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Smart Grid and the Future of Energy Consumption

By Daniel Stouffer

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 15Feb2010 Word count: 511 Viewed: 664 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Consumers do not know how much energy they have been using until they get the bill that usually surprises them at the end of every month. Although a bit expensive, smart meters can be one of the answers to this problem and to the energy capacity distribution.

On a larger scale, unless the distribution grid is excellent in integrating and translating power efficiently, time and money spent in developing alternative sources of energy might just be in vain. Unless there is a brilliant way of managing our smart grids, there would be a very high demand for electricity which might cause significant problems in the future.

Fast forward in the future, and people would be riding on electric cars. There would be a large number of consumers who will be going home at the end of the day and recharge their vehicles. This could put strain on the system's load. Consumers will end up paying more as the demand is already very high.

Smart grid will be able to communicate with energy sources and its end users. This serves as an educational platform that could encourage consumers to choose and "shop wisely" in terms of energy consumption. This will create a very well-balanced energy supply and demand as the smart grid is able to choose between the most efficient sources of energy at any given time.

Smart grid is an initiative in the front and center as Obama's administration is allocating from the economic stimulus package some $4Billion. At face value, the smartest way to spend this smart grid budget is to have a "smart meter" installed in every household. It is estimated that this will cost $100 or more and might cost more to run. However, consumers will be able to save a considerable amount with a meter that's a little more complex.

The smart meter is a great help in cutting down on reading costs as it is able to send information between the power company and the meter wirelessly. If needed, it can also inform the company if there is any problem which therefore allows remote monitoring of use. Ultimately, smart meters can communicate with the utilities and appliances that are within the property, which allows consumers to enlist in programs which use clean energy sources.

In an ideal scenario, all appliances can be configured to operate at times when the demand for electricity is low. This largely affects the consumers' monthly bills as the price of electricity is usually high when the demand is also high. When it comes to electric cars, an approach called V2G (vehicle to grid) can be used, which allows a vehicle that's plugged in overnight to absorb excess electric supply and return if needed.

In the world, Italy is leading in smart metering and smart grid. It is estimated that about 30 million smart meters will be able to pay for themselves in 5 years as an impact of the savings each year. With the increasing demand for sustainability on resource planning, smart grid and smart meters will be important assets in the future.

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