Information Technology (IT)

Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data or information, often in the context of a business or other enterprise.

IT is considered to be a subset of information and communications technology (ICT).IT jobs include computer programming, network administration, computer engineering, Web development, technical support, and many other related occupations. Since we live in the information age, information technology has become a part of our everyday lives; That means the term IT, already highly overused, is here to stay. Source

We cannot deny the fact that IT drives the world but engineers maintain the technology and improve on it so it drives even further than anyone can ever imagine. Engineering brings out the beauty in Technology, therefore I am glad to introduce the Smart Grid Technology.

SMART GRID

Smart grid is an intelligent electricity network that uses digital and other advanced technologies to monitor and manage the transport of electricity from all generation sources to meet the varying electricity demands of end-users.

Smart grids co-ordinate the needs and capabilities of all generators, grid operators, end-users and electricity market stakeholders to operate all parts of the system as efficiently as possible, minimizing costs and environmental impacts while maximizing system reliability, resilience and stability. For the purposes of this roadmap, smart grids include electricity networks (transmission and distribution systems) and interfaces with generation, storage and end-users.

FEATURES OF SMART GRID

The Smart-Grid offers mind-blowing features such as:

• The system provides Communication line at all stages of the grid-Generation, Transmission, and Distribution.
• The Communication Lines within the Grid provides feedbacks between the consumers and the control station, these feedbacks are in form of alerts giving real time status reports, perhaps the line is faulty or it has been tampered by an external body.
• Ability to automaticallydetect faults and isolate the faulty region of the network and restore the others.
• The System is optimized for efficiency and cost.

AREAS OF APPLICATION OF THE SMART-GRID TECHNOLOGY

SMART GRID - RESILIENT SYSTEM

Resiliency refers to the positive ability of a system to adapt itself to unexpected events or catastrophic failure caused by power outage, fire, bomb, etc. by isolating the problematic elements in the system while the rest of the system is restored to normal operation. These self-healing actions results in reduced interruption of service to consumers and help service providers to manage the delivery infrastructure better than usual.

SMART GRID - EXTENDABLE SYSTEM - INTELLIGENT CITY

Smart grid concepts can be applied to a range of commodity infrastructures leading to:
• Smart water supply grid
• Smart gas supply grid
• Smart road grid (network)
• Smart and integrated transportation system
All these leads to the concept of an Intelligent City

Benefits of Smart Grid

• Better power quality
• Reduce carbon emissions
• Integrate isolated technologies:smart grid enables better energy management
• Protective management of electrical network during emergency situation
• Better demand, supply/ demand response
• Increased demand for energy: Requires more complex and critical solutions with better energy management
• Renewables Integration

Disadvantages of Smart Grid

Privacy Problems

The biggest concern is Security in a smart grid system. Grid system uses some smart meters, which are automated and provides communication between power provider and customer. Here some type of the smart meters can be easily hacked and they may control the power supply of a single building or an entire neighborhood.

Grid Volatility

Smart Grid network has much intelligence at its edges; that is, at the entry point and at the end user’s meter. But the grid has insufficient intelligence in the middle, governing the switching functions. This lack of integrated development makes the grid a volatile network.
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CONCLUSION

After taking close consideration of the Smart Grid technology, we have seen that it is rocommmending a new electricity distribution technique that will help save lives, money and reduce excess power consumpion. We have also seen other areas where this new technology can be applied.

REFERENCES
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