Comparison of Existing Grid With Intelligent Grid
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The January / February 2010 issue of the IEEE Power & Energy Magazine has an interesting Smart Grid overview article by Hassan Farhangi with the Technology Centre of British Columbia Institute of Technology. I was particularly interested in Figure 1 on page 20, a comparison of characteristics of the existing grid versus an intelligent grid. I expanded the comparison for a recent presentation at Ignite Austin.
EXISTING GRID // SMART GRID
Centralized // Distributed
Hierarchical // Network
Monolithic // Modular
Fixed Assets // Mobile Assets
Reliability via installed capacity // Reliability via monitoring & control
Electromechanical Switching // Digital Switching
Sparse sensors // Manifold sensors
Few remote controls // Many remote controls
One-Way, Intermittent, Proprietary Telecom // Two-Way, Continuous, IP Telecom
Blind // Self monitoring
Manual Check, Test, Restore // Automated Check, Test, Restore
Economies of Scale // Economies of Flexibility
Concentration Of Risk // Dilution Of Risk
Installed Capacity As Insurance // Monitoring And Control as Insurance
Asset Failures & Service Interruptions // Adaptive & Self Healing
Limited customer information, options, control // Unlimited customer information, options, control
I would be interested in your comments regarding how an intelligent grid will differ from the existing grid?
Written by Steve Collier | Jan 25, 2010