Smart Metering: Energy-efficient and cost-reducing

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Thing Technologies offers a variety of solutions to improve energy efficiency, reduce costs and thus make a decisive contribution to climate protection.

Legal framework

The German government has defined the energy transition as "central to a secure, environmentally friendly and economically successful future". The energy transition refers to the switch in energy supply from fossil and nuclear fuels to renewable energies and an increase in energy efficiency.

In order to successfully shape the energy transition, all components of the energy system must be restructured. This includes the expansion of the electricity grids, the development of new storage systems and the use of intelligent grids - also known as smart grids.

When the Act on the Digitization of the Energy Transition (GDEW) came into force in August 2016, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy regulated the equipment and operation of intelligent metering systems, known as smart meters, in connection with the energy transition (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy).

What are smart meters?

Smart meters are intelligent meters that can record, store and forward consumption values. The term smart meter is usually used in connection with digital electricity meters. However, the same also applies to water, gas and heat meters.

Modern (digital) electricity meters record consumption at short intervals or even in real time. They thus provide an interface via which the raw consumption values can be read out more frequently.

The Thing-It platform provides an overview.

If you want to increase your energy efficiency, you first need to learn something about your consumption. Annual meter readings are not enough here.

The solution is to use a new metering infrastructure in conjunction with an intelligent digitalization platform such as Thing-it.

A new metering infrastructure begins with the replacement of electricity meters with smart meters. The conversion is regulated by the GDEW timetable and, depending on consumption, must be completed by 2032 (Federal Network Agency (2020); Section 29 (3) sentence 1 MsbG). Replacement is possible at any time before then, at the latest with the regular meter change. This is regulated in the German Measurement and Verification Act (MessEG).

Standardized meter interfaces, e.g. S0 interface or MBus, and established transmission technologies, e.g. EnOcean, enable a high degree of flexibility and manufacturer independence.

Step by step

Thing-it supports its customers with their specific requirements and use cases and makes recommendations for infrastructure measures. The analysis begins with the local conditions and an inventory of the existing infrastructure. This includes the building management system, the IT network, the internet connection, the meters for the different types of energy and the position of the meters in the building.

The meters are installed by the metering point service provider or an appropriate specialist electrical company. The subsequent configuration and commissioning is carried out by Thing-it or a partner company.

Once the smart meters have been installed and a communication path to the internet has been created, the consumption values can be continuously transmitted to the Thing-it Cloud. This fully automates the readout process.

The consumption values of all meters are first collected in the Thing-it database and then visualized in the portal or in the app. Individually configurable dashboards provide a comprehensive overview of the meter readings. A wide range of user requirements and interests are taken into account:

• Current consumption (real-time data)

• Consumption histories

• Comparison of consumption values

• Correlation diagrams with external data, e.g. weather data