Assessment of Compliance of Smart Meters for Smart Distribution System Applications for the Indian Scenario

The existing distribution system is being modernised with Information and Communication technology to make the grid smarter, reliable, stable, safer, resilient and sustainable. The existing static energy meters are replaced by smart meters under the Revamped Distribution System Scheme (RDSS). In some of the states in India, smart meters are being installed. The Government of India aims to have 250 million smart meters installed by 2025. The smart meters are designed with hardware, software and a communication system with a load switch. The load switch could be of different categories depending on the applications. Therefore, the assessment of smart meters is very much essential and plays a vital role in monitoring smart distribution systems and their consumers. The smart meters’ compliance is verified using national and international standards. The assessment covers tests like accuracy, electrical, safety-related, Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)/Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), mechanical and Device Language Message Specification (DLMS) communication protocols compliance as per IEC 62056. This will prove the quality design of the smart meters, including communication systems. The performance of the smart meters in actual field conditions is very important, and any malfunction of smart meters may lead to a smart distribution grid disturbance. This paper provides an assessment of the compliance of Smart Meters for Smart Distribution System applications.