Iberdrola Looks to PRIME PLC Smart Meter Standard

Big Spanish utility Iberdrola (IBDRY.PK) - much like its fellow giants Enel (EN) of Italy and EDF (EDFEY.PK) of France - appears to be settling on its own powerline communications standard to link its 18 million customers or so with smart meters.

The companies behind the technology it think it could be a contender for a Europe-wide standard. To get there, however, they'll have to go without France and Italy's biggest power providers as partners.

That's because Enel of Italy has already deployed a 30-million smart meter network using technology from San Jose, Calif.-based Echelon Corp. (ELON), a company that's also deploying millions more meters in several European markets with its competing powerline carrier system (see Echelon Expands Euro Smart Meter Biz).

EDF of France, in the meantime, plans a 300,000-meter pilot next year to test a number of powerline carrier technologies, one of which is set to win the future smart meter deployment the utility is contemplating for its 35 million customers (see Watteco Launches PLC Tech, Eyes EDF Smart Meter Plans).

Still, the PRIME Alliance - made up of Iberdrola, top smart meter makers Itron (ITRI) and Landis+Gyr, smart grid communications provider Current Group, semiconductor makers Texas Instruments, ST Microelectronics and ADD and others - sees itself as the first "truly interoperable" powerline carrier-based solution out there.

That's according to Tom Willie, senior vice president of product development & technology at Current Group and the alliance's vice-chairman. The alliance announced successful interoperability tests last week at a smart metering conference in Barcelona.

"Interoperability is defined exactly the way the telecom guys define interoperability," Willie said. "Anybody's meter device, using their own communications module, can work with anybody's collector... they'd talk to each other in a true plug-and-play setting."

That's a big claim, given the fragmented and often-proprietary nature of utility communications that need to be linked into an overall smart grid network. Even relatively simple smart meter deployments present challenges to interoperability.

Some smart meters use IP or other standards for networking, but transmit wireless signals over proprietary radio systems, for example, while others use proprietary networking over standard wireless technologies like WiFi or ZigBee (see Smart Grid: A Matter of Standards).

But governments in Europe - and the United States - are demanding interoperability first, and standards eventually, from utilities' smart grid systems. That's led to a rush of technology partnerships in the space, driven by billions of dollars in government incentives in the U.S. and abroad (see Smart Grid Standards Roadmap Unveiled).

In Europe, utilities face mandates to give all their customers smart meters in the coming years. Those two-way communicating meters will allow for remote reading, shut-off and start-up, power quality measurement and eventual linkage with in-home energy control networks.

In North America, most utilities have chosen wireless communications to link their meters in local-area or neighborhood-area networks, though Duke Energy is looking at powerline carrier for millions of meters (see RF Mesh, ZigBee Top North American Utilities' Wish Lists and Ambient Extends Smart Grid Contract With Duke).

But in Europe, powerline carrier (PLC) technologies have taken the lead. PLC uses the same electricity that powers homes to carry information, and typically links smart meters to concentrator boxes located alongside transformers, which tend to interfere with the signal being carried further up the electricity grid.

Wireless technologies work well for suburban-type neighborhoods, but the dense apartment blocks of Europe present a challenge. Any wireless signal that could reach from basement meters through yards of concrete to top-floor apartments would likely be too expensive to contemplate for millions of meters.

Powerline carrier technologies, on the other hand, travel on the wires that carry power, making them ideal for big apartments or other dense residential and commercial environments.

Current Group has deployed a similar, but distinct, technology at Xcel Energy's $100 million SmartGridCity project in Boulder, Colo., Willie said.

There, Current links about 15,000 of an eventual 42,500 homes with smart meters using a modified broadband over powerline technology, he said. BPL is like PLC but with greater bandwidth, though typically at a higher price of deployment, and can be used over higher-voltage transmission lines as well (see Distribution Automation: Smart Grid's Quiet Efficiency Offering).

At the lower voltages that exist in distribution grids, newer powerline carrier technologies use orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing, the same technology behind cable and DSL communications, to broaden the bandwidth available, Willie said.

North American utilities tend to find PLC more expensive, since fewer homes are served per transformer, multiplying the number of concentrator boxes required, he said.

