Security Challenges in the Integration of IoT with WSN for Smart Grid Applications

Abstract

Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging technology paradigm that can be incorporated in various applications such as Smart Grid, Smart Home, and Communication Networks etc. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are playing a key role in various applications such as landslide detection, waste management, water quality monitoring in rivers and lakes etc. One of the most data critical applications of WSN is Smart grids. The major problem in the existing power grid is the lack of reliability as one cannot predict power failure. The primary cause of power failure is the energy scarcity and the lack of awareness among the users of the energy availability and their usage limits. This result in increase in the energy consumption costs and projects the impression that electricity is unaffordable in the user's mind. Smart Grid offers promising solutions in transforming the existing power grids into a reliable and cost efficient grid by using WSN. This paper focuses on incorporating IoT into Smart Grid and then various security challenges faced therein. It also introduces a solar energy harvester for Smart City Framework, a community of buildings, each equipped with a solar energy harvesting system, which can share their energy according to the decision taken by the control station. There by, it proposes a cost-effective Smart Grid model using distributed renewable energy generators that helps meet the local power demands.