Connected devices are disrupting many industries, and the power utility sector is no exception. Power utility companies currently face four primary challenges driven by the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT).
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Vendors are increasingly connecting machines, controllers, HMIs, and SCADA systems to the cloud, promising enhanced analytics and insights for predictive and preventative maintenance. However, strict quarantine policies for critical assets prevent power companies from fully utilizing these IoT features provided by machine and controller vendors.
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As the cost of solar and wind power microgrids continues to decline, utility companies anticipate a drop in revenue from traditional power generation. To offset this loss, companies must aggressively pursue new revenue streams such as Home Energy Management as a Service, Energy Storage as a Service, and grid services for EV charging and peer-to-peer energy trading between homes, microgrids, and batteries. Facilitating these services requires smart metering, smart grids, and secure transactions enabled by Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) like IOTA. Additionally, utilities are exploring opportunities to provide smart city services to municipal authorities.
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For critical infrastructure such as dams, ICOLD (International Committee of Large Dams) mandates real-time Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) to detect impending dangers like collapses. This early warning system allows for the timely evacuation of people in affected areas.
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A new and emerging revenue area is EV charging in parking facilities. A key question is how IoT can facilitate smart charging and smart parking solutions.
Over the past three years, IoT engineering has undergone massive changes, primarily driven by Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. These tech giants have invested billions of dollars into developing IoT platforms that are easier to manage and more secure. IoT edge computing has also gained significant momentum as the primary method for practical IoT implementation. Furthermore, 5G promises to transform the IoT business landscape, leading to unprecedented research funding. Consequently, it is essential for practicing engineers to understand the IoT platforms developed for major players like AWS, Google, and particularly Microsoft.
However, none of the aforementioned platforms offer a completely exhaustive or comprehensive solution for scalable IoT. Deploying smart metering to millions of homes, for instance, requires additional technologies for securing smart meters, radio networks, IoT management, and various other secured services. The strategy, pricing, and security of any IoT deployment must be optimal and acceptable. Given the breadth of interdisciplinary knowledge required, it is nearly impossible for any single company to assemble a team capable of meeting all these requirements alone.
This course makes a modest attempt to educate key decision-makers, developers, and security experts on the challenges, risks, and practical approaches to deploying IoT for next-generation power utility businesses.
Furthermore, with scalable deployments, managing IoT services for thousands of sensors and connections has emerged as a separate engineering discipline. This area, formerly known as managed IoT services, is experiencing rapid growth because the challenges of scalable IoT are significantly greater than merely building the systems. Key challenges include securing over-the-top firmware/software updates, managing sensor and system calibration, automating connection issue diagnosis, identifying root causes of API failures, and tracking the health of hardware and services in distributed systems.
Course objectives
The main objective of the course is to introduce emerging technological options, platforms, and case studies of IoT implementation in Power Utility Companies, including Smart Metering, Smart Cars, SHM (Structural Health Monitoring), Power Quality Diagnosis, and Smart Contracts. It also provides a basic introduction to all elements of IoT: mechanical components, electronics/sensor platforms, wireless and wireline protocols, mobile-to-electronics integration, mobile-to-enterprise integration, data analytics, and control plane applications.
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IoT technology stacks: Devices, Gateways, Edge, Edge Cloud, Public Cloud, IoT databases, Web & Mobile Applications for IoT, and Centralized vs Decentralized IoT.
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IoT ecosystem for business, third-party device management, and risk management of the entire IoT ecosystem.
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M2M Wireless protocols for IoT: WiFi, SigFox, LORA, LPWAN, Zigbee/Zwave, Bluetooth, ANT+. Guidance on when and where to use each.
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Fundamentals of IoT Gateways: Risks, Management, and Ecosystem.
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Mobile/Desktop/Web apps for registration, data acquisition, and control. Overview of available M2M data acquisition platforms for IoT: AWS IoT, Azure IoT, Google IoT.
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Security issues and solutions for IoT: A review of security across all technology stacks.
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Enterprise IoT platforms: Microsoft Azure IoT suites, AWS IoT, Google IoT, Siemens MindSphere.
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Smart Metering standards: Open Smart Grid Protocols (OSGP), ANSI C 2.18 Protocols, NIST Standard for HAN (Home Area Network), Home Plug Powerline Alliance, Security Standard for Smart Meter (IEC 62056).
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Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) such as Blockchain, Hyperledger, and DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) for smart contracts, P2P transactions, and smart car charging.
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IoT applications for critical infrastructure: Dams, Transformers, Sub-stations, and High Tension Wires.
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