Smart-Grid Technologies in Housing

AbstractThe implementation of smart grid has led to a number of technologies for the housing industry. Two of these technologies, Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Home Area Networks, have a direct effect on the operations of a home. These technologies have influenced many new products and applications for homes; examples include smart meters, car-charging stations, smart thermostats, renewable-energy installations, and smart appliances.The Status QuoThe electrical consumption in a typical American home is growing steadily, mainly because of the adoption of consumer electronic equipment. The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts a 30-percent increase in demand for electricity by the year 2030 compared with current demand rates (EIA, 2010). For example, if every home in the United States adopted the use of a digital photo frame, five 250-MW power plants will have to be built to accommodate the demand on the grid (EPRI, 2009). This increase in electricity demand is making the electric grid more liable to power outages and load variations. The government, utility companies, and several stakeholders have proposed modernizing the electrical grid to make it efficient to meet predicted power demands. This modernized grid is generally termed the smart grid. A smart grid can be described as the integration of the electrical grid and the information technology and communication systems so as to be able to monitor and manage the generation, storage, transmission, distribution, and consumption of electricity (Austin Energy, 2010). As part of the smart-grid upgrades, a number of technologies have emerged. The five major smart-grid technologies responsible for successfully implementing a smart grid follow.1. Energy storage devices.2. Advanced superconducting transmission cables.3. Smart Substations and Smart Transformers.4. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). 5. Home Area Networks (HANs). Two of these technologies, AMI and HANs, have a direct effect on the operations of a home or building, but all the other smart-grid technologies have some level of indirect effect on the housing or communities. An example of the indirect effect is the location and zoning considerations for new transmission lines.The following sections describe the two smart-grid technologies directly related to housing. These technologies have influenced many new products and applications for homes; for example, smart meters, car-charging stations, smart thermostats, renewable-energy installations, and smart appliances.Advanced Metering InfrastructureAMI represents fully integrated, two-way communication technologies that will make the grid a dynamic interactive system for power and real-time data exchange (NETL, 2007; Roncero, 2008). A variety of communication technologies is used in today's grid, but most of these technologies lack full high-speed communication integration. To be most effective, the integrated communication protocol will have to achieve universality, integrity, ease of use, cost effectiveness, standards, openness, and security (NETL, 2007). Although no universal standards exist for AMI and demand response, several committees and trade groups are currently collaborating to determine standards for integrated communications systems.AMI is an integration of several technologies; it consists of three main components (exhibit 1): (1) a smart meter at the customers' location, (2) a communications network between the utility company and the smart meter, and (3) the HAN to connect the house with the smart meter. These components provide the infrastructure to establish the communication between the house and the utility company. This communication can enable consumer-demand response through consumer-level decisions on power supply prices. Utilities can also receive consumer usage data in real time that can enable the utilities to manage electricity demand and supply effectively (EPRI, 2007; Hart, 2008). …