Harnessing the power of the grid

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  • By Amy Gillentine
  • Research Office
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Academy experts say Smart Grids could shave nearly 20 percent off power companies' peak load as they gain popularity.

The Smart Grid Energy Research Group at the U.S. Air Force Academy is working to make smart grids impervious to cyber-attacks while maintaining their power supply during bad weather.

Electric power officials monitor and adjust smart grids using computer algorithms to screen weather patterns and forecast significant problems created when utilities move toward using renewable energies like solar or wind, said Lt. Col. Andrew Laffely, an assistant professor with the Electrical and Computer Science Department here.

"Utility companies still have to keep their coal-fired power plants running all the time or else they risk using significant parts of the power when the weather changes," he said. "That power can go down in a matter of seconds."

Smart grids are used in tandem with mircrogrids, islands of independent electric grids not part of the North American electric grid.

"The North American electric grid is one giant grid," Laffely said. "It's arguably the largest manmade machine in the world. And that can be good, because you can share efficiencies and keep costs low. But it can be bad, because it's vulnerable to attack and to natural disasters."

Most of India recently went without electricity for days because of a problem with one of their power grid switches, Laffely said.

"We need these islands that can power themselves during peak demand," he said. "What we worked on this semester was seeing if we could, by using off-the-shelf smart grid designs, make them more secure to cyber-attack or hackers."

The project aids cadets because they work in multi-disciplinary teams, Laffely said.
"That can only help them as they move forward in their careers," he said. "We have a team working on the project; they're computer engineers, management majors, electrical engineers. We have a role for just about anyone who's interested."

Class of 2014 graduate 2nd Lt. Ryan Lamo said his role working on the system earlier this year was monitoring the green generator's solar powered batteries and determining how long they can keep their charge.

Smart Grid research combines Laffely's passion for alternative energy use with the needs of the Air Force and next year, cadets will work on a deployable smart grid, one using alternative energy at forward operating bases, he said.

"There are a lot of possibilities," Laffely said. "Right now, the cost of energy in a combat zone is 10 to 20 times that in the United States. So, if we can find a way to use smart grids and alternative energy to power bases in remote locations, then we can save money for the Air Force. And if we aren't running generators 24-7, that saves lives. We won't need the trucks going back and forth with fuel."

He admits achieving this goal is years in the future.

"We're still seven, eight, nine years away," Laffely said. "Smart grids aren't cheap to install and there's so much aging infrastructure. It's going to take some time to catch on."

Maj. Bryan Cooper, former Electrical and Computer Engineering Department instructor, and a group of cadets are working on the microgrids, smaller grids that would allow the Academy to operate independently of the major power grid in Colorado Springs by 2040.

This year, cadets created a design for microgrids to determine what the power sources will look like and where they'll be located. The project won an award from the Energy Department and the cadet designed microgrid won a Boeing service academy competition in May, beating out designs by the U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Naval Academy.

The Academy is the perfect place to try out the smart grid and microgrid research because it's the testing ground for the Air Force's Net Zero project; having the Academy produce its own electricity falls within that goal, Cooper said.

"The grid today isn't based off a grand master plan," he said. "It was just pieced together as it grew to meet the needs, to create efficiencies. But there are issues -- there are introduced vulnerabilities that aren't present in a small grid."

The microgrid isn't a new concept, but there has been increased emphasis on smaller grids due to the threat of terrorism and natural disasters.

"They've gained ground in recent years," Cooper said. "It's one reason Boeing wanted to have the service academy competition. They wanted to see what cadets could design."

Both projects are scheduled to continue until the fall but in the meantime, all Academy staff have to do to see solar panels in action is take a look at Fairchild Hall, Laffely said.

"We put the solar panels on the roof of Fairchild and that power comes straight to this lab," he said. "It's a great way to take research to the next level as we learn how to better monitor the solar panels and the smart grids."