Making the Grid “Smarter”: Technology and Behavior Modification

Brian HardisonPi Beta Phi Elementary School

AbstractFrom my time at CURENT, my goal was to create lessons that encompass the 7/8th grade science standards. My main focus was renewable and nonrenewable energies, electricity production, transmission, distribution, and behavior modifications. My students will be expected to construct solar vehicles and also a small scale grid (neighborhood) and discuss different topics such as; advantages and disadvantages to renewable and nonrenewable resources, simple voltage conversions from the transmission pole to the home, impact of EV’s on neighborhood, and changes in behavior to alleviate stress on the grid. The end result is for my students to understand the implications of a “smarter” grid for our future.

Interesting “nuggets” of knowledge•Electric cars are 100% efficient vs. 34% efficient for combustion engine

•Each full charge of an EV costs about $2.30

•There are currently .65% EV’s on the road in the U.S.

•Using a Level 3 charger(400 volt) is equivalent to adding an extra house to the grid

•The grid is 99.97% reliable

•Presently the grid can handle a 30% increase in electric cars

•Outages and power issues cost 150 billion each year in the U.S.

•If the grid was 5% more efficient, it would be like eliminating 53 million combustion engines and their emissions from the environment

•One hour of interrupted cell phone communication on the grid costs $41,000

Small Grid Construction

Solar Energy Production-Less Populated Areas

Wind Energy Production-Mainly Coastal Areas/Midwest

Guiding Research Questions For My Students1. How do we get solar/wind energy from sparsely populated areas to densely populated areas?

2. If the cost of each full charge of an EV is $2.40, will you save in your monthly budget (what are your gas expenses)?

3. After using the Kill-A-Watt device, are you more conscious of your energy consumption?

4. If 2 homes are already on a “2 home transformer” and one family is using a Level 3 charger to charge their EV, what could happen?

5. Are people more likely to charge their car at night or procrastinate and do it when they get to work during peak hours?

6. How can modifications in our behavior/habits make the grid “smarter”?

7. What are some of the issues with solar/wind energy?

8. What is the conversion from 13,000 volts on the transmission lines to 220 in your homes?

AcknowledgementsDr. Chien-fei-Chen, Dr. Daniel Costinett, Erin Wills, Dr. Xiaojing Xu, Quinran Hu

Acknowledgements:This work was supported primarily by the Engineering Research Center Program of the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy under NSF Award Number

EEC-1041877 and the CURENT Industry Partnership Program.

Reference: http://www.npr.org/news/graphics/2009/apr/electric-grid/gridmap.swf

Led lights-200 Wind generator -3Wind hubs- 3 Solar race kits- 20 Multimeters-3Red and black wire-2

Terminal Connectors - 2 Card board boxes-18Balsa Wood-36 PVC piping- 10’ x 1.25-2Dowel rods- 48’-9General Supplies (Tape, Glue, etc..)