Smart Meters That Are Really Smart

I know the term meter brings a dilapidated metal mangling meter to your mind. Even I had the same perspective some time ago. When there is a technological development in each and every field, why should our poor meters suffer? Technology has made them smart enough to be called as smart meters. Let us see what features these smarties incorporate.

[​IMG]As per the analyst firm Berg Insight, 39 million units were installed in 2008 in Europe. A smart meter is usually a meter that records the energy consumption for the specified interval (half or one hour) of time for which it is programmed. This meter has a facility to store the data recorded in the interval and reproduce it whenever required. These meters also enable a two way communication between the meter and the central system. Unlike the conventional meters, these meters are embodied with the feature of monitoring the quality of the power. These meters are also believed to be less costly and are popular among residential as well as the industrial customers. Smart meters with a display can provide up to date information on electricity consumption in the currency of that country. This will end the practice of estimating bills as the consumption will be accessible on daily basis. This will also help people to regulate their electricity use as per their requirements.

These meters are also called as two register meters. This is because the data is stored in one register when power is supplied by electricity board. The cost per unit is 51paise. But at the same time it keeps track of the power consumed when power is supplied by the generators during power cuts. The cost  per unit is Rs.6. The meter is programmed for a certain level of energy consumption. If it goes beyond that, the circuit trips off and cuts the generator from the circuit. This helps reduce overloading and ensures long life of the generators and reduces the bills.

One major cause of concern in this technology is that the reliability of communication with the centralized unit. It has to be secure and safe. Therefore it is recommended that satellite networks, licensed radio networks and power line communication should be used. Some of the countries where these meters are implemented successfully are Canada, Italy, Japan, UK, USA, Netherlands, New Zealand etc.

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