Sep 7 2010
ComEd, a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation and an energy delivering company, has announced the setting up of ComEd Smart Grid Innovation Corridor, a large assemblage of Smart Grid pilots. The group of designed projects includes assessing the execution process of residential solar connections, intelligent substation, automation in distribution and charging stations for electric powered vehicles.
The five pilots that are to be broached by the company during the current year include the Photovoltaic Pilot The selection for which will begin during the spring of the year 2011. The project has received a partial funding of $5 million by the U.S. Department of Energy grant. The pilot will check the benefits of household solar power production, hourly pricing signals, feasibility of selling unused power to the grid and the impact of customer load on the ComEd grid. The second one being the Intelligent Substation currently installed at Oak Park which features microprocessor-based controls and advanced digital appliances for automated monitoring and checking to increase the consistency and simplify maintenance. This program will start by December this year. The other is Distribution Automation: This system includes devices and smart switches for automatic restoration of power, self correcting lines to remove line disturbances and lessen the time of power outages. The fourth pilot is Electric Vehicles and Charging Infrastructure: This program planned in collaboration with General Motors, Electric Power Research Institute, Industry groups and City of Chicago will study the electric vehicles of next generation and the smart power charging infrastructure required by them. The last pilot is the Dynamic Voltage Regulation by which the system will encourage the use of Smart Grid Technologies to use more green energy sources and to trim down the extra voltage over the distribution lines to upkeep the high reliability of the lines.
For the purpose of recruiting 100 single-family houses for the PV Pilot program the company has sent invitations to 25,000 families who live within the planned smart grid corridor. The selected house owners will get free rooftop solar panels with installation and will be connected to the web to monitor the power generated and consumed. The company will work in close relationship with University of Illinois and Argonne National Laboratory to analyze various facets of the PV pilot program to understand the percepts of the clients and the overall advantages.