A Smart Grid Is a Clean Grid
The energy sector accounts for more atmospheric CO2 than any other industry and will experience one of the greatest transformations over the next 30 years. The global trends are already evident: cars and heavy industries are switching from fossil fuels to electricity, and electric power generation is transitioning from natural gas and coal to intermittent renewables like solar and wind backed by microgrids and storage.
To achieve a net-zero future, worldwide clean energy investment will need to more than triple to over $4 trillion per year by 2030, with the percentage of electricity generated by solar and wind rising from 10% today to 70% by 20501.
Why Renewables Matter. The energy sector accounts for 76% of global CO2 emissions while electricity and heating alone account for 32%. In advanced economies like the U.S. and Europe, the power industry is also one of the largest consumers of water.2
Computing will play three key roles in the energy transition
1. Increased Efficiency. IoT, AI, and other technologies will boost the overall efficiency of equipment and appliances. While embedded processors have been employed for years, newer technologies for fine-tuning these systems are still relatively new: only 10% of fixed industrial machines installed in 2020 were IoT-enabled.3
2. Dynamic Control. Efficient appliances will be linked through building management systems and smart grids to service providers that unobtrusively balance power loads in real-time to lower costs, eliminate unnecessary consumption, and ensure comfort and security. Decarbonization can't happen without digitization of the grid.
3. Improved Power Supply. Hardware and software can also increase the power output of wind and solar while cutting downtime and cost. Renewable energy will also provide a rich source of data for AI: solar power projects are capable of generating up to 40x more data than fossil fuel plants.
Electrical grids have been called the largest and most sophisticated machines ever devised, daily delivering electricity to millions of customers in real-time across service territories that can span entire countries.
But grids also have their limitations. Utilities, for instance, typically learn about faults and outages the old-fashioned way: by a phone call from a worried customer.
The Symptom Before the Spark
The RAM-1—an intelligent grid sensor being developed in collaboration between Arm software partner Edge Impulse, research institute IRNAS, and equipment manufacturer Izoelektro—seeks to change that. The RAM-1 monitors and analyzes voltage surges and other parameters on live power lines in real-time to warn emergency employees about potential fires or emerging dangers.
Specifically, the device analyzes electrical waveforms on an ongoing basis. If the AI algorithms on the device detect an anomaly, data from the select event is sent to the cloud for further classification. If a problem is indicated, warnings are relayed to control rooms and field crews.
The system can also be used to optimize the distribution of power and reduce losses.
High Intelligence, Low Power
Although the inference engine continuously monitors activity, the RAM-1 uses little power by keeping analysis at the edge. Powered by a Nordic Semiconductor processor based on the Arm Cortex-M33, the system can last 20 years on a single battery. Low power consumption is possible due to the Arm-optimized Edge Impulse machine learning models, which enable energy usage orders of magnitude lower than in standard ML applications.
Over time, the AI analysis that is running on the device results in the longest and most efficient battery life.
The electrical panel—the grey metal box likely in the corner of your garage—has been a fixture in homes for nearly 100 years. It’s getting a makeover.
Span, a startup from Silicon Valley, has developed a smart panel with integrated edge computing capabilities for greater visibility and control over power consumption.
Powered by a quad-core Arm Cortex-A chip, Span’s smart panel lets residents remotely control all lights, outlets, and appliances or develop a long-term, automated savings strategy. It can also inform homeowners through its smartphone app when devices like water heaters or air conditioners show symptoms of pending failure.
More importantly, Span provides a glide path to zero emissions living. The system can manage EV charging to match the power output of a home solar system, sell power from a battery storage system to a local utility so it can avoid turning on a dirty “peaker” plant, or improve resilience by islanding a home during blackouts or natural disasters.
Replacing gas-powered water heaters or stoves with cleaner electrical fixtures also becomes more feasible and economical. Span helps avoid unnecessary and costly home wiring upgrades by intelligently managing the available power from sources like the grid, solar, and batteries.
Green Mountain Power, a Vermont electric utility, is currently collaborating with Span to study how making data more readily available to consumers changes power consumption.
25 million people endured power outages in the U.S. lasting 15 hours on average in 2020. Span's smart panel automatically manages power to keep homes online.
Founded in 2009, Awesense is decarbonizing the grid with data.
It developed a solution—adopted by utilities such as BC Hydro—that combined an Arm-based line sensor and software for detecting faults and electricity theft.
Today, its Digital Energy Platform serves as the data curator for software, hardware, and services targeted at the energy transition. The focus is on the distribution grid: the complex web that links cities and customers to power sources.
The company’s goal is to reduce emissions by 10 million tonnes by 2022 and 100 million by 2025.
“The grid needs data and there’s not a lot of visibility into distribution,” says founder and CEO Mischa Steiner.
The company is collaborating with Doosan GridTech and Washington’s Snohomish Public Utility District to maximize renewables in microgrids and leveraging EVs as a peak power supply.
It is also working with cities and service providers to develop long-range capacity plans for EVs by identifying areas needing upgrades or that have excess capacity.
Other ecosystem partners include Peak Power, which provides energy management services for commercial and industrial buildings, and Rainforest Automation, which has created an edge gateway for controlling pool pumps, water heaters, and other appliances.
Awesense's Digital Energy Platform (left) and the Raptor 3 sensor
