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CONVERSATIONS
Optics and the Electrification
Transformation
An optical-sensing entrepreneur shines a light on the role optics
will play in the utilities industry as the grid gets smarter.
E ntrepreneur Michael Oshetski, co-founder and
CEO of Micatu Inc., USA, was set to deliver a key-
note talk at the OSA Applied Industrial Optics Topical
Q. Micatu specializes in optical sensing for the
utilities industry. How did you get into that field?
I was working for a telecom company in 2010, which is
Meeting, originally scheduled from 20 to 22 July 2020. when I started seeing a growing trend for the need for bet-
While the in-person meeting has been cancelled, three ter sensing to help integrate renewable energies into the
webinars presented on the same dates will encompass power grid. Micatu’s co-founder and I knew that optical
some of its content—including Oshetski’s talk, entitled sensing technology was going to be the key player to do
“The Optics of the Electrification Transformation.” OPN this for three reasons: the extensibility of optical solutions,
caught up with him to get his insights on the subject the accuracy and precision needed for next-generation
and the opportunities for optics professionals in this sensing, and the need for more insight into the operations
changing field. state of the power grid.
22 OPTICS & PHOTONICS NEWS MAY 2020
So, like all good entrepreneurs, hardware, to infrastructure to con-
we quit our jobs and started work- tracting, to planning to design, it’s
ing on expanding a full-platform everything. And there’s optical solu-
solution company based on our tions for each one of those.
experiences in the optics trade, For example, optical-based fiber
eventually forming a joint venture communications are becoming inter-
with Gridview Optical Solutions. twined with the utilities industry.
Now, we supply voltage and cur- I’m seeing fiber being embedded
rent optical solutions. What Micatu into power lines because now utili-
sensing technology really enables ties are becoming service providers
is the understanding of what you’re for your internet. It’s all intercon-
producing when you tie a renewable nected, and it makes sense that
resource into the grid, and also what we’re heading down these paths.
problems you’re creating. This is the next generation, and I
think that there are a lot of oppor-
Michael Oshetski
Q. Is this integration of renewable tunities for optics companies to be
“
energy the “electrification trans- a part of the supply chain or part of
formation” you’re referring to? It’s an exciting these solutions.
It’s all good business and this is
It’s about moving toward distributed time to be in the how change happens—there has to
energy. In a traditional central-
ized grid system, you have a power field as we are be a capital driver behind it.
provider, then the power goes to going toward a Q. More intelligence behind the
transmission lines, and then it goes
to a substation that steps that voltage decentralized, data- grid must mean more data. Are
heavy society.
”
down. And after that station, maybe there optical solutions there?
it goes to other substations or is dis- Data will be another big part of the
tributed to your house. —Michael Oshetski business and building out all the
The way that grids work now is separate parts of how to control all
that your house is one of the power this. We need solutions from data col-
plants, because you have solar power grid, from the consumer lection, to data processing, moving
power on top of it—not to exclude level up to the big nuclear plant. data and also control. There will be
wind and tidal power; these are growth in all of these areas.
all factors. So now it’s a big circu- Q. What are the opportunities Another opportunity in optics is
lar loop, and the utility companies for optics? not only the fidelity and quality of
have to predict when to make power These are exciting times, and I the data, but the edge processing—
and when to consume power. This think optics, in particular, solves because now that you have all this
requires a lot more intelligence on problems that people don’t even data, what are you going to do with
the grid. That’s really where this know they have and where there it? And that’s where AI plays into this
revolution is taking place—bridging appear to be no viable solutions. and machine learning. When you
that gap between situational aware- We should be thinking about how consider all of the intelligence behind
ness and the new circular topology optics plays into this new world of the data, there’s a lot of opportunity
of the power grid. distributed energy because we need for companies now to define what
We’re near full saturation rate robust solutions. this next-generation grid will look
where we can’t take on more renew- Obviously optical sensing is like. That’s the next phase of this
able energies without having going to be a large component of revolution.
infrastructure supported—we’re rac- this, but it’s not just sensing. It’s When optics steps in, it changes
ing toward that right now. To be CO2 everything—from the consumer the way that people live—look at 5G.
neutral or carbon free by a certain level to the actual major power gen- It’s an exciting time to be in the field
time frame will require a quantum eration on the industrial side—that as we are going toward a decentral-
leap in technology in all parts of the requires solutions. From software to ized, data-heavy society. OPN
MAY 2020 OPTICS & PHOTONICS NEWS 23
