White Papers

Wi-Fi® for the Smart Grid: Mature, Interoperable, Security-Protected Technology for Advanced Utility Management Communications (2009)

This paper describes the suitability of Wi-Fi technology for use in the Smart Grid infrastructure.

Smart Grid solutions are being driven by the desire for more efficient energy usage worldwide. The Smart Grid communications network will be a heterogeneous network based on many different standards. Wireless technology will certainly be part of any future Smart Grid. Wi-Fi is cost effective, scales to cover large geographies and many endpoints, and requires no new cabling within the home.

Wi-Fi is mature, proven technology that implements many of the Smart Grid application scenarios today. Wi-Fi networks can be deployed to meet the Smart Grid requirements for robustness, manageability, performance and security. Moreover, Wi-Fi technology has an ongoing roadmap of innovation and established mechanisms for collaboration (via the Wi-Fi Alliance and IEEE) to meet the evolving needs of Smart Grid applications well into the future.