A survey on smart grid technologies and applications

Smart grid technologies can be defined as self-sufficient systems that can find solutions to problems quickly in an available system that reduces the workforce and targets sustainable, reliable, safe and quality electricity to all consumers. In this respect, different technological applications can be seen from the perspective of researchers and investors. Even though these technological application studies constitute an initial step for the structure of the smart grid, they have not been fully completed in many countries. Associations of initial studies for the next step in smart grid applications will provide an economic benefit for the authorities in the long term, and will help to establish standards to be compatible with every application so that all smart grid applications can be coordinated under the control of the same authorities. In this study, a review has been made of technological methods of data transmission and the energy efficiency in smart grids as well as smart grid applications. Therefore, this study is expected to be an important guiding source for researchers and engineers studying the smart grid. It also helps transmission and distribution system operators to follow the right path as they are transforming their classical grids to smart grids.

Smart grid technologies and applications

With growing needs to better understand our environments, the Internet-of-Things (IoT) is gaining importance among information and communication technologies. IoT will enable billions of intelligent devices and networks, such as wireless sensor networks, to be connected and integrated with computer networks. In order to support large scale networks, IETF has defined the routing protocol for low power and lossy networks (RPL) to facilitate the multihop connectivity. In this paper, we provide an in-depth review of current research activities. Specifically, the large scale simulation development and performance evaluation under various objective functions and routing metrics are pioneering works in RPL study. The results are expected to serve as a reference for evaluating the effectiveness of routing solutions in large scale IoT use cases.

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Performance Analysis of Routing Protocol for Low Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) in Large Scale Networks

The advancements in information and communication technology in the past decades have been converging into a new communication paradigm in which everything is expected to be interconnected. The Internet of Things, more than a buzzword, is becoming a reality, and is finding its way into the industrial domain, enabling what is now dubbed as the Industry 4.0. Among several standards that help in enabling Industry 4.0, the IEEE 802.15.4e standard addresses requirements such as increased robustness and reliability. Although the standard seems promising, the technology is still immature and rather unproven. Also, there has been no thorough survey of the standard with emphasis on the understanding of the performance improvement in regards to the legacy protocol IEEE 802.15.4. In this survey, we aim at filling this gap by carrying out a performance analysis and thorough discussions of the main features and enhancements of IEEE 802.15.4e. We also provide a literature survey concerning the already proposed add-ons and available tools. We believe this work will help to identify the merits of IEEE 802.15.4e and to contribute towards a faster adoption of this technology as a supporting communication infrastructure for future industrial scenarios.

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IEEE 802.15.4e in a Nutshell: Survey and Performance Evaluation

Smart grid can be defined as self-sufficient systems, which allows integration of any type and any scale generation sources to the grid that reduces the workforce targeting sustainable, reliable, safe and quality electricity to all consumers. Associations of initial studies for the next step in smart grid applications will provide an economical benefit for the authorities in the long term, and will help to establish standards to be compatible with every application. So that all smart grid applications can be coordinated under the control of same authorities. Even though these technological application studies constitute an initial step for the structure of the smart grid, they have not been fully accomplished in many countries. In this study, the introduction to smart grids is given as an overview.

Introduction to smart grid

Major components of smart metering infrastructure are smart meter, communication network, meter data collection system and meter data management system. Smart meter measures energy usage at different time intervals and transmit measured data to utility through communications technology networks. This infrastructure shall provide a reliable, efficient and secure power supply to the consumers and reduce the cost of electricity. In this paper, we review smart metering infrastructure model, smart metering infrastructure communication network options and outline smart metering infrastructure challenges.

Communication technologies for smart metering infrastructure

IEEE 802.15.4e MAC layer amendments has been specifically designed to support upper layer communication that is reliable, scalable and flexible using Time Slotted Channel Hopping (TSCH) mode. With the emerging IETF 6TiSCH open-standard for Internet of Things layered over TSCH, we can expect 6TiSCH deployments in networks with deterministic and real-time application requirements such as Smart Grid. The OpenWSN implements TSCH MAC layer and IPv6 adaptation to the Low-power and Lossy Networks (LLNs) as defined by the IETF 6TiSCH working group. In OpenWSN, decentralized and distributed On-The-Fly (OTF) scheduling techniques for 6TiSCH environment are supported. In this paper, we present an experimental evaluation of OTF scheduling technique carried out for different TSCH slot schedules considering two scenarios single channel communication and channel hopping. Experimental validation was carried out using TelosB mote platform comparing TSCH and CSMA/CA running the OpenWSN and Contiki respectively. The measured parameters included packet delivery ratio and energy consumption by varying the network size to compare the advantage of TSCH mode scheduling. Our experiment results indicate 6TiSCH can address the critical deterministic bandwidth and real-time requirement while realizing IoT approach to the Smart Grid.

Experimental evaluation of IETF 6TiSCH in the context of Smart Grid

India has the 3rd largest Electricity transmission and distribution network in the world. However, India faces a number of challenges like inadequate access to electricity, supply shortfalls, huge network losses, poor quality, reliability and theft. Smart Grid would address these issues and transform the existing grid into a more efficient and reliable one that would help in providing electricity access to all. The smart metering infrastructure is a major component of smart grid and this will enhance efficiency and reliability through use of smart/advance sensors, modern communication infrastructure, metering technologies, and energy management solutions for current electric power system. In India, government has taken up initiative for reforming distribution system. This paper discusses the ongoing initiative taken up by government and roadmap for smart metering deployment for Indian smart grid.

Roadmap for smart metering deployment for Indian smart grid

In smart power grid, communication network is an integral fragment that communicate vital information to various stakeholders for efficient transmission of electricity. For autonomous functioning of power system, the sensor node connected to grid components enable information sharing for monitoring and control of the state of the grid. Also, the smart grid deployment scenarios require data communication to various grid nodes to be reliable, secure and standards compliant. In this paper, we have proposed a conceptual architecture for evaluating IoT deployment scenario and presenting power system simulation on real-time simulator and experimental evaluation of IPv6 based IETF 6TiSCH compliant grid nodes in smart grid scenario. The proposed architecture for simulation and experiments leverages Internet of Things (IoT) approach to address the smart grid requirement.

An approach to Internet of Things network deployment for smart grid applications

Smart metering is a major component of smart grid. Smart metering infrastructure uses two way communication networks that include smart meters, intelligent sensors, smart appliances and energy management techniques. This infrastructure shall provide a reliable, efficient and secure power supply to the consumers and reduce the cost of electricity. In this paper, we review various smart metering network technologies and outline the smart metering infrastructure challenges in the Indian context.

Mohammed Farooque Khan

Papers

Communication technologies for smart metering infrastructure

Experimental evaluation of IETF 6TiSCH in the context of Smart Grid

Roadmap for smart metering deployment for Indian smart grid

An approach to Internet of Things network deployment for smart grid applications

Communication technologies for smart metering in India