Our lives on this planet today greatly rely on electricity. Electric power is a basic necessity for both home living and work environment. The millions of us cannot afford to live without this great resource. Unfortunately, our smooth lives get inconvenienced and interrupted by numerous blackouts on our power grids. Whereas such blackouts are greatly inevitable, it is our responsibility to implement other channels of research and development to come up with amicable solutions that can help boost the efficiency of our grid system.
Power blackouts are commonly associated with certain major inconsistencies and inconveniences in the power generation and transmission process. Stabilizing the generation and utilization of power is the main goal of most power generating and regulating companies. The solutions developed so far focus on 3 main areas, including monitoring, anticipating, and isolation of power problems.
Monitoring of Electric Power
Monitoring of electric power starts from the moment power is generated in the various channels of electric power generation we have today. Real-time monitoring is done using an array of sensors which monitor various electrical parameters, including the current produced and the voltage generated. Research and development has led to the deployment of automatic monitoring systems capable of interfacing correctly with human interventions where the need arises.
The Anticipation of Electric Problems
The power monitoring arrays work hand-in-hand with other computer software capable of analyzing fluctuations in various electric power parameters. If the threshold of such fluctuations hit a certain level, then the entire system notifies operators for a human intervention to be coordinated. Some of the crucial parameters used to anticipate electric problems include a potential overheating of utility systems such as transformers. The goal of anticipating a problem is that corrective action can be initiated right before the entire system overloads and quits.
Isolation of a Certain Grid
In cases where inevitable power outages do occur as a result of a failure, operators and stakeholders in the electric power generation and transmission process have come up with an objective of isolating an entire area affected by the problem. This has led to the creation of power islands, each capable of working in isolation without necessarily affecting the entire grid.
Research and development is highly necessary when helping ensure the autonomous functioning of the entire grid system. If such a breakthrough is arrived at, we will be able to have a self-healing smart grid system.