Standards and Communication Systems in Smart Grid

Abstract

The present-day power system is rapidly progressing in the fields of generation, transmission, and distribution of energy. Factors such as diverse and distributed nature of power consumption, increased use of the renewable energy that enables the consumer to also be an energy provider have exacerbated the complexity of the power grid. A glitch or a failure in one part of this complex network, unless espied and curtailed, can translate into a major power outage. This requirement has led to the inception of the smart grid. A smart grid consists of several intelligent sensors with advanced communication capabilities that collect, communicate, and monitor the real-time information pertaining to the grid dynamics. Apart from fault detection and outage prevention, there are several other applications of the smart grid such as electric substation automation, distributed energy resource management, automatic metering infrastructure (AMI), electrical vehicles (EVs), home automation. These applications require efficient communication technologies for transfer of information. This chapter presents a comprehensive description of the various smart grid communication systems and standards from the perspective of their application in smart grid. The future technologies and the challenges they pose are also discussed for the benefit of the research groups working on smart grid communications.