In India, though power theft is one of the strongest incentives to install smart meters, there are other compelling factors such as the need to reduce technical power losses and peak power deficit and bringing in more efficient transmission of electricity to rewarding consumers who help in reducing peak power demand.
Everything we use in our daily life is changing faster and getting smarter. Whether it’s a TV or a mobile phone, all these devices have evolved continuously, and that made him ponder why the electricity supply system hasn’t become smarter?
Like smartphones and the smart grid, a precise definition of “smart meter” can be elusive, but in general, it refers to an electronic (or digital) meter that measures and records usage over time intervals of an hour or less and allows for two-way communication between the meter and the utility. It can also extend beyond the meter into the customer’s facility.
While smart meters are used for gas and water meter readings as well, electric smart meters, more commonly called watt-hour meters. Some of these meters have had demand interval and/or time-of-use capabilities for years, especially in industrial and commercial facilities. However, a person physically read the meter each month and collected this data.
Even with the onset of automated meter reading (AMR) capabilities to electronic meters (which were low data rate, one-way, read-only communication systems), actual smart meters have more capabilities in recording data (such as real-time power quality and power interruption notification) and communication capabilities that allow for remote service turn-off/on, control of appliances within the home, and in-home/online displays for customers. These features require a much more extensive communication and data management system—referred to as advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)—to control communication, data collection, analysis and additional actions based on a regular schedule or request.
Taking a look around
A web search for “myths about smart meters” turns up more than a million hits. A common result is “Smart Meters: Myth vs. Fact.” What opponents find as fact, proponents find as fiction, and vice versa. The proponents (mainly the electric utilities) say smart meters will do the following:
• Help prevent blackouts by allowing the utility to shut off loads when needed, help dispatch crews more quickly to restore power more quickly if it goes out, and allow the utilities to redirect electricity to where it is needed
• Save money (estimated $20 per month) for residential users
• Allow consumers to use electricity when it is cheaper and show residential users how much each appliance costs them
• Improve the quality of the electrical supply
• Help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 5–16 percent by reducing peak demand
Meanwhile, a variety of public interest groups led the opposition, with an equal number of claims alleging smart meters will do the following:
• Cause health problems and subject homeowners to harmful radiation
• Cause homeowners’ electric bills to increase significantly when installed
• Allow the utility to turn off appliances without consent
• Allow utilities and government agencies to invade homeowners’ privacy and electrically see inside their houses, even determining what TV shows they watch
• Create a safety risk to homes as smart meters can catch fire
• Present a cyber-security risk to the electric grid
The ‘smart meter’ solution to the problem of power theft
When it comes to power theft, India loses billions of rupees because of unbilled consumption and unlawful usage of electricity. If you add unpaid bills to this loss, then the electricity supply companies and boards’ losses are huge. Some estimates say that only half the revenue is realised. According to a World Bank report, there are two components to the losses: technical and non-technical.
Technical losses consist mainly of power supply dissipation because of faulty transmission and distribution lines, transformers and measurement systems.
There are other losses incurred as a result of actions that are outside the control of the power supply system comprising electricity theft, non-payment by customers, and errors in accounting and recordkeeping. Power theft losses, also referred to as commercial losses, are difficult to estimate but run into huge amounts.
The Indian experience has also shown that electricity thieves come from across segments: domestic users, commercial and industrial establishments, rural areas and large cities. Most of the time, this theft happens through tapping of electricity from live wires, which also poses risks to people’s lives. The use of smart meters thus becomes extremely relevant in developing countries such as India. So what is a smart meter? It is used to measure electricity, remotely switch the customer’s power supply off and/or individual appliances based on demand response. It can remotely control electricity consumption to maximize energy efficiency and load balancing.
Smart meters consist of two units: the metering device, which is in the custody of the distribution or utility company and a display unit that is at the consumer’s place. Typical smart meters being deployed in India are capable of one way communication only as those with enhanced features cost more and it is a sensitive subject for consumers in this market. For the distribution firms, the meters can detect unusually heavy demand, which may point to tapping of wires. This is particularly relevant in certain parts of India where petty theft of power is rampant and manual detection is difficult. Smart meters can also be used to shut off service to households and commercial establishments that don’t pay their bills. Initial indications from deployments globally indicate that putting in place monitoring systems such as smart meters prevents loss due to electricity theft. It can also lead to lower power consumption as consumers who were earlier using ‘free’ power reduce it and resort to using only as much as they can pay for legally. Also smart meters ease the burden on customers who regularly pay bills by billing them very accurately and often less.
