This month we will be focusing on renewable energy, particularly the role of solar applications. This comes off of March which focused on smart buildings and intelligent data systems, which in a sense is the perfect one-two punch. I've read a lot lately about the need for a beefed up smart grid in order to ramp up renewable energy generation, particularly with solar and wind.

With the advent of solar and wind, intermittent renewables, the need for smarter systems has risen. Utilities face a massive investment wall if you will, knowing that they will need to bulk up our infrastructure if we ever want to fully embrace clean sources of energy generation. There are a few problems with 'educating' our electrical grid, with some of them revolving around privacy issues and the others implementation.

Customers want to know more about their electricity use, including how much they're using, when they're using it, and where it's coming from. However they are concerned with asking for more information, knowing it will lead to a greater amount of observation by utilities into the home, so to speak. On the other side, how does the utility reliably and efficiently deliver this information to every customer in their operating area? Are people really ready to see their energy use and take effective measures to increase their efficiency?

Solar is growing fast, and with it comes an increasing amount of electricity flowing into the grid. We won't be able to fully harness this until we have a more effective electrical grid. Can solar continue to grow as it's done for the past decade? Despite a low year in 2009, it is recovering fast and is expected to make strong gains ahead.

What do you think about the role of the smart grid in renewable energy?