3 Standards central to smart grid success

Standards are core to utility growth.

By Donna Donnowitz
March 24, 2014

As utilities explore new opportunities with smart grid deployments, they need to be sure to adhere to industry standards, not only to ensure the successful growth of their infrastructure but to meet compliance regulations as well.

With the industry steadily evolving and new technologies becoming available to boost energy efficiency and support renewable resources, utilities need to keep up in order to maintain progress with consumer expectations. The standards of smart grid technology are in place to support interoperability, integration and interconnection, and firms that adapt to adhere to them will be able to drive success in all related efforts.

IEEE 1547
The family of standards for distributed resources, IEEE 1547, are particularly important for smart grid growth. These regulations help optimize solar integration, providing a key new renewable source of power to a grid while enabling consumers looking to reduce their own reliance on traditional power solutions. This standard promotes the use of photovoltaic devices while ensuring that the provider is able to leverage these solutions as well. According to Consulting-Specifying Engineer, this standard may continue to evolve as the technologies in this field do, making it particularly important to pay attention to.

IEEE 2030
IEEE 2030 on the other hand focuses on providing the technological "roadmap" to functional interfaces, specifically when it comes to integration of EPS, communications and data exchange systems across the smart grid, the news source reported. This standard, as well as adequate terminal servers and serial to Ethernet converters, is an essential component that supports the strength of a smart grid and its ability to pass its advantages on to consumers.

UL 1741
Another standard worth pointing out is UL 1741, which helps determine inverters, converters, controllers and the interconnection systems that drive grid compatibility with IT systems and alternative energy sources. This standard often evolves in conjunction with IEEE 1547, making the anticipated update of the latter likely to have an impact on the future changes of UL 1741.

Standards evolve, but by keeping an eye on the important ones, utilities can continue to optimize their smart grid efforts and deliver quality energy solutions to consumers.

Perle offers a range of cost effective serial-to-Ethernet converters to help meet NERC-CIP compliance for the protection of critical cyberassets in substations. The IOLAN SDS HV/LDC Terminal Server is designed to meet harsh environments associated with Power Substations with attributes such as support for substation AC and DC voltage ranges, extended operating temperatures and meeting emission, immunity and safety approvals associated with substation IT equipment.

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