General Electric Study Flawed, Wi-Fi Best Option for Smart Grid

Tuesday, 21 December 2010 20:25

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The "Energy Efficiency Comparisons of Wireless Communication Technology Options for Smart Grid Enabled Devices" report was recently released by General Electric Company and compares the power efficiency of Wi-Fi and ZigBee technologies in home Smart Grid applications. The report is flawed, which makes the results inaccurate.

The study only considers power usage, and it bases its findings on measurements of one implementation each of Wi-Fi and ZigBee using Smart Energy Profile 1.0, an older protocol which does not possess key technical features, such as IP communications and cyber security, federal-specified requirements for Smart Grid usage. 

Also, 802.11b, a chip based on decade-old W-Fi technology was used in the study’s only Wi-Fi deployment. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ technology that has the 802.11n chip will be used in Smart Grid applications on a wide scale, and is already in use in millions of homes worldwide. There is actually a range of option available with Wi-Fi, including 802.11a, g and n, which can be used for the varied range of Smart Grid applications; however, the study did not test any of these technologies.

Older technologies formed the basis of the study, therefore, it inaccurately characterizes how energy efficient both ZigBee and Wi-Fi are and cannot be used for making generalized conclusions regarding Smart Grid communications technology.

If Smart Energy Profile 2.0, the implementation specified by federal government, was used  to implement any technology, the power usage would have increased in comparison to the older version because of Smart Energy Profile 2.0’s additional data transmission requirements. The present generation of Wi-Fi technology 802.11n possesses more efficient mechanisms for data transmission and more sophisticated mechanisms for power-saving compared to 802.11b and may provide better results in an energy efficiency test. The use of Smart Energy Profile 2.0 could reduce differences in energy usage between Wi-Fi and ZigBee. 

The study had a limited scope, therefore, important criteria in which Wi-Fi possesses key strengths, were not included. According to a recent and considerably more comprehensive study conducted by Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), Wi-Fi is a leading communications protocol technology of choice for use in smart home appliance applications, as it has a range of throughput benefits, an established certification ecosystem, a considerable installed base, power management, etc. 

Wi-Fi is present in an estimated 201 million households around the world. It has a variety of features superior to other technologies, including IP-based communications, whole-home coverage, industry-standard security protections, and advanced power management mechanisms that are according to federal requirements of smart energy applications.