Smart Grids
Smart Grids refers to technology that people use to transfer energy. These systems function through the use of the exchange of energy between multiple sources. In other words, one can share or sell the energy with neighbors or power companies.
The energy Internet
According to Alex Huang, director of the FREEDM Systems Center, the future of energy will be analogous to that of the internet. “You can generate the content,” Huang said. “You can share the content. You can deliver the content.”
Current infrastructure
The current grid relies mainly on obsolete technology that hasn’t evolved in more than 100 years.
Right now, consumers in North Carolina are dependent on a single energy source, and most of that power is generated by burning coal, a relatively unclean fuel.
Smart Grids will instead run on a variety of sources including solar, wind and hydroelectric power.
Goals
The goal is to simulate a real-world power grid. The 1 MW FREEDM System demonstration lab uses solar energy gathered on the roof. Inside the lab, researchers develop smart transformers, transistors and other semiconductor-based devices that can handle thousands of volts.
Whereas modern transformers simply step down incoming high voltage to low voltage, the smart transformers facilitate flow between consumers and suppliers. If there is a thunderstorm, and a utility is damaged, the transformers would alter the flow to pick up the load.
Long-term challenges
Grids with high-voltage are not typically combined with smart technology. Most of what is considered “smart” today, such as laptops and phones, are low voltage and safe. With the high -voltage grid, new challenges will arise.
Part of the challenge is preparing low-voltage electronics devices to handle much higher levels. Much of the computation in phones and laptops is done by semiconductors, which have not previously been applied to higher voltage systems.
Smart grid developers face a variety of challenges today
N.C. State is creating a Smart Grid by partnering with four land-grant universities nationwide.
“Our research here is mostly focused on what are the technical needs to make sure the grid is this robust and flexible ‘plug-and-play grid’?” said Alex Huang, director of the FREEDM Systems Center and professor of electrical engineering.
FREEDM is an NSF Engineering Research Center led by N.C. State that is working on changing the nation’s smart grid infrastructure.
Just 17.4 percent of electricity consumed in the United States last year was produced from renewable energy sources, while 37 percent was produced from coal and 30 percent from natural gas. That data from the Energy Information Administration also showed 19 percent of electricity was produced from nuclear power.
This is primarily related to the nation’s energy infrastructure, according to Huang.
Huang said the challenges Smart Grid developers face are not just technological, but social and economic as well.
“It’s tough,” Huang said, “Because the business is very tough. It’s very typical to have people say, ‘Why do I need to pay more for something that’s kind of a given?’”
Huang said transmission of energy must come from a centralized source to a large number of consumers. Huang said this system is highly inflexible and must be carefully controlled, as “every joule produced on one end must be used by someone on the other.”
Often called the Energy Internet, smart grid technologies have been recognized for the flexibility they will provide.
According to Huang, the future of energy will be analogous to that of the internet. “You can generate the content,” Huang said. “You can share the content. You can deliver the content.”
