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Professor Massoud Amin Offers A Complete Guide on Smart Grids

 

In one form or another, people use electricity nearly every minute of the day. The dependence on technology such as smartphones and computers carries on to increase, and so too does the consumption of this valuable resource. The enhanced demand and push for cleaner energy calls for a long unsettled modernization of the electrical grid. One method of addressing this challenge is to put back the existing grid with a “smart” grid. Unlike the traditional electrical grid, which only carries electricity from power plants to customers, a smart grid includes a “two-way” network of communication allowing customers, operators and automated devices to track energy use data in real-time.

According to Massoud Amin the positive factor of smart grid technology is that individuals can more precisely monitor and manage their energy use by checking their smart meters. Smart meters communicate with the grid by sending energy consumption and production data back and forth, enabling consumers a real-time view of their energy use. In addition, smart meters permit utility companies to offer real-time pricing which offers consumers with an incentive to more efficiently manage their energy consumption and save money.

Implementing smart grid technology would also make a new job market of energy linked products and services. For instance, mainstreaming smart grid technology would necessitate advanced energy monitoring software, individuals to set up metering infrastructure as well as distribution and substation automation communication services.

One way that a smart grid can advantage the environment is that renewable energy producers, such as wind farms and solar plants, can store safely or send excess energy back to the grid, enhancing the production and distribution of clean energy. A smart grid serves several purposes and the movement from conventional electric grids to smart grids is driven by numerous factors, including the deregulation of the energy market, evolutions in metering, alterations on the level of electricity production, decentralization, changing regulations, the rise of micro-generation and micro-grids, renewable energy consents with more energy sources and new points where and purposes for which electricity is needed.

While smart grid still refers to the bi-directional transmission of data and electricity the meaning and reach of the term has broadened given the many possibilities enabled by this important change and ever more technologies used in a background of smart grid deployments. Professor Massoud Amin further added that smart grids are often praised due to their ability to better leverage and deal out renewable energy, make energy usage more dependable and secure, decrease power at peak times and decrease the environmental impact of electricity systems.

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About Professor Massoud Amin

  Massoud Amin, IEEE and ASME Fellow, https://massoud-amin.umn.edu, is a professor of electrical & computer engineering, and a University Distinguished Teaching Professor awardee at the Univ. of Minnesota. Dr. Massoud Amin directed the Technological Leadership Institute, during Mar. 2003- Oct. 2018, where he pioneered several initiatives, including founding of 2 new graduate degree programs in Security Technologies (MSST, 2009), and Medical Device Innovation (MDI, 2014). Previously, Professor  Massoud Amin was with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Palo Alto. After 9/11, he directed all security-related R&D for U.S. utilities. In addition, Dr. Amin pioneered R&D in smart grids in 1998, led the development of 24 technologies that transferred to industry. He has led the deployment of smart grids, and the enhancement of critical infrastructures’ security during this period. He is considered the father of the smart grid (https://tli.umn.edu/tli-blog/...

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