- Image via Wikipedia
America is in the 21st century and it is abundantly clear by looking at the way people communicate and exchange data using fast, technically advanced devices such as computers and smart phones. That data is spread across a data grid via the Internet– the true technical marvel of the past 100 years. As more and more people use the aforementioned devices to send information they will need more and more electricity to keep them powered up. Unfortunately, America’s current electrical grid is something out of the 20th century. But all of that is starting to change under the push of the Department of Energy and an array of multi-billion dollar tech companies to institute an electrical smart grid.
The blueprint of the electrical smart grid is the Internet data grid and is following the transition of communications toward the Internet age. The smart grid will have to employ many of the same characteristics as the Internet data grid like communicating connections; logistics using computing and software technologies to take action; routed networks; and efficient storage capability. Like the Internet, various hardware and software components will have to be incorporated into everything from the smart meters to sensors to power plants, creating a mode of communication between them and even the appliances and devices found in one’s home.
Most importantly, to make the electrical smart grid really work, it must competently emulate the storage ability seen in the Internet data grid. Data is stored across the entire Internet network, instead of creating it from scratch every time, thus enabling it to do what it does. In contrast, the current electrical grid stores very little electricity, if any at all. With the capability to store electrons efficiently, the electrical smart grid will be highly flexible and much more powerful–both figuratively and literally–than its predecessor. In fact, once it undergoes its transformation into a smart grid, it will actually be bigger than the Internet data grid.