In India, though power theft is one of the strongest incentives to install smart meters, there are other compelling factors such as the need to reduce technical power losses and peak power deficit and bringing in more efficient transmission of electricity to rewarding consumers who help in reducing peak power demand.
Are Indian ready for smart metering?
There is no doubt of the potential benefits of smart metering for commercial process improvements e.g. faster meter reading and revenue management, customization of customer load requirements, fulfilment of regulatory requirements for energy efficiency, customer awareness for energy uses and energy cost saving.
The drivers for the smart metering are many folds, including, reduction in meter reading and revenue realization cycle, identification of fraudulent practice and necessary correction, reduction of peak demand through systematic load reduction, better customer services, assistance in reduction in grid failure and so on.
However, there are few limitations which are preventing mass scale implementation of the smart metering. For example,
1. It’s a new initiative and there are no sufficient information or data to justify the end benefit of this high cost metering;
2. This is very costly and time consuming process which requires significant capital expenditure;
3. Utilities have already spend a sizable amount for upgradation of the existing electromechanical or old static meters, therefore, reinvestment for smart metering will be difficult at the Regulator as well as utility perspective;
Though there are some progress in Smart metering across utilities at pilot level, however, there is a significant infrastructural development and capacity building issues which need to be addressed before planning a large scale implementation of the project. Our recent studies show that few utilities have initiated Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) through GSM and through Infra Red (IR), however, in spite of more than 50% consumers are having such smart technology most of the meters are read manually. Thus the benefits of such a huge investment are not realized.
Therefore, there is a need for quick feasibility study to understand the technical and managerial issues and need to develop a plan to address those issues before deployment of smart meters. Another significant issue is smart metering is the quality of HT and LT infrastructure.
Unless the above issues are addressed properly, large scale investment for smart metering will be an additional burden without realizing the benefits of revenue enhancement. The policy makers and regulators have to implement a robust incentive model framework to attract more and more private investments assuring the rate of return.
Experts Discussion on Smart Meters Growth, Key Drivers, Future prospects and Limitations
Why Smart Meters for India?
Vivek Mohan @Silicon Labs
Smart meters are transforming our future by improving energy distribution and consumption strategies with a more knowledgeable consumer base. Smart meters offer utility companies the benefits of improved reliability and accuracy, ease of calibration, security and advanced billing features, and they give energy consumers the opportunity to better manage energy usage and reduce costs. The amount of data available through the use of smart meters at any requested time provides valuable insights into energy consumption that was not available previously through traditional meters. We absolutely need smart meters to provide this useful data in a secure and reliable fashion. The collected data can be analyzed quickly and efficiently and can be used to improve worldwide energy conservation efforts.
Andy Wang @ Maxim Integrated
The term “smart meter” actually encompasses a range of capabilities. The most basic meter has only remote-reading features, implemented via an RF or powerline communication (PLC) link. More advanced meters also allow the utility to provide real-time updates to users on usage and rates; the most advanced designs can provide load management—a feature that makes many end- users uncomfortable.
The smart meter market is a growth market and there is a lot of value to be gained from gathering power consumption information automatically. Utility companies worldwide have begun deploying smart meters to service residential and commercial/industrial markets. Smart meters deliver a range of benefits including lower operational and capital expenses, support for new services, and improved operational control.
Deployment of smart meters is far from a “one-size-fits-all” undertaking. Manufacturers must account for the varying regulatory requirements of each region, as well as the different functionalities and services required for different markets.
Because communications are not always reliable, some of these regulations require utilities to store two or more transmissions to meet billing requirements. This requirement increases the amount of local on-chip memory needed for smart meter ICs. As a result, the regulatory pressures of specific jurisdictions have a direct impact on the design of smart meters down to the chip level.
