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Pratt explains that since there is virtually no battery storage within the grid, if a power station goes off line, there is a sudden decrease in the frequency of power that's sent to each home, which creates a strain on the grid. While these strains don't necessarily lead to blackouts, grid-friendly appliances could potentially offset the grid strain that caused the 2003 blackout in the Northeastern U.S. and Canada. By allowing the dryer to monitor electricity load, Pratt says, the researchers have "put a brain on board an appliance that was previously dumb as a stone."
He admits, however, that there is some skepticism about the Grid Friendly Appliance project. Since the power grid relies on a balance of supply and demand, some people question whether dropping appliances off the grid will add further instability. While the chip has been designed to minimize shocking the grid, by delaying the shutting off a dryer's heating element and turning it back on randomly across a region, the "jury's still out" on how well it will work, says Carl Hauser, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Washington State University in Pullman, who's a researcher on a project called GridStat.
Despite the skepticism, Pratt says that so far the results are encouraging, although the final results will be available only sometime next year. Ideally, he says, both PNNL projects would be combined so that the Grid Friendly Appliance Project could be networked to the Internet and take advantage of real-time pricing of electricity.
GridWise tackles one aspect of modern grid research, says Hauser; there are numerous other projects with similar goals. Each aims to incorporate information technology into the grid in slightly different ways, he says. For instance, Hauser's GridStat research involves developing an Internet-like communication infrastructure between power stations and transmission lines, addressing grid stability from the utility company's side, as opposed to GridWise's customer orientation.
There are businesses looking into ways to reduce the stress on the nation's power grids. One company, GridPoint, recently began selling a product that monitors power consumption on household circuits and, using Internet-based communication, adjusts the amount of electricity they use.
Everyone agrees that projects such as GridWise could help overcome some of the barriers to overhauling the electricity infrastructure in the United States. But it's a challenging task, which will take researchers, technology companies, utility companies, and policy-makers working together for five to ten years to implement, says Don von Dollen, program manager of IntelliGrid, a project with a vision similar to GridWise. "I believe that [PNNL's research] is going to be important," he says. "It's a fundamental change in the way the systems operate and how consumers are integrated into the system."
Communications technologies will make Boulder's grid more efficient and environmentally friendly.
Guest
"cull real-time date from households"
I think that is supposed to be "cull real-time DATA from households"
Guest (Em)
price differentiation and smart thermostats
In Western EU most consumers have a smart meter that tracks when energy is used. 13 years ago when I still lived in Germany, people were programming their laundry/drying and other energy hungry chorse at night, when the price is low. They have smarter appliances, combinations of washer and driers that did not need much babysitting.
As for smart thermostats on water heaters: they woulb better be discontinued and replaced with instant heaters. Why store hot water all day long for a shower or two? Storing creates heatloss even in the best insulated tanks.
Back in Germany I had a small applience under the sink: when hot water was turned on, the flow switched power on, water got hot in a second and once the tap was off, so was the energy intake!
Guest (Gridwise)
GridWise™ Expo Co-Located with BuilConn®
http://www.automatedbuildings.com/news/may06/interviews/060424120619mcgwn.htm
Guest (The smart grid )
http://www.automatedbuildings.com/news/apr06/articles/mcgwn/060321113532mcgwn.htm
good one
Guest (A.S.)
increases vulnerability and distracts from real solution
Power controlled via internet? A nightmare compared to which current virus etc. attacks
is nothing. Imagine the Grid brought down by a worm.
The real solution is distributed power generation.
Each building to have solar cells, wind mills, etc. to produce
20% or more of its usage.
Guest (ddb)
Is fear really a reason to ignore a new technology?
There will always be ways for systems to be brought down. Whether it's a worm through the internet, or a paintball taking out a solar cell - the end result is the same. I don't think fear of down-time should be a relevent factor in discussing new technologies. It definitly should be something that's taken into account, but not used as an excuse to not pursue the tech.
Guest (M)
“Today, most people buy electricity from utilities using a flat-rate structure, which can lead to higher charges per kilowatt-hour during certain times of day and days of the year, says Greg Bartolomei, vice president of engineering at GridPoint. For instance, the Pacific Gas & Electricity Company charges more than three times the amount during peak time in the summer than during off-peak times.”
How does charging different rates at different times constitute a “flat-rate structure?”
“Currently, the testing involves placing Whirlpool dryers in 150 homes, with a chip in each one that monitors the amount of power coming into it. When the chip in the grid-friendly dryer registers a frequency drop below what the grid considers normal....”
Which is it monitoring, “amount of power” or “frequency?”
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
This document is part of the “How-To Guide for Most Common Measurements” centralized resource portal. This tutorial provides a detailed guide for measurement and device considerations to take temperature measurements using thermocouples. Get an introduction to thermocouples, which are inexpensive sensing devices widely used with PC-based data acquisition systems. Also review some specific thermocouple examples and learn how thermocouples work and ways to integrate them into a data acquisition measurement system.
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Guest (pwjacobs)
real time costs... and real time prices?
Allowing the end consumer to enter the "real" time market for electric power certainly has its potential benefits (reduced cost to consumers, modification of consumer behavior towards energy conservation, reduced peak loads and avoidance of capital investment to meet the these loads...). To achieve this not only to individual consumers or their smart appliances need to be able to monitor real time power supply and demand, the price structure needs to reflect this. I know there are instances when large, power intensive manufactures may get a lower price for power with the inderstanding that if the grid demand starts to get too high there may get a phone call telling them that the will be cut off in a half hour or so. does anyone know of any examples variable pricing structre that are or were available to household consumers?
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Guest (Mark Shapiro)
real time prices - great idea . . .
Here in Chicago the Center for Neighborhood Technology, www.cnt.org , is working with Com Ed on a real time pricing pilot study. Another benefit is that it makes solar power more valuable, since peak demand is on sunny summer afternoons.
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