The LG Smart Refrigerator. ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
The global expansion of smart grid technology is one of the ways efforts have grown to maximize energy efficiency while cutting waste. Establishing urban smart grids and using the power of solar and wind to integrate with technology have moved projects along that seek to improve utilities. Smart meters — devices that use digital communications to adjust to local energy requirement needs — connect to an electrical supply network. The internet of things plays a role here; smart thermometers, smart refrigerators, and other appliances that are being enhanced with internet connection can connect to local energy grids. Devices such as these, along with connection to the grid, contribute to a framework of utility technologies that aim to improve the ways in which communities use energy. The U.S. is one of the leading countries in smart grid technology, and various projects have launched to expand the use of the smart grid.
VISUAL CONTEXT: SMART GRID STORAGE GROWTH
Source: Alternative Energy Stocks
One such project is the use of drones to inspect power lines, gas lines, help identify power outages, and assist with widespread fires. Greentech Media notes that the main obstacle to utility companies’ regular usage of unmanned aerial vehicles for grid maintenance has been the Federal Aviation Administration’s requirements for flying anything in the public airspace. Recently, San Diego, California’s main utility company San Diego Gas & Electric received approval to test the use of drones to improve grid maintenance and to cut costs.
With projects such as this one afoot, naturally there is an expected boost of the smart grid market. On a global scale, it has been forecasted to increase in value as countries continue to invest in research and technology. Transparency Market Research predicts that the global smart grid market will reach a value of $118.1 billion in 2019, up from its value of $37.7 billion in 2012. It will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18.2% from 2013 to 2019. The report states:
Unbalanced nature of demand of power supplemented by increasing transmission and distribution losses coupled with policy and regulation for smart grid are expected to bolster the demand for the global smart grid market. Additionally, increasing need of reliable, secure, and quality of power supply and the increased efficiency achieved through the grid optimization is anticipated to augment the demand for the global smart grid market.
As this demand for power increases alongside the technological developments of the smart grid, perhaps projects such as drone-based maintenance will grow in popularity.
