With the Electric ity Department now going ahead with the installation of smart meters from De cember this year, there is a lot of curiosity among the consumers about its func tioning. The State government has already issued the work order to the Digismart Net works Private Limited, Jai pur to install smart prepaid meters for both, 6.80 lakh domestic and commercial consumers in a phased man ner. To begin with, the agen cy will start fitting smart meters for commercial con sumers. An electricity smart me ter is a digital device that records energy consump tion and communicates the data directly and wire lessly to the utility compa ny. Unlike traditional me ters that require manual reading, a smart meter au tomates the entire process and provides real-time in formation. The smart meters will have inbuilt electronic sensors which constantly measure the flow of electri cal current and voltage in homes. A microprocessor pro cesses this information to calculate your real-time elec tricity consumption in kilo watt-hours (kWh). The smart meter is equipped with a communi cation module that uses a specific network to trans mit data. Common technol ogies include: Using mobile network signals (2G, 3G or 4G), it will send data to the util ity’s servers and transmit data over the existing pow er lines themselves. It will create a wireless network between meters and data collectors.
The collected usage data is sent at regular intervals to the utility company’s data management system. This pro vides the utility with accurate, up-to-date information for billing and grid management. According to the electricity department official, smart meters will be beneficial to consumers as it will provide accurate billing by eliminating estimated bills based on manual readings. It will ensure that the consumers only pay for the energy they actually use or consume. The official further stated that there will be real-time monitoring and the consumer will be able to see his/her actual energy consumption in real-time, and give them indication of usage habits and costs. By monitoring con sumption, the consumer can identify which appliances consume the most energy and at what times. This will fur ther allow them to adjust and reduce overall usage there by bringing energy efficiency. Smart meters will automatically alert utility providers to power outages, allowing them to restore service more quickly and efficiently, the official said and clarified that if the consumer fails to recharge his prepaid connection, power will not be disconnected as the consumer will continue to receive multiple SMS alerts and emails to re charge the meter. Also power will not be disconnected at night, Sunday and public holiday, the official added.
