Building reliable and resilient IoT-based smart metering systems is essential to minimize maintenance costs and contribute to the efficiency and sustainability of our critical infrastructure.
Smart meters enhance efficiency in essential systems and must be able to withstand environmental and operational challenges throughout their lifecycle. But regulatory and compliance requirements at both international and local levels add to the technical challenges of designing IoT-based smart metering systems.
Designing for reliability requires careful attention to hardware and software design, component selection, and testing and compliance processes. If you’re a technical manager, an engineer, or a systems designer we included some practical considerations in this guide.
Table of Contents
What are smart meters?
Smart meters are electronic devices that allow for a more efficient and reliable way to monitor critical infrastructure with the support of advanced features such as leak detection mechanisms, time-of-use pricing, demand management programs, detection of unauthorized use, and even encourage conservation.
Smart metering offers a wide range of benefits for both utilities and consumers, including:
- Improved billing accuracy and efficiency
- Reduced operational costs through remote meter reading and management
- Enhanced energy efficiency and demand management
- Better outage detection and response
- More granular and timely consumption data for informed decision-making
- Enablement of new pricing models and demand response programs
The energy and utility industries are poised to undergo transformation as data and IoT are integrated into smart metering systems, as detailed here.
How smart meters work
Smart meters are stationary IoT devices that incorporate digital technology to allow for timely transmission of consumption data to utility providers and enable remote meter management and billing.
Unlike traditional meters that require manual readings, smart meters are equipped with sophisticated two-way communication systems. These systems not only facilitate efficient data transmission but also allow the meters to receive firmware updates and operational commands, enhancing their functionality and responsiveness to utility needs.
What is AMI?
Modern smart metering systems rely on Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) in contrast with AMR or Automatic Meter Reading.
AMI is an integrated system of smart meters, communication networks, and data management systems that enable two-way communication between utilities and customers.
Both AMI and AMR eliminate the need for manual reading but AMR only facilitates one-way communication, limiting its capabilities.
AMI systems typically include:
- Smart meters installed at customer premises
- Connectivity that enable data transmission between meters and utilities
- Head-end systems that manage meter data and enable remote meter management
- Meter Data Management Systems (MDMS) that store, analyze, and process meter data
Designing secure and reliable smart metering systems necessitates dealing with layers of logistics and technical complexities. Setting aside the hardware requirements, incorporating robust security protocols, maintaining trust and regulatory compliance within the evolving smart metering infrastructure, are some of the most common rollout challenges in smart metering.
Key considerations for smart meter design
Designing smart metering systems is a tough balancing act with many considerations beyond building the device. One important guideline is to set reliability goals from the beginning as it can have far-reaching implications for the system’s performance, scalability, and resilience.
The initial design stage sets precedence to the system lifetime of smart meters. At this stage, choosing components that balance cost, performance, and durability is critical for device manufacture. This comprises a comprehensive approach to minimizing the complete Bill of Materials (BoM), which encompasses both physical components and communication protocols, including connectivity.
But whether you’re in the process of finding hardware components or reliable solution partners, these principles should be incorporated early in the design process to avoid costly mistakes and ensure that smart metering systems are built on a solid foundation.
Here’s a general guideline to implementing reliable and resilient smart metering systems:
- Consider real-world environments (will the device be underground, in a remote location, or is accessibility more important)
- Adhere to industry and regulatory standards for data formats, communication protocols, security, and overall device requirements
- Design for interoperability and backward compatibility
- Incorporate security features from the ground up
- Plan for scalability and future growth
Building IoT-based smart metering systems
A compound annual growth rate of 11% is expected for smart meters, according to Gartner, where each type of smart meter has its own unique requirements in terms of accuracy, durability, and communication protocols. Some unique requirements when designing smart meters could be:
- Electricity meters: More frequent data collection (15-minute to hourly intervals).
- Gas meters: Adequately sealed and durable against environmental conditions, and can reliably maintain reading accuracy over the entire range of its operating parameters.
- Water meters: Can withstand harsh outdoor conditions and operate reliably for long periods without maintenance.
Keep in mind these six aspects of building a robust smart metering system to balance current goals, budgets, and timelines, with a system that is designed to last for 5 to 10 years under difficult environments and varying compliance requirements.
1. Hardware
Similar to other IoT devices, smart meters typically include the following hardware components:
- Various sensors: to measure consumption, vibrations, temperature, etc.
- Power source: Some smart meters may be required a direct power source, but batteries are usually required for backup power and remote operations
- Data management: Microprocessors and memory to process and manage data and configurations settings
- Communication modules for transmitting data: Depending on the system architecture, smart meters integrate a combination of communication technologies such as cellular connectivity (e.g. NB-IoT or LTE-M), power line communication (PLC), or radio frequency (RF) mesh
- Displays: Unlike other IoT device builds, smart meters usually require displays for showing consumption data and other information. It has to be secure and tamper-proof.
2. Software
It is also worth noting that smart meters’ general functionality should be improved through firmware and software. It is vital to design software that is modular, scalable, and easily updated. Ensure that a secure over-the-air (OTA) management is possible.
