There are several communication solutions that have been implemented on the real-time data port of the smart meter (H1) throughout Europe. In addition there are also different variants of the same standard (such as the Dutch “P1 port”). These facts are barriers to the interoperability of the metering infrastructure where it concerns the connection with consumer devices in the commercial domain.
In particular, this connection is important for enabling consumer involvement as it provides meter data to a consumer or a 3rd party device that either displays this data in consumer-friendly format or manages the energy consumption in a smart home or in home energy management solutions. The (near) real-time1 data port should provide the data needed for Consumer Energy Management, but an international definition of such a data set is missing.
ESMIG’s Task Force responsible for developing this report decided to focus on the definition of a standard data set to be provided through the H1 interface. The physical layer has not be considered, but that could be done at a later stage, for example by defining a (limited) set of physical interfaces.
In order to define such interoperability requirements for the smart meter real-time data port H1 we need:
- use cases for the exchange of data,
- a definition of the data set (eg OBIS codes) to be provided by the meter via this interface and a (limited) list of communication standards that are recommended to be use.
The standard should be sufficiently defined, or defined or by companion standards, such that different variants are avoided as much as possible. The scope will cover data exchange for Consumer Energy Management in line with the Use Cases defined by the ESMIG Task Force “Next Generation Smart Metering”.
Note that ESMIG will not define official standards by itself, the report will be forwarded to the relevant CEN/CLC Technical Committees that officially work on standards for the H1 port.