For quite a while, traditional electric grids have been the only way to provide energy to consumers, well at least until smart grid technologies started gaining traction. There are many challenges attached to conventional grids – interrupted power supply, instability, and cost issues. Fortunately, smart grid solutions provide a convenient way to surmount these problems.
Let’s dive deep into what this smart technology is and how the technology is evolving with advancements in AI and IoT.
Simply put, smart grid technologies are electrical networks developed with the help of new technologies. Unlike traditional grids, smart grid technology incorporates elements like:
Depending on the technology they use, smart grid technologies can be segregated into two types.
Basic IoT-based Grids: These grids primarily employ IoT sensors for data accumulation and asset management. With the data, engineers can monitor the health of all grid nodes, allowing them to make timely decisions regarding power distribution, repair, and maintenance. Plus, the IoT infrastructure also allows consumers to efficiently keep a tab on their power consumption.
Advanced AI-based Grids: These grids are an upgrade over the previous type, in that they use AI analytics to make sense of the IoT data, uncover trends, and make predictions. For instance, these systems can predict peak energy demands and future breakdowns.
For the most technology-forward smart grid assets, turn to Genus Company for all your smart solution needs.
With smart architecture, grid operators managing isolated grids can create digital twins of the entire grid infrastructure to visualize the power system in real-time and see which nodes of the grid are experiencing issues like equipment overload. This removes a lot of manual-ness from the job and also reduces wastage of time and room for errors.
Conventional grids have gotten a lot old, and susceptible to weather damage. Any fault in the system, and can become difficult to locate the source of breakdown and repair it. This is where smart technologies can come in handy. With IoT sensors, engineers can easily get information about the grid status in real-time, locate the source of the outage, and bring it back online.
With the inclusion of AI in smart grid technologies, utilities now have an array of smart features to take advantage of. AI can be used to understand electricity demand based on human behavior, energy markets, and weather. Using such data, utilities can predict peaks and troughs in energy demand, regulate power supply accordingly, and ensure an uninterrupted energy supply for the consumers.
Smart meters are an inherent part of the smart grid that makes demand prediction possible. So, if you’re looking to provide an efficient way of power transmission, using a Genus meter is the right way!
Smart grids enable distributed energy management, opening up ways for using new energy sources. And it goes way beyond installing solar panels or setting up hydroelectric plants. It opens the way for experimentation, which has given rise to many unique energy production techniques across the world.
Well, it’s certainly clear that smart grids can cope with many problems conventional grids can’t. They can reduce power outages, optimize resource usage, and most importantly, are more sustainable than traditional grids. It suffices to say that they’ll completely replace conventional grids in the future.
Opt for the best smart energy solutions with Genus Power today. Get in touch with us to learn more about our smart energy solutions.