Internet of Things-aided Smart Grid: Technologies, Architectures, Applications, Prototypes, and Future Research Directions

Traditional power grids are being transformed into Smart Grids (SGs) to the issues in existing power system due to uni-directional information, energy wastage, growing energy demand, reliability and security. SGs bi-directional energy flow between service providers and consumers, power generation, transmission, distribution and utilization systems. employ various devices for the monitoring, analysis and control of the, deployed at power plants, distribution centers and in consumers' premises a very large number. Hence, an SG requires connectivity, automation and the of such devices. This is achieved with the help of Internet of Things (IoT). IoT helps SG systems to support various network functions throughout the, transmission, distribution and consumption of energy by IoT devices (such as sensors, actuators and smart meters), as as by providing the connectivity, automation and tracking for such. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on IoT-aided SG, which includes the existing architectures, applications and prototypes IoT-aided SG systems. This survey also highlights the open issues, and future research directions for IoT-aided SG systems.