But to utilities that have said PLC is more expensive than wireless systems, he pointed to Iberdrola's price target of €35 ($52) per smart meter - less than half the $100 to $150 price often cited in North American deployments - as a gauge of its potential to save money.

The PRIME Alliance is talking to other utilities with an additional 12 million or so customers, Willie said, though he wouldn't name them.

As far as becoming Europe's favorite smart meter standard, the alliance could face significant competition from Italy and France, Willie said.

Any technology that EDF picks for its system-wide smart meter deployment may "drive a de-facto standard" on the continent, he said. But EDF hasn't reached out to as wide a coalition of vendors - PRIME has eight members now, but hopes to have 15 more soon and more than 50 by mid-2010, he said.

And Enel, which sells its Echelon-based PLC technology to other utilities, might face trouble in adapting its own system for other customers' disparate needs, he suggested.

"PRIME is not saying that utilities won't make proprietary decisions," Willie said. "What we're saying is, there exists an alliance that has created a technology that's multi-vendor interoperable."

The alliance isn't limiting its sights to Europe, he added - the alliance is working on a wireless technology that could link seamlessly with its PLC network, he said.

But on either side of the Atlantic, the alliance will need to land more utility customers to stand a chance at becoming the standard it wants to be, said Ben Schuman, analyst with Pacific Crest Securities.

I know the idea is to create an open PLC architecture for everyone to use," he said. "But until I see another utility join the alliance I will consider it Iberdrola's home grown standard, just like EDF and Enel."

source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/166042-iberdrola-looks-to-prime-plc-smart-meter-standard

Defidev, Elster and DS2 unveil a new generation of IP-based Smart Meter technology

• Based on Internet Protocol (IP) standards
• Reduces capital and operational costs of Automatic Metering Infrastructure (AMI)
• Eliminates the need for store and forward hardware
• Supporting real-time meter reading
• Supports DLMS for interoperability between metering standards

Barcelona Spain, October 08, 2009 - Defidev, a French solutions integrator specialising in Powerline Communication (PLC) technology, today unveils a new generation of IP-based electricity meters, developed in collaboration with Elster and integrating DS2 PLC technology, at the 2009 Metering Europe Conference. Based on Internet Protocol (IP) standards and integrating higher bandwidth technology to enable advanced services, the meters greatly reduce the capital and operational costs of Automatic Meter Infrastructure (AMI) deployment for utilities.

Jean Pierre Lobert, Founder and CEO of Defidev, explains: "By incorporating IP standards, we have eliminated the need to deploy concentrators. Our Phoenix™ Gateway provides connectivity with a utility's central network and interoperability with all metering technologies (Zigbee, M-Bus, etc). The high bandwidth provided by DS2 powerline technology eliminates the need for store and forward hardware at intermediate points on the network to further reduce costs. Meter reading is done in real time, enabling advanced services, such as indicating consumption levels to the utility and customers in real time over the Internet."

The meters, which are designed to communicate with the Phoenix™ Gateway based in the street transformer, transmit the meter readings over the LV (Low Voltage) and MV (Medium Voltage) electricity networks. A further advantage of the Defidev-designed meters is their ease of integration with other AMI networking elements, including support for the Device Language Message Specification (DLMS) part of the IEC 62056 series of standards covering data exchange for meter reading, tariff and load control that provides interoperability between the Gateway and all the metering standards. Mr Lobert adds: "At Metering Europe, we are demonstrating interoperability between PLC technology, Zigbee and several regional radio standards, all interchanging data with each other. This simplifies the decision-making and trial process for the utility. The technology will be interoperable with the emerging ITU-T G.hn standard that has been selected as a Smart Grid standard by the US National Institute of Standards and technology (NIST).

For more information, please visit:
Elster: www.elstermetering.com
Defidev: www.defidev.com
DS2: www.ds2.es

The Smart Grid of the Future needs Standards to be set now

The industry's first 'Really Smart' Smartgrid will help consumers and power companies meet

_{About DS2
DS2 is the leading technology innovator and a global provider of high-speed semiconductor solutions for Powerline Communications and other wire-line network communications products. DS2 invented high-speed Powerline Communications delivering the first 200Mbps Powerline Communications IC to enable quality multimedia home networking, networked entertainment and broadband access applications to and throughout the home, office or building, as well as to and throughout urban and rural communities. Enabling the hidden multimedia network behind the power outlet is the purpose of DS2. Our mission is to engage our customers at the vanguard of innovation by creating the most advanced and sustainable powerline, coaxial and phoneline communications solutions.}

