EEE812A - SMART GRID TECHNOLOGIES

Module No.2 part 1 SMART GRID TECHNOLOGIES:

Introduction to Smart Meters, Advanced Metering Infrastructure,

Distribution Automation, Automatic Meter Reading (AMR),
Outage Management System (OMS), Plug in Hybrid Electric
Vehicles (PHEV), Vehicle to Grid Technology (V2G), Smart
Sensors, Smart Homes, Building Energy Management System
Introduction to Smart Meters
 A smart meter is an electronic measurement device installed by the utility to maintain
a two-way communication between the consumer and the utility and also manage the
electrical system of the consumer. A smart meter is capable of communicating the real
time energy-consumption of an electrical system in very short intervals of time to the
connected utility.
 In the electronic meters/electromechanical meters, the cumulative number of electricity
units was recorded at the end of a month (or more) whereas a smart reader is connected
to the utility which is capable of transmitting the electricity usage on a real-time basis.
 Smart meters thus facilitate real-time pricing, automated recording of the electricity
consumption and a complete eradication of errors due to manual readings and reduce
labour cost and enable instant fault detection.
Advantages of Smart Meters
1. Accuracy in meter reading: In case of electromechanical/electronic meters, the meter
readings have to be read by a representative of the utility. Smart meters automatically transmit
the readings to the connected utility.
2. Data Recording: Conventional meters only record the electricity consumption of a system,
and not how and when the electricity is used. Smart meters record real-time data corresponding
to the electricity consumption. It means that they also record the time and patterns of electricity
consumption.
3. Real time tracking: What‘s really nice about these meters is that consumers can go online
and check out their electricity usage patterns and make changes to their consumption
accordingly. In this way, smart meters offer a strong control to the consumers over their usage.
4. Automatic outage detection: A person having a conventional meter has to call the utility
whenever there is a power outage whereas in case of smart meters, there is automatic outage
detection as they are constantly synchronised with the electric grid.
5. Better service: As smart meters are directly connected to the utility, it becomes much
simpler to connect/disconnect power for a particular house/property, saving the need of a
technology

Sl. Smart Metering Conventional Metering

No
1. Digital with Alpha Numeric Display Analog with Spinning Dials
2. Will Measure how much and when electricity is Measurement only for how much Electricity
used (Hourly with date and Time Stamping) is used over a Billing Period (One or Two
Months)
3. Automated Meter Reading: Meters send data Manual Meter Reading: Distribution
Electronically to Distribution Companies company Staff Physically visit ratepayer
through a Wireless Network premises to Record Data
4. Two Way communication between Meters and No Communication capability
Distribution Companies

Fig 1. Smart meter Vs Conventional meter

Advantages of Smart Meters
1. Accuracy in meter reading:
2. Data Recording:
3. Real time tracking:
4. Automatic outage detection:
5. Better service:
The subsystems of a smart sensor include:
 A Primary Sensing Element
 Excitation Control
 Amplification (Possibly Variable Gain)
 Analog Filtering
 Data Conversion
 Compensation
 Digital Information Processing
 Digital Communications Processing
 Power Supply.

Fig 2. Functional Block diagram of smart meter

Evolution of Electricity Metering
The most common type of meter is an accumulation meter, which records energy consumption
over time. Accumulation meters in consumer premises are read manually to assess how much
energy has been used within a billing period.

Smart meters are more sophisticated as they have two-way communications and provide a real
time display of energy use and pricing information. Figure 3 shows the evolution of electrical
metering, from simple electro-mechanical accumulation metering to advance Smart Metering.
 Fig 3. Evolution of smart metering

Concept of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)