Another major driver of smart meter functionality is improving local antitampering capabilities. This is especially important in developing markets where electricity theft accounts for a large percentage of overall power usage. The ability of solid-state electricity meters to detect and prevent tampering can significantly improve control and cost recovery for utility companies. Here again, high-level antitampering objectives are both driving the adoption of solid-state metering and dictating required feature sets at the chip level.
Finally, the promise of improving service to customers represents an important goal of smart metering, especially over the long term. By enabling customers to better manage their own energy usage through incentive-based programs—such as direct load control, interruptible rate agreements, and demand bidding/buyback—smart metering can help utilities manage overall energy consumption patterns and cope with peak-demand challenges. With the right capabilities built into chip-level solutions, smart meter deployments can effectively lay the groundwork for expanded customer-service functions, such as wireless integration with thermostats to automatically adjust usage during peak-demand periods.
Bhaskar Dhandapani @ Freescale
In 2012, we witnessed the failure of power grids in which almost half of the country got into deep power crisis that not only got discomfort to citizen but also incurred loss in economy. With the growing energy needs, smart grids are emerging as the best solution. While the deployment of smart grid may be expensive but in the long run it can really help to arrange the power consumption of an entire area and be beneficial to both businesses and the government. The pilot projects are already running in few parts of the country. Industry experts believe that smart grids are going to be the best technology gift of the 21st century. And the step towards moving forward towards smart grid starts with the installation of smart meters and once the entire eco system is in place we will see the benefits.
Manoj Kodakatery @OMRON Electronics Components Division
For a true progressive society, smart grid implementation is a necessity. For contributing towards developing an optimized, smart, nature/ eco- friendly world, smart meter is one of the first steps which the energy organizations need to take.
There is a huge scope on the part of the government to take initiatives to educate the consumers, utility boards and support them with subsidies for implementing the smart meters.
Ankur Oberoi @TI India
Smart meters are essential in today’s world as they are an important element in ensuring efficient usage of power and energy. They help in shifting the load of energy during peak consumption which helps in serving more customers with less supply. This helps in reducing a lot of wastage. Since it works in real time, it helps us keep a track of thecost with minimal error. For example, a customer can tap hourly consumption of energy and manage it. The costs can also be calculated in real-time which help them keep a tab on their expenses. The smart meter can give complete data of the energy consumed a day prior, last week or even last year. This could help the customers to plan their usage.
The metering industry has evolved from electromechanical meters to electronic meters to AMR (Automated Meter Reading) and prepaid meters to smart meters bringing along a revolution in utility operations.
Given the power challenges in India in industrial, urban and rural settings, smart meters and a smart grid is critical to address these issues. Moreover, the world is moving from centralized to distributed energy sources and establishing a smart grid is critical for the future of our energy supplies.
Which are the Key Drivers fueling demand?
Vivek Mohan @Silicon Labs
Before the advent of smart meters, the amount of information on energy usage was very limited. Data would be collected once a day or in some cases less frequently. This approach led to inefficiencies in energy distribution and energy consumption as it was not easy to take advantage of the limited data. This also meant a slower reaction to repairing powerline disruptions as well as energy theft, which is a very real concern in several countries. Smart meters are gaining popularity due to the need to minimize energy waste and provide accurate and timely energy reporting to everyone, from energy consumers to utilities to governments. The proliferation of smart meters also complements the rise of the Internet of Things with smart homes equipment with smart thermostats and appliances that can aid in monitoring and conserving energy. The smart meter can potentially collect data on the energy usage of individual appliances and utility providers can make that data available to the consumer via a smartphone.
Bhaskar Dhandapani @ Freescale
Many reasons together are driving the growth in the smart meter market here in India. Smart grid infrastructure investment by 45 emerging market countries – including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – over the next decade will reach $274.9 billion, outpacing developed countries. This investment will be aimed at reducing electricity theft, improving reliability and incorporating renewable energy into electricity grids, according to a study released by Northeast Group, LLC.
Reasons like electricity theft, power cuts, unorganized distribution of power have together acted as driving factors for the adoption of smart meters in the country.
