Hybrid Optical and Wireless Communication Networks for Energy Community

Abstract

Energy communities are important components for realization of the smart grid. A robust communication network architecture, which consists of network components of Home Area Networks (HANs), Neighborhood Area Networks (NANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs) is the touchstone to achieve the goal of community-based power balancing. To satisfy the reliability and scalability requirements of energy community, a hybrid communication network architecture utilizing using 802.15.4-based Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), 802.11s-based Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) and Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (EPONs) is presented.