Smart Grid and Smart City
The idea of smart grids and smart cities are based on EU directive 27/2012 which defines objectives and operations for energy demand decrease (carbon footprint) across a multitude of activities.
They share a number of joint characteristics:
Smart cities and smart grids are actively promoted because they are expected to drive cost savings. However, they are also deemed to require a significant investment because of the necessity of high-speed internet and transmission network requirements of generation ‘X’.
Additionally, one of the biggest challenges to the success of smart grids and smart cities is the requirement to influence the behaviour of consumers the behaviour of most persons and families.
The Core Objective: Behavioral Influence
The minimum intersection of both concepts is thus clear. It is to influence the behaviour of people, with the objective being to decrease their carbon footprint, enabled through communication. We can add another essential element: decrease water consumption.
In order to find effective solutions for these concepts, let’s go back to the founder of cybernetics, Norbert Wiener, who defined the basic regulation processes in systems (both living, and non). The key issue of this regulation is feedback, namely, the measuring and information of regulated system.
Importance of Consumer Feedback
There is one clear fact arising from all projects. For man to actively influence his economic behaviour, he must have information about his consumption at least on a monthly basis.
If the feedback system is realized via steady monthly deposits with a once-a-year statement, 98 % of customers will not check if they are due a refund, or even how much may be outstanding. It is applicable for all media.
In other words: if the customer is not involved in the system of consumption decrease, suggested legislative tools fall significantly short of their aims.
Data Transmission and Communication Challenges
Another experience from realized projects is this: information that carries important informational value is not necessarily large in terms of bytes and megabytes. If the frequency is increased in a sensible manner, it is possible to use very slow data channels for their transmissions.
AMM rollouts in Europe revealed problems with the signal coverage of telco operators. It was proved that approximately 15 % of the coverage area is completely without signal, and 20-25 % of area has very unstable signal levels, depended on weather conditions. This means that there is almost 40% of the coverage area permanently, or often, without signal. The reason is simple: money.
You cannot believe the nice maps provided by operators, where ‘coverage information’ is shared. The devil is in the words ‘100 % signal coverage’. Operators forget to add ‘according to license paid’.
Communication Needs for Smart Grids and Cities
From an economic point of view, in areas with lower population density, it is not feasible to build this infrastructure and the operator is not obliged to cover all areas. He only has to cover the area defined in his license.
We can say that concepts like smart grid, and smart city are concentrating on media and energy consumption related to human activities. While the size of the information received is not large from the data point of view, in order to transfer it, we need robust, widely deployed communication channels.
It is not necessary to have a high-speed communications channel, but it must be available for every humanactivity whose impacts we want to decrease.
The Role of Smart E-Meters
Rollouts realized due to EU Directive 27/2013 included aerial deployment of smart e-meters (with two-sided PLC communication) at households. At this point, the e-meter becomes the houses switchboard and concentrates measured information from media used during activities, and, subsequently (together with other data about power values), delivers them into superior systems.
One of the main advantages of this system is the fact that it is already partly built. By the end of 2020 it should be completely finished. It is not thus necessary to invest money into communication channel building. Due to the influence of renewables, requests for e-meters to operate as a household switchboard are already happening.
Case Study: Czech Republic Smart Meter Project
Consider a real case from the Czech Republic. Within a project of 50,000 measuring points, the system was built with each residential e-meter connected with a receiver that read outputs from sensors in the house (water, heat and gas) via Wireless M-Bus (see figure 1).
This solution is very stable from a long-term point of view, and has had no negative impact on data transferred from the e-meter. Furthermore, it has clearly shown that it is not necessary to build another data channel solely for the purpose of transmitting this information.
The bonus: despite the fact that this was a pilot solution, it made economic sense right from the start.
Conclusion: An unexpected bonus?
Despite the challenges of infrastructure, consumer behavior, and communication networks, the implementation of smart grids and smart cities remains a crucial step toward reducing carbon footprints and optimizing resource consumption.
Real-world projects, such as the Czech Republic’s smart meter initiative, demonstrate that effective solutions can be both technically feasible and economically viable. With continued advancements in communication technologies and regulatory support, the vision of fully integrated smart cities and smart grids can become a reality.