“Smart cities” is a topic worth taking not a day and Government of India has declared that India is planning to have 100 new smart cities. Being utilities the building block of any infrastructure Smart grid will be the backbone of these cities and smart meters will be the lifeline. Smart meters lay the groundwork to enable an era of smarter, connected-homes and smart grid power control. This article is an exclusive study of EM Media with major players in Smart metering market to bring out latest facts and model of smart meters in our cities.
Smart meters are the latest form of energy meter. Smart meters are designed to send your meter readings directly to your energy supplier. Smart meters are the next generation of gas and electricity meters. Together with their accompanying in-home displays, smart meters will help you keep track of the energy you use in your home, and will cut out the need for meter readings. Smart meters are intended to be the replacement for the traditional form of gas and electricity meter. They send automated meter readings directly to your gas and electricity supplier. This is supposed to improve the efficiency and accuracy of your meter readings, and make life easier for customers. The smart meters themselves will be fitted with displays that can be read at home. They will give you up to the minute information on how much energy you are using and what you’re paying for it.
Smart meters measure the total energy used in the same way as a traditional meter, but they can also tell you when you have used it and how much it costs. Additionally, they have a communication capability that allows this data to be displayed on a device inside your home and read remotely by your energy supplier. An in-home display unit will be provided along with the smart meter as part of the program. This device is the most visible part of the smart metering system and provides up-to-date real-time information on gas and electricity use in pounds and pence, as well as units of energy. The display also presents historical information on consumption. When you turn on the boiler, the tumble drier or the dishwasher, one benefit of a smart meter is obvious: the display tells you how much electricity is now being used, and exactly how much it is costing you. Such real-time feedback clearly helps customers use energy more efficiently and cut bills. But beyond this, smart meters will be vital for monitoring, managing and distributing energy more intelligently in the future – enabling, for instance, renewable to be used to their full potential or helping to reduce power cuts in developing countries. The meters are also seen as a big step on the road to smart cities. The fundamental benefit smart meters offer consumers is more control over their energy use, as the amount used and money spent are transparent. Connected to the utility company, the meters also put an end to estimated bills, with invoices based on actual consumption. For network operators, the meters collect data on electricity supply and monitor the service in real time, enabling a swift response if part of the grid breaks down. In Italy, for instance, by automating the network Enel says it has halved the average time of service interruptions. Wireless technology allows the energy supplier to communicate with the meters directly, remotely and at any time.
These smart meters work by sending your energy supplier electronic information about your meter readings. By doing this, the smart meter will enable your gas or electricity supplier to ensure that they have accurate meter readings of your energy usage. What this means for you is that you won’t have to take meter readings yourself, or have someone come round and take it for you.
Why Smart meters?
As per a new study commissioned by software testing specialists SQS has revealed that most of the target consumers of smart meters are unaware of how this new technology will benefit them, believing the real beneficiaries will be energy suppliers. The study of consumers (conducted by YouGov) found that over a third (37%) of respondents are convinced that smart metering will benefit energy suppliers the most, with just 28% saying it’s the consumer who will benefit. At the same time, respondents are looking to their energy supplier for better energy control and personalized treatment among other things, many of which are enabled by smart metering. One in three (27%) consumers think that their energy supplier’s track record of inaccurate billing, poor customer service and delays in problem fixing don’t augur well for success with smart meter implementation. 41% of respondents agreed that new suppliers who are eager to prove themselves and are not held back by old technologies could provide a better service. Half (52%) would welcome services, tariffs and offers that reflect how they actually use energy as well as improved, personalized customer support (22%). Also topping the wish-list are accurate billing they can trust (48%) and a clear understanding of what uses up the most and least energy (44%). This study shows that consumers want targeted, value-added services and greater control over their energy use, but don’t always trust their existing provider to deliver. There is widespread cynicism about the viability of big IT projects and 62% doubt smart metering will happen in the shifting timeframes. Despite the cynicism, there is an overall customer desire for the advantages and benefits smart meters will deliver. The new smart world will generate large volumes of data and for established suppliers it is vital they have the high performing, integrated infrastructure in place to capture, secure and make the most of the real-time data they generate, all day, every day. Now is the time to test everything, and then test it again – or turn to the experts who can test it for you. There won’t be a second chance to get this right. With the ability to switch supplier becoming easier than ever and the emergence of new smart meter technology on the horizon, the opportunity for early adopters to gain customers quickly and increase market share is clear. However, it is vital that suppliers, both large and small, take the time to educate their customers on the benefits of this technology to secure confidence and trust ahead of the imminent rollout, and ultimately promote customer retention.
