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A smart meter is a new kind of gas and electricity meter that can digitally send meter readings to your energy supplier for more accurate energy bills. Smart meters come with in-home displays so.
A very old and rusted box housing a smart meter as found near a Circle K supermarket along the main road in South near.A smart meter is an device that records consumption of and to the for monitoring and billing. Smart meters typically record energy hourly or more frequently, and report at least daily. Smart meters enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system. Such an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) differs from (AMR) in that it enables two-way communication between the meter and the supplier.
Communications from the meter to the network may be wireless, or via fixed wired connections such as power line carrier (PLC). Wireless communication options in common use include cellular communications (which can be expensive), Wi-Fi (readily available), over Wi-Fi, low power long range wireless (LoRa), (low power, low data rate wireless), and Wi-SUN (Smart Utility Networks).
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Contents.Overview The term Smart Meter often refers to an, but it also may mean a device measuring or consumption.Similar meters, usually referred to as or time-of-use meters, have existed for years, but 'Smart Meters' usually involve real-time or near real-time sensors, notification, and power quality monitoring. These additional features are more than simple (AMR). They are similar in many respects to (AMI) meters. Interval and time-of-use meters historically have been installed to measure commercial and industrial customers, but may not have automatic reading.Research by the UK consumer group, showed that as many as one in three confuse smart meters with energy monitors, also known as in-home display monitors. The roll-out of smart meters is claimed to be one strategy for saving energy. While energy suppliers in the UK could save around £300 million a year from their introduction, benefits to users of electricity depends on their using the information to change their pattern of energy use. For example, smart meters may facilitate taking advantage of lower off-peak time tariffs, and selling electricity back to the grid with.
The installed base of smart meters in Europe at the end of 2008 was about 39 million units, according to analyst firm Berg Insight. Globally, Pike Research found that smart meter shipments were 17.4 million units for the first quarter of 2011. Visiongain determined that the value of the global smart meter market would reach 7 billion in 2012.Smart meters may be part of a, but do not themselves constitute a smart grid. Brief history In 1972, while working with in, developed a sensor monitoring system that used digital transmission for security, fire, and medical alarm systems as well as meter reading capabilities.
This technology was a spin-off from the automatic telephone line identification system, now known as.In 1974, Paraskevakos was awarded a U.S. Patent for this technology. In 1977, he launched Metretek, Inc., which developed and produced the first fully automated, commercially available remote meter reading and load management system. Since this system was developed pre-Internet, Metretek utilized the IBM series 1 mini-computer. For this approach, Paraskevakos and Metretek were awarded multiple patents.
Purpose Since the inception of electricity and market-driven pricing throughout the world, utilities have been looking for a means to match consumption with generation. Non-smart electrical and gas meters only measure total consumption, providing no information of when the energy was consumed.
Smart meters provide a way of measuring this site-specific information, allowing utility companies to charge different prices for consumption according to the time of day and the season.Utility companies say that smart metering offers potential benefits to householders. These include, a) an end to estimated bills, which are a major source of complaints for many customers b) a tool to help consumers better manage their energy purchases—stating that smart meters with a display outside their homes could provide up-to-date information on gas and electricity consumption and in doing so help people to manage their energy use and reduce their energy bills. Electricity pricing usually peaks at certain predictable times of the day and the season. In particular, if generation is constrained, prices can rise if power from other jurisdictions or more costly generation is brought online. Proponents assert that billing customers at a higher rate for peak times encourages consumers to adjust their consumption habits to be more responsive to market prices and assert further, that regulatory and market design agencies hope these ' could delay the construction of additional generation or at least the purchase of energy from higher priced sources, thereby controlling the steady and rapid increase of electricity prices.