Introduction

Abstract

This book discusses the smart grid [1–8]. The notion smart grid, linguistically, implies an electric power delivery grid having some level of “smartness.” Why do we consider these two elements then? First, consider the power system delivery grid. It has frequently been referred to as the greatest and most complex machine ever built in human civilization. In fact, the power grid is almost entirely a mechanical system, with only modest use of sensors, minimal electronic communication, and almost a total lack of electronic control. In the last two to three decades, almost all other industries in the western world have significantly become modernized with the utilization of sensors, communications, and computational ability leading to far greater improvement in efficiency, productivity, service quality, and environmental performance. The power grid system has not evolved, however. There was simply not much of a need for it to change because of the crude way this massive system works with a plethora of components including wires, cables, towers, transformers, circuit breakers, and many more you can possibly think of! When it has needed expansion, more of these components have just been bolted together without paying much attention to what may happen in future if the system needs sophistication or refurbishment. As the power grid started to become bigger in size, its complexity in terms of monitoring and repairing also increased significantly and manual control of the system gradually went out of scope. The industry initiated the use of automated monitoring and power system control with the help of computers began way back in the sixties. This, coupled with a modest use of sensors, has increased over time. Still, however, it is far from being ideal as the power companies lack real-time information on the customer demands and, therefore, are unable to smartly decide power generation and distribution scheduling tasks. The conventional grids, therefore, need to become better and smarter; but investors do not see much profit in retrofitting the old grid with older metering equipment and limited communication capability. This is why there is a lot of stress on the conventional power grid systems to evolve into next generation smart power grid