Companies face falling revenues, rising infrastructure costs, and increasing risk of outages caused by inconsistent energy production from renewable sources. Less money is coming in as more people and organizations take steps to curb their energy use. Utilities are paying more to maintain and build infrastructure due to increasing complexity, resulting from the rising number of intermittent and variable renewable energy sources connected in the distribution grid. 

As PV power plants continue to increase, centralized management and information integration become thorny problems.Enterprise PV systems mainly supply power for their own needs and may sell excess power to the power company whereas Photovoltaic (PV) power plants specialize in solar energy collection and then feeding the energy into the grid.To transmit the data of the PV systems wired or wireless networks can be used. However, wireless networks have the advantage of flexibility and are the best choice for those who want quick deployment.Taking into account the requirements of wider coverage and long-distance transmission, the existing fiber-optic networks had many shortcomings ie high cost, complicated wiring and long construction period, and it may also have been necessary to excavate walls, drill holes, embed wires, or even destroy the original building structure. After evaluation, the Juli Group decided to adopt an easy installation and easy expansion wireless network system for early completion of this project.

A key aspect of Mobisol’s business model is ensuring that the agreed installments are paid on time. Therefore, the solar home systems needed to be fitted with SIM cards that cannot be removed without destroying the devices. If payments are not made the system can be switched off remotely. Mobisol was looking for a mobile partner that was able to provide SIMs and mobile coverage in the across the east African countries in which it operates.

Smart energy and next generation buildings are one of FabCity’s key topics and the Zenodys team was invited there to provide a microgrid demand response power management solution.Next generation buildings are built with a purpose to be energy sustainable and include power-generation capabilities, windmills, solar panels, self-sufficient units, etc. These buildings can generate their own power. However, when connected to a microgrid, other opportunities open up: power exchange among buildings, common storage facility, smart power management, etc. This will become an important part of the future smart cities.Microgrids are a promising concept and are expected to become one of the main energy sources in the future. In order to function as intended, microgrids must be efficiently managed with smart demand response algorithms.The aim of a microgrid is to be as self-sufficient as possible. However, this is not always the case. When the sun shines and there is plenty of wind, the participants generate their own power. But on cloudy or windless days green energy is not always available. To compensate for this, a microgrid also features a battery that stores surplus energy and provides backup power when needed.

Traditional central-station power grids operate on 15-minute output update cycles that force operators to over-generate power to compensate for potential blackouts or unexpected new power demands on the grid. Additionally, they cannot efficiently utilize the distributed, dynamic generation of renewable power sources such as solar panels or wind turbines.

Across the globe, governments and energy suppliers are increasingly recognising the advantages of renewable and smart energy systems. However, according to the Korea Energy Agency, as of May 2017, only 6.61% of South Korea’s electricity is generated by renewable energy sources. 6.61% South Korea’s electricty generated by renewable sources Korea Energy Agency, May 2017 Compounding this issue was Korea’s tightly controlled energy market. Until 2015, the generation and supply of Korea’s energy was the exclusive responsibility of KEPCO, Korea’s dedicated utility company. Recognising the need for stimulation in this sector, the government introduced phased liberalization of the country’s energy market, which eventually enabled competitors to enter the market. At the same time, the government-sponsored R&D project ‘Korea Micro Energy Grid’ was launched, allowing KT to develop

Standardize and showcase a fully operational smart grid for widespread deployment of proven innovative solutions and provide the basis for:• New business models for prosumer• Investment strategies for the French power system to incorporate the latest technological innovations• Transition scenarios to facilitate the evolution of the current network towards a smart grid system• Implementation of findings from multidisciplinary research on optimal technological and economic choices

New Sun Road is a registered California Benefit Corporation committed to implementing solutions to climate change and global energy poverty. This group of talented engineers is partnering with Ugandan green energy startup GRS Commodities to deliver reliable and clean power to the Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria, Uganda. The goal of the pilot system is to provide affordable and reliable solar powered electricity to businesses on Kitobo Island.Although no small feat, deploying the solar power grids is likely the simplest part of the solution. Solar was the obvious choice for the power source because it is economical and relatively simple to deploy.The primary difficulty lies in managing the energy grid and ensuring proper maintenance without having to be on-site at every location. The capability to remotely monitor the grid will enable New Sun Road to expand their service across the Ssese Islands in a more efficient manner since each grid can be monitored from one central location. But, in remote areas, where communication options are limited, how do you remotely monitor and manage a smart solar power grid?Without a local ISP, this can be a complex challenge, so the team decided to enable remote connectivity over the global cellular network.In addition to communication challenges, another major difficulty New Sun Road had to overcome was finding a device capable of withstanding the high temperatures within their network hubs. The device would be residing within a NEMA enclosure in direct sunlight, so the capability to function under extremely high temperatures was a must.

ELM Energy wanted to make independent energy sources — including solar panels and turbines powered by wind and water — an affordable and reliable option for more customers.

There are many sources of electricity available nowadays. In addition to a number of Utility distributors, there is also sun, wind, various co-generation options, etc. Power can also be stored in batteries, facilities or cars. However each of those sources has it’s specifics – the sun doesn’t always shine and wind doesn’t always blow, a battery can get empty… Utility grid is always available, however, power from the grid may be expensive. The challenge that we face next is – how to use those power sources to get the most of them and to justify the investment.

The next generation of energy grids will need to adopt new approaches for the integration of distributed grid-edge devices and equipment from many different manufacturers to realize operational benefits. Existing systems that were designed to support a small number of large generation facilities will be faced with the need to integrate an increasing number of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) such as wind, solar and electricity storage into existing power generation and distribution networks.