2016年CRI Smart Grid: A New Revolution for Energy Consumption

 

Our current electronic grid¹ was conceived more than 100 years ago, when electricity needs were simple.

Utilities delivered energy to the consumers' home, where demand was limited to maybe a few light bulbs and possibly a radio.

This limited beginning has made it difficult for the grid to respond to the ever-changing and rising energy demands of the 21 century.

Wang Xiangdong, CEO of the Yingli Green Energy Group, says the smart grid network enables new technology and tools to work together, making all consumers into power generators².

"The smart grid enables you to generate electricity at home, individuals are all output sources, and it should be able to let you profit from selling the energy you generated."

In short, the smart grid introduces a two-way dialogue where electricity and information can be exchanged between the utility and consumers.

Just imagine, if your house is in a windy location, and you have a fan motor, you can save all your spare electricity. If you're connected to the smart grid, then you can sell it even to people from afar at a higher price when needed.

Argonne National Laboratory Director Peter Littlewood explains how this works.

"You as a house holder³, will then, have a decision. Do I buy power from the grid? Or do I decide to sell it back. And you might price the electricity different time depending on the demand, and you can go into banking⁴, and start selling your electrons back to your neighbor."

The smart grid also aims to develop a network of communications, controls, and new technologies and tools working together to make the grid more efficient and more reliable.

Littlewood says in the future, the grid should be able to analyze⁵ your energy consuming patterns, and link all electronic devices at your home to serve you as an assistant.

"I might like to be able to, when I go out, ask my refrigerator, do I have enough food in the fridge to eat tonight? And have it tell me, so then I know to go to the super market on my way home to get something there. I predict people would use technology in that kind of way"

When it comes to the security issue of the smart grid, Littlewood says it is not a big problem for modern technology.

"Then you need to make sure that there are secured protocols⁶ which to use on that. Now actually, that's not very difficult. The main reason that people actually break into computers, by the way, is usually because somebody forget to set the password. So it's not in fact difficult to construct systems which would be quite secure, but what make it not secure is actually the facts the people are operating them."

1 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

2 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

4 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

5 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

6 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网