Smart Energy Meter Implementation, Application and Need of a Smart Meter

Running Head: ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 0
Energy Management System
EMS: Smart Energy Meter
(Student Details :)
1/21/2019

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Contents
Academic writing skills: Smart Energy Meter...........................................................................2
Abstract......................................................................................................................................2
Justification................................................................................................................................2
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
What is smart meter...................................................................................................................3
Smart monitoring...................................................................................................................4
Auto Meter Reading (AMR)..............................................................................................5
Prepaid Metering................................................................................................................5
ToD (Time of Day) Metering.............................................................................................5
The way of transferring data by a SEM.................................................................................6
Smart Meter Implementation, Application and Need of a Smart Meter................................6
Smart meter installation.........................................................................................................7
Current Energy Management System in India (EMS)...............................................................8
After installing SEMs, Improved Benefits of an efficient EMS in India...........................8
Case Study..................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
Recommendations......................................................................................................................9
For the Consumers.................................................................................................................9
For the Energy providers and GOI.........................................................................................9
Appendix..................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................12

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Academic writing skills: Smart Energy Meter
Abstract
This discussion is aiming to introduce a new energy management system which is Smart
Energy Meter (herein after referred as SEM). The paper will also tell about the basic concept
of SEM as well as the way it helps energy management in India. With the help of writing this
journal, we will find the pros; cons and future opportunities of SEM in India (Ahmad, 2011).
Moreover, major focus of this report will be the techniques through which we can implement
Smart Energy Meter in India (Electrical India, 2018). Current EMS of India will be discussed
along with the implications of newly built SEM system in EMS. At the end,
recommendations for the future extension and effective utilization of SEM into energy
management system of India and the world will be provided.
Justification
Each domestic user of electricity must utilize SEMs which will empower the end-consumer
for controlling energy consumption as well as monthly costs. The above is only possible
when people will be aware about the same and for that purpose this paper is been written. As
per the data, by the year 2022, almost 70 per cent of domestic users in Asia will be
interconnected through SEMs (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, 2019).
World Bank also estimated that energy efficiency potential of India is $11 billion; hence
SEM implementation in India will contribute a lot to the energy efficiency of Asia (Torres,
2018). Thus, SEM implementation in India is imperative from the whole world as well as
Asia point of view (Alejandro et al., 2014).
Introduction
This report is based on SEMs implementation in India’s energy management system so that
energy system of India can be built more efficient as well as technologically advanced. The
paper will also highlight the need of SEMs, advantages, disadvantages and future scope from
the perspective of increasing energy efficiency in India (Aman et al., 2013).
Recently, the Government of India (GOI) took initiatives like ‘Smart Cities’ and ‘Make in
India’ which need the reliable, efficient and continuous power supply. On the other hand,

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power system in India is fronting many problems presently. Some of these problems include
inefficient distribution, instance AT & C losses and power theft (Torres, 2018). This is the
reason that India seeks more advanced energy management system to overcome energy
related issues. However, The GOI might not take initiatives for comprehensive change of all
electrical equipment across the country still there is a major need of changing the techniques
of operation as well as control of the electrical equipment within the power sector of India. In
this context, SEMs are the key component of power supply system and it plays an important
role in quality control, revenue protection, compliance with regulatory supplies, consumer
satisfaction as well as image building. An energy meter is used to measure the amount of
electrical energy spent by a commercial consumer or a household consumer.
Source: (Electrical India, 2018)
What is smart meter
Smart meters can be seen as a modern version of an analogue meter; along with they help us
to track of how much electricity our household is actually consuming (Electrical India, 2018).
Hence, unlike an analogue meter, a smart meter measures our electricity consumption at an
interval of half-hour and sends the recorded data to our Retailer Power Company daily.

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Conventional Meter Reading System Smart Energy Monitoring
Source: (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, 2019)
Smart monitoring
Smart meters are majorly famous for smart monitoring as they allow power companies as
well as GOI to manage energy system effectively. In this way, a better outage management
has increased remote monitoring on power losses as well as controlling them. In this context,
accurate billing is the most important advantage of smart meters using AMI (Depuru, 2011).
SEMs are having a significant role in smart grid and hence they have considered as the most
important for future energy management system in India.
From the smart monitoring point of view, a smart energy meter is electronic equipment which
records and stores energy consumption data in intervals of an hour, minute or less.
Furthermore, SEMs communicates that stored info daily back to the power utility for
monitoring as well as billing purposes. Moreover, smart meters allow two-way
communication amid the central system and the meter. Unlike our conventional home energy
monitors, smart meters are capable to collect energy consumption data for remote reporting
also. In this way, a smart meter is an important constituent for the whole smart grid in India
and hence is predicted to offer ecological, cost-effective and social advantages for all of the
stakeholders (Goyal, 2018). Smart monitoring which include dealing with data acquisition,
communication, processing as well as elucidation which profits to consumer, utility company
and Indian government, executed by smart meters is the most significant key factor which
determines the success of these smart meters.