 AMI is the convergence of the grid, the communication infrastructure, and the
supporting information infrastructure.
 The network - centric AMI coupled with the lack of a composite set of cross industry
AMI security requirements and implementation guidance, is the primary motivation for
its development.
 The problem domains to be addressed within AMI implementations are relatively new
to the utility industry; however, precedence exists for implementing large - scale,
network - centric solutions with high information assurance requirements.
 The cable, and telecom industries offer many examples of requirements, standards, and
best practices that are directly applicable to AMI implementations.
The functions of AMI can be subdivided into three major categories:
 Market applications: serve to reduce/eliminate labour, transportation, and
infrastructure costs associated with meter reading and maintenance, increase accuracy
of billing, and allow for time - based rates while reducing bad debts; facilitates informed
customer participation for energy management
 Customer applications: serves to increase customer awareness about load reduction,
reduces bad debt, and improves cash flow, and enhances customer convenience and
satisfaction; provides demand response and load management to improve system
reliability and performance
 Distribution operations: curtails customer load for grid management, optimizes
network based on data collected, allows for the location of outages and restoration of
service, improves customer satisfaction, reduces energy losses, improves performance
in event of outage with reduced outage duration and optimization of the distribution
system and distributed generation management, provides emergency demand response
 Monitoring, control, and data acquisition will extend further down the network to
the distribution pole-top transformer and perhaps even to individual customers by
means of an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and/or demand response and home
energy management systems on the Home Area Network (HAN). More granular field
data will help increase operational efficiency and provide more data for other smart grid
applications, such as outage management.
 AMI networks enable utilities to accomplish meter data collection, customer
participation in demand response, and energy efficiency and support the evolution of
tools and technology that will drive the smart grid future, including integration of
electric vehicles and distributed generation.
 Without the collection of AMI (interval) metering data, it is difficult to determine when
customer consumption occurs in time
 Smart meters and related sub meters that form the end points in the AMI architecture
provide two critical roles. One is access to more granular interval usage data; second a
durable communications link that is bidirectional (two-way) to deliver
messages/instructions to the meter.
 The purpose of an AMI communications system is to provide electric utilities with a
communications network permitting connectivity between grid devices such as electric
meters and a head-end system.
 AMI communications network options are numerous: they can be power line carrier
(PLC), satellite, cellular (2G, 3G, or 4G), WiMAX, RF mesh, etc.
Benefits of advanced metering
Advanced metering systems can provide benefits for utilities, retail providers and customers.
Benefits will be recognized by the utilities with increased efficiencies, outage detection, tamper
notification and reduced labour cost as a result of automating reads, connections and
disconnects. Retail providers will be able to offer new innovative products in addition to
customizing packages for their customers. In addition, with the meter data being readily
available, more flexible billing cycles would be available to their customers instead of
following the standard utility read cycles. With timely usage information available to the
customer, benefits will be seen through opportunities to manage their energy consumption and
change from one REP to another with actual meter data. Because of these benefits, many
utilities are moving towards implementing some types of AMR solutions.
The benefits of smart metering for the utility.
 Accurate meter reading, no more estimates
 Improved billing
 Accurate profile classes and measurement classes, true costs applied
 Improved security and tamper detection for equipment
 Energy management through profile data graphs
 Less financial burden correcting mistakes
 Less accrued expenditure
 Transparency of "cost to read" metering
 Improved procurement power though more accurate data — "de-risking" price
 In cases of shortages, utility will be able to manage/allocate supply.
 The benefits of smart metering for the customer.
 Improved billing and tracking of usage.
Disadvantages of advanced metering
 Risk of loss of privacy — details of use reveal information about user activities
 Greater potential for monitoring by other/unauthorized third parties
 Potentially reduced reliability (more complicated meters, more potential for
interference by third parties)
 Increased security risks from network or remote access
DISTRIBUTION AUTOMATION

