Technology Tuesday: Power of Artificial Intelligence in Microgrids

Hello Partners!

Some of my favorite movies of all time are stories about how artificial intelligence (AI) goes wrong.  Movies such as I Robot, The Matrix, Eagle Eye, and The Terminator, in no particular order, are loads of fun to watch.  The central theme in all of them is that technology becomes so advanced that it insists upon thinking for us for the betterment of the world as a whole; the conflict lies in their inadequate and nonhuman moral code.  Fun stuff, right?

When I talk about AI, I can’t help but to think about these types of movies.  However, AI for Microgrids is far from cinema; it is actually an example of AI gone RIGHT!

A microgrid is defined as a “cluster of distributed energy resources and loads that has a clear electrical boundary, acts as a single controllable entity, and can operate on either grid-connected or islanded/isolated modes.”  Since microgrids incorporate renewable energy resources, they are often seen as the critical link in smart grids’ evolution toward decentralization, decarbonization, and digitalization.

How and why you ask?  AI for Microgrids is an excellent way to optimize efficiency.  Experts also believe that the best way to integrate and optimize high concentrations of distributed energy resources and respond to grid events rapidly is to remove human intervention and promote machine learning.  To put this into prospective, think about your NEST thermostat but on a much larger scale.  Your thermostat learns your behaviors and receives information about rate changes and SMART days.  This allows your thermostat to adjust the temperature in your home to the optimal conditions that will allow you to maintain comfort while using the least amount of energy.  AI for microgrids is a very similar concept.  The technology learns patterns of energy usage and weather conditions and can also tap into utility information regarding rates and other changes.  This allows the technology to make decisions about when it is optimal to utilize grid energy or renewable energy to optimize distribution.

Although this all still sounds a bit like a Sci-Fi movie, we can rest assured microgrids won’t be maliciously attacking us anytime soon.

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Sources:
http://www.microgridinnovation.com/EMEA/AI-session.htm
https://www.sas.com/en/whitepapers/mit-data-analytics-ai
https://microgridnews.com/artificial-intelligence-could-ai-catalyze-the-microgrid-market/
https://schooledbyscience.com/how-will-ai-improve-microgrid-energy-efficiency/