Ankur Oberoi @TI India
One of the key drivers of the smart meter market is our daily power consumption. Thesmart meter automates and regulatespower consumption which not only helps households but also utilities. Additionally, the smart grid rollout in various states also, is driving the deployment of smart meters.
Furthermore, the concept of smart homes is fast catching up. People are moving towards having homes that have lighting, geysers, doors that can all be controlled by a smart phone and smart meters would fit in well in this connected set-up.
With the advent of an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), both consumers and the utilities providers would benefit. Consumers can track electricity consumption accurately on a regular basis; manage loads in different ways based on the design and save money from Time of Use tariffs by shifting loads. Utilities would reap financial benefits by introducing time of use tariffs, demand response, detecting energy theft etc. With smart meters, utilities can also respond to power outages and detect meter failures.
The Smart Grid initiatives are being supported by the government. Fourteen Smart Grid Pilot projects identified in 2012 were approved for 50% funding by Government of India in July 2013.The Smart Grid Vision and Road map document for India was released during Power Minister’s Conference on September 10th 2013. Activities for planning the launch of National Smart Grid Mission have been initiated.
Limitations of technology
Vivek Mohan @Silicon Labs
Mass scale implementations have been deployed in various countries with more following soon. There are very few technical challenges preventing mass scale implementation of smart meters. Energy distribution and monitoring generally involves high levels of government oversight due to security concerns and also the need to comply with region-specific regulatory requirements. Developing a smart meter that needs to last between 15-20 years with extremely high security and reliability requires significant design time, followed by small scale and local field trials, which then lead to mass deployments. Each step takes a significant amount of time and investment as results are analyzed and corrective action is taken as needed. The primary limiting factor is the time it takes to develop a robust smart meter for mass deployments.
Bhaskar Dhandapani @ Freescale
While there is an increased need of smart meters in the country, it is important to understand that awareness and investment is one of the prime reasons for the adoption of this technology. Most of the people today are still not aware of issues that linger in the power infrastructure and have very less knowledge of smart meters and how it can help in power distribution and stop thefts etc. On the other end, the smart meters need a lot of investments and infrastructure, which again is a challenge. Though the deployment has already taken off at a good pace.
Manoj Kodakatery @OMRON Electronics Components Division
The challenges are many. On a smaller scale, it originates from the customer’s end when they don’t have enough knowledge. On a larger scale, it consists of many factors related to the macroeconomic environment such as lack of sufficient infrastructure, cumbersome policies, etc. However having said all these, as per industry reports, India is expected to install 130 million smart meters by 2021.
Ankur Oberoi @TI India
Some of the challenges that the market is currently witnessing, are from the perspective of standardization. Regulations with regard to the grid infrastructure and metering aviaryacross rural, urban and industrial areas across the utilities providers.
In India, most of the grids and meters are old; therefore a cost factor is definitely involved in achieving mass scale penetration. Additionally, awareness has to be created amongst the consumers, regarding the technology and the working of the smart meter.
Pros & Cons
Vivek Mohan @Silicon Labs
There are various wired and wireless technologies that can support a smart meter such as sub-GHz wireless, ZigBee, cellular andpowerline communications (PLC). While there may be pros and cons for each of these communication technologies, the smart meter functionality and the benefits it provides have no disadvantage compared to existing traditional meter deployments. Investing in smart meters is an infrastructure project that will provide attractive benefits to all parties involved including the consumer.
Bhaskar Dhandapani @ Freescale
Every technology comes with pros and conshowever; at this stage we do not feel that the technology of smart meters has any stand out disadvantage.
Manoj Kodakatery @OMRON Electronics Components Division
There are no disadvantages as such, but there is a strong possibility of resistance from consumers in using the smart meter in the initial stages basically due to the lack of consumer awareness on smart grid concepts and what all benefits shall be accrued to them through smart metering.
Ankur Oberoi @TI India
Although there are no identified disadvantages of this technology but as with any new technology people do have concerns around if the smart meters make it easier for suppliers to disconnect them from a distance or if a utility provider will control the loads at my home.