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Auto Meter Reading (AMR)
In India, AMR concept of SEMs is being accepted because it provides progressive
capabilities such as outage management, tamper detection, data analytics and network
management to the power utilities. Moreover, meter data management as well as analytics are
developed by power utilities for theft detection, enhanced customer services, power quality
monitoring, energy efficiency as well as better understanding of energy consumption patterns
(Electrical India, 2018).
Prepaid Metering
In India, it is a way to pay for the electricity consumption in advance by the consumers and
hence it works on ‘no use no pay’ concept. Prepaid metering improves collection efficiency,
lessens working capital needs for power utilities as well as offers greater flexibility to the
consumers while planning consumption. In this kind of metering, the meter manufacturer
offers meters with prepaid billing software on the basis of the tariff set by the power utility.
Although, most of the countries have adopted prepaid metering concept, yet the development
is limited to particular consumers segments (Electrical India, 2018). Moreover, this metering
system is used for provisional connections and in those areas where power utilities face
insecurity of electricity tariffs payment.
ToD (Time of Day) Metering
In India, Time of Day Pricing metering is a billing methodology in which a billing day is
segmented into many time zones based on the expected load on the power grid. Additionally,
the time zone duration of each zone is programmable as well as the users can easily define
the time zones as per their needs. In this way, this meter records the energy consumption in
distinct time zones in different registers and displays accordingly. The main concept of Time
of ToD metering is that at different time of a day, load on a power grid is different and it
fluctuates hence energy consumption by the consumers during each of the time zone is
charged at dissimilar rates so that optimization of energy usage can be done (Depuru, 2011).
Thus, electricity tariff rates for distinct time zones are assigned in such a way that any
consumer will have to pay more for the energy utilised during peak hours than for off-peak
hours of the day. In this way, in ToD metering, it is the responsibility of a consumer to either
minimize his energy consumption or pay more accordingly (Electrical India, 2018).
Therefore, this metering is used to encourage consumers for shifting their load towards
cheaper time durations of the day.

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The way of transferring data by a SEM
Data can be transferred by a smart meter to our retailer in two different ways. First way is
that a smart meter interconnects with our retailer through utilizing the similar network as cell
phones which is often known as GPRS and sends ‘handshakes’ during the whole day. These
back signals are called handshake signals because smart meters send the signals back
recurrently as well as very briefly for confirming meters are functioning properly. One
minute is the total time of the handshake connectivity per day. The second way of data
transferring is that smart meters uses radio wave frequencies for communicating to bounce
our data from one meter to another meter and then to an access point, that is mounted on a
power pole. After the data grasps the access point, it is communicated back to the retailers
(Saikia et al., 2016).
Source: (Torres, 2018)
Smart Meter Implementation, Application and Need of a Smart Meter
As we already discussed that electricity retailer uses our meter for informing us how much
we are charged for our monthly electricity bill. In this context, with a smart meter, our retailer
can easily calculate the exact amount of consumption, rather than estimating our usage or
sending an individual meter reader to our property. In this way, data from our meter help

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retailers offering us better electricity tariff plans which are more suited to our needs (Siano,
2014).
Additionally, electricity providers of price comparison services can suggest that which
electricity package will best suit our household’s needs. Moreover, our smart meter measures
and records our daily energy consumption data as well as it can show what time of the day
someone is using the electricity maximum. Hence, users can assess their energy usage pattern
and optimize the energy usage accordingly. From the retailers’ viewpoint, they prefer to have
a smart meter installed on our property, because it advances the customer service as well as
access to diverse electricity plans which they may offer. Thus, smart meters are very useful
electrical equipment for the both retailers as well as consumers.
Smart meter installation
The installation process of a smart meter is very much straightforward in India. The energy
supplier of India installs smart meter at no additional cost as well as the installation only
completes in a couple of hours (Electrical India, 2018). The installation can be explained
from the following steps:
 Step I: Book a Smart Meter installation request
 Step II: the energy supplier will contact the user beforehand for arranging a suitable
time and date for the installation.
 Step III: on the day of installing smart meter at premises the following steps will be
adopted by the engineer of energy provider:
 Inspection
 Installation
 Final Checks
 Step IV: the engineer from the energy provider company will demonstrate how to use
and make the most of the smart metering kit for improving the energy efficiency of
our home.
 Step V: engineer will further answer all questions of the user and then tell about the
alternative platform where the user can find more help and info regarding Smart
Meters implementation in future.

