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 IoT:
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Vendors of machines, controllers, HMIs, and SCADA systems are increasingly connecting these assets to the cloud, promising enhanced analytics and insights for predictive and preventative maintenance. However, strict quarantine policies regarding critical assets prevent power companies from leveraging these new IoT features offered by machine and controller vendors.
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As the cost of solar and wind power microgrids continues to decline, utility companies are anticipating a drop in revenue from traditional power generation. To offset this loss, companies must aggressively pursue new revenue streams, such as energy management for homes as a service, energy storage as a service, and grid services for EV charging or peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading between homes, microgrids, and batteries. All these activities require smart metering, smart grids, and secure transactions facilitated 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 of Large Dams) mandates real-time Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). This allows for early warning of potential collapses in dams, rocks, or tunnels, enabling the evacuation of people in affected areas.
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Another emerging revenue opportunity is EV charging in parking facilities. This module explores 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 industry giants have invested billions to develop IoT platforms that are easier to manage and secure. Furthermore, IoT edge computing has gained significant momentum in both research and deployment as the most practical means of implementing IoT. The advent of 5G promises to further transform the IoT business landscape, leading to unprecedented investment in IoT research. Consequently, it is essential for practicing engineers to understand the IoT platforms developed by major players like AWS, Google, and particularly Microsoft.
However, none of these platforms offer a comprehensive solution for scalable IoT. For instance, deploying smart meters to millions of homes requires additional technologies to secure the meters, radio networks, IoT management tools, and other secured services. The strategy, pricing, and security of any IoT deployment must be optimized and acceptable. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this knowledge, it is nearly impossible for any single company to assemble a team capable of meeting all requirements.
This course is a modest attempt to educate key decision-makers, developers, and security experts on the challenges, risks, and practical approaches to deploying IoT for the next generation of power utility business.
Additionally, as deployment scales, managing IoT services for thousands of sensors and connections has emerged as a distinct engineering discipline. This area, formally known as managed IoT services, is experiencing rapid growth because the challenges of scalable IoT are far greater than simply building them. This includes securing over-the-top firmware/software updates, managing sensor and system calibration, auto-diagnosing connection issues, identifying root causes of API failures, and tracking the hardware and service health of 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. Participants will receive a basic introduction to all IoT elements: mechanical components, electronics/sensor platforms, wireless and wireline protocols, mobile-to-electronics integration, mobile-to-enterprise integration, and 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.
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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: Review 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 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 like dams, transformers, sub-stations, and high-tension wires.
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