Large Scope of Metering
Smart meters offer many advantages from households to utilities providers. Some of the major ones to be mentioned are:
- Accuracy in meter reading:
In case of electromechanical/electronic meters, the meter readings have to be read by a representative of the utility. Smart meters automatically transmit the readings to the connected utility. Energy bill will no longer be based on estimated averages. As a result of this you are much less likely to be overcharged for your gas and electricity consumption.
- Data recording:
Conventional meters only record the electricity consumption of a system, and not when and how the electricity is used. Smart meters record real-time data corresponding to the electricity consumption. It means that they also record the time and patterns of electricity consumption.
- Real time tracking:
What’s really nice about these meters is that consumers can go online and check out their electricity usage patterns and make changes to their consumption accordingly. In this way, smart meters offer a strong control to the consumers over their usage.
- Automatic outage detection:
A person having a conventional meter has to call the utility whenever there is a power outage whereas in case of smart meters, there is automatic outage detection as they are constantly synchronized with the electric grid.
- Better service:
As smart meters are directly connected to the utility, it becomes much simpler to connect/disconnect power for a particular house/property, saving the need of a technician going to the house in person and connect/disconnect the supply.
Smart meters not only enhance the ease with which electricity bills are generated and transmitted, they also provide better control on one’s electricity consumption by providing real time consumption data. A smart meter also offers insights into the expenditure on electricity which proves to be a great incentive for consumers to save electricity and in turn reduce the pressure on the constantly depleting non-renewable sources of energy. A network of all the smart meters connected to a smart grid will positively influence the methods and modes of electricity generation, transmission and distribution. Some of the extended initiatives taken by entrepreneurs to make Smart meters adoption exciting are:
- Itemized bills: Entrepreneurs have come up with interesting models to capture itemized billing of electricity using the Smart Meter data. This helps individuals accurately analyze the amount of money they spend each month on their individual appliances like Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Lights, Fans, etc.
- Social Comparison and Benchmarking: We get our electricity bills but we hardly know if they are high or low. Entrepreneurs have come up with technical models and tool that help benchmark energy consumption so that you can understand how much electricity is consumed by an average household of your profile across the country as well as within the city. This helps one to figure out if they are consuming more or less. Additionally information is provided to individuals on how they can control their electricity consumption.
- Green Button Initiative: The US government has started Green Button Initiative where they collect smart meter data of all the individuals from electricity distribution companies. Individuals can thereafter give authorization to various companies who can take the data and provide analysis of the data and can also suggest ways of reduction to individuals.
Downbeat concerns with Smart Meters
There was initially a concern that smart meters may be unsafe to install in households because of the low-frequency emissions that they use to transmit information to your energy supplier. However these concerns have been heavily investigated by all the regulating bodies. They decided that these concerns were unfounded. Their conclusion was that smart meters are completely safe for domestic use, as long as they conform to the specifications that have been put in place. Another, more sustained criticism was aimed at the way in which the governments, and the energy companies, have handled the distribution of smart meters across the UK. It has been claimed that the aim, to get a smart meter into every home in the UK within the next 7 years, was overambitious and was being carried out in a way that was detrimental to the consumer. Many of the major energy companies have stated that the rush to install a smart meter in every home will eventually end up costing the customers about £1.8 billion. This is mainly down to the cost of the in-house displays; a cost that would ultimately be passed on to the consumer through their energy bills. One cost saving measure that has been proposed, involves linking up these smart meters to the customers’ smart phones or tablets. This would remove the need for an in-home display and would cut production costs considerably. At the moment many households in the UK are not aware of what smart meters actually are.