Fig: Distribution automation (DA) system

What is distribution system automation?
 Distribution automation (DA) uses digital sensors and switches with advanced control
and communication technologies to automate feeder switching; voltage and equipment
health monitoring; and outage, voltage, and reactive power management.
 What is the need of distribution automation system?
 An integrated Distribution Automation system enables Indian power utilities
to have real time control over the costly energy sold. Improved efficiency results in
lower costs & energy loss, better reliability in power supply, planned control actions,
optimum power factor, and reduction in losses.
 Distribution automation (DA) has emerged as a key component of the smart grid, and
provides a path to achieve these critical goals.
 Improving service reliability and operating efficiency are common goals that most
distribution utility companies have today. However, with the changing landscape of
new loads and customer-sited distributed generation (DG) being connected to the grid,
these conditions now present special challenges to the electric distribution system. The
traditional need to provide reliable energy delivery with a renewed focus on resiliency,
 environmental impacts, and energy efficiency (including loss reduction and peak load
management) creates an environment with plenty of obstacles.
 The variability and intermittency of renewable energy sources—both at the distributed
and centralized levels—now add an additional level of complexity. Distribution
automation (DA) has emerged as a key component of the smart grid, and provides a
path to achieve these critical goals. In the context of smart grid deployments today, DA
refers to an intelligent distribution system that uses a network of sensors and controls
that provide greater reliability, flexibility, and agility.
 Seven key characteristics that identify and measure progress via the implementation of
the smart grid. They include enabling active participation by consumers; new products,
services and markets; the ability to accommodate all generation and storage options;
providing power quality; optimizing asset utilization and operating efficiency; the
anticipation and response to system disturbances in a self-healing manner; and the
ability to operate resiliently against both physical and cyberattacks as well as natural
disasters.
 It’s evident that there are a number of steps utilities should take when considering the
deployment of DA systems and technologies such as meeting economical, technical,
and business challenges; executing appropriate deployment strategies; examining
Information Technology/Operation Technology (IT/OT) migration; addressing big
data; protecting privacy; and ensuring security. DA equipment and systems used to
supervise, measure, monitor, and control electrical loads on distribution grids and at
distribution substations.
 The following are ten ADA- Advanced Distribution Automation applications
1. Real-time Distribution Operation Model and Analysis (DOMA)
2. Fault Location, Isolation and Service Restoration (FLIR)
3. Voltage/var Control (VVC)
4. Distribution Contingency Analysis (DCA)
5. Multi-level Feeder Reconfiguration (MFR)
6. Relay Protection Re-coordination (RPRC)
7. Pre-arming of Remedial Action Schemes (PRAS)
8. Coordination of Emergency Actions (CEmA)
9. Coordination of Restorative Actions (CRA)
10. Intelligent Alarm Processing (IAP)
AUTOMATIC METER READING (AMR)
 What is AMR in smart meters?
 AMR stands for Automated Meter Reading device. An AMR meter works by creating
a connection channel between a business customer and its energy supplier. ... This
ensures accurate billing and allows the customer to analyse their energy usage data
 What is the difference between AMR and AMI meters?
 In sum, AMR is less expensive, but offers less features and benefits. AMI is more
expensive, but offers almost the ultimate in features and benefits. For some utilities,
particularly smaller ones with limited budgets, AMR may be all that is needed. For
larger utilities, AMI may be the way to go.
 How does AMR work?
Using wireless radio transmitters AMR remotely reads customer meters and then
transfers the data into billing system. AMR will drastically reduce the need for meter
readers to manually gather utility meter readings.
 Automatic meter reading (AMR) is the technology of automatically collecting
consumption, diagnostic, and status data from water meter or energy metering devices
(gas, electric) and transferring that data to a central database for billing,
troubleshooting, and analyzing. This technology mainly saves utility providers the
expense of periodic trips to each physical location to read a meter. Another advantage
is that billing can be based on near real-time consumption rather than on estimates based
on past or predicted consumption. This timely information coupled with analysis can
help both utility providers and customers better control the use and production of
electric energy, gas usage, or water consumption.
 AMR technologies include handheld, mobile and network technologies based on
