Thursday, August 10, 2006

Energy efficiency: synchronization of suplly-demand-use ( storage)

Pumping power onto the grid from your basement | CNET News.com
: "a storage appliance that works in conjunction with a renewable power source, such as solar electric panels, and a back-up power supply unit. Both refrigerator-size boxes are equipped with Net-connected PCs that collect and analyze data on power usage.

Using the company's software, people can lower their energy consumption by having the system shut off appliances at certain times. Or people can power their homes from their batteries on a schedule that makes best use of changing electricity tariffs, according to GridPoint"
The idea is that the utility will purchase and install the storage units in customers' homes in a certain region. To avoid potentially expensive spikes in demand, such as hot summer days that could cause blackouts, utilities will draw on the stored electricity in the GridPoint systems, Lewis said.

Having the storage units connected directly to the electricity grid allows the utility to pull the electricity from the disparate appliances, much like servers and PCs exchange data over the Internet.


Higher resource prices force the system to improve efficiency. Synchronization of the supply-use patterns is a typical solution to this problem. Local storage is used to decouple the energy grid ( Sources) from points of use ( Tools).

tags: control efficiency synchronization coordination storage

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