Smart Metering in India
India, with its economic development and increase in demand for electricity, use of smart metering technology can offer many benefits and solve many critical challenges of its power sector. The execution of precise energy consumption is still elusive in India. However, with emphasis of policy makers on the depletion of AT&C (Aggregate Technical & Commercial) losses along with the available funds from the union government through various agenda, the plot could change potentially for the better to improve electricity metering in the India. By collecting data remotely and appropriately, communicating it to the consumers and utilities, Smart meters will enable better management of electricity and potentially help to reduce peak power deficit, which is the biggest challenge for India Utility companies. Reduction in commercial losses is the biggest advantage of having smart meter and especially for India, Which is having highest AT & C losses in world around 28% as per CEA, 2011. Smart meters will save the cost of manual meter reading; conquer the problems related to electricity theft, collection inefficiencies and poor billing. With a developing status of smart metering in the India and cultivated interest of present government and support, acquisition of smart metering technologies is coming out to be the most relevant next step. Several initiatives have also been taken to improve metering in India. As of now some advanced features such as: time of day metering, automatic meter reading and prepaid metering are being planned for implementation by many state utilities of India. For example: MSEDCL (Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution company Limited) plans to implement prepaid metering for 10 cities in Maharashtra. Smart prepaid meter roll out across India is as follows:
Cost of Smart Meters
Studies have shown smart meters pay for themselves, which utilities can highlight in social media or email interaction with customers. In addition to cost concerns, customers are afraid of the new technology being imposed on them without their say, so showing customers how they can take advantage of this information — and what’s in it for them — will go a long way toward allaying any fears. Customers are much more willing to share information — in this case in the form of smart meter data — if they understand how they will benefit. And then giving customers the choice of opting out of smart meter programs will encourage greater trust. Customers also need to understand how smart meters work to understand their privacy is not at risk during the collection of data. Utilities can prove this by being transparent about how data is stored and the safety measures in place to keep customer identities safe. Through open communication, hard facts and figures and positioning themselves to be active listeners, utilities can implement smart meter technology with open arms from customers. The result will be more reliable, cost-efficient energy for the masses while enabling exciting new solutions and services for customers to manage their energy more efficiently and conveniently.
Mr. Manoj Kodakkatery – Business Development Manager, Omron Automation
The electronic components business division of Omron in India offers components like, auto disconnect relays, other PCB power relays, meter implementation immediately to address the fundamental issues that utilities are facing – that are loss & inefficiency. Talking about the prospects and obstacles with Indian utilities in adopting smart metering, he said, India has MOSFET relays, switches, connectors, magnetic sensors, radio wave sensors & shock sensors. As per various industry sources, the average transmission loss percentage in India is 25 to 30%. Out of which the non- technical losses amounts to around 16.2 Billion USD every year. Being a growing economy, India really needs to address to these losses to meet the power demands & to drive the utilities to profit. Smart meter implementation is the first step towards this, thus making it a ‘necessity’ in the whole framework. The main obstacles in the implementation of smart meters are infrastructure & cost. I feel that in order to overcome this, the government needs to take initiatives to support the utilities with funding, subsidies, policy changes, etc. Even developed countries, where they have already implemented smart meters, are not able to use the full potential of Smart meters and it seems it will take some time. But India needs to start the smart limitations in power generation. Hence power saving is power generation, addressing the losses is a huge cost saving for utilities & it can justify the initial investment of smart meters.
Mr. Shridhar Pandey, CEO at Elecorev Metering Consultancy, Bangalore & International Business Manager at Ramway Co. Ltd, China
Advancement in the technology is changing the way electricity is measured and communicates with both manufacturers and users. Once such advancement around the world is smart metering technology that is primarily electricity meter which can measure and record energy conception in short intervals. They provide two way communications between producer and consumer of electricity.
Elecorev Metering Consultancy provides exceptional services to the companies who want to establish their Smart Metering and its components business in India. In January 2016, we are coming up with our own low cost smart meter. India, which will be third largest smart grid investment market, is set to install 130 million Smart Meters by 2021. At present, the market in India is nascent with only few smart meters roll out happened. But it seems gather the pace from 2015 onwards. Elecorev is coming with a product Smart Grid Unite, which will be a single platform for all Smart Grid and Smart Metering professionals where they can connect with each other and share their views on Smart Grid and Smart Metering.
