CleanTX Analysis on the Smart Grid

The utility industry in the United States has an opportunity to revolutionize its electric grid system by utilizing emerging software, hardware and wireless technologies and renewable energy sources. As electricity generation in the U.S. increases by over 30% from today’s generation of 4,100 Terawatt hours per year to a production of 5,400 Terawatt hours per year by 2030, a new type of grid is necessary to ensure reliable and quality power. The projected U.S. population increase and economic growth will require a grid that can transmit and distribute significantly more power than it does today. Known as a Smart Grid, this system enables two- way transmission of electrons and information to create a demand-response system that will optimize electricity delivery to consumers. This paper outlines the issues with the current grid infrastructure, discusses the economic advantages of the Smart Grid for both consumers and utilities, and examines the emerging technologies that will enable cleaner, more efficient and cost- effective power transmission and consumption.IC2 Institut

Monitoring and Controlling Power using Zigbee Communications

Smart grid is a modified form of electrical grid where generation, transmission, distribution and customers are not only connected electrically but also through strong communication network with each other as well as with market, operation and service provider. For achieving good communication link among them, it is very necessary to find suitable protocol. In this paper, we discuss different hardware techniques for power monitoring, power management and remote power controlling at home and transmission side and also discuss the suitability of Zigbee for required communication link. Zigbee has major role in monitoring and direct load controlling for efficient power utilization. It covers enough area needed for communication and it works on low data rate of 20Kbps to 250Kbps with minimum power consumption. This paper describes the user friendly control home appliances, power on/off through the internet, PDA using Graphical User Interface (GUI) and through GSM cellular mobile phone.Comment: 5th International Workshop on NGWMN with 7th IEEE International Conference on BWCCA 2012, Victoria, Canada, 201

Segment Wise Communication Delay Measurement for Managing Renewable Energy Sources in Smart Grid

In order to meet the communication delay requirements of various message types while developing applications for the Smart Grid (SG), selection of appropriate communication technology is crucial and requires network segment-wise delay characterization under different network conditions. Thus, this thesis presents a segment-wise communication delay measurement technique and experimental results for SG applications. In this technique, an Arduino based test bed is developed to characterize communication delays across multiple hops using different communication technologies such as Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and cellular communication. This test bed is customized for the measurement of the delay involved in several network segments between remotely deployed photovoltaic (PV) panels and monitoring locations. Extensive delay measurement tests are conducted with varying data packet sizes under various controlled background traffic conditions, including Internet traffic. The test results can be used to infer the suitability of various communication technologies under diverse network conditions

Smart Grid Communications: Overview of Research Challenges, Solutions, and Standardization Activities

Optimization of energy consumption in future intelligent energy networks (or Smart Grids) will be based on grid-integrated near-real-time communications between various grid elements in generation, transmission, distribution and loads. This paper discusses some of the challenges and opportunities of communications research in the areas of smart grid and smart metering. In particular, we focus on some of the key communications challenges for realizing interoperable and future-proof smart grid/metering networks, smart grid security and privacy, and how some of the existing networking technologies can be applied to energy management. Finally, we also discuss the coordinated standardization efforts in Europe to harmonize communications standards and protocols.Comment: To be published in IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorial

Cybersecurity Challenges of Power Transformers

The rise of cyber threats on critical infrastructure and its potential for devastating consequences, has significantly increased. The dependency of new power grid technology on information, data analytic and communication systems make the entire electricity network vulnerable to cyber threats. Power transformers play a critical role within the power grid and are now commonly enhanced through factory add-ons or intelligent monitoring systems added later to improve the condition monitoring of critical and long lead time assets such as transformers. However, the increased connectivity of those power transformers opens the door to more cyber attacks. Therefore, the need to detect and prevent cyber threats is becoming critical. The first step towards that would be a deeper understanding of the potential cyber-attacks landscape against power transformers. Much of the existing literature pays attention to smart equipment within electricity distribution networks, and most methods proposed are based on model-based detection algorithms. Moreover, only a few of these works address the security vulnerabilities of power elements, especially transformers within the transmission network. To the best of our knowledge, there is no study in the literature that systematically investigate the cybersecurity challenges against the newly emerged smart transformers. This paper addresses this shortcoming by exploring the vulnerabilities and the attack vectors of power transformers within electricity networks, the possible attack scenarios and the risks associated with these attacks.Comment: 11 page