SmartGridLab: A Laboratory-Based Smart Grid Testbed

Abstract

The evolution of traditional electricity grid into a state-of-the-art Smart Grid will need innovation in a number of dimensions: seamless integration of renewable energy sources, management of intermittent power supplies, realtime demand response, energy pricing strategy etc. The grid configuration will change from the central broadcasting network into a more distributed and dynamic network with two-way energy transmission. Information network is another necessary component that will be built on the power grid, which will measure the status of the whole power grid and control the energy flow. In this perspective of unsolved problems, we have designed SmartGridLab, an efficient Smart Grid testbed to help the research community analyze their designs and protocols in lab environment. This will foster the Smart Grid researchers to develop, analyze and compare different designs conveniently and efficiently. Our designed testbed consists of following major components: Intelligent Power Switch, power supply (main supply and renewable energy supply), energy demander (e.g. appliance), and an information network containing Power Meter. We have validated the usage of our designed testbed for greater research problems in Smart Grid.