Most of the technology needed to build a smart grid already exists in the Internet technology and telecommunications industries, but much more sophisticated tinkering remains to make those gadgets and systems work with old electrical infrastructure and new utility applications.
Some private companies and small demonstration projects have already created their own customized smart grid solutions, but no national standards yet exist that would make the technology easy to adopt on a large scale, said Linda Rankin, a smart grid consultant and former principal engineer at Intel.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has a federal mandate to develop initial standards for smart grid technology by this fall. In the meantime, companies and utilities will test the technology, which is one reason the U.S. Department of Energy will dole out $615 million in matching funds for smart grid demonstration projects under the recovery act. Applications for funding are due Aug. 26.
One demonstration project proposal being developed by the Bonneville Power Administration could provide a multimillion-dollar opportunity for local companies to kick-start their smart grid efforts. Sharp and BPL Global are among the dozens of high-tech companies in the Portland-Vancouver metro region that have submitted proposals to participate in a BPA project.
Participation would allow Sharp to test its prototype devices without a large, expensive rollout, said Mansfield. And if the project is successful, the company will gain a stronger foothold in the national market, he said.
Libby Tucker: libby.tucker@columbian.com or 360-735-4553.
-----
To see more of The Columbian, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.columbian.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
NASDAQ-NMS:INTC,
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
