Smart gridSmart Grid Information Clearinghouse Web Portal launched

Virginia Tech released its full version of the Smart Grid Information Clearinghouse (SGIC) Web portal last week.

The Web portal is the platform for direct sharing and dissemination of relevant smart grid information, ranging from background documents, deployment experiences, technologies, and standards, to on-going smart grid projects around the world. It is designed to serve as the first stop for smart grid related information and acts as the essential gateway that connects the community to various information sources scattered on the Web.

“The full version of the Smart Grid Information Clearinghouse as released today contains information about more than 200 smart grid projects in the United States and more than 50 projects overseas. The portal has upwards of 1,000 smart grid-related documents and multimedia, which provide both background and in-depth information, such as use cases, lessons learned, cost-benefit analyses, business cases, legislation and regulation activities, detailed information on standards, and list of smart grid technologies and sample vendors,” said Saifur Rahman, Joseph R. Loring Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, director of the Virginia Tech Advanced Research Institute, National Capital Region, and principal investigator for the SGIC portal.

Relevant smart grid information can be submitted to the Clearinghouse using the content submission platform on the landing page.

The Virginia Tech Advanced Research Institute was awarded a $1.25 million five-year contract by the U.S. Department of Energy in October 2009 to develop the portal with content assistance from the IEEE and the EnerNex Corporation.

Virginia Tech has fostered a growing partnership with the greater metropolitan Washington, D.C., community since 1969. Today, the university’s presence in the National Capital Region includes graduate programs and research centers in Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church, Leesburg, Manassas, and Middleburg. In addition to supporting the university’s teaching and research mission, Virginia Tech’s National Capital Region has established collaborations with local and federal agencies, businesses, and other institutions of higher education. Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.