As many of you have hopefully seen, the Open Smart Meter was recently developed by First Electric. We have received much interest from potential adopters (link here, if you haven’t check it out yet: Smartmeter - EnAccess
After talking with various potential adopters, we have received some feedback on potential improvements for the Open Smart Meter. I would be interested in getting feedback on what potential changes or improvements might make the meter more interesting to potential adopters?
Addition of Open PayGO token based on charging by kWh usage rather than time based
Adaptation of Cicada wifi so meter can communicate via wifi to internet connection point
Addition of mesh communication for meter usage in applications with multiple meters such as minigrids
3-Phase version for monitoring larger commercial loads
If you have any of your own suggestions or would like to particularly see any of the above implemented please let us know by commenting below.
We are excited to share that EnAccess is supporting Solarly as it works to combine two of our innovations. The first phase of the work has already begun, and Solarly is actively restructuring the code with feedback from EnAccess and First Electric. This will make it easier to add in the code for the Open PAYGO token once the modifications are complete.
In the next phase, the OpenPAYGO-Token will be modified to support energy-based (kWh) tracking, replacing the current time-based tracking. Once this is done, Solarly will incorporate the OpenPAYGO-Token into the Open Smart Meter code. We will continue to provide support and guidance throughout the process.
We are thrilled to see Solarly’s commitment to innovation and energy access, and we look forward to sharing more updates with you in the coming weeks and months. We also welcome requests and suggestions for innovation modifications of the Open Smart Meter that could better serve the Energy Access community.
We want to update you on some work currently done in collaboration between First Electric, EnAccess, and us, Solarly!
For some background:
Solarly works on incorporating the OpenPAYGO Token into the OpenSmartMeter. The OpenPAYGO Token is an open-source PAYG token system that has been supported and promoted by EnAccess and is widely adopted in the sector. The OpenSmartMeter, developed by First Electric, currently runs on an STS-like token system. While the OpenPAYGO Token is time-based, for use in the OpenSmartMeter, an energy-based token system is required. So, the current work focuses on (1) refactoring the firmware code of the smart meter for ease of further adaption and integration work and (2) making an energy-based (kWh) version of OpenPAYGO Token incorporated in the OpenSmartMeter.
The philosophy around this project is that technical solutions shouldn’t be a blocking point for Energy Access companies to implement PAYG solutions.
To help any Energy Access company to focus on the distribution challenges, we propose an all-in-one meter capable of doing any business model for energy installation, connected to one or multiple users.
To provide an update on where we are right now:
We have successfully refactored the code to make it more user-friendly and thus more accessible to newcomers.
We have been working now to integrate OpenPAYGO-Token inside the OpenSmartMeter firmware and make sure we can still easily configure the token protocol at will.
In this phase, OpenPAYGO Token will be integrated in energy-based mode.
When this integration is established, we will add the time-based functionality. The OpenSmartMeter will then be able to work in both energy and time-based mode for it to be easily implemented for any business model.
What do you think about this last functionality? Based on your experience in energy access, is there also a need for a time-based token option in a single-phase AC SmartMeter?
If you have any questions or suggestions on the process and ongoing work, please let us know by commenting here !