Smart Grid adding intelligence

The addition of intelligence optimizes the delivery of electricity by allowing the "pipeline" through which the electricity is delivered to be full at all times. The addition of sensors, actuators and some intelligence means that as much energy as possible can be packed into the existing systems.

In this instance, a Smart Grid project ends up with a high number of very distributed intelligent nodes that are tightly coupled and are operating in real time. This means that new methods and approaches to formulating smart grids need to be devised. One of the main problems is to work out how and where the intelligence is added to the network.

As these varying demands indicate, there is no single solution to network formulation or structure. However all approaches share a number of common features, and in all cases, intelligence needs to be added to various parts of the network – hence the terms smart and intelligent grid which are in common parlance in different parts of the globe. The term used is more dependent on local semantics than anything else.

Smart Grid conceptual model - adding intelligence to various parts of the network.

The Smart Grid is the concept of modernizing the electric grid. The Smart Grid comprises everything related to the electric system in between any point of Generation and any point of Consumption. It also includes the coupling effects with other forms of energy (thermal storage, etc…)