The German Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) has a good definition of ‘smart grids’, which needs no embellishment. “The basic idea is that each device which is connected to the electricity grid should be integrated on a ‘plug-and-play’ basis. This creates an integrated data and energy grid with completely new structures and functions,” it says.
Conventional electricity meters are being replaced by modern smart meters, it notes. These will be “valuable assistants” in the ‘smart grid’, which will not only measure the power consumption or the electricity fed into the grid for accounting purposes, but will also record voltage failures and provide grid operators with important information so generation, loads and consumption can be adjusted automatically.
“Even the smart control of power consumption and storage devices in households can be made possible with smart measurement systems,” it explains. “They can give the consumer visual feedback about consumption patterns and help to save electricity costs. Smart measurement systems can also open the door to variable and ‘customised’ tariffs and account plans.”
Check out the new editorial report from Enterprise IoT Insights, called ‘Keeping the lights on – with green power’, which looks at development of IoT technologies in the energy and power market. The full report, free to download, is available here.