Source: http://www.targetwire.com/iba/2009/10/08/ds2053/ds2053_uk.html

STMicroelectronics : sélectionné par Enel

STMicroelectronics, l'un des premiers fabricants mondiaux de circuits intégrés et premier fournisseur mondial de solutions de gestion d'énergie, annonce qu'il a été sélectionné par Enel, la plus grande compagnie d'électricité italienne, pour fournir les composants électroniques qui équiperont les nouveaux compteurs électroniques prochainement déployée par Endesa, le plus grand fournisseur d'électricité en Espagne.

Les compteurs électromécaniques traditionnels reposent sur une technologie plus que centenaire qui n'est plus adaptée à de nouveaux développements significatifs. Les compteurs électroniques actuels présentent de nombreux avantages pour les compagnies d'électricité comme pour les consommateurs, dont un coût de fabrication, d'étalonnage et de maintenance réduit, et une plus grande précision. De plus, ces solutions fournissent aux particuliers des informations détaillées relatives à leur consommation effective tandis que la compagnie d'électricité dispose de données ponctuelles en matière de qualité de service. Les avantages pour les deux parties sont tangibles :

• les consommateurs peuvent suivre et maîtriser leur consommation avec une plus grande précision (par exemple, en utilisant leurs appareils électroménagers, lave-vaisselle, lave-linge et autres douches électriques - pendant des plages horaires où le tarif est le plus bas),
• tandis que les fournisseurs d'énergie peuvent générer et distribuer l'énergie avec une efficacité accrue.

ST fournira une solution complète de relevés de compteurs intelligents composée d'un système sur puce de communication sur courants porteurs (ST758x) qui constitue le coeur du dispositif, d'un puissant microcontrôleur 32 bits (STM32) et d'un circuit d'alimentation novateur.

Cet ensemble sera complété par un MOSFET et une mémoire EEPROM pour former le socle du nouveau compteur électronique d'Endesa. Par ailleurs, comme annoncé par Enel, le protocole SITRED de communication sur courants porteurs utilisé par cette nouvelle génération de solutions de gestion à distance de la consommation électrique, sera ouvert au marché.

Ceci signifie que le groupe Enel va mettre à la disposition de toutes les parties concernées la première solution de télégestion des compteurs électriques dont la fiabilité a été éprouvée sur plus de 50 millions de compteurs à travers le monde.

Cette étape concrète est fondamentale pour la progression du processus de standardisation lancé par la Communauté Européenne en faveur du développement d'un réseau de distribution d'électricité intelligent (le Smart Grid).

Ce déploiement de compteurs électroniques par Endesa place ST en première ligne pour exploiter ce nouveau cas de figure grâce aux relations établies de longue date avec Enel pour la fourniture de composants novateurs.

http://www.boursier.com/vals/FR/stmicroelectronics-selectionne-par-enel-news-352052.htm

First deal outside the United States with two Australian utilities

Deux utilities australiens vont installer 1 million de compteurs intelligents d'ici 2013. Les différents marchés internationaux offrent des défis différents pour le déploiement de compteurs intelligents. Une petite revue des acteurs et des techno par région. Selon cet article EDF deployerai une solution CPL propriétaire.

15/04/2009

The smart meter networking and communications provider lands its first deal outside the United States with two Australian utilities planning to install 1 million smart meters by 2013. Different international markets offer different challenges for smart meter deployments.

Silver Spring Networks has landed its first contract outside the United States – a deal to enable an eventual 1 million smart meters in Australia with its networking technology.

The Redwood City, Calif.-based startup announced the deal with Australian utilities Jemena Electricity Networks and United Energy Distribution on Wednesday. The utilities hope to have 1 million Silver Spring-enabled smart meters from U.K.-based meter maker PRI installed by 2013.

The news adds an international contract to the many Silver Spring has landed with U.S. utilities – Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Florida Power & Light and American Electric Power among them – to enable two-way communication between utilities and customers, thus making the meters "smart."

It's a booming business in the United States, which has an estimated 140 million traditional power meters that could be upgraded, though so far the number of smart meters installed is in the low millions, according to recent estimates (see Smart Meter Installations Grow Nearly Fivefold). Canada has another estimated 10 million endpoints.

