Smart Grids, Solar Power and Renewable Energies

Electricity Pricing and Equity is concerned upon the rise of renewable energy sources, increased grid complexity which changed the consumer demands, and volatile fossil-fuel costs. Technological changes are being driven by the introduction of enhanced technologies like power electronics, Distributed generation (DB), Micro grids, Digital protection co-ordination, supervisory control, and energy management. Power Patrol, can provide benefits that supports the trends along by providing valuable visibility on energy management. Host DG sources and electric vehicles are important in developing future smart grids. Next-generation distribution networks need active distribution management (ADM) which shows the recent development in ADM technologies and methods.

Smart city is an urban development vision to integrate information and communication technology and Internet of things technology in a secure fashion to manage a city's assets. Smart cities use data and technology to create efficiencies, improve sustainability, create economic development, and enhance quality of life factors for people living and working in the city. It also means that the city has a smarter energy infrastructure. A smart city is associated with “smart connections” for various items such as street lighting, smart buildings, distributed energy resources, data analytics, and smart transportation. Amongst these things, energy is paramount; this is why utility companies play a key role in smart cities.

A smart meter is an electronic device that notes the consumption of electric energy at intervals of an hour or less and communicates the information daily back to the utility. Smart meters enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system. Major concern for the utilities is Electricity theft. In thermodynamic limits only two-thirds of the energy in the raw materials actually makes it onto the grid in the form of electricity. Various smart grid systems have dual functions which includes Advanced Metering Infrastructure systems which, when used with various software can be used to detect power theft and by process of elimination, detect where equipment failures have taken place. The behaviour of electricity stealing not only makes the power industry suffering huge financial losses but also threatens the main power supply security and reliability. Un-hooking technology will lead to the electricity stealing. Through GSM technology, the distribution code is sent to substation the operator can instantly attend the pole and through the microcomputer and can get meter code from where the power has been theft. Hence the theft can immediately stopped at the place which it is happening.

A fuel cell is an electro-chemical energy conversion device produces electricity without any combustion through the chemical reaction such as converting hydrogen and oxygen into water which finally generates electricity. Fuel cells can produce electricity continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied. Off-the-grid residence will be provided with full electric back-up by the Solar panels power an electrolyser, which makes hydrogen runs a ReliOn fuel cell. Electricity obtained from hydrogen fuel cells appears to be four times as expensive as electricity drawn from the electrical transmission grid because of the high energy losses [hydrogen] cannot compete with electricity.

Carbon capture and storage is the process of capturing waste carbon dioxide (CO2) from large point sources, such as fossil fuel power plants, transporting it to a storage site. Carbon dioxide can be captured out of air or fossil fuel power plant flue gas using adsorption membrane gas separation, or adsorption technologies. CCS applied to a modern conventional power plant could reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere when compared to a plant without CCS. Carbon dioxide can be captured out of air or fossil fuel power plant flue gas using adsorption, membrane gas separation, or adsorption technologies.

Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. By the photosynthesis process, when biomass such as plants is burned, the chemical energy in biomass is released as heat. Biomass can be burned directly or converted to liquid biofuels or biogas that can be burned as fuels. Bioethanol, biodiesel, and biogas are types of biofuels. Biofuels are considered renewable energies, emit less than fossil fuels, and have received increasing attention in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Renewable biofuels are made through the use or conversion of biomass. Biogas is primarily methane and carbon dioxide and may have small amounts of hydrogen sulphide. Biogas is a renewable energy source which can be produced by anaerobic digestion with anaerobic organisms, which digest material inside a closed system, or fermentation of biodegradable materials

Waste-to-energy or energy-from-waste is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity or heat from the primary treatment of waste. Waste-to-Energy is a form of energy recovery. One way to generate electricity is to burn solid waste, like the material found in landfills. Most Waste-to-Energy processes produce electricity or heat directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels.

Green power is the electricity that is generated from resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and low-impact hydro facilities. Conventional electricity generation, based on the combustion of fossil fuels, is the nation's single largest industrial source of air pollution. Green power is a subset of renewable energy. The green economy is defined as an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities and that aims for sustainable development without degrading the environment. 

Energy efficiency and renewable energy are said to be two key components of sustainable energy. Sustainable energy is energy that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Renewable energy technologies are essential contributors to sustainable energy as they generally contribute to world energy security, reducing dependence on fossil fuel resources and providing opportunities for mitigating greenhouse gases. Sustainable energy is energy that will never be used up or gets depleted.

Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions that release nuclear energy to generate heat, which most frequently is then used in steam turbines to produce electricity in a nuclear power plant. Nuclear power plants convert the energy released from the nucleus of an atom through nuclear fission process that takes place in a nuclear reactor. The heat is removed from the reactor core by a cooling system that uses the heat to generate steam, which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator producing electricity. Nuclear power plants also make radioactive waste that could be harmful if it is not stored properly. Nuclear power plants produce less radioactive material.

Smart grid is the unified combination of technologies such as IT, telecommunication and electrical and processes into transmission and distribution networks and smart meters for the consumers to accomplish objective of economic and reliable production, transportation and consumption of electricity. Smart Grids are two-way communication technology. At the beginning,  smart grid technology used on electricity networks, which is generated from  the power plants and wind farms all the way is used by the consumers of electricity.  It helps us in facilitating real-time troubleshooting problems.

Geothermal energy is heat energy generated and stored in the Earth. Geothermal energy of the Earth's crust originates from the original formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials. Sources with temperatures of 30–150 °C are used without conversion to electricity as district heating, greenhouses. As heating is cost-effective at many more sites it is moved further for electricity generation purpose. Geothermal heating applications are highly dependent on the emissions intensity of the neighbouring electric grid. Geothermal power is considered to be renewable because any projected heat extraction is small compared to the Earth's heat content. Geothermal power is also considered to be sustainable thanks to its power to sustain the Earth’s intricate ecosystems.

Tidal power or tidal energy is a form of hydropower that converts the energy obtained from tides into useful forms of power; mainly electricity also tidal energy has more potential for future electricity generation. The pumping power by tidal lagoons could be provided excess to grid which demands renewable energy for example as wind turbines or solar photovoltaic arrays

Electrical energy obtained from harnessing the wind with windmills or wind turbines follows the wind energy. It is the kinetic energy of air in motion. Small onshore wind farms can produce some energy into the grid or provide electric power to isolated off-grid locations. Larger utility-scale wind generators could be connected to electric power grids for remote use of power. The requirements for interconnection to the transmission grid will be supplied to wind farm developer with a grid code by Transmission systems operators which includes power factor. Grid-connected domestic wind turbines use grid energy storage

Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaic or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic effect.

Wireless is the transfer of information or power between two or more points that are not connected by an electrical conductor. Number of wireless electrical signalling schemes including sending electric currents through water and the ground using electrostatic and electromagnetic induction were developed. Wireless energy transfer is a process where electrical energy is transmitted from a power source to an electrical load that does not have a built-in power source, without the use of interconnecting wires. There are two different methods for wireless energy transfer one is with beaming power/lasers and the other is with induction

Cyber security enhances the security and reliability of country’s electric grid. Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability are the major keys to enhance the reliability and resilience of the nation's energy infrastructure. Cyber security of energy delivery systems is critical for protecting the energy infrastructure and the integral function. Energy Reliability designed the Cyber security for Energy Delivery Systems program to assist the energy sector asset owners (electric, oil, and gas) by developing cyber security solutions for energy delivery systems through integrated planning. Energy delivery systems are the backbone of energy sector. Cyber security is encouraged as to be reflexive

An electric vehicle may be designed to run through a collector system by electricity from off-vehicle sources, or may be self-contained with a battery, solar panels or a generator to convert fuel to electricity. Electric vehicle manufacturing has occurred due to advances in batteries, concerns about increasing oil prices, and the desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Grid energy storage which is large-scale energy storage is a collection of methods used to store electrical energy on a large scale within an electrical power grid. Electrical energy is stored during times when production especially from intermittent power plants such as renewable electricity sources such as wind power, tidal power, and solar power exceeds consumption, and returned to the grid when production falls below consumption. The battery system could be used to run the load without starting the engine or when the wind is unavailable. In future, less expensive batteries could play an important role on the electrical grid.

As Power engineering is a subfield of electrical engineering deals with the generation, transmission, distribution and utilization of electric power from grids. Electrical power starts flowing from the power plant which consists of a spinning electrical generator. The alternating currents (AC) in power plant are more advantageous than direct currents (DC) as the transformers must compulsorily should possess alternating currents to operate and the power from power distribution grid depends on transformers. The three-phase power from generator enters a transmission substation at the power plant which has large transformers to convert the generator voltage to extremely high voltages for long-distance transmission on the transmission grid