What happens when you flip a switch? I admit it. I take for granted that whenever I plug something in, turn on a light, charge my smartphone unless there's a storm, I assume I'm going to get power.
Hey, and if I don't, I get kind of cranky about it. I turn on all the switches around me, and then maybe even go outside, hands on hips, to see if all of my neighbors are out too. The truth is, I'm in the industry and I don't really think about it unless it's one of those really rare times that the power is out, or if my family is in air conditioning mode for the whole neighborhood, and I get a higher bill than I expect. But how is it that we mostly do get power when we need it? To really understand this industry, knowing the basics of how the electricity gets to you is pretty helpful. It also shows you why geography plays such a big role in the resources we use to generate the electricity and
even get it to us.
Understanding this will also give you a leg up in understanding some of the different opinions that you might run across on the news, social media, or even directly from your own electricity provider. So let's start with the concept of an electricity grid. When people use this term, what exactly are they really talking about? The grid is a vast and interconnected network of equipment, devices, and wires, and structures that bring electricity from where it's generated to your house or business. The grid is actually made up of all this stuff, and it spans communities, states, countries, and even continents. And that's why it's called a grid. Check out what this looks like from space. Pretty amazing, isn't it? Maybe it is a little bit of magic along with all of that engineering after all.
Let's talk about this in a way that's simple. The electricity gets to you because of three major functions that happen seamlessly. First, the energy is produced, in the industry, this is called generation. Electricity is created from some type of a primary fuel source. We'll talk about what some of those are in a little bit. Then, we have to keep in mind that the electricity has to get moved. At this point, we're talking about some very high voltage electricity. This is called transmission. Like the word suggests, we're transmitting it or moving it, in this case, across some really long distances. If you think about it in terms of the road system, this is like a superhighway. The third phase is called distribution. This is also a way of moving electricity across distances, but the voltage has been reduced so that it can safely go to our houses, and it's across smaller distances. If I'm using that street analogy again, this is like the roads that we take from the high way to our house. And you know how I mentioned that we go from a super highway to a road? Well, in your car you slow down or you speed up on an entrance or an exit, and this is what transformers and substations do for us. So to recap, the grid is a word used to describe this vast interconnection. Meaning everything from power plants, substations, transformers, wires, and more to do three things. Generation, transmission, and distribution. I'm guessing some of you might be wondering how solar panels on your house might fit into this. That is when your generation is actually occurring at or near the location it's being used.
Well, hold that thought because we'll talk more about that later. But just to be clear, we're talking about this module about the system that's linking larger generation sources with lots of electricity consumers. Stick around for the next lesson, where we'll look at generation, transmission, and
distribution each on its own.
Du
sdcfbbing
For Complete Video Tutorial, Go here
How Electricity Gets you Pretty Helpful
Hey, and if I don't, I get kind of cranky about it. I turn on all the switches around me, and then maybe even go outside, hands on hips, to see if all of my neighbors are out too. The truth is, I'm in the industry and I don't really think about it unless it's one of those really rare times that the power is out, or if my family is in air conditioning mode for the whole neighborhood, and I get a higher bill than I expect. But how is it that we mostly do get power when we need it? To really understand this industry, knowing the basics of how the electricity gets to you is pretty helpful. It also shows you why geography plays such a big role in the resources we use to generate the electricity and
even get it to us.
Concept of Electrical Grid
Understanding this will also give you a leg up in understanding some of the different opinions that you might run across on the news, social media, or even directly from your own electricity provider. So let's start with the concept of an electricity grid. When people use this term, what exactly are they really talking about? The grid is a vast and interconnected network of equipment, devices, and wires, and structures that bring electricity from where it's generated to your house or business. The grid is actually made up of all this stuff, and it spans communities, states, countries, and even continents. And that's why it's called a grid. Check out what this looks like from space. Pretty amazing, isn't it? Maybe it is a little bit of magic along with all of that engineering after all.
Major Functions of Electricity
Let's talk about this in a way that's simple. The electricity gets to you because of three major functions that happen seamlessly. First, the energy is produced, in the industry, this is called generation. Electricity is created from some type of a primary fuel source. We'll talk about what some of those are in a little bit. Then, we have to keep in mind that the electricity has to get moved. At this point, we're talking about some very high voltage electricity. This is called transmission. Like the word suggests, we're transmitting it or moving it, in this case, across some really long distances. If you think about it in terms of the road system, this is like a superhighway. The third phase is called distribution. This is also a way of moving electricity across distances, but the voltage has been reduced so that it can safely go to our houses, and it's across smaller distances. If I'm using that street analogy again, this is like the roads that we take from the high way to our house. And you know how I mentioned that we go from a super highway to a road? Well, in your car you slow down or you speed up on an entrance or an exit, and this is what transformers and substations do for us. So to recap, the grid is a word used to describe this vast interconnection. Meaning everything from power plants, substations, transformers, wires, and more to do three things. Generation, transmission, and distribution. I'm guessing some of you might be wondering how solar panels on your house might fit into this. That is when your generation is actually occurring at or near the location it's being used.
Well, hold that thought because we'll talk more about that later. But just to be clear, we're talking about this module about the system that's linking larger generation sources with lots of electricity consumers. Stick around for the next lesson, where we'll look at generation, transmission, and
distribution each on its own.
Du
sdcfbbing
For Complete Video Tutorial, Go here
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