drive to the location of the problem to collect
There are two main benefits to smart meters: More data before a solution can be devised. Smart grid
accurate bills — smart meters mean the end of estimated bills improvements convert system events into instantly-retrievable
and the end of overpaying (or underpaying) for your energy. digital information, so that problem solving can begin
No one has to come to your home to read your meter; you do immediately.
not have to submit meter readings yourself Better oversight
and management of your energy use with a real-time data The smart grid will also help prevent terrorist attacks
display in your home. by building-in redundancies and self-healing capabilities. And
like the Internet, it will become the platform upon which new
D. Will a smart meter save money? types of products and services can be built, such as using
hybrid and electric cars to store energy and then sell it back to
A smart meter itself won't save you money, but the extras the network. It would also be easier for home generators to
your smart meter will come with can offer much insight into plug into the grid and receive payments from utilities for their
how to lower your bills. Your in-home display lets you see excess solar power or on-site generation.
how much energy you are using at different times of the day,
week, month or year, which could help you cut your energy
usage and your bills by highlighting ways you can be more VIII. DISADVANTAGES
energy efficient. Also, many hope that the technology will
lead to the creation of innovative new tariffs and personalized Real-time pricing could also adversely affect more
plans individually tailored to fit your lifestyle and energy vulnerable segments of society who may not be able to easily
consumption [4]. change their power consumption habits to accommodate
continually changing prices of energy. There is also the
increasing risk of privacy and security breaches, given the
VII. ADVANTAGES OF SMART GRID creation of an intelligent, distributed computing network. Just
think about the increase in identity theft in recent years.
Smart grid keeps your lights on. It overhauls aging Recently the Demand Response and Advanced Metering
equipment. The current electrical system is decades old and Coalition (DRAM), a group of utilities, metering and
dependent upon equipment that is approaching the end of its communications companies, and public interest groups, called
usable life. Smart grid updates this infrastructure, ensuring on Congress to retain a provision in the energy bill that would
that safety standards continue to be met, that power is Provide a tax incentive aimed at accelerating the installation
delivered consistently, and that the system is managed of smart meters in homes and businesses across the country.
efficiently. Smart meters allow electricity users to choose to lower their
electricity bills by shifting their usage to lower cost periods.
It equips the grid to meet increasing demand. As we Such activity by users is increasingly seen by policy makers as
use more electronic devices than ever, the demand for power a key part of a plan for addressing the nation's electricity
continues to grow rapidly. Without smart grid improvements, needs. The utility also benefits by receiving detailed
the old system, already strained to near-capacity, will be information during power outages that would shorten response
unable to meet the challenges of the future. time and focus repair efforts.

It decreases brownouts, blackouts, and surges. You

don’t always know when a brownout or power surge is IX. CONCLUSION
happening, but they can leave damaged TVs, audio
equipment, and computers in their wake. Smart grid The smart grid has been conceived as an evolution of
applications smooth the flow of power, and when aberrations electric power systems due to the increasing diffusion of
do occur, they are more quickly and easily dealt with. Smart distributed generation by renewable sources, but with the
grid lowers energy costs. It gives you control over your power additional aim to enhance efficiency, reliability, and safety of
the existing power grid. To this end, remote and timely
information gathering about equipment failures, capacity
limitations, and natural accidents is extremely critical for
ensuring proactive and real-time and reliable diagnosis of
possible failures in the smart grid. This makes Cost-effective
remote sensing technologies vital for safe, seam-Less and
efficient power delivery in the smart grid.
In this paper, basic concepts of smart grid and energy
management in smart grids have been discussed. The concept
of smart metering is presented. Clearly, there are many
important open research issues for the realization of smart grid
communications and applications.
As communication is an underpinning technology for
this hugedevelopment, we envisage that smart grids will be an
exciting research area for communication engineers for many
years to come.

X. REFERENCE

[1] www.smartgrid.gov/the_smart_grid/smart_grid.html/
[2]Xi Fang, Satyajayant Misra, Member, IEEE, Guoliang
Xue, Fellow, IEEE and Dejun Yang, Student Member,
IEEE,‖Smart Grid-The New and Improved Power Grid: A
Survey‖
[3]SaimaAman, YogeshSimmhan, and Viktor K. Prasanna,
University of Southern California,‖ Energy Management
Systems: State of the Art and Emerging Trends‖, ULTIMATE
TECHNOLOGIES AND ADVANCES FOR FUTURE
SMART GRID — UTASG
[4]www.switch.com/gas-electricity/guides/smart-meters-
explained/