Connected devices are disrupting numerous industries, with the power utility sector being no exception. Power utility companies currently face four primary challenges stemming from 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 regarding critical assets prevent power companies from fully utilizing these new IoT features provided by machine and controller vendors.
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As the costs of solar and wind power microgrids continue to decrease, utility companies will soon experience declining revenue from traditional power generation. To compensate for this loss, companies must aggressively pursue new revenue streams such as Home Energy Management as a Service, Energy Storage as a Service, grid services for EV charging, and grid services for peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading between homes, microgrids, and batteries. These services require facilitation through smart metering, smart grids, and secure transactions enabled by Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) like IOTA. Additionally, utilities are exploring the provision of smart city services to municipal authorities.
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For critical infrastructure such as dams, ICOLD (International Committee on Large Dams) mandates real-time Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) to provide advance warning of potential collapses in dams, rock faces, or tunnels, allowing for the evacuation of affected populations.
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A new emerging revenue area is EV charging in parking facilities. This module explores how IoT can facilitate smart charging and intelligent parking solutions.
Over the last three years, IoT engineering has undergone massive changes, primarily driven by Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. These tech giants have invested billions of dollars to develop IoT platforms that are easier to manage and more secure. Furthermore, IoT edge computing has gained significant momentum in both research and deployment as the primary means for practical IoT implementation. 5G promises to further transform the IoT business landscape, leading to unprecedented levels of research funding in this area. Consequently, it is absolutely essential for practicing engineers to understand the IoT platforms developed by major players such as AWS, Google, and especially Microsoft.
However, none of the aforementioned platforms offer an exhaustive or completely comprehensive solution for scalable IoT. For instance, deploying smart meters to millions of homes requires additional technologies to secure the meters, establish radio networks, manage IoT systems, and provide other secured services. Strategy, pricing, and security for any IoT deployment must be optimal and acceptable. Given the interdisciplinary knowledge required, it is nearly impossible for a single company to assemble a team capable of meeting all these requirements.
This course is a modest attempt to educate key decision-makers, developers, and security experts about the challenges, risks, and practical approaches to deploying IoT for their next-generation power utility business.
In addition, as deployments scale, managing IoT services for thousands of sensors and connections is emerging as a separate engineering subject of research. Known formally as managed IoT services, this area is experiencing rapid growth because the challenges of scalable IoT are significantly greater than simply building the infrastructure. This includes securing over-the-top firmware and software updates, managing sensor and system calibration, auto-diagnosing connection issues, identifying the root cause of API failures, and tracking the health of hardware and services within 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 provides a basic introduction to all elements of IoT, including 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, 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+: Understanding when and where to use each one.
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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 such as Microsoft Azure IoT suites, AWS IoT, Google IoT, and Siemens MindSphere.
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Smart Metering: Open Smart Grid Protocols (OSGP), ANSI C2.18 Protocols, NIST Standard for HAN (Home Area Network), Home Plug Powerline Alliance, and Smart Meter Security Standard IEC 62056.
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Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) such as Blockchain, HyperLedger, and DAG (Direct Acyclic Graph) for smart contracts, P2P transactions, and smart car charging.
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IoT applications for critical infrastructure like dams, transformers, substations, and high-tension wires.
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