telephony platforms (wired and wireless), radio frequency (RF), or powerline
transmission.
 Touch technology
 With touch-based AMR, a meter reader carries a handheld computer or data collection
device with a wand or probe. The device automatically collects the readings from a
meter by touching or placing the read probe in close proximity to a reading coil enclosed
in the touchpad. When a button is pressed, the probe sends an interrogate signal to the
touch module to collect the meter reading. The software in the device matches the serial
number to one in the route database, and saves the meter reading for later download to
 a billing or data collection computer. Since the meter reader still has to go to the site of
the meter, this is sometimes referred to as "on-site" AMR.
 AMR Hosting
 AMR Hosting is a back-office solution which allows a user to track
their electricity, water, or gas consumption over the Internet. All data is collected in
near real-time, and is stored in a database by data acquisition software. The user can
view the data via a web application, and can analyze the data using various online
analysis tools such as charting load profiles, analyzing tariff components, and verify
their utility bill.
 Radio frequency network
 Radio frequency based AMR can take many forms. The more common ones are
handheld, mobile, satellite and fixed network solutions. There are both two-way RF
systems and one-way RF systems in use that use both licensed and unlicensed RF bands.
 In a two-way or "wake up" system, a radio signal is normally sent to an AMR meter's
unique serial number, instructing its transceiver to power-up and transmit its data. The
meter transceiver and the reading transceiver both send and receive radio signals. In a
one-way “bubble-up” or continuous broadcast type system, the meter transmits
continuously and data is sent every few seconds. This means the reading device can be
a receiver only, and the meter a transmitter only. Data travels only from the meter
transmitter to the reading receiver. There are also hybrid systems that combine one-way
and two-way techniques, using one-way communication for reading and two-way
communication for programming functions.
 Hand held
 In handheld AMR, a meter reader carries a handheld computer with a built-in or
attached receiver/transceiver (radio frequency or touch) to collect meter readings from
an AMR capable meter. This is sometimes referred to as "walk-by" meter reading since
the meter reader walks by the locations where meters are installed as they go through
their meter reading route. Handheld computers may also be used to manually enter
readings without the use of AMR technology as an alternate but this will not support
exhaustive data which can be accurately read using the meter reading electronically.
 Mobile
 Mobile or "drive-by" meter reading is where a reading device is installed in a vehicle.
The meter reader drives the vehicle while the reading device automatically collects the
 meter readings. Often, for mobile meter reading, the reading equipment includes
navigational and mapping features provided by GPS and mapping software. With
mobile meter reading, the reader does not normally have to read the meters in any
particular route order, but just drives the service area until all meters are read.
Components often consist of a laptop or proprietary computer, software, RF
receiver/transceiver, and external vehicle antennas.
 Satellite Transmitters for data collection satellites can be installed in the field next to
existing meters. The satellite AMR devices communicates with the meter for readings,
and then sends those readings over a fixed or mobile satellite network. This network
requires a clear view to the sky for the satellite transmitter/receiver, but eliminates the
need to install fixed towers or send out field technicians, thereby being particularly
suited for areas with low geographic meter density.
 RF technologies commonly used for AMR
 Narrow Band (single fixed radio frequency)
 Spread Spectrum
 Direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS)
 Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS)
 There are also meters using AMR with RF technologies such as cellular phone data
systems, ZigBee, Bluetooth, Wavenis and others.
 Wi-Fi
 WiSmart is a versatile platform which can be used by a variety of electrical home
appliances in order to provide wireless TCP/IP communication using the 802.11 b/g
protocol.
 Devices such as the Smart Thermostat permit a utility to lower a home's power
consumption to help manage power demand.
 Power line communication
 PLC is a method where electronic data is transmitted over power lines back to the
substation, then relayed to a central computer in the utility's main office. This would be
considered a type of fixed network system—the network being the distribution network
which the utility has built and maintains to deliver electric power. Such systems are
primarily used for electric meter reading. Some providers have interfaced gas and water
meters to feed into a PLC type system.
Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV)

