Electric grids are the largest technical con-
structions in the world - but years behind
compared with the innovations seen in other
technical fields. According to the US Energy
Information Administration (EIA), energy de-
mand has more than tripled in the last fifty
years, due to the increase both in world popu-
lation and gross product. Continued increases
in energy demand through the next decade
will create severe challenges for a grid infra-
structure that cannot support additional l-
oading without modernization. In addition
complex problems like the reduction of CO2
emissions must be addressed to preserve our
environment.
The power infrastructure in operation today
was designed to provide customers with as
much energy as they could consume, and was
generated from a centralized fossil fuel-burning
plant. However, such antiquated, highly ineffi-
cient infrastructure cannot reliably manage
the loads of today and tomorrow - due in part
to continuing increase in demand for power
year after year - without significant upgrades
taking place. A popular comparison under-
scores the pace of change, or lack thereof, re-
garding the electric grid: if Graham Bell were
somehow transported to the 21st century, he
would not recognize the components of mod-
ern telephony – cell phones, towers, PDAs, etc,
but Thomas Edison, one of the key early ar-
chitects of the grid, would be totally familiar
with the modern grid. Infineon estimates that
to deliver 85W to a typical home load for ap-
pliances and lighting, we need to consume
220W of energy. The vast majority of losses
are thermal losses happening during energy
generation (which cause CO2 emissions), but
also a significant amount of energy is wasted
during transmission and conversion from AC
to DC and vice-versa. Additional losses occur
due to AC/DC and DC/DC conversion in
home equipment. In the end, only 60W on av-
erage reaches the circuits which drive and con-
trol our home goods.
To address global warming and CO2 pollution,
electricity can be generated with nearly no
emissions when using renewable resources
such as solar and wind power. However, inte-
gration of renewable energy sources creates
additional challenges for existing grids. The
main problems to overcome are: 1) energy
generation varies strongly from day to night
and according to weather conditions, causing
high variations of the available energy in the
grid; 2) production typically takes place far
away from the places where energy is consumed,
thus energy needs to be transmitted over long
distances; and 3) the overall paradigm of the
electric grid shifts from a one-way energy flow
(from big energy plants to users) to micro-
grids integrating distributed energy generation
sources (such as solar panels on roofs of hous-
es). To address the problem of fluctuations,
new technologies need to be applied: energy
storage, energy peak leveling and demand
response infrastructure.
It is possible to reduce energy fluctuations by
storing excess energy in batteries and storage
power stations during peak production times.
In times of low power generation, the stored
energy is fed back into the grid. As all the
energy storage process implies AC/DC and
DC/AC conversion, efficient and highly inno-
vative semiconductor solutions such as IGBT,
CoolMOS and silicon-carbide devices are need-
ed to enable design of quasi-lossless converters
with efficiencies exceeding 98%.
In order to avoid energy peaks, the behavior
of energy users must be influenced. Smart me-
ters offer the potential to help control energy
peaks and to balance the smart grid and micro
grids. Two-way information flow via smart
meters allows energy utilities to develop meth-
ods to work with consumers to control equip-
ment use and decrease power consumption to
prevent peaks. Since energy needs to be trans-
ported over long distances, high-voltage DC
transmission is an important tool to reduce
transmission losses and to maximize the ca-
pacity of existing networks. DC current also
makes it more practical to transport energy
Flexible solutions for electric and
flow metering
M
ETERING
By Sergio Rossi and Mohit Berry,
Infineon Technologies
Smart metering is
transforming rapidly from
hype to reality. It is no longer
a question of if but of when
and in what form. With an
eye on market development,
Infineon has strategically
poised itself through its
dedicated smart meter
portfolio to play a key role in
delivering secure, reliable and
technological products for
various market needs.
October 2013
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