# Argonne and USDOE Help Get The Grid Smart for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles – Argonne

- Link: https://greenlivingguy.com/2011/04/argonne-and-usdoe-help-get-the-grid-smart-for-plug-in-hybrid-electric-vehicles-argonne/
- Published: 2011-04-25T19:58:42-04:00
- Author: greenlivingguy

President Barack Obama has called for one million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles(
PHEVs) to hit the road by 2015. If the demand for PHEVs skyrockets, a flood of new
electric cars could strain America’s power networks to the limit.

That is why the USDOE or the US Department of the Energy is getting this power grid
ready for an upgrade.  Not more power just updating the wiring and technology associated
with those electrons.

_**A multidisciplinary mix of scientists from Argonne National Laboratory is working
to help develop a “smart grid” that will not only adapt in real-time to handle larger
electricity loads, but also operate more cheaply and efficiently than the existing
grid.**_

“The smart grid proposes to reorganize the way power is used in the home and how
it is distributed,” said Ted Bohn, an electrical engineer at Argonne’s [Center for Transportation Research](https://www.anl.gov/es).

_In the home, electric vehicles and all major appliances would be connected to a
central hub that monitors how much electricity they use. The hub in turn would “
talk” to local power suppliers. All of these appliances and the [grid would talk](https://greenlivingguy.com/2012/11/interview-with-ieee-erich-gunther-on-smart-grid-and-why-0630-by-greenlivingguy-blog-talk-radio/)
to each other and could also share power._

As Smart Grid will show there will be the ability for vehicles, appliances and the
grid allows suppliers to track electricity use in real-time and communicate with
each to reduce load.

With that information, more utilities could vary the price of power by time of day
and create incentives for consumers to use electricity at certain times. If power
suppliers are overwhelmed during peak demand, consumers will receive a high price
signal that will encourage them to reduce their consumption until the situation 
eases.

“Say you’re running the air conditioning and charging your car battery at the same
time during a hot afternoon,” Bohn said. “With a smart-grid infrastructure, your
AC and battery charger will automatically dial down their consumption, and then 
run it back up again when prices are lower.”

The smart grid offers more choice to consumers by letting them micro-manage their
energy bills. A consumer concerned about price could set a dishwasher to run when
power is cheapest, usually at night, when demand is lowest. Environmentally conscious
consumers could also choose to pay a clean energy premium for solar and wind power
and thereby promote the use of these renewable energy sources.

  |  Today manufacturers are meeting to agree on a **standard plug** for the home hub, cars and appliances. But it turns out that American manufacturers already agreed on a standardized electric vehicle plug—in 1913! In the early days of cars, electric vehicles seemed a likely competitor for gasoline-powered engines and 30,000 were on the road; thus, the plug seen here—complete with wooden handle._
 
 |

“The smart grid doesn’t propose to revolutionize the way we do power,” Bohn said.“
It’s just about doing the same things more efficiently—smarter.”

Les Poch and Matt Mahalik of Argonne’s Center for Energy, Environmental, and Economic
Systems Analysis (CEEESA) are concerned with the demand on the existing grid as 
more and more electric vehicles hit the road. Poch and Mahalik model the potential
strain on the grid if millions of new electric vehicles were to plug in every night.

Depending on what Americans do with their new cars,[ energy](https://greenlivingguy.com/2022/08/10-largest-wind-project-development-2022/)
suppliers could be overwhelmed—or they could stand to gain a lot,” Poch said.

Electricity suppliers closely monitor regional demand. To prevent shortages, they
must predict how much electricity will be needed at any given time. “Until now, 
the pattern of power use in the U.S. has been relatively stable and predictable 
for the past 30 years,” said Mahalik. “The last major bump was probably the widespread
adoption of air conditioning.”

Now, electric vehicles stand poised to throw off that stable pattern. No one knows
how quickly electric cars will catch on, in what areas they’ll be most popular, 
or when everyone will choose to [plug in their cars](https://greenlivingguy.com/2019/03/resilience-in-action-get-severe-weather-protection-from-closed-cell-spray-foam-insulation/).

Today’s electricity demand follows well defined cycles. It increases during the 
daytime when commuters head to work, as homes and offices turn up the air conditioning
and factories power up the machinery, and falls sharply during nighttime.

Utilities must prepare for that afternoon peak. “The way we build power plants now
is to make sure we have enough to meet the highest demand possible—the maximum amount
of power on the afternoon of the hottest day of the year,” said Vladimir Koritarov,
deputy director of CEEESA. “Then they add some more for backup in an emergency. 
The rest of the year we won’t need nearly so much power, but we have to be prepared
for that one day.”

For this reason, utilities must maintain a large reserve capacity that is unused
for the majority of the year. Koritarov thinks that with the right approach, the
smart grid could work out to everyone’s advantage.

By using incentives to smooth out demand for electricity between day and night, 
a utility can produce power more economically. Also, smart charging of electric 
and hybrid vehicles during the off-peak periods can significantly help with that
goal by filling up “demand valleys.

A significant stumbling block for power distribution is the lack of technology to
store power for extended periods. Stockpiled power from variable resources, such
as solar and wind, could be fed back into the grid at peak times to reduce the strain
on the grid and conventional power plants. A team of Argonne materials scientists,
chemists and engineers – already renowned for their successes in the field of advanced
battery development for vehicles – is working to develop large-scale energy storage
technologies that will capture energy whenever it’s available and store it for use
at a later time.

“The smart grid isn’t a theoretical concept,” said Bohn. “It’s happening now.” Across
the country, aspects of the smart grid are being tested in homes and neighborhoods.
As America moves forward, science and Argonne work to improve the future—for households,
businesses and utilities alike.