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Dialogue on Utility and Local Scale Renewable
Energy in South Africa
2015/04/21
Smart Metering
What is a smart meter?
A smart meter is a digital
conventional meter fitted with
two-way communications
capability so that remote
operations can be carried out;
for instance:
‒ meter reading,
‒ tariffs updating
‒ tampering detection
‒ remote customer disconnection and
re-connection.
Goals for Smart Metering?
Revenue collection
Embedded Generation
Revenue Protection
Peak Shifting
Network Optimization
Policy
Smart Meter Minimum Functionality
Accurate Metering
Remote Meter reading
Pre-Paid & Post Paid billing
Time of Use Billing
Remote disconnect/reconnect
Bi-Directional Metering
Load Limiting
Tamper Detection
Extra Smart Meter Functionality
Quality of Supply
Outage Detection
Remote Firmware upgrades
Customer Information Portal
Other metering (water/gas)
GPS
Home area networks
Value Added by Smart Metering
Time of Use Billing
‒Cost reflective
‒Promotes load shifting
‒Reduces Municipal revenue from
PV.
PV impacts your most profitable sales
Takes sales from highest
inclining block
PV most active during
summer daytime between
08:00 and 17:00
This is where a majority of
profits are generated
Value Added by Smart Metering
Time of Use Billing
‒Cost reflective
‒Promotes load shifting
‒Reduces municipal revenue loss
from PV.
Reverse Energy Metering
‒Meter energy generated by PV
‒ Feed-in tariffs can encourage
sustainable PV development
Theft Protection
‒ Improved information to help
detect tampering
‒Remote disconnect
Load Limiting
‒Can replace load shedding
Demand Side Management
‒Ability to manage load remotely
Constraints to Smart Metering
No national standards
High cost of meters
Poor business case
Limited Capital
Drivers for Standards
Lower Cost
Interoperability
Interchangeability
Drivers for Interoperability
No Vendor Lock-in
‒ Municipalities are not forced to stick
with a certain supplier
‒ Changing supplier does not require
replacement of existing equipment
Future Expansion
‒ Future systems such as outage
management systems benefit from
being interoperable with AMI
Drivers for Interchangeability
Replacement of meters
‒ Technicians only need to know one
meter installation.
‒ Only need to stock one type of
meter
Kiosks
‒ Kiosks can accommodate meters
from multiple vendors
‒ No need to replace all meters in
kiosk
Smart Metering Standards
Appointed technical lead on
NRS 049-2 Standard
Developed a list of minimum
functional requirements
Key focus:
‒ Split-Prepaid Smart Metering
‒ Interchangeable
‒ Shared Coms
Smart Metering Standards
Thank You
Smart Metering Communications
Common Communications Options
APN (GSM, GPRS)
PLC (Power Line
Communications)
Zigbee
RF Mesh
RF P2MP (Point to Multi-
Point)
ADSL
Advantages and Disadvantages APN
Advantages:
‒ Cellular networks already exist, so
low Capex required from the
municipality.
Disadvantages:
‒ Shared use of GSM networks
results in erratic service levels (e.g.
high latency and low throughput).
‒ Possibly poor coverage in some
areas.
‒ Continual Opex Cost
Advantages and Disadvantages PLC
Advantages:
‒ Widely-used and mature. Standards groups such as G3-PLC
‒ Use of existing LV infrastructure lowers the costs of PLC.
‒ 100% coverage where meters are present.
Disadvantages:
‒ PLC is a broadcast technology, so security is critical.
‒ Power lines are noisy and this can cause problems
‒ Low data rates (e.g. 20 Kbps).
‒ The network topology has large impacts on signal quality and data throughput and performance is difficult to model and predict.
Advantages and Disadvantages Zigbee
Advantages:
‒ Uses the free 2.4GHz Frequency.
‒ Ultra low-power.
‒ Low cost of deployment.
Disadvantages:
‒ Low processing capacity.
‒ Interference-prone.
‒ Small memory capacity.
‒ Interference-prone.
‒ Short range, requires high density.
Advantages and Disadvantages RF Mesh
Advantages:
‒ Self-organising and self-healing, self-configuration.
‒ High scalability.
‒ Meters can act as signal repeaters.
Disadvantages:
‒ Limited network capacity.
‒ Attenuation and interference problems.
‒ Limited range, requires fairly high density.
‒ Encryption required.
‒ Subject to routing loops.
‒ Usually need a 3rd party to manage the RF network.
Advantages and Disadvantages RF Point to Multi-Point
Advantages:
‒High data rates.
‒ Low latencies.
‒Good coverage.
Disadvantages:
‒Costly infrastructure.
‒Encryption required.
‒ Interference-prone if unlicensed
frequency bands are used.
Advantages and Disadvantages ADSL
Advantages:
‒ Widespread geographic availability.
‒ High bandwidth and data rates.
‒ Low latencies.
Disadvantages:
‒ May Require communications
cables to be laid.
‒ Might not be available in all areas.
‒ In SA ADSL is still relatively
expensive (unless the customer
already has ADSL).
What/Where APN PLC ZigBee RF Mesh RF P2MP ADSL
Headend –
Concentrator Yes No No No Yes Yes
Concentrator
– Meter Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Meter – CIU No Yes Yes No No No
Meter – Headend Yes No No No No No
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