But North America is far from the only market. In fact, Europe likely holds the current lead, with at least 27 million smart meters installed by Italian utility Enel and millions more in other nations, according to a March report from ABI Research (see Notes From a National Smart Grid Experiment).

Australia, with a population of about 21 million and an estimated 14 million "end-points," or homes and businesses served by power meters, isn't such a large market by comparison, noted Ben Schuman, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities.

Still, landing the contract "validates that their solution can be applied to markets outside North America, which opens up a huge incremental opportunity for them," he said.

Specifically, he noted that the Australian deal indicates that the nation is a good candidate for Silver Spring's radio frequency mesh technology.

Silver Spring equips meters with radios that mesh together in a 900-megahertz frequency range and send data to central collectors for "backhaul" over utility wide-area networks -- a typical means of smart meter communications in the United States (see Smart Grid: A Matter of Standards).

In contrast, European utilities have mostly opted for power-line carrier technologies that send data over existing power lines, Schuman said. Italy's Enel, which uses technology from Echelon Corp., is one example, he said. French utility EDF plans to use its own power-line carrier technology to link an eventual 35 million endpoints in a massive smart meter project, he said.

Power-line carrier is more cost-effective in Europe because utilities there tend to serve more homes per transformer than in the United States, he said. Because those transformers interfere with power-line carrier signals, they must be bypassed with repeater devices, at costs that tend to be too high in U.S. markets, he said (see Will Smart Grid See a Push for Power-Line Networking?).

Silver Spring's Australian presence could grow, said Eric Dresselhuys, vice president of markets. The Australian state of Victoria, which the utilities serve, has mandated that 2.5 million smart meters be installed within its borders, he said.

"There is now a national plan for smart meters in Australia," he added. "We suspect that all of the large utilities throughout the country are going to work to be in compliance with those requirements."

Other Australian utilities are trying different smart meter technologies. San Francisco-based Grid Net, which has developed technology for installing WiMax Internet routers in smart meters from partner General Electric, is testing them with SP AusNet and Energy Australia (see GE Offers WiMax Smart Meter Solution).

The utilities are also considering power-line carrier and cellular networks for their smart meter deployments, according to ZDNet Australia.

Silver Spring has raised about $160 million since 2007, including $90 million since October (see Silver Spring Grabs $75M and Green Light posts here and here).

The company expects to see about 2 million meters with its technology deployed by the end of 2009 (see Green Light post). PG&E, its biggest customer, had installed about 150,000 Silver Spring-enabled electric smart meters as of February, and plans to have 5.3 million electric meters installed by 2011, most of them using Silver Spring technology.

As for PRI, the U.K.-based smart meter maker is involved in projects in Europe, the Middle East and New Zealand as well as Australia, and also makes home energy monitoring devices.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/silver-spring-heads-down-under-6051.html

Metering 2009 issue1 Régulation of Gas SmartMetering in Italy

Metering2009issue1-RégulationofGasSmartMeteringinItaly

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Magazines & Newspape smart metering itali

Metering 2009 issue1 - AMR Technologie in the Asia Pacific Region

Metering2009issue1-AMRTechnologieintheAsiaPacificRegion

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Magazines & Newspape smartmeter asia pass

IBERDROLA architecture open source cpl

Actaris à recement annoncé le developpement de produit compatible avec le protocol PRIME (PoweR Intelligent Metering Evolution).

IBERDROLA apporte la touche finale à la définition de son architecture télécom ouverte et libre de droit en préparation aux compteurs intelligents et réseaux électriques intelligents de nouvelle génération

IBERDROLA a consacré énormément d'efforts à la définition et aux tests d'une nouvelle architecture de télécommunication CPL (courants porteurs en ligne) ouverte, publique et libre de droit, compatible avec la technologie de compteur intelligent et l'évolution vers les réseaux électriques intelligents.

Première étape : définition et test de la couche physique (PHY), rendue publique en février dernier, reposant sur le procédé de modulation numérique des signaux OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) qui offre jusqu'à 130 Kbps sur la bande CENELEC-A et présente comme autres avantages une robustesse et une portée accrues pour un coût peu élevé.

IBERDROLA a maintenant présenté les spécifications MAC (Medium Access Control) et CS (Convergence Sublayer) après une série de tests probants.

