Matthew BoyleAs a last-ditch effort to combat climate change and mounting pressure on how power is produced and consumed, utility providers are struggling with the quickening pace of the energy transition. At the same time, they are confronted with a complex set of counterpressures as markets prioritize energy security and some governments actually increase their fossil fuel reserves. The vision for once-in-a-lifetime energy transformation is very apparent, but despite difficult geopolitical dynamics and challenges on all sides, investments in new technologies and models continue to grow.
However, the pace and pressure are reaching a breaking point, necessitating difficult choices for the energy market. This boils down to fundamental discussions about how to plan and implement modern change in order to make utility networks efficient and long-lasting. It implies that utility providers, who provide water, gas, electricity, and other vital resources, must consider factors other than really intelligent meters. Ireland-based SIM expert Kigen notes that the industry is busy upgrading to more advanced metering infrastructure ( AMI ) and suggests cellular for a variety of smart utility data.
Unlocking Energy Transition: Cellular Technology and AMI Systems for Utility Providers
New AMI systems are designed to automate data across the entire” grid,” or” net” in the case of gas and water distribution, as opposed to merely automating manual meter readings and possibly sharing live usage with consumers to drive behavioral change. According to Bee Hayes-Thakore, vice president of marketing at Kigen,” The industry wants to move to AMI… to manage the supply and demand, as well as the entire energy mix, and to start to develop services and applications on top.” She continues,” And cellular is nicely set for AMI- for that kind of potential vision.”
The challenges trickle down to change makers in the rank and file, producing gadgetry to combine into AMI systems, as the market seeks to solve the energy crisis and as it turns to technology for solutions. While there has been a lot of effort to make this more lasting route to AMI, meter manufacturers are still having to choose very difficult technologies to use, according to Hayes-Thakore. The industry must accept the choices it makes today because metering infrastructure is supposed to remain in place for a very long time— possibly for decades.
eSIM Revolution: Transforming Cellular Technology for Utility Providers and AMI Systems
For Kigen, it’s time to take mobile technology more seriously because it will last longer than anything else, even in a market that is scattered