Industry Steps
Vivek Mohan @Silicon Labs
Several countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and other European nations have already deployed smart meters successfully on a mass scale, and several more countries are in the field trial stage with commitments to install several millions of smart meters over the next few years. The benefits of smart metering are well known, and it is a field-proven solution so the risk is minimal from a technology standpoint. An important first step is for the regulatory and application requirements to be well defined so implementers can design a metering system quickly to support deployment goals. Once that is done, field trials in a small area can be started, and the system can be optimized and expanded as needed for mass scale deployments.
Smart meters can be very successful in India, and there many opportunities to improve existing grid systems. Already, several state governments in India have invited proposals from vendors to implement a smart meter system. Smart meters will help in timely maintenance and accurate billing of consumers while lowering cost to the utility provider and eventually the consumer. Most buildings in India are brick, concrete and steel structures, and implementing a wired system can be challenging. A long-range, wireless solution using sub-GHz wireless in the 865MHz frequency band is best suited to the Indian environment, particularly for the meter-to-meter and meter-to-data collector link. This frequency is also less crowded in terms of RF interference compared to 2.4GHz, which is used by ZigBee, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Bhaskar Dhandapani @ Freescale
Smart grids are certainly the answer to build a smart city with efficient usage of resources. Smart grids will help to manage an enormous number of electric devices and also simplify the communication process between such devices. Smart grids will provide embedded intelligence and greater capacity to deal with power fluctuations and the highs and lows of energy demands and supplies.
To ensure a wider adoption of this technology, we will have to start educating the masses about how this technology will ensure convenience and increase productivity and then start investing on infrastructure and other mandatory investments.
The technology is at a very nascent stage presently in the country and it is too early a stage to comment on the success of the technology. We will have to ensure better adoption of this technology to really be able to comment on this.
Ankur Oberoi @TI India
Stakeholders can look at developing business models to encourage private players to invest in the deployment of smart meters. Apart from this, increasing consumer awareness andadoption ofstandards that leads to interoperability and security will help in scaling up smart meter deployments.
India has already begun making inroads into deploying smart meters in the country. The Government of India, along with power industry bodies,has developed policies and pilot projects to deploy these systems. Furthermore, state utilities providers are already coming out with new tenders for smart meters with increased communication features.
We would expect a lot of changes in smart meters space in the coming years, in terms of investment and innovation from emerging markets specifically. Along with improvements in grid infrastructure, smarter substations and adoption of smart homes or buildings, the smart meters market holds strong potential in India.
Maxim Integrated Smart Meter Solutions
Maxim is a leading supplier of ICs for use in electrical energy measurement and metering. Our single-chip solutions are cost-effective and promote ease-of-design. These products are programmable to satisfy changing worldwide standards. A full suite of development tools helps speed time to market by reducing testing and prototyping time.Maxim’s energy measurement and metering products are used in many different markets.
SoC electricity meter puts emphasis on accuracy. Automotive Superior metering metrology is essential for accurate monitoring and billing. Additionally, meter manufacturers have to consider cost in their designs, as millions of meters are being deployed throughout the globe. The ZON M3 energy-meter solution integrates four 24-bit ADCs for 4-channel data collection and ±0.1% measurement accuracy over 5000:1 dynamic range. A 32-bit metrology compute engine (CE) ensures high-accuracy processing of all collected data. Its two touch-switch inputs eliminate unreliable mechanical switches by replacing with lower cost and more reliable capacitive touch sensor buttons and its infrared (IR) communications interface eliminates the typical extra IR Transceiver module. All the high integration reduces cost and improves user experience.