C'est un pas radical vers une solution ouverte, publique et standard AMI (Advanced Meter Infrastructure) dans le cadre du projet PRIME (Power line Related Intelligent Metering Evolution) dirigé par IBERDROLA. Les partenaires du projet PRIME sont Advanced Digital Design, le groupe CURRENT, Landis+Gyr, STMicroelectronics, Usyscom et ZIV. Un certain nombre de distributeurs européens d'électricité et de fabricants mondiaux de semi-conducteurs participeront bientôt au projet.

C'est une étape cruciale vers l'objectif final, celui de définir un ensemble exhaustif de normes internationales qui permettra une interopérabilité entre les différents fabricants et stimulera la concurrence sur le marché du comptage, au bénéfice de tous les acteurs, et en particulier des usagers. Contrairement à d'autres solutions déjà commercialisées, cette solution ne sera pas protégée par des droits de propriété intellectuelle.

En plus des spécifications complètes déjà disponibles, IBERDROLA devrait, dans les semaines à venir, publier le code de référence rédigé en langage de programmation standard C ANSI totalement compatible, pour la fonctionnalité des couches MAC et CS. Ce code de référence commun contribuera à l'interopérabilité entre les produits de différents fournisseurs, tout en améliorant le délai de mise sur le marché.

IBERDROLA prépare un projet pilote portant sur l'installation de 100 000 compteurs CPL et 635 concentrateurs en 2009, avant de passer au marché intégral comptant plus de 10 millions de particuliers espagnols. IBERDROLA profitera également de ce projet pilote pour mettre en œuvre sa solution de réseau électrique intelligent (Smart Grid).

Les spécifications complètes, PHY + MAC + CS, sont disponibles sur le site AMI.info@iberdrola.es Un livre blanc sur le projet PRIME peut également être téléchargé depuis le site http://www.iberdrola.es/wcorp/corporativa/iberdrola?IDPAG=ENSMART_METERING

Source: http://www.targetwire.com/targetwire/2008/07/24/tw518fr/tw518fr_fr.html

Brussels, November 3rd 2008 - ACTARIS today announced the development of products compliant with the PRIME protocol (PoweR Intelligent Metering Evolution). PRIME is a project, developed by the Spanish energy company, Iberdrola, with the objective of establishing a comprehensive set of standards for an open, public and standard AMI (Automatic Meter Infrastructure) for the PLC.

Iberdrola has been working extensively over the past few years to define and test a new open, public and non-proprietary Power Line Communications telecom architecture that supports smart metering functionality and also allows smart grid evolution.

PRIME is a Physical and Mac layer standard definition based on emerging technologies that will respond to future markets. It is an open system that will allow interoperability between equipment from different manufacturers and will also ensure the growth of new markets so all players, particularly the end-user, will benefit from this approach.

"Actaris is pleased to join forces with Iberdrola on this project. Actaris is committed to the development of open, non-proprietary solutions based on DLMS COSEM and we are convinced that our contribution will be decisive in the success of this project" explained Patrick MORTEL, Actaris PLC Product Manager.

http://www.actaris.com/html/news-212.html

http://www.actaris.com/html/news-201.html

Linky: presentation of the new French electric smart meter #product #market

"Linky", le nouveau compteur électronique "communicant" appelé à remplacer les 35 millions de compteurs électriques équipant les foyers français, a été présenté mercredi à Tours où il sera expérimenté dès mars 2010 sur 100 000 clients. Le compteur permet de charger ses informations de consommation sur une clé usb pour les afficher sur un ordinateur. Par contre pas d'info, ni sur la technologie utilisée pour la "communication", ni sur les possibilités d'ouverture de ce compteur à des tiers --xb.

En plastique vert anis, "Linky", haut de 19 cm, large de 10 cm et profond de 6 cm, fabriqué en France, est un compteur "communicant", c'est-à-dire qu'il permet de transmettre et de recevoir des données à distance.

Il sera expérimenté en Touraine où 100.000 compteurs seront installés entre mars et septembre 2010, selon un communiqué d'ERDF, filiale distribution d'EDF.