Plug-In Hybrid Electric vehicles (PHEVs) are being introduced in the market as an option for
transportation. The introduction of HEVs into the transportation sector can be viewed as a good
start, but the range (the distance that can be travelled with one charging cycle) is not adequate.
So PHEVs have started penetrating the market, in which the batteries can be charged at any
point where a charging outlet is available. For HEVs, the impact on the grid is not a matter of
concern, since HEVs are charged from their internal combustion engine by regenerative
braking, whenever the driver applies a brake. As a result batteries in HEVs maintain a certain
amount charge (70–80%). In the case of PHEVs the car batteries are used steadily while driving
in order to maximize fuel efficiency and the battery charge decreases over time. The vehicle
thus needs to be connected to the power grid to charge its batteries when the vehicle is not in
use. During its charging time, the plug-in vehicle more than doubles the average household
load . Hence, for PHEVs, a major concern is the impact on the grid, since they can be plugged
in for charging at any point in the distribution network regardless of time.
PHEVs will be posed as a new load on the primary and secondary distribution network, where
many of these circuits are already being operated at their maximum capacity. With the increase
in the number of PHEVs, the additional load has the potential to disrupt the grid stability and
significantly affect the power system dynamics as a whole. The following sections will discuss
the various approaches that have been proposed in order to face the problem of overloading the
grid. There has been movement in the recent years to modernize the aging US power grid and
the concept of smart grid has been introduced as the power grid of the future which will be
reliable, providing dependable power at competitive prices and offer means for swift
correction.
Types of PHEVs:
1. Series PHEV‘s or Extended Range Electric Vehicles (EREV‘s)
Series PHEV‘s or Extended Range Electric Vehicles (EREV‘s): only the electric motor turns
the wheels, the ICE is only used to generate electricity. Series PHEV‘s can run solely on
electricity until the battery needs to be recharged. The ICE will then generate the electricity
needed to power the electric motor. For shorter trips, these vehicles might use no gasoline.
2. Parallel or Blended PHEV‘s
Parallel or Blended PHEV‘s: Both the engine and electric motor are mechanically connected
to the wheels, and both propel the vehicle under most driving conditions. Electric only
operation usually occurs at low speed.
Outage management system (OMS)
The OMS is a system which combines the trouble call centre and DMS tools to identify,
diagnose and locate faults, then isolate the faults and restore supply. It provides feedback to
customers that are affected. It also analyses the event and maintains historical records of the
outage as well as calculating statistical indices of interruptions. The information flow of an
OMS is shown in Figure 7.18. Outage management is important in distribution networks with
goals (and sometimes penalties) to restore the supply to a faulted section of the network within
a period of time. The main functions of each part of OMS are as follows.
Fault identification
Fault identification is based on customer calls through telephone voice communication. It may
also use automatic voice response systems (Computer Telephony Integration – CTI), automatic
outage detection/reporting system, or SCADA detection of circuit breaker trip/lockout.
Fault diagnosis and fault location
Fault diagnosis and fault location are carried out based on the grouping of customer trouble
calls using reverse tracing of the electrical network topology. It determines the protective
device that is suspected to be open, for example, fuse, sectionaliser, recloser, or substation
circuit breaker. Automatic feeder switching is also taken into account. The extent of the
suspected outage will be calculated including the number of customers affected and the priority
of the affected customers. Confirmation or modification of the fault diagnosis and its location
is based on feedback from field crews.
Supply restoration
Remedial action depends on the severity of the problem. If the fault is a simple problem, the
field crew can make the repair and restore supplies in a short time. If the fault causes a major
outage, after the isolation of the faulted area, the un-faulted portions will be restored using
normally open points. The OMS tracks partial restorations. Automated fault detection,
isolation, restoration schemes with feeder automation is widely used. Computer aided
modelling.
VEHICLE TO GRID TECHNOLOGY (V2G)

