SMART GRID

SMART METERS

Smart meters record the energy consumed by the end users. However as distinct from conventional electric meters smart meters have more additional features. Basic function which differentiates them from normal electric meters is the ability to record and store consumption in intervals of a less than hour. The stored data can be viewed and analyzed by the energy provider and the consumer itself anytime. Thereby the energy users gain the awareness of their energy usage and energy providers get a useful tool for sharing power in more throughput way.

Another feature in smart meters is real time pricing. As it was stated on chapter 1.2 every peak on daily energy consumption is undesirable owing to much higher energy prices and lesser security. To curtail the energy consumption during the peak hours or move it to where load demands are lesser smart meters provide real time pricing function. The price for electricity differs depending on the daytime or season, it is higher when the energy consumption in the grid is higher and lower when customers consume less power. The current price for electricity can be seen on the lcd panel of the smart meter or even obtained via internet if the power utility provides such a feature. This will encourage the household and even industrial sectors to use the energy in more economical way.

The smart meters have to allow for two way communication between the consumer and provider to apply all the features. The communication can be obtained in the use of many ways such as satellite, cell/pager network, radio, WI-FI, TCP/IP or power line communication (PLC).

SMART APPLIANCES

Dishwashers, freezers, clothes dryers, washing machines, refrigerators etc. are appliances which maintenance is very energy-consuming compared to other apparatuses (Graph 4).

  • GRAPH 4: APPLIANCE COST PER YEAR IN US BASED ON [18]

    • Another property which all the appliances mentioned above have in common is the fact that they can work at any time day or night without any nuisances for its owners. Thus in the point of view of a customer it is positive to run those plants when the dynamic price for electricity is the lowest. However controlling when an appliance should be ran is an inconvenience for the users. This is why load control switches should be implemented. Those switches are connected to the smart grid and allow for two way communication between them and power utilities. Basically this means, for example, when a customer wants to wash the dishes, he turns on the load switch control to run the dishwasher. Then the power utility receives a signal that a particular appliance have to be initiated soon, and then it decides to run it when the load demands and following on that electricity prices are the lowest.

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