"Ce compteur est une révolution technologique pour les clients et les acteurs de la chaîne électrique. Equipé d'un micro-ordinateur, il permet de mieux maîtriser sa consommation, réduit le temps d'intervention et améliore la facturation", a déclaré Jean Vigneron, directeur du projet, lors d'une conférence de presse, mercredi à Tours.

A l'aide d'une clef USB, glissée dans le compteur, le client peut charger des informations sur sa consommation, sur les incidents éventuelles survenues sur la ligne, sur sa puissance et sur les tarifs du distributeur et du fournisseur, pour les afficher ensuite sur son ordinateur.

"Aujourd'hui, le changement de puissance demande un delai de deux à cinq jours. Avec ce compteur, en deux heures, le changement est effectué. Les techniciens interviennent directement, sans se déplacer", explique le responsable.

Le particulier pourra reconstituer son historique de consommation, comprendre pourquoi il a consommé plus ce mois-ci que le mois précédent. Il n'aura plus besoin d'attendre chez lui la venue d'un agent chargé de relever les compteurs pour sa facturation établie désormais sur un relevé de consommation réelle.

ERDF (électricité réseau distribution France) remplacera en Touraine, les anciens compteurs, en grande majorité électro-mécaniques, par "Linky", à raison de 1.000 par jour à partir de mars 2010. Cent vingt techniciens seront mobilisés pour cette opération qui ensuite sera généralisée à toute la France. Le nouveau compteur doit également être testé à Lyon, à la même période.

Source: http://fr.news.yahoo.com

Echelon Corp. has released a new version of LonWorks #techno #market

Echelon annonce une nouvelle version de son réseau LonWorks 2.0. Cette version devrait notamment reduire le cout d'installation de 50%. L'article rappel qu'Echelon est très utilisé en Europe avec 1.5 millions de compteurs intelligents + 27 millions chez l'italien ENEL avec son réseau CPL . Bien implanté en Europe Echelon l'est assez peu au US malgrès quelques inititatives de déployement en Californie avec Pacific Gas & Electic (PCG) et Duke Energy (DUK). La technologie CPL Echellon et son concurant HomePlug (supporté par l'alliance Zigbee) ne sont toujours pas des standards ouverts --esa.

By Jeff St. John march 03, 2009

Echelon Corp. (ELON) has released a new version of LonWorks, its widely used technology for building automation to better integrate it into the company's smart grid efforts.

Now the question is, will utilities pick up on it?

Echelon's "LonWorks 2.0" platform announced Tuesday is meant to ease the integration of energy monitoring and control systems and devices into existing LonWorks networks, said Steve Nguyen, director of corporate marketing.

Hundreds of thousands of buildings are now using LonWorks as part of building management systems installed by Honeywell (HON), Siemens (SI) and other big players in the field.

LonWorks 2.0 promises to add a host of new products that can be integrated with existing and new systems, adding improvements that will cut the costs of installing those products by as much as 50 percent compared to the old systems, Nguyen said.

How the new and improved LonWorks platform might help the company's smart grid efforts remains to be seen.

Echelon's smart meter business – called Networked Energy Services – is based on smart meters that communicate data over power lines to concentrators that use IP-based communications networks to get information back to utilities.

Echelon's system has been widely adopted in Europe, with 1.5 million of its smart meters installed and 90 pilot projects underway, Nguyen said. Echelon also provided power line networking to a 27 million home smart meter project with Italian utility Enel (see Will Smart Grid See a Push for Power-Line Networking?).

But Echelon's system has been less popular in the United States, where most utilities have opted for radio mesh or other wireless communications to connect smart meters, citing the higher costs associated with power line networking (see SCE Preps $1.63B Smart-Meter Program and Smart Grid: A Matter of Standards).

While Echelon is working with several U.S. utilities to control streetlights, including major California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PCG), so far Duke Energy (DUK) is the only U.S. utility to use Echelon for a major smart meter deployment.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based utility is working with Echelon in a project in Cincinnati, that has seen 60,000 smart meters installed so far, said David Mohler, Duke's chief technology officer.

Duke also is seeking regulatory permission to bring smart meters to more than 800,000 homes in its service area in Indiana. Nguyen said Echelon hopes to work on that project as well.

Duke plans to spend $1 billion to bring smart meters to its entire 4 million-household area in the next five years, so Echelon will likely be seeking to prove itself in the utility's initial deployments to get involved in those larger projects, according to a January research note from Deutsche Bank Securities analysts.

