PSMA Update

The subject of the Smart Grid has in the news for last few years and there are many ongoing discussions about what it entails, its inevitability, its usefulness and benefits to users. Many experts agree that the overall development could be a boon to the US economy as many local jobs would be created and the smart grid cannot be outsourced. As a result, the Smart Grid is a hot topic and many conferences have been organized in its name. Why then was there a need for another Smart Grid workshop and moreover, what was PSMA's interest in this endeavor when its core membership and constituency consists mainly of companies in the electronic power conversion business? The unique and differentiating aspect of this workshop was that PSMA with the assistance from EPRI wanted to explore the smart grid and consider whether this emerging new electric power infrastructure−the smart grid phenomenon−will anyway be beneficial and impact the power conversion industry.

The mission of the workshop was not only to define and describe the emerging smart grid infrastructure, but to identify opportunities for the electronic power sources and conversion industry. From that perspective, this was one of its kind workshop and brought together two different constituencies or industries for a single unified mission. EPRI representing the power utility industry provided expertise in the issues of grid development and PSMA representing the power sources industry provided expertise in power conversion and control. EPRI and invited individuals from some independent organizations contributed the bulk of the presentations in defining and describing the evolving aspects and issues in the smart grid. PSMA presenters identified and described some of the latest power supply/electronics technology developments and their possible applications to enhance the evolution and robustness of the grid.

The workshop explored and examined various issues related to the development of the smart grid. The smart grid is a continuing evolution of a complex power grid infrastructure from the century-old original grid whose primary mission was to transmit and distribute electrical power from a generating site to users in a reliable and cost-effective manner. The EPRI experts mentioned that the evolving 21st century electric power infrastructure−the smart grid−will be very different. It will be evolutionary and dynamic at the same time; it will integrate various electric power generating systems, its flexibility will ensure proper supply availability by anticipating demand patterns. It will be proactive rather than reactive to the predictable and unpredictable power/energy demands to accommodate variable demand patterns during hot and cold days, during uneven weather patterns of calm and storm. Most important, the grid will include communications and interactions with its users via the Internet, accommodating their power/energy requests and requirements on a timely and cost-effective manner. For example, power generated from renewable energy resources such as solar and wind are an increasing supply factor in the power generating mix. These sources may be good for the environment but are unreliable in their generating capacity. For solar energy, the sun always does not shine and for wind energy, the wind is variable and sometimes does not blow. So during such variations and outages, back-up generation or some form of energy storage will be required. During hot days, when electrical power is used excessively the utility would communicate with the users and lower demand by switching off some non-critical or rarely used systems. While such communications is a blessing to create a smooth-functioning grid it will also increase potential for cyber attacks or hacking and a fool-proof system will be required. The grid needs to remain immune from cyber attacks or if an attack cannot be avoided, then it needs to be contained and highly localized. This is a serious and ongoing issue.

After exploring the grid, the workshop content moved to the core workshop focus of the role of power electronics in the evolution of the grid. Some aspects of the power electronics are already a part of the grid infrastructure. Solar and wind power inverters are already deployed in the renewable energy generation. UPSs are used for the backup systems, especially in data center and telecommunications applications. High efficiency power supplies along with sophisticated power management schemes have been developed for various applications from the tiny cell phones to the high-end servers. However, the presenters mentioned that though such products and technologies have been developed, their application in the context of the smart grid was not clear. These power conversion devices which use the grid for the input power and power electronics for their overall functionality are not generally viewed as a part of the total integrated smart grid infrastructure.

So the workshop participants suggested a comprehensive review in how to integrate power supplies/electronics and their control into the overall grid ecosystem. For this to occur, a unified system to integrate the various buses and protocols related to power supplies and grid will have to be standardized. This could allow effective communications between various devices to make the interface with the smart grid highly intelligent and efficient. It was recommended, that an ad-hoc committee be organized with representatives from EPRI, some key utilities and PSMA member companies. This group would specifically address some of these opaque issues to make the smart grid smarter and more robust.

A report of this workshop will be released in June. For further information visit: www.psma.com.

This workshop was organized by PSMA's Energy Efficiency Committee co-chair Ed Herbert, who deserves special thanks for the workshop.

The views expressed in this article are solely of Mohan Mankikar. They do not represent the views of PSMA. Mohan Mankikar has been a part of the power supply industry for over twenty five years. An active member of the PSMA since its founding, he had been a board member of the PSMA and currently serves on the Advisory Council.