Overview:

Any smart grid is a telecommunications network for the utility and the communities it serves. 4G technologies provide any power utility with the most cost effective technology in monitoring the grid from power production to power consumption. Not only will a 4G smart grid read meters, they will also provide a range of cost saving services to the utility and the community as a whole. Mind Commerce's new research 4G and WiMAX for the Smart Grid: Enabling Access, Applications and Affordability proposes WiMAX as a Last Mile or "Access" solution to provide a range of smart grid solutions or "Applications" which, when compared with other smart grid technologies such as Broadband over Power Line (BPL) come in at less than half the cost per household reached offering industry leading "Affordability" figures.

The research indicates that given the dilemma of US Department of energy awarding billions of dollars in smart grid grants while standards making bodies dither in providing the industry with standards, the power industry should look to the latest and greatest standards in telecommunications (Internet Protocol and 4G technologies such as WiMAX) to take advantage of federal dollars available for smart grid deployments while saving money on operating expenses. In addition, the deployment of a 4G network would enable the utility to offer wholesale and retail telecommunications services contributing new revenue streams for the utility while shortening the Return on Investment (ROI).

Any utility manager studying their smart grid options is no doubt concerned about the security of any smart grid network (foreign agents have been known to attempt to hack some parts of the US power grid), Quality of Service (QoS) issues, reliability of the technology and the potential for harmful interference to take down their smart grid network. This publication tackles those objections head-on in easy-to-understand language addressing both Last Mile and Middle Mile portions of a 4G smart grid network.

Most importantly, the paper analyses a BPL deployment in Boulder, Colorado where the power utility deployed a BPL-based smart grid at a cost of $1,000 per household reached. The research finds that a more powerful, mobile, 4G, standards-based network could have been deployed at a cost of $440 per household reached. The financial analysis offers a worksheet for power utilities to determine return on investment.

With its exhaustive analysis of 4G and smart grid, there is no other research currently available as comprehensive as 4G and WiMAX for the Smart Grid: Enabling Access, Applications and Affordability.

Key Findings:

4G Smart Grid can be deployed at half the cost of broadband over Power Line (BPL) via an off-the-shelf solution
Incremental revenue streams can be enjoyed via wholesaling telecommunications services supported by 4G smart grid applications
4G smart grid solutions provide utilities with cost savings on internal operations (mobile work force applications, etc)
Ubiquitous broadband services can be realized through the deployment of 4G in the power utilities' market providing greater efficiencies for smart grid subsidies

Target Audience:

Power utilities companies
Renewable energy companies
Telecommunications service providers
Telecommunications vendors seeking entry to the smart grid market
Government regulatory authorities
Power sector vendors
Telecommunications and utility investors

Executive summary -The 3 A's. 2
Access: 4G as Smart Grid Access Technology 5
What is a 4G Network? 6
Standards Based Equipment. 7
4G and Smart Grid. 9
4G Last Mile Access: What is WiMAX?. 10
Fixed vs. Mobile WiMAX 11
Utility Manager Objections to WiMAX 12
Interference. 13
Good Quality of Service. 21
WiMAX Reliability 28
WiMAX is not Wi-Fi 29
WiMAX Components. 31
WiMAX Base Stations. 31
Outdoor CPE. 32
Indoor CPE. 33
USB, netbooks, femtocells. 34
Link budget and building penetration 36
Spectrum Considerations 36
Internet Protocol. 37
Access Conclusion. 39
4G Backhaul Overview. 40
Wireless Middle Mile Solutions. 40
Considerations for Wireless Middle Mile. 41
Backhaul Requirements. 43
Licensed Microwave Wireless Backhaul Solutions. 45
Licenses protect the links. 46
Gigabit Ethernet Wireless Backhaul Solutions. 48
Quality of Service (QoS) 52
Interference mitigation 53
Frequency Reuse 54
Rain fades 54
Reliability/availability. 54
Ease of Licensing: E-Band in the US. 55
High Availability 55
Backhaul Conclusion 56
Wireless Backhaul Considerations 57
Comparisons with Fiber 58
APPLICATIONS FOR A 4G SMART GRID 60
What does a utility need?. 62
Grid monitoring 62
Meter reading, remote turn-on/turn-off 63
Grid physical security 64
Monitoring and metering distributed generation. 66
AFFORDABILITY: COST PER HOUSEHOLD REACHED. 69
Capital Expenditures: Cost per Subscriber or Household Reached. 69
Operational Expenditures 71
Unconventional Revenue Streams 72
Conclusion. 73
 

Keywords: Smart Grid, WiMAX, Broadband over Power Line, Broadband over Powerline, Broadband Powerline, BPL, WiMAX Applications, WiMAX ROI, 4G, 4G Applications, Utilities, Electric Power Management, Electric Utilities, Wireless Broadband