Could LonWorks 2.0 help Echelon win those contracts? It's hard to say, but given that LonWorks is already deployed in a large number of commercial buildings, "In the back of our mind is the idea of being able to connect some of that stuff" to Duke's smart meter network, Mohler said. The utility hasn't made any hard plans to do that yet, he added.

But Echelon would like to see Duke and other utilities look to commercial buildings as the target for energy savings, Nguyen said.

"That's really and truly the most near-term alternative energy in the market," as compared to homes, he said. The Department of Energy estimates that 70 percent of all electricity in the United States is consumed in commercial buildings, and 70 percent of that is consumed by lighting and heating, ventilation and air conditioning, he said.

While Nguyen wouldn't say what new products are coming out in conjunction with LonWorks 2.0, he did say the first would be aimed at the commercial market.

Bringing out a new version of LonWorks could be another way to "kickstart" Echelon's smart meter business in the United States, said John Quealy, managing director in equity research for Cannacord Adams.

"Echelon is at the nexus of two trends – utility communications and building communications," Quealy said. "But so far they haven't capitalized on it as such."

The company saw a slowdown in business in 2008, with a net loss of $25.8 million on revenues of $134 million, compared to a loss of $15.7 million on revenues of $137.6 million in 2007.

But the continuation of Duke's smart meter deployments, as well as the federal stimulus package signed into law this month, could boost Echelon's business in the long term, Quealy said (see Obama Signs Stimulus Package).

The bill contains $11 billion to modernize the nation's electricity grid, along with $4.5 billion in grants for smart grid technology deployments. It also has $5.5 billion for improving the energy efficiency of federal buildings, a market where Echelon's LonWorks has some penetration given that the U.S. Army uses it, Nguyen said.

Of course, others are looking to capitalize on making commercial buildings more efficient as well, including the companies that install LonWorks in their building control systems. Honeywell and Siemens are among those increasingly using their own proprietary networks in place of LonWorks, according to Deutsche Bank Securities' January research note.

And then there's Cisco Systems, which last month announced it was getting into the commercial building energy management business with its EnergyWise product running over its own networks. Schneider Electric – another huge building automation systems installer –has agreed to work with Cisco on that effort (see Cisco Jumps Into Energy Management for Computers, Buildings).

As for home energy monitoring and control systems, Echelon is already working with Samsung electronics for devices that monitor energy use in apartments in China and Korea, Nguyen said. Apartments are natural venues for power line communications, since the distances between meters (often located in the basement) and apartments above make wireless communications difficult.

Whether Echelon's power line signaling technology for carrying data from a smart meter over a building's electrical wiring will win out over competing standards is an open question. Another power line carrier technology is being developed by the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, a group of companies that is working with the ZigBee Alliance to integrate their efforts to bring communications technology into homes.

Given that ZigBee is emerging as a front-runner in the race to become the meter-to-home wireless communications protocol of choice for home energy management systems, that partnership could give HomePlug an advantage over Echelon's technology.

But Nguyen pointed out that Echelon's technology is the de-facto standard for building controls and power line carrier technology in Europe. The company's technology has also been accepted by a host of standards bodies including the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), he said.

As for using ZigBee instead of power line signaling, Echelon's smart meters can be retrofitted to carry ZigBee radios, Nguyen said, though no customers have done so yet.

source: seekingalpha.com

Freescale partnering with arivus to develop automated meter reading through power-line

Freescale Semiconductor and arivus GmbH (partner of iAd GmbH) are joining hands to develop advanced orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) power line communications (PLC) modem solutions.
These next-generation PLC solutions target a wide range of building control applications, such as automated meter reading (AMR) and energy management and lighting for the European Union and global deployment. This technology will be de demonstrated at Freescale's Booth #335, Hall 9, at Embedded World.

Freescale and arivus GmbH plan to work together to support open standards for power line modem communications to support metering and building connectivity.

"DLC communications is much more than only the single chipset. In addition to silicon, you have to focus on essential solutions within the communication system software," said Karsten Pott, managing director of arivus. "Only a sound handshake between hardware and software results in high performing availability, for example, with re-routing and transmitted data rates. Together with Freescale, we see plenty of opportunities for improved offerings to the smart grid market."

source: eeherald