Surge, part II 

What an amazing song, and I have found an amazing remix of it. I also have a super cool picture I might be able to share but let me see how it goes tomorrow :D 

So for today what I wanted to do is I wanted to start by going over my blog post from yesterday. 

I don't know if that will be the only thing I do - I have a lot of coding to do as well! And also, and more importantly because my work is always the priority anyway, I don't want to move too fast - I don't want to learn too much, and then forget it - I don't want to overwhelm myself.

But what if...

I may have a quick look at the article and at what comes next anyway because you never know... 

I'll see which one I do first anyway. I'll see which one I do first and then I will either way pause at some stage to assimilate to and process stuff - if it feels right. 

Starting off with revising

From both my blog post and the article

"Utilities need to manage their existing infrastructure more efficiently with better information while planning their grid modernization strategies."

This is obviously and clearly a very very important sentence to me as I keep on coming back to it. But what does it mean, really?

I think it means two things: that while we make the grid more modern we need to manage it with better information - well, this is what I have been talking about in a lot of my previous blog posts - integrating hardware with software. 

Using remote sensors and monitoring to know if a piece of equipment is about to break. Aggregating data from past faults into one system so that we are more likely to know if a piece of equipment is about to break. Integrating live information from different teams into a central hub - so that information on grid faults, and on the history of grid faults, and on planned repairs, and on financial/budget is all available on one system to view in real time. 

We want this information to be viewable and useable and consumable and accessible. We want it to be easy to use and with a good consumer dashboard so that anyone can get the information that they need, and quickly, in a short space of time. 

We want valuable time to be used on making decisions and improving the grid, and not to be wasted on using hard and unreliable software. Or worse, having no software at all.

"This will require moving the ability to monitor and manage load to the grid edge"

I don't really understand. I don't really know or understand enough about physics to know how this really works.

So let me pause and break it down a little bit

As we perform our transition to renewable energy and electrification, we are going to have to revise not only how we plan, build, and maintain the grid, but also how we generate electricity.

Wow. 

I mean this is mind-blowing. I mean this is also just mind-blowing. 

Wow.

Decentralising some of the functions of the power grid

I don't really get this, but here's this: in the past things like monitoring how much electricity was used and controlling it was in a more centralised way, i.e. at big power stations. 

Now we are moving towards doing it in a more localised way.

This includes things like installing smart meters and sensors. We are brining the electricity management systems closer to the places - the homes and the businesses - where it is actually being consumed. Making sure that the distribution of electricity is reliable will require operators of the grid edge to be 'disciplined' in "maintaining proper voltage, power flow and frequency" in the LV (low-voltage) grid and so on. I want to go back to the Schneider Electric website. 

They talked a lot about the LV grid as well. Indeed, they spoke about it in the context of "Edge Management." You see I search, and search, and search for these answers, to what can software engineering do to help improve the smart grid. But with Schneider Electric, I just feel as if these are given to me directly.

Continuing with the article just a little bit

I am too tired to continue much. So let me just pop in two quotes from the article (linked below at the very end of this blog post) and hopefully I will have time to read them offline. Thanks 💚💜💙

“There is a need for visibility and control at the grid edge because of the evolving sophistication of how consumers are using electricity, and that’s lacking in the systems that exist today,” Itron’s Director of Product Management Wassim Akhdar, comments.

“While we can now pass larger amounts of data through communications networks, we are trying to solve problems that are highly complex; real-time streaming of data through to the back-office isn’t feasible, and in some cases, the computational complexity and real-time response makes it too difficult to do in a centralized location.”

I want to quote from "Renewable Energy: A Very Short Introduction" again please

"We are only at the beginning of the smart grid revolution - with its digital technology."

"We are only at the beginning of the smart grid revolution with its digital technology."

Next two steps for the blog

Finish Schneider Electric website or look at it some more to try and deduce more things from it and to extract information out of it

Finish reading my current article