3. Standards and regulations
Regulations and certifications ensure that devices meet performance, safety, and interoperability requirements before they are deployed in the field. However, it can be easy to get lost with the many standards across the industry at both national and international levels.
Components and implementation must be certified for accuracy, performance, reliability, security, safety, and interoperability that are highly dependent on regional requirements. There are also some variations on smart meter requirements for energy, gas, or water. Some examples of certifications and regulations are:
- Critical Entities Resilience Directive (CER)
- Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)
- EU regulations on smart grids and meters
- IEEE 1686-2013 – Standard for Intelligent Electronic Devices Cyber Security Capabilities
- IEC 62052 and 62053: These international standards specify requirements for the construction, testing, and performance of electricity metering equipment.
💡 One strategy to navigate compliance requirements is to seek out reliable partners who manage certifications at various levels. Compliance experts can save you time and costly mistakes.
4. Connectivity
Connectivity tethers on-site smart meters to the utility station. And when talking about smart meters capability to deliver timely meter data, it would not be possible without connectivity. So not only should it have reliable coverage, connectivity can also work to improve operational excellence with various network services.
Quality of coverage
Because they are often installed in obscure locations, the coverage quality has to be reliable. While there are some ways to improve signal integrity, connectivity must still be secure, and downtime should be reduced. The ideal connectivity option should enable transmission of data for continuity of service.
→ Onomondo gives you access to 650+ RANs worldwide and increased uptime and coverage on 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, LTE-M, or NB-IoT. Read more about our connectivity solution for smart meters.
Minimizes compliance risks
A simplified connectivity solution can help meet the numerous regulatory criteria required to deploy smart metering systems. For example, Onomondo’s global network uses a single APN, meaning there won’t be complicated connectivity setup for devices for each and every location. Additionally, you own the full rights to IMSI, Ki, and OPC keys, which helps with interoperability.
Streamlines remote management and diagnostics
When issues arise, the ability to debug and troubleshoot remotely means there’s less need to send down a maintenance officer to check what the cause is. Having access to debugging tools to gain access to network, traffic, and signaling logs provides immediate insights into what is happening with your smart meter connectivity. As an example, you can see if the device is online, and if not, when was it last online and if there are other devices that are having issues.
Supports device lifespan
Smart meters need to be able to adapt to future adjustments to improve its lifespan. Connectivity contracts usually last around 5 years and if there are any changes that need to happen on or before that time, our freedom to leave solution allows you to transfer operators as needed throughout the device’s lifespan. This makes it convenient for smart metering to prioritize their connectivity needs, as opposed to having to visit each and every single smart metering device to replace SIMs.
💡 SoftSIM is a software-only SIM that requires no physical SIM chips to establish network connectivity onto the device. This means remote management is easier and easier on the device battery consumption. Learn more about SoftSIM here.
5. Data integrity
Smarts meters make accurate data more reliable for both customers and utility companies. To ensure billing accuracy, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency, some strategies that enhance data integrity and availability, include:
- Implement data validation techniques that check for errors, anomalies, and inconsistencies in meter data
- Secure communication protocols to protect meter data from unauthorized access or tampering.
- Design redundancy, backup, and disaster recovery capabilities in the event of a failure.
- Have data governance policies and procedures in place that define roles and processes for managing and securing meter data throughout its lifecycle.
6. Security
Security issues include data privacy and integrating legacy systems, as well as external threats like physical tampering and malware. In fact, security is one of the top concerns for many utility operators.
Ensuring end-to-end security requires a comprehensive approach that addresses security at every layer of the system, from the physical meter to the back-end IT infrastructure and even securing connectivity.
Common strategies in securing IoT-based smart metering systems include:
- Development practices, such as code review, testing, and vulnerability scanning will help identify and remediate security weaknesses in meter firmware
- Encryption and authentication protocols
- Key management and access control
- Monitoring
- Incidence response
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Designing IoT-based smart metering systems for reliability and resilience
Overall, smart meters introduce opportunities for efficiency. It is estimated that smart meters create up to 2-10% energy savings, and an average savings of €230 for gas and €270 for electricity per metering point (divided among consumers, suppliers, distribution system operators, and so on), according to a study done by the EU.
Building IoT-based smart metering systems for utilities like gas, water, and power offer accessible tools for reliable measurements that limit fraud, help detect leakages, and prevent outages — all of which are beneficial to bottomline goals that satisfy customers and operational excellence that can also have an impact on sustainable targets.
Ensuring the longevity and performance of smart meters over their lifespan is critical for achieving a positive ROI and minimizing maintenance costs. By implementing the strategies and best practices early on in the design stages and throughout the device lifespan, it will be more manageable to create smart metering systems that are built to last longer and deliver value for years to come.
Free webinar: choosing the right cellular connectivity provider for your smart meters
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Join our upcoming webinar to discover how Onomondo can simplify your IoT connectivity needs.
Our experts will discuss our comprehensive offering, which includes global IoT connectivity, a user-friendly SIM management platform, advanced software SIM technology, and powerful debugging tools.
This is also your chance to engage directly with our experts and get your specific questions answered.
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Resources
European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy, Alaton, C., Tounquet, F. (2020). Benchmarking smart metering deployment in the EU-28 : final report, Publications Office. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2833/492070
