Wind Power
Smart Grid City In Boulder, Colorado: An Xcel-lent Idea
What is the Smart Grid City?
The Smart Grid City is a 100 million dollar project that will utilize a fiber optic loop around the city of Boulder, Colorado. This "loop" will provide energy through several different sources as well as provide homeowners with technology and information. Control panels will allow homeowners to see when, where, and how energy is being used in their homes and then make choices based on that information.Other uses for the smart grid technology include remotely turning on certain appliances or using appliances during non-peak hours, thus using less energy. Power can also be put back into the system through the loop or stored in your home for your use, for example if you collect more energy than you can use from your solar panels that energy can then be redirected to the loop or placed in storage for use in your own home. "Smart Grid City is the first step toward building the grid of the future, " said Dick Kelly, Xcel Energy chairman, president and CEO. A limited number of homes will be participating in the research study, among them the home of the Chancellor of the University of Colorado, G.P. "Bud" Peterson and his wife Val. To determine if you qualify you complete and application survey http://smartgridcity.xcelenergy.com/index.asp. Qualified homes and applicants may receive a no cost installation of the devices designed and used to help monitor and manage energy use. 50, 000 homes will be chosen to have the Smart grid technology including new meter and monitoring services as well as access to all the energy sources that this grid will be making available including wind and solar power. What does the Smart Grid initiative bring to your home? We like to think of Smart Grid as bringing the world of Thomas Edison together with the world of Bill Gates, " said Ray Gogel of Xcel Energy. Those selected to participate in the Smart Grid City pilot program will have their homes, and quite possibly their lives transformed by the installation of solar panels on homes, a smart meter to monitor energy use (when, where and how much throughout the home), and a plug in hybrid vehicle. To use the monitoring system to the fullest extent you simply log onto your account through the Internet, check to see your usage and make any adjustments you feel needed in your energy and power usage. Val Peterson (wife to Chancellor Peterson) says, ""I pretty much get on my computer, tell my house and my car what to do and then I walk away, " she said."My solar panels are talking to my house, are talking to my car, and are talking to my house. It's a beautiful system." Not only do these houses now use less power, but they are able to store the excess power for a "rainy day." The excess power is used to charge the hybrid car and stored in the home providing approximately two days of backup power. In these homes old power meters actually run backwards. One resident participating in the program reported his energy bill was $3.00 for one month. Who is involved in the Smart Grid City project?
In addition to a limited number of homes and commercial properties, participants in the consortium which forms the Smart Grid partners includes: Accenture, Current Group, GridPoint, OSIsoft, SEL (Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories), Smart Synch, and Ventyx. Each member of the consortium brings with it the latest in technology in the areas of data streaming and collection, communications, the grid platform, wireless and digital technology, and software. What are the benefits of the Smart Grid technology?
According to a press release by Xcel Energy, "The potential benefits of the Smart Grid City include operational savings, customer-choice energy management, better grid reliability, greater energy efficiency and conservation options, increased use of renewable energy sources, and support for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and intelligent-home appliances." Since the program started, just a few months ago, the production of carbon has decreased by 590 pounds in each home. Multiply that by 50, 000 participants and that is a significant impact on protecting the environment. The Smart Grid City can also bring about the following benefits:
Improving power delivery and reliability;
Making cleaner and more environmentally friendly fuel choices;
Environmental benefits;
By Lisa Carey - Lisa is founder of New Creative Writing a freelance writing service in partnership with her husband, also an established web content writer and educator.
She features her parenting, travel, green, pets, ...
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