Time To Get Smart…Grid

The idea of building decentralized smart grid’s to distribute power is the talk of the sustainable community currently.  By decentralizing the power grid it reduces the vulnerability of terrorism attacks, reduces rolling blackouts and allows the efficient deployment of renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

A big push behind this will be the economic stimulus plan designed to create new green collar jobs by building green infrastructure. Obama’s proposed $32 million investment into a smart grid will benefit smart meter makers such as General Electric and other fledgling clean-tech startups. The idea of smart grid will soon not only apply to the power grid but also smart highways and smart water pipelines. To make any grid smart will require gathering data from large networks of wireless sensors. Then the data has to be interpreted, sorted and put to use. This will be a big win for companies like Broadcom and IBM that provide wireless devices, server, software and data storage.

Many believe we are on the tipping point of a banner year for smart grid endeavors. The combination of federal funding and tax breaks will allow this technology to be brought to market.