Key features include:
Superior metering accuracy: over ±0.1% over 5000:1 dynamic range
High integration: integrated touch-switch inputs and 38KHz IR Transceiver improve user experience and reduce system cost; multiple interfaces (SPI, I2C, and 4 USART) for design versatility; real-time clock (RTC) with temperature compensation and digital temperature sensor for highly accurate temperature compensation; ample Flash and RAM memory for long-term service
High performance: Dual Core technology includes a 32-bit metrology CE ensures high-accuracy processing of all collected data, and a 32 bit MaxQ processor for metering application codes
Silicon Labs Smart Meter Solutions
Silicon Labs has been involved in the smart meter market for several years now with leading smart meter manufacturers using our solution. We have an extensive portfolio of high-performance mixed-signal IC products including low-energy 8- and 32-bit microcontrollers and long-range wireless transceivers. Our 32-bit microcontroller portfolio includes nearly 250 ARM Cortex-M based MCUs (the EFM32 Gecko family) that have been designed for power-sensitive systems. These EFM32 MCUs support a wide variety of flash sizes and peripherals to meet any application requirement. Our long-range wireless products – the EZRadio and EZRadioPRO families — support all major frequency bands below 1GHz for worldwide support. These regulatory-compliant and standards-based sub-GHz wireless ICs feature a highly efficient integrated 20dBm PA. In addition, we also offer industry-leading 2.4GHz Ember ZigBee SoCs that can be used in smart meters to connect to in-home appliances. These products have been designed into smart meters in various regions of the world and continue to be successful due their advanced features.
Silicon Labs does not disclose details of customer engagements. We can state that we provide mixed-signal IC products to most of the world’s leading smart meter manufacturers, are very active with designs in the US, European and Asian smart meter market today, and are constantly monitoring industry standards and alliances for the latest developments in smart meter and smart energy technologies. We have been working with smart meter manufacturers around the world for several years and will continue to be a part of the next wave of mass deployments next year with our best-in-class wireless and microcontroller products.
Freescale Smart Meter Solutions
Freescale solutions for smart metering and smart grid address the challenge of efficient energy management and distribution. Understanding that embedded control and integrated connectivity will be at the heart of future smart grids, Freescale delivers intelligent controllers for smart electricity, water, gas and heat meters in addition to home energy management systems, communication solutions, including robust power line modems and low–power radios, enabling automated meter reading.
Freescale connectivity solutions for smart metering address the challenge of liable, secure and robust communications for remote metering and home energy management. Enabling the remote metering with Neighborhood Area Networking (NAN) technologies like IEEE® 802.15.4 or Wireless MBUS, or smart energy management inside home with Home Area Networking (HAN) technologies like ZigBee®, Freescale delivers solutions from standalone transceivers to complete systems-on-chip with 8-bit or 32-bit ARM® core and embedded memory, supporting both sub-GHz frequencies (including 868/915MHz) and 2.4 GHz license-free frequency bands.
We are investing in key areas of smart energy by developing smart metering reference designs, home energy management systems and support for standard communications inside and outside the home focused on reinventing the energy delivery system.
OMRON Smart Meter Solutions
OMRON Electronics Components portfolio has latching relays, signal relays, tamper detection switches, connectors and sensing solutions for smart meters.
Being a pioneer in the sensing & component technology, we also look forward to developing new products based on the industry requirements.
We are already supplying our relays & other components to the smart meter makers world wide. We have started supplying latching relays to Indonesian meter makers. In India we supporting Indian meter makers with our signal relays & working with many Smart meter customers on latching relays & tamper detection switches.
TI Smart Meter Solutions
TI delivers full system solutions to measure and manage energy along with communication features in smart grid systems, letting people and communities manage their own energy needs. There have been regular innovations on our smart meter, data concentrators and power line communications solutions. Recently, TI has unveiled a cost-efficient smart meter design, that provides advanced functionality with more memory (Flash, RAM) and communication options to provide a value-line solution for mid-range smart utility metering.
Additionally, we have launched TI Designs library, which enables customers to jump-start their designs with system- and subsystem-level solutions across analog, embedded processors and connectivity. Customers can access ready designs, schematics, technical documents on Single-phase E-meter for Single-chip Metrology, Data Concentrator Reference Design, System on Module for Prime Power Line Communication and many more.
Our capabilities in India have been driven out of Bangalore, where we have a large engineering presence and R&D lab for supporting applications. Our experts develop and refine measurement and communication technologies specific to the requirements of a smart grid.
We supply metering chips to several meter manufactures and also with utility companies helping them enable efficient usage of power and there are already a couple of pilots underway powered byTI’s technology. Additionally, we have developed our offerings on various technologies like Zigbee for Low power RF communication and Power Line Communication (PLC), apart from delivering the meterology chipsets for smart grid application.
Through our constant communication with our customers it helps us understand their requirements and build further on technologies.
