For many years it has been apparent that the national energy grid left a lot to be desired. Government and power companies alike have openly stated the need for modernizing all infrastructure, one of the most important components being the power grid. With the rising cost of electricity and altogether too many issues with reliable transmission of power, experts have been scurrying to find solutions that would modernize utilities without causing major disruptions in services.
Some advances are currently being instituted and others are in prototype. Even so, today’s energy networks are far superior to those in use even a few years ago. Here is some of what we know about how energy networks are modernizing utilities and the benefits for everyone involved.
Technology to Avoid Unnecessary Disruption of Service
In the course of avoiding unnecessary disruption of services caused by outages, it was also realized that the very same technology could reduce costs for the power companies. In turn, this savings ‘should’ trickle down to end users, and that would be all of us. The technology being referred to are called reclosers and it’s what they actually do that is so amazing.
In effect, a recloser is an intelligent switch that communicates with the power lines when a surge or temporary break in connectivity transpires. This is usually due to a surge somewhere in the transmission lines and often is nothing more than that – a surge brought about by such things as lightning. If there is nothing to ‘worry about,’ the recloser will then switch back on, allowing power to be restored past that point. If not, it kicks off again. That will happen as many as three times before the power stays off until a human team is on site to find and correct the problem.
Where Does This Technology Come From?
Whether you are affiliated with a local power company or on the national grid, you may be interested in where this technology comes from. Rather, you may be asking where to buy reclosers that are state of the art and efficient. One company, Southern States, has them available on their website with all the information necessary to see just what kind of equipment they can be connected to and all the necessary specs to ensure you are buying the right reclosers to automate connections on the grid where you are.
It All Boils Down to Automation
In the end, we can thank smart technology for almost every innovation being developed within the past few years. Modernization literally demands automation for several reasons. Not only does it reduce the amount of human interaction necessary in key processes, but it also helps to record data in questionable outcomes to make improvements based on facts in real time.
Any time a process can be automated efficiently with little room for error, human workers can be transitioned onto other tasks. This all works together to improve outcomes while saving money and resources along the way. In short, the most important advance necessary for modernization is automation.
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