Pie in the sky: if the ability to efficiently and rapidly switch DC is acquired, will we see the rise of packet switched energy networks? Data networks made the transition from circuit based to packet based networks, so why not energy networks?
If centralised generation is replaced with distributed generation there will be the need to route energy between arbitrary sources and sinks, located at any point in the network. One can envisage a network analogous to a packet based data network, where "routing algorithms" are used to direct fixed amounts of energy (a packet) from "A" to "B". A process analogous to flow control is used to govern the number of packets, and so the average power, being transferred between a source and sink. A device analogous to a buffer (capacitor?) could be used to average the power at the entrance and exit to the packet network when smooth power is required, just like running a "smooth" audio stream over a packet data network.
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Pie in the sky: if the ability to efficiently and rapidly switch DC is acquired, will we see the rise of packet switched energy networks? Data networks made the transition from circuit based to packet based networks, so why not energy networks?
If centralised generation is replaced with distributed generation there will be the need to route energy between arbitrary sources and sinks, located at any point in the network. One can envisage a network analogous to a packet based data network, where "routing algorithms" are used to direct fixed amounts of energy (a packet) from "A" to "B". A process analogous to flow control is used to govern the number of packets, and so the average power, being transferred between a source and sink. A device analogous to a buffer (capacitor?) could be used to average the power at the entrance and exit to the packet network when smooth power is required, just like running a "smooth" audio stream over a packet data network.