Discussion on Benefits of Smart meter interoperability

A smart meter or a digital meter is a device, that measure and records the electricity that is used, after every half hour, and it uses the latest technology in doing so. Its feature of automatically sending electronic meter readings to the energy provider is one of the best features of it. It means that there would not be any need of a meter reader to personally visit the place to take readings. This would automatically result in mitigating the risk of erroneous or estimated readings, that is usually the concern of consumer. A two way communication between the meter and the central system is enabled by the smart meters. It is capable of reporting on the least on a daily basis and records energy consumption hourly or half-hourly.

A critical technological requirement of smart meters is communication. To communicate the information collected reliably and securely to a center location is what a smart meter must be capable of. It differs from the automatic meter reading (AMR) in the sense of communication. The communications that are between the meter and the network may be carried out without wire or through fixed wired connections ( that can be expensive), WiFi  or through low power range wirelesses.

Contrary to this a traditional meter, only gives the records of the electricity that passes through it. So, a traditional meter gives the metrics of the electricity that has passed through the meter since the last meter reading.

The use of smart meters is continuously increasing due to the numerous benefits and advantages it provides the business. According to a survey an installed base of smart meters in the Europe alone at the end of 2008 was about 39 million units. On a global scale it was found out that the shipment of smart meters are 17.4 million just in a quarter of a year. These smart meters can become a part of a small grid, but these meters can not constitute a smart grid by themselves.

Benefits

1.      It is able to manage the accounts of customers online, in this way the real time data relating to the consumption of energy can be tracked, and in this way cost can be tracked as well.

2.      The most important benefit of it is that it takes accurate readings and accurate cost then can be calculated without any element of fraud. It means that the consumer then do not have to pay on the basis of estimations of meter readers.

3.      In this type of meters there is a facility for disconnecting the energy supply. It means that when a consumer is not at home he can conveniently disconnect his meter and then reconnect it on coming back home.

4.      Smart meters also have the capacity to alert the distributor of electricity of the area, in case there comes an issue of power supply. Due to this notification the concerned authorities would be notified at once and such problems would be solved timely.

5.      The consumer would have related information of his electricity consumption in real-time and then he would be able to do adjustments accordingly.

6.      One more advantage of these kind of meters is that a consumer would be able to use the flexible plan of pricing. This plan, is based on a kind of pricing that charges different rates for different times of the day. In this way, a consumer would be able to adjust his consumption patterns accordingly, and control his electricity consumption. (https://mozo.com)

References on Benefits of Smart meter interoperability

https://mozo.com. (n.d.). Smart meters 101 - What you need to know. Retrieved from https://mozo.com: https://mozo.com.au/energy/guides/smart-meters

https://www.researchgate.ne. (2017). A Smart Meter and Smart House Integrated to an IdM and Key-based Scheme for Providing Integral Security for a Smart Grid ICT. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.ne: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320642949_A_Smart_Meter_and_Smart_House_Integrated_to_an_IdM_and_Key-based_Scheme_for_Providing_Integral