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) describes a system in which plug-in electric vehicles, such as battery
electric vehicles (BEV), plug-in hybrids (PHEV) or hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles
(FCEV), communicate with the power grid to sell demand response services by either returning
electricity to the grid or by throttling their charging rate.V2G storage capabilities can enable
EVs to store and discharge electricity generated from renewable energy sources such as solar
and wind, with output that fluctuates depending on weather and time of day.V2G can be used
with gridable vehicles, that is, plug-in electric vehicles (BEV and PHEV), with grid capacity.
Since at any given time 95 percent of cars are parked, the batteries in electric vehicles could be
used to let electricity flow from the car to the electric distribution network and back.

Batteries have a finite number of charging cycles, as well as a shelf-life, therefore using
vehicles as grid storage can impact battery longevity. Studies that cycle batteries two or more
times per day have shown large decreases in capacity and greatly shortened life. However,
battery capacity is a complex function of factors such as battery chemistry, charging and
discharging rate, temperature, state of charge and age. Most studies with slower discharge rates
show only a few percent of additional degradation while one study has suggested that using
vehicles for grid storage could improve longevity. Sometimes the modulation of charging of a
fleet of electric vehicles by an aggregator to offer services to the grid but without actual
electrical flow from the vehicles to the grid is called unidirectional V2G, as opposed to the
bidirectional V2G that is generally discussed in this article.

SMART SENSORS

A smart grid sensor is a small, lightweight node that serves as a detection station in a sensor
network. Smart grid sensors enable the remote monitoring of equipment such as transformers
and power lines and the demand-side management of resources on an energy smart grid.

What is the role of sensor in smart grid?

Smart sensors (SSs) can provide real-time data and status of the grids for real-time monitoring,
protection, and control of grid operations. Sensor data exchange and interoperability are major
challenges for the SGs.
What is the role of Sensor in smart grid architecture of IoT?

Sensors and Actuators are connected, send data when needed, secure and low power, easy to
install and configure. Sensors for monitoring electrical parameters over an entire electricity
network infrastructure play a fundamental role in protecting smart grids and improving the
network’s energy efficiency. When a short circuit takes place in a smart grid it has to be sensed
as soon as possible to reduce its fault duration along the network and to reduce damage to the
electricity infrastructure as well as personal injuries. Existing protection devices, which are
used to sense the fault, range from classic analog electro-mechanics relays to modern intelligent
 electronic devices (IEDs). However, both types of devices have fixed adjustment settings
(offline stage) and do not provide any coordination among them under real-time operation.

A smart grid sensor is a small, lightweight node that serves as a detection station in a sensor
network. Smart grid sensors enable the remote monitoring of equipment such as transformers
and power lines and the demand-side management of resources on an energy smart grid.

Smart grid sensors can be used to monitor weather conditions and power line temperature,
which can then be used to calculate the line’s carrying capacity. This process is called dynamic
line rating and it enables power companies to increase the power flow of existing transmission
lines. Smart grid sensors can also be used within homes and businesses to increase energy
efficiency.

A smart grid sensor has four parts: a transducer, a microcomputer, a transceiver and a power
source. The transducer generates electrical signals based on phenomena such as power-line
voltage. The microcomputer processes and stores the sensor output. The transceiver, which can
be hard-wired or wireless, receives commands from a central computer and transmits data to
that computer. The power for each sensor is derived from the electric utility or from a battery.

SMART HOMES & BUILDING ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

A smart HEMS is a residential demand response tool that shifts and curtails demand to improve
the energy efficiency and reduce electricity cost based on the real-time electricity price and
consumer comfort

A building energy management system (BEMS) is a sophisticated method to monitor

and control the building's energy needs. Next to energy management,
the system can control and monitor a large variety of other aspects of the building regardless
of whether it is residential or commercial.

Energy management systems (EMS) are automation systems that collect energy measurement
data from the field and making it available to users through graphics, online monitoring tools,
and energy quality analyzers, thus enabling the management of energy resources.

Benefits of Energy Management Systems

 Control power supply. ...
 Making informed decisions. ...
 Detecting power quality problems. ...
 Remote access. ...An automated solution.