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In the past few years, local utilities, the mass media, and product commercials have been using the term "smart grid" with regard to electricity metering at your home, breakthrough technologies, electric cars, and even home appliances.
All of these elements belong to the ongoing transformation of the United States electric grid from the one that inventor Thomas Edison designed over 100 years ago, entailing one-direction delivery from heavy, sooty coal-fire plants to end users, and into a flexible 21st-century grid that allows for two-way communication between utility, independent electricity producers, and individuals.
Renewable sources like solar and wind, small hydro, geothermal plus energy storage innovations currently and eventually will replace the country's reliance on old fossil-fuel technology as part of the Smart Grid.
The video below from the U.S. Department of Energy offers a basic explanation of what the Smart Grid does, and how it will evolve as the country moves forward.
The next post (Coming Sunday, November 1) will show an exciting, real-life application of the Smart Grid in New Jersey.
Until then, thanks for stopping by!
