Social Innovation with Smart Grid Technology

Global technology giant Hitachi has entered what it calls "social innovation business" in a major way with a special focus on sustainable infrastructure development and smart grid technology. The company has already dedicated more than $20 billion towards social innovation business.

Hitachi has been piloting social innovation programs around the world with eco-friendly technologies in the transportation, industrial, IT, power and telecom sectors. The company has introduced a number of technologies for smart grid, such as Energy Management Systems, Intelligent Water Systems and Smart Mobility Systems. In the area of Energy Management Systems, it has brought the technologies for high efficiency amorphous transformer and rechargeable battery for power.

It has introduced green technologies for solar power systems, all-electric systems and LED lighting systems in the Home Energy Management segment. In Smart Mobility Systems it has come out with electric and hybrid vehicle technologies. Its Intelligent Water Systems include a number of innovative products and services for water treatment.

Hitachi has focused on achieving superior power grid operational stability in order to address key issues such as surplus electricity, power voltage, and frequency fluctuations from renewable energy usage. Other innovations in this area include cooperative-controlling Energy Management System and a Power Distribution Management System that manages the balance of demand and supply in a power grid.

These smart grid innovations will help resolve several issues such as voltage problems related to reverse power flow that originate from photovoltaic solar power generation linked with terminals of power distribution and overload on low voltage transformers when multiple EVs are charged at the same time.

Another key goal of the smart grid technology is to eliminate the impact of power output fluctuations from renewable energy on power frequencies. This enables smooth electric vehicle mobility. These technologies are currently being field tested, and are expected to be a game changer for the global environment in the years to come.

Photo Credit: Spekulator