ASU researchers, in collaboration with several American universities, have been awarded an $18.5 million grant to redesign the national power grid to better utilize renewable energy sources energy.

The National Science Foundation announced the grant last week to begin plans to turn the nation’s aging power grid system into a new so-called smart grid.

Smart-grid technology aims to reconfigure the infrastructure used in the current system with computer-controlled storage and distribution technology that would make using stored solar or wind power easier and more efficient.

Gerald Heydt, a regents’ professor in the department of electrical engineering, will head the ASU team — comprised of faculty from the electrical engineering department, the School of Sustainability and the department of civil and environmental engineering.

The smart grid has been described by Heydt and others involved in the project as “the Internet for energy.”

Heydt said people really didn’t have much use for computers before the Internet’s introduction enabled the machines’ full potential to be realized. He said a smart grid would help the United States to realize the potential of cleaner energy sources.

“Something has to be an enabler for the development and use of renewable energy resources,” Heydt said. “The potential is there. We understand wind and solar technology, but the current infrastructure makes it very hard to utilize its full potential.”

Local electric utility APS is receptive to smart-energy distribution methods, spokesman Damon Gross said.

“Anything we can do to make our grid self-sustaining is going to be a benefit to us and our customers,” he said.

APS began shifting toward smart energy technology about two years ago with the installation of smart meters, Gross said.

A smart meter allows two-way communication between the meter and APS that is a more efficient way to measure energy use and to repair blackouts than sending out a meter reader, he said.

Heydt said the problem with the present power grid infrastructure is storage.

The ability to store and release energy is a major goal of the smart grid.

“Solar only occurs in the daytime and not even that well in the morning,” Heydt said. “To really utilize it, we need to have a way to store energy, and to do that we need controls.”

Heydt said all the benefits of converting the current grid into a smart grid are not yet apparent.

A smart grid will not necessarily save people money, but it may help slow the depletion of natural resources, he said.

Heydt also said half our electric energy comes from burning coal, and current electric energy production methods are burning the fossil fuel at an alarming rate.

“The prudent thing would be to stop burning coal, but that’s not realistic,” he said. “This idea would enable the use of renewable energy sources that produce no carbon dioxide.”

There is no clear timetable for when the shift to the smart grid will begin, but Heydt said the new technology would be equipped to work with old infrastructure until the new technology eventually phases out the older “legacy” systems, found in older cities like New York and Chicago.

“If we could even make a small dent in carbon dioxide production, it would be a tremendous help to the environment,” Heydt said.

Reach the reporter at jaking5@asu.edu.