About Smart Grids

Everything I need to know about Smart Grids

An electrical grid is the network of power transmission lines and substations that deliver power generated in a power plant to your home or workplace. Typically , the power generated in a power plant is stepped up to high voltages of about 220 kilovolts ( kV) or higher even up to 1000 kV that is sent over transmission lines across the country. The high transmission voltages reduce energy losses. Close to the point of use, these voltages are stepped down in substations to voltage levels that we use .

The present electrical grid is essentially designed as a one-way street , to deliver the power generated at the power station to your home or workplace. Over the past 100 years of growth and development of the electrical grid , features have been added to permit interconnection of regional grids so that in the event of overload or outage in one region, power can be drawn from another region. The grids have also been fitted with better protective relays that are able to predict unsafe conditions and isolate the sections of the grid that have the problem so that power supply can be maintained in the healthy sections of the grid.



A more recent development is the so called "time-of-day tariff". Since the energy demand during a day and over the seasons vary, power companies offer lower rates at off-peak periods to consumers to encourage peak-shaving of power demand. The energy meters that are used to measure and bill the user have now evolved to be able to handle these varying tariffs and have evolved into what are being called Smart Meters. The present day grid also has not taken into account the coming on-line of small alternative energy sources such as Wind and Photovoltaics which are often owned by the power consumers themselves.

The Smart Grid {read more}