Household Power System
Household power comes through a set of wires that run past your home. It starts at a large utility pole where the voltage is lowered to safe household current by a transformer. This high-transmission voltage travels on distribution lines to your neighborhood, where smaller transformers (like those green boxes) lower the voltage again for your own use.
Backup Power Systems
A backup power system provides a steady flow of electricity during a power outage. These systems can be a traditional fossil fuel generator that automatically starts when needed, or a battery backup system such as Electriq’s PowerPod. These types of battery-based power systems typically have a higher upfront cost but may save on long-term energy bills.
For businesses that depend on a continuous flow of electricity, like data centers or financial institutions, onsite backup power is essential to prevent economic losses and societal hardships during power outages. These types of business are often legally required to have standby power installed.
In addition to helping businesses avoid financial loss, backup power systems can help prevent food and other supplies from spoilage in commercial settings during an outage. Many buildings that rely on water booster pumps, for example, require standby power to ensure the facility can continue to service upper floors with clean, drinkable water.
For homeowners, backup power systems can provide peace of mind by keeping the lights on and electronics working during Household Power System a outage. These types of systems can also help reduce costs by reducing utility energy consumption during the day, when demand is highest. The most sophisticated backup power systems will be smart and capable of integrating with solar energy to provide renewable, free power during daylight hours.
Battery Storage Systems
Home battery storage systems are becoming more and more popular for homeowners. They offer backup power in case of a grid outage and can help lower energy bills. They work by converting electricity into chemical energy and back again. Depending on the type of battery, they may use sodium-sulfur, metal air, lithium ion, or lead-acid technology.
Unlike conventional batteries, they operate on Direct Current (DC) rather than Alternating Current (AC). That means that they can store DC energy from solar panels or from the grid and deliver it to homes and businesses without needing an inverter. The systems can also perform tasks like peak shaving and load shifting.
There are currently several large-scale battery storage systems operating in the U.S. energy grid, with PJM holding the most capacity at 708 MW at the end of 2017. Most of the large-scale batteries are operated by organizations charged with balancing the electricity grid such as Independent System Operators or Regional Transmission Organizations.
Several utilities recognize that energy storage can create benefits for both the grid and their customers, especially those with rooftop solar. For example, Green Mountain Power in Vermont started one of the first home battery storage programs five years ago and now has more than 5,000 batteries installed using Tesla’s Powerwall system. The program offers incentives to participants and helps GMP study how these batteries can benefit the grid.
Energy Management Systems
Home energy management systems (EMS) help households to save on electricity costs by accumulating information on household power consumption patterns and suggesting ways to cut down on electricity usage. They use computer programs based on artificial intelligence to identify energy-wasting behaviour and automate the most relevant actions.
They also provide real-time data on household energy consumption and generation, which helps to maintain a balance in the power grid and allows utilities to offer tailored demand-response programs and adjust pricing. This helps to prevent imbalances in the energy distribution system and avoids costly repairs and outages due to overloading and overheating.
For homes with solar panels, an energy management system can be used to decide whether or not to self-consume the generated electricity or maximise its export to the grid, depending on the household’s circumstances and incentives. They can also incorporate a load management function to ensure that an appropriate amount of energy is available for charging electric vehicles without affecting the household’s normal use of electricity.
The foresee software automatically coordinates the operation of connected appliances and rooftop solar, satisfying homeowner values and preferences along with utility grid needs. It can also manage a combination of backup power sources and battery storage systems to optimise savings. Moreover, it has an improved surge power capacity to meet the requirements of Household Power System whole-home backup applications, allowing it to be built easily into any home and providing reliable, scalable energy security.
Smart Meters
A smart meter replaces your old electro-mechanical meter with an electronic device that monitors electricity consumption and transmits that data wirelessly to your energy supplier. They allow for more granular information about your energy usage, which is helpful in identifying power-hungry appliances and pointing towards ways to conserve. They also help to reduce costs by eliminating estimated billing and allowing for remote reading of meters, reducing the need for field service crews to visit homes.
Many smart meters are also able to communicate with programmable devices in your home, such as thermostats and air conditioners. They can control these appliances to help manage peak power demand. They can also connect to a battery storage system to store power for use when the grid goes down.
The technology behind smart meters uses radio waves and micro-waves, also known as radio frequency (RF) energy. These frequencies are the same kind of energy that is emitted from all kinds of common household gadgets, like microwave ovens and cell phones. However, they have been adapted to make sure that they are safe for residential use.
While there have been some incidents of smart meters catching fire, this is usually the result of a faulty meter base that has been jarred during the installation process. In some cases, this has been caused by utility workers removing older meters, which can cause the meter base to overheat.
