Renewable energy

Imagine a time in the not too distant future when your power comes from a seamless mix of renewable energy and traditional sources. It is delivered by a grid that manages thousands of windmills and hundreds of thousands of customers. Computer 1 , the grid is able to manage instant variations in supply and demand and provides a real time power balance. Far more complex than anything 2 existence today, it is called a smart grid. This technology is a new frontier in power supply and seen as a green solution to current outdated management systems. When introduced smart grids will result in energy savings and will allow consumers a choice in their electricity charges and to be able to select the cheapest time 3 . The difficulty for the energy industry is that smart grids 4 in reality and the power companies cannot experiment with existing supplies. Without an actual grid to conduct research on Professor Wu has had to design a simulated laboratory including input from theoretical wind generators and solar panels to feed into a constantly operating system. For an authentic approach researchers built various types of equipment failures 5 the grid to test the system. And it works.