Smart grids have changed how the electricity industry works. From energy companies to the final consumer, everyone is benefitting from this system. This innovation is the result of needing to transition from a centralized network to a more derived one. Smart grids are capable of managing the increasing complexity of supplying electricity during the digital revolution. They also help you save your electric bill.

Read the power efficiency guide to save more electricity bills– use smart grids to manage power efficiently.

But what are these smart grids? Before we talk about them, let’s understand why there was a need for smart grids.

Background

Since the early 21st century, technologists were hunting for opportunities to resolve the limitations and costs of the electrical grid. Technological limitations on metering no longer allow peak power prices to be averaged out and passed on to all consumers equally.

Additionally, there were growing concerns over environmental damage from fossil-fired power stations. This led to a desire to use more renewable energy. Wind power and solar power are highly variable in terms of their availability. So more sophisticated control systems were needed to facilitate the connection of sources to the highly controllable grid.

Lastly, growing concern over the terrorist attacks in some countries called for a more robust energy grid that is less dependent on centralized power stations.

Here comes the concept of a smart grid.

Researchers worked out a way to create a major transition from the centralized grid topology to one that is highly distributed. Currently, power is being generated and consumed as per the limits of such grids. The creation of this grid led to a rapid fall in the costs of electricity.

Now, let’s see what these smart grids are.

An Overview of Smart Grids

Smart grids are a system that helps overcome the weakness of conventional electrical grids by using smart net meters. They help to monitor, analyze, control, and communicate within the energy supply chain. This improves efficiency, reduces consumption and costs, and maximizes the reliability of the system.

The working principle is that energy is often lost as it must be consumed at the moment of its generation. This loss can be cut down with a smarter and interconnected system. Even power stations with solar panels can be linked to these grids and encourage more energy savings.

Working of Smart Grids

With a smart grid set up, it is possible to monitor and measure the power consumption of each of the appliances connected to the infrastructure. To achieve this, a smart grid uses automated computer systems to respond to fluctuations in energy production. Due to this groundbreaking approach, both the end-user and the distributor have more data.

Among the capabilities of smart grids, we can include –

• They repair themselves.
• Encourage consumer participation in grid operations.
• Ensure a reliable and premium-quality supply even during leakages.
• Allow the growth of electricity markets.

Key Features of Smart Grids

• Load handling: A load of any given power grid is often unstable and varies over time. During a heavy load, smart grid systems can ask consumers to temporarily minimize energy consumption. If you take a look at any power efficiency guide review, you will understand this point better.
• Demand response support: Smart grids help users save on their electricity bills by recommending the use of low-priority electronic devices when rates are lower.
• Decentralization of power generation: Individual users can generate power onsite by employing any appropriate methods at their discretion.

Benefits of Smart Grids

• Potential energy savings due to reduced consumption and smart management of energy.
• Better customer services, easier fraud detection, and more accurate energy bills. Consumers will never have to worry about receiving the wrong bills.
• A balanced demand curve leads to fewer peaks.
• Facilitates better integration of customer-owned power generation systems.
• Reduction of carbon emissions by using renewable energy sources.
• Improved security and not prone to terrorist attacks. These grids are highly secure and cannot be manipulated easily.

Conclusion

Smart grids provide us with sustainable ways to manage electricity and consume it. Just imagine when each and every electrical unit is linked by smart grids across the globe. We can start living on an energy-efficient planet. Even though this won’t happen overnight, we can take small steps to make it a reality in the days to come.