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| The 21st century power grid An aging power grid infrastructure. Increasing energy demands. Climate change. Stringent environmental regulations. It’s an unprecedented convergence of challenges that industry, government, and consumers must address. Enter the Smart Grid, a modernized method of distributing electricity to address supply and global warming issues. Countries the world over are looking at variations of Smart Grids to increase the efficiency and reliability of energy distribution, and to encourage energy conservation. The Smart Grid uses smart metering infrastructure (SMI) to provide two-way, real-time communications between energy suppliers and consumers. With up-to-the-minute data transmitting between homes and supplier, consumers can make choices about their energy consumption, while suppliers can better manage load distribution, implement time of use billing, and provide accurate billing. By 2015, 250 million homes worldwide are expected to have smart meters. |
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The PowerTab In-Home Display receives real-time consumption data wirelessly from the utility service provider's smart meter installed outside a home.
The smart meter is connected to a network of other meters that provide data back to the utility, eliminating the need for costly and potentially inaccurate manual meter reading.
Utilities can send messages to a customer's meter, manage pricing information, and operate the electrical grid more efficiently through its smart meter network.