Elster, one of the world's largest electricity, gas and water measurement and control providers, has announced its intention to display its Smart Grid solutions for building an electric vehicle infrastructure at Plug-In 2011, an event happening in Raleigh this month.
For years, the company has been working on its electric vehicle (EV) charging platform that enables utilities and service providers to effectively provide sub-metering for public and residential locations.
According to Mark Munday, president and CEO of Elster Solutions, their company is delivering solutions which support the need for grid modernization, in part to manage the influx of EVs entering the market now and in the future, and Elster offers a comprehensive suite of Smart Grid solutions designed to meet utilities' grid management needs, including the integration of EVs.
“Our innovative approach to improving grid visibility and our extensive network of charging station partners allows the Elster EV charging platform to be deployed quickly, helping promote EV growth and adoption," added Munday.
Company officials said that they have integrated distribution automation systems with advanced metering infrastructure, to offer utilities with monitoring and remote control of the power system. This grid visibility is a critical component for integrating EVs into the electric infrastructure.
For example, Elster provides transformer and advanced grid infrastructure node monitoring solutions to enable utilities to manage load control and the additional demands that EVs place on the grid. This information also allows utilities to better anticipate and mitigate potential overload issues, said company officials.
Pike research has predicted that close to 3.2 million EVs will be sold worldwide by 2015, placing new demands on the existing electric infrastructure.
Elster Smart Grid solutions is said to bring about a variety of utilities to service providers with an economical approach to implementing EV charging in public areas. In addition, Elster's residential solutions enable utilities to quickly deliver services for in-home charging.
Jyothi Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Jyothi's articles, please visit her columnist page.
