Smart Green Grid Software Meets the Not-So-Smart Modern Electric Grid (accounting jobs)
No commentsBy gary Patterson
The green movement is creating new marketplace opportunities as a result of developing new green technology. One technology is smart grid software. Businesses, traditional and emerging, will soon be affected by how this technology will be deployed and adopted as they move into some version of peak load or variable pricing.
The modern electric grid is hardly modern; it has barely changed in seventy-five years. Most electric grid systems today consist of transmission and distribution networks that connect power plants to end users. These systems rely on centralized power generation and feature bottlenecks and choke points where damage to the infrastructure can disrupt service to thousands of customers if not more. Todays electric grids are poorly equipped to handle the demands of the post-modern economy, which due to the ever increasing use of digital devices requires higher load demands and uninterruptible power.
Part of the problem is information–information in current power systems flows only one way, from consumers to the power utilities. The utilities know what the power loads are and where they are, but they struggle to meet power spikes with marginal success. Consumers have no idea (besides learning about it on the nightly news report) what the load demands on the power grid are and thus are unable to make usage decisions based on that information.
The other part of the problem is logistical: Current power systems rely on centralized generating stations that send power over transmission networks to several distribution substations, which then send power over distribution networks to end users. To meet increased peak demand in local areas excess, generators must be kept on standby so they can be brought online as needed. Power, for the most part, cannot be routed from another area to help meet the demand. Since as much as 10% of total power capacity is needed as little as 1% of the time, this means that a large number of small local emergency generators are needed to meet rapidly changing demand (as larger generators take too long to startup).
Smart grid systems are an attempt to address the shortcomings of the current electric grid by changing the flow of information and logistics. The new grid systems use internet connections between power stations, power meters, and appliances ultimately drawing power to make the flow of information about the state of the grid a two-way process between utilities and consumers. This enables consumers to make better decisions about their power usage; which they can even do automatically via the smart power meters.
Smart grid systems change the logistical nature of the grid from the centralized transmission and distribution system to a decentralized network model where excess power can be transmitted from one area to another as needed. Even better is the ability to use energy storage devices in households (such as plug-in hybrids) and power generating devices such as residential solar panels to supply energy back to the grid during hours of peak demand.
The goal of the smart grid system is to increase the reliability and efficiency of the power transmission systems on two fronts: (1) It decentralizes power generation with households that are both clients and suppliers; (2) It improves power consumption. Consumers are now in the driver seat and are better able make more precise decisions about how they consume power.
Test programs of smart grids have been steadily increasing over the last few years. Enel S.p.A. of Italy built a smart grid serving 27 million Italians in 2005. Essentially Enel invented the concept by installing smart meters that enabled two-way communication between the utility and energy consumers. Austin Energy, a Texas power utility, has been working on a similar initiative to replace all its power meters with smart meters by December 2008.
The GridWise Olympic Peninsula project, a study conducted by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, equipped homeowners with digital thermostats and computer controllers on their water heaters and clothes dryers. Participant homeowners were then able to set performance preferences of these devices according to their own preferences. The average household in the study saved over 10% on its yearlong electricity usage. A subset of the program used price-sensitive settings with the price of electricity varying as a function of power load on the grid and the performance of the appliances being set to respond to the price of electricity–these customers saved even more.
For businesses looking to leverage future developments in smart grid technology, it would be worthwhile to review all the power uses in their companies. Gaining an understanding of what power usage can be time shifted as well as coming to an understanding of inventory opportunities to sell power back to the grid will help businesses position themselves to take advantage of green grid technology to lower costs and even gain new revenue streams.
Given that the growing energy crisis is having a dramatic effect on the global economy, there is an urgency to begin planning NOW to help protect your business from rising energy costs.
Bottom line? - Apply this information to improve your profitability, reengineer business models, and strengthen or gain competitive advantage in the marketplace. And apply the free Fiscal Test at http://fiscaldoctor.com/fiscaltest.html.
From Gary W Patterson, www.FiscalDoctor.com Copyright 2008
NetworkAgenda more than a useful tool
By christ martin
”Running a business isn’t as easy as it used to be back in the dark ages, before the advent of the computer and the Internet. Now that NetworkAgenda has rolled out its online suite of virtual office tools, you’ve probably arrived at the conclusion that running a business in the old days was considerably more difficult.
Before NetworkAgenda developed an entire suite of online office tools for one low monthly subscription price, running a business effectively required an entire room full of support staff to handle a variety of tasks, such as payroll, scheduling, filing, as well as project management, and other multiple details.
Today, by simply paying one low monthly price it’s possible for you to handle all of the following tasks on your desktop and the Internet:
1)- timeclock
2)- Project manager
3)- contact manager
4)- Web calendar
5)- conference room
6)- data storage
Life isn’t really all that much easier since the advent of Network Agenda’s suite of tools. You still have to manually program your VCR, and your children are still required to learn how to tie their shoes. Business however, is another story. NetworkAgenda has developed so many useful and practical tools that your business could almost run without you.
So grab your golf clubs, and log on to www.networkagenda.com and put Network Agenda to work helping you to run your business.”
NetworkAgenda is striving to help you to virtually run your business, while you concentrate on the more critical elements necessary to the success of your organization. Find more information on NetworkAgenda here.
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Choosing the Type of Business to Start
By Kelly Church
At some point in the life of almost every person, the typical nine-to-five, dead end job becomes tedious and undesirable. The difference between those who continue to be miserable working for someone else and the motivated person that gets out there to start a business of his or her own is that the aforementioned motivated person seizes opportunity and moves from the shadow of someone else into a position where he can make his own shadow. If you have taken the first step of deciding to make your living off of a business that you have started on your own, that is farther than many people get. On the other hand, once you have made that most important first step into the unknown, the first thing you must do in order to make a success of your own company is to choose what type of service or product you will offer. Deciding the type of business you will run includes looking at three specific things: The money you have available for start up, your idea, and the confidence you have in yourself to get the job done.
The first thing you will have to look at when choosing what type of business you will begin is the amount of money you have to start with. If you are looking at miniscule amounts, you may need to choose something small that will cost a little but make a lot. If you do not wish to start small, there are several ways you can acquire money for your endeavor, including acquiring a professional loan from someone you know or a financial institution. The only limit to the amount of great things you can do with your own company is the limit of capital you have to spend investing in that company.
Another thing that will determine what type of company you are going to start is what your idea for the business is. There are ways to determine the type of things you will do with your venture. For example, is your business going to offer some sort of product or service to the market? If so, how do you plan to market that business or service? Answering these questions will determine what type of industry you will find yourself starting in.
Finally, the last thing that your new business is going to depend on is the confidence you have in yourself to pull it off. You can have the greatest idea or product, but without belief in yourself and your abilities, it is very hard to get anywhere. Believing in the product or service you have decided to base your company on is also a requirement in order to form a successful reputation.
With all of the financial problems going on in this country today, there are very few people who get rich or even wealthy off of working for someone else. Before you step out on a limb and take that leap toward your own business, however, you should think about what type of business you are going to get into. The way to discover the type of thing you want to do is to look at the money you have to spend, the business idea you have, and the confidence you have in yourself to make a success of any endeavor.
One business opportunity that provides a low cost start up method into the restaurant business is mobile food service. The authors website lists many used concession trailers for sale and tips on running a successful mobile concession business.
Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 5:30 pm and is filed under business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
