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Margaret Harding So a few days ago, I wrote a pretty bleak blog about consumer engagement in SmartGrid. Fully 90% of small consumers (residential and small retail) are not interested in participating in SmartGrid technologies. The other 10% divide into groups interested in saving the planet, saving some money or beating their neighbors. When looking at how … Read more Message from “the edge” – SmartGrid and the consumer (Part II)
This is my fifth article relating directly to SmartGrid. This is where the message FROM “the edge” also becomes a message ABOUT “the edge.” As I learned at GridWeek, the grid industry calls the electricity user community at the far end of the system “The Edge”. Graphically the system is frequently depicted that way with … Read more Message from “the edge” – SmartGrid and the consumer
This is the fourth article in my series regarding SmartGrid and we are finally beginning to get near to direct consumer contact. All of this discussion has potentially significant impacts on electricity consumers, but are parts of the grid that are “behind the green curtain” to most consumers. Distribution is differentiated from transmission in that … Read more Message from “the edge” – SmartGrid and Distribution
At this point in my series on SmartGrid it is time to confess my background. I spent most of my 28 year career in the nuclear industry concerned with the design, analysis and operation of fuel and reactor cores. I always considered most of the rest of the system as plumbing designed to bring water … Read more Message from “the edge” – SmartGrid and Transmission
I went into the GridWeek conference last week assuming that nuclear power advocates needn’t worry about all of these SmartGrid initiatives and that there was a great deal of hype about this that was overblown and not viable economically. I left with a much better understanding of some of the fundamentals of the issues around … Read more Message from “the edge” – SmartGrid and power generation
Perhaps you’ve seen commercials like GE’s “If I only had a Brain”, but what does SmartGrid really mean? And more importantly, what does it mean for the average citizen? To answer these questions for myself, I spent last week in Washington, DC attending the SmartGrid conference. I was probably the only nuclear energy consultant in … Read more Message from the Edge, a overview of SmartGrid
Once again, while wandering on another social media site, I ran across a question that needed answering. This time, someone wanted to know why hydrogen was never mentioned as a renewable energy source. As I wrote a response to this individual, I realized that there is significant potential for confusion and incorrect thinking around all … Read more Definitions and other matters
On another social media network, the question was posed…”If every single rooftop in the country was covered in PVs, I’ve heard that we would generate enough electrical energy not to need any other source of electrical power! But, has anyone done the maths?” The questioner was from the UK. Many people immediately jumped on the … Read more Solar Panels – the math
Originally posted May 2009, given today’s news about Venezuela’s electricity woes, it seems appropriate to repost. I predict sales of diesel generators to do up exponentially across Venezuela on the heels of this news. A farmer in western Venezuela is tired of his intermittent electric power. For several hours every day he is without electricity. … Read more A Parable of Power