EE 877B, Smart Grid Technologies

Spring 2012


Coordinator: V. Aravinthan
Instructors: V. Aravinthan, V. Namboodiri, W. Jewell and E. Sawan
Location: WH 310
Time: MW 12:30 – 1:45 pm

Prerequisites: Students should have taken any two classes from
1. EE 598 (Electrical Power Systems Analysis)
2. EE 684 (Introduction to Control System Concepts)
3. CS 736 (Data Communication Networks)

Expected Audience: This is designed for MS (options: project or thesis) and Ph.D. students following areas:

  1. Power Systems (Working on grid automation or integration of renewables or impacts of EVs)
  2. Networking (Interested in a inter disciplinary career in power systems/networking)
  3. Control Systems: (Interested in developing control solutions for power system applications)

Description: According the US Department of Energy “ Smart grid generally refers to a class of technology people are using to bring utility electricity delivery into 21st century using computer based remote control and automation” . This initiative not only requires the power engineers to have a better understanding of the auxiliary fields like signal processing, controls, information technology and communication, but also needs experts in the auxiliary fields to understand the basic operations of power systems.
To provide the students with this knowledge, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science is offering a cross-disciplinary course in Spring 2012. This course would be related to transmission and distribution level requirements for the smart grid initiative. Topics include

Section 1: Power Systems by Dr. V. Aravinthan

  • Introduction to power systems
  • Power system transients and stability
  • Outage management
  • Signal processing in power systems (estimation theory)
  • Smart sensors / synchrophasors / telemetry
  • System performance / reliability

Section 2: Networking by Dr. Namboodiri

  • Introduction to data communication
  • Communication requirements for smart grids
  • Existing smart grid communication standards
  • Hybrid communication systems for smart grids
  • Advanced Metering Infrastructure
  • Cyber security
  • Network protocol development and performance evaluation for smart grids

Section 3: Environmental and Economic Issues by Dr. Jewell

  • Distributed energy sources / microgrids / demand response
  • Environmental impacts / Economics of alternative fuels

Section 4: Controls (Application based) by Dr. Sawan

  • Decentralized / distributed control
  • Multi objective optimization
  • Real time control

General Comments: Course grading will be based on 60% projects, 20% exam and 20 % class assignments. The major project would require students groups with two members. A student majoring in power systems would be advised to partner with a student from auxiliary field and vice versa as the major project would require cross disciplinary expertise.

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