Driving innovation through smart grid investment

Energy generation using renewable resources is the latest, and perhaps one of the most important innovations in the 21st century. As utility firms shift away from traditional resources, they need to leverage solar, wind and other renewable solutions to appease an increasingly environmentally-minded customer base, as well as keep up with industry trends. In order to maintain the quality of service and optimize these efforts though, utilities will need to consider investing in smart grid strategies in order to properly integrate and optimize renewable resources in their field.

According to Greentech Media, renewable integration is a matter of economic survival as well. Germany's largest energy provided decided to make the switch to renewable sources of power in 2013, and started its investments with smart grid solutions in order to prepare its infrastructure for the changes.

"As we talk with market experts across utilities, technology vendors, regulators and industry organizations, this topic, though still somewhat nebulously defined, has also been evolving into a priority for them and their respective businesses," noted Rick Thompson, president and co-founder of Greentech Media. "The grid edge represents a complex, yet exciting road ahead."

These issues go beyond consumer desire for greener energy, but supporting the other trends in green and utility technology - electric vehicles, microgrids and more. The key is to enable support of many trends and strategies by optimizing the grid. Smart grid improvements provide this support.

For any utility looking to optimize its approach to green technologies, advanced energy use and new innovations in general, it is critical to invest in serial to Ethernet converters, terminal servers and the other hardware essential for grid integration and optimization. Doing so enables the growth of smart grid capabilities and ensures successful deployment to consumer homes, businesses and the other legacy technology in use at sub stations. Ultimately, optimization comes down to maintaining the quality of operations through technology investments that allow a firm to keep up with trends and demand.

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.