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Current Energy Management System in India (EMS)
In India, current EMS is a computer system which has designed for the automated control as
well as monitoring of ventilation, heating and lighting requirements of a single building or a
group of buildings like office buildings, university campuses or factories. The above
mentioned EMSs also offer facilities for the reading of gas, electricity and water meters. The
current EMS of India is lagging in monitoring speed, accuracy and efficiency which
eventually increasing EMS’s cost. Thus, in India with the use of smart meters the data
acquisition will be done from these meters then it will be utilised for producing annual
consumption forecasts as well as trend analysis (Aman et al., 2013).
After installing SEMs, Improved Benefits of an efficient EMS in India
 After smart meter installation, automatic and constant reaction of events will be
occurred in EMS of India.
 After installing smart meters in India, it will offer a way to collect and view info
quickly and efficiently.
 Due to smart meters installation, monitoring and trending energy consumption in
EMS of India will become easier.
 India’s EMS will be able to effectively manage energy usage in the buildings and
corporations for the better sustainable future of the country (Aman et al., 2013).
Case Study
The case study chosen to elaborate in this paper is from (Siano, 2014), in which smart grid is
perceived as an electric grid which can deliver electricity in a controlled and smart way from
the points of generation to the active consumers of the grid. In this case study, a survey of
Demand Response (DR) abilities and benefits of the smart grid is presented. In this way, the
case study is also suggesting empowered use of SEMs as an innovation enabling technology
for the smart grid technology in power grid (Siano, 2014).
Conclusion
In conclusion, recently, smart metering and monitoring is majorly gathering speed in the
Indian and global energy market, as it boost efficiencies and enhance the overall customer
experience. If the smart meters are reinforced through the right IoT platform, as well as inter-
connected with rest solutions in a smart city, then they will not only flag way for more value-

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added services for the profit of businesses and consumers but for the global society as a
whole. Moreover, Smart meters do not cost more than old analogue meters as well as energy
retailers usually add this charge into a small portion of the overall electricity bill. Energy
retailer companies are required to offer a well-functioning and up-to-date certified meter to
the users in order to promote smart monitoring and smart grid in India. Moreover, this paper
is suggesting that SEMs make switching retailers easier as we do not have to wait for a meter
reader to visit to our property for calculating our final electricity bill. Finally, significance of
Smart Energy Metering into Indian Power System has been discussed successfully which will
allow Indian power sector to reach at its utmost heights as well as conserve energy for future
generations.
Recommendations
There are two major kind of recommendations which can be provided with the help of this
report include for the consumers and for the power providers. They are as follows:
For the Consumers
 Domestic users can know their usage, watts consuming through distinct equipment of
the house, hence they can optimize through managing their usage throughout the day.
 In order to optimize energy consumption a domestic user can change daily practices
in many ways include increasing the central heating temperature by 1°C, use heavy
curtains for keeping heat in, avoiding standby energy usage, avoiding fridge place
near a cooker or radiator and most importantly turning off the lights.
 Users must explore smart meter technology, investigate energy consumption of
electrical devices as well as determine methods to reduce electricity consumption at
house.
For the Energy providers and GOI
 GOI should motivate users include industrial, commercial and residential for
installing SEMs at their premises as it will allow the utility center to execute a better
monitoring and control within the power sector.
 In order to overcome the major limitation of SEMs, GOI and Indian energy providers
should mutually decide that who will bear the cost burden of SEMs.
 It is recommended for the utilities to undertake performance and reliability checks of
SEMs.

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 The challenge of identifying the target consumer groups must be fulfilled by the
utility providers so that smart meter modifications can be done before installing them.
Appendix
Source: (Ahmad, 2011)
Source: (Depuru, 2011)

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Source: (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, 2019)
Source: (Saikia et al., 2016)

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References
Ahmad, S., 2011. Smart metering and home automation solutions for the next decade.
Emerging trends in Networks and Computer Communications, pp.200-04.
Alejandro, L. et al., 2014. Global market for smart electricity meters: Government policies
driving strong growth. United States: US International Trade Commission-Office of
Industries.
Aman, S., Simmhan, Y. & Prasanna, V.K., 2013. Energy management systems: state of the
art and emerging trends. IEEE Communications Magazine, 51(1), pp.114-19.
Depuru, S.R., 2011. Electricity theft: Overview, issues, prevention and a smart meter based
approach to control theft. Energy Policy, 39(2), pp.1007-15.
Electrical India, 2018. Smart Metering for Smart Monitoring. [Online] Available at:
https://www.electricalindia.in/smart-metering-for-smart-monitoring/ [Accessed 21 January
2019].
Goyal, M., 2018. Smart meters to rationalise electricity consumption in India. [Online]
Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/smart-meters-to-
rationalise-electricity-consumption-in-india/articleshow/63347276.cms [Accessed 21 January
2019].
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, 2019. Smart Meter National
Programme. [Online] Available at: http://vikaspedia.in/energy/policy-support/energy-
efficiency/smart-meter-national-programme [Accessed 21 January 2019].
Saikia, L.C., Das, H., Choudhary, N.D. & Malakar, T., 2016. GPRS enabled smart energy
meter with in-home display and application of time of use pricing. India: IEEE.
Siano, P., 2014. Demand response and smart grids—A survey. Renewable and Sustainable
Energy Reviews, 30, pp.461-78.
Torres, E., 2018. Smart metering: Making India more energy efficient. [Online] Available at:
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/smart-metering-making-india-more-energy-
efficient/1417990/ [Accessed 21 January 2019].

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