Today’s scarcity of power generation and complex distribution through the electric power systems can not address the trend of increasing demand and consumption of electricity. The monitoring and control of the electric power systems through wired communications require expenses in material, staff, and usually fail in the effective communication for fault diagnostic and protection. In this article we discuss the possibility for the Wireless Sensors and Actuators to address this challenge and provide an optimization of the management for the electric power systems. By embedding the positive influence over the three major power systems: power generation, power delivery, and power utilization, Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks (WSANs) emerge as an enhancing technology for the next generation of electric power systems, Smart Grids. In this paper, we present an overview of the functionalities of the WSANs in Smart Grids, their advantages over traditional networks, and their architectural characteristics in a way of supervision and control of the power system, by improving the balance between the power supply and demand, and therefore avoiding energy shortages.
Communications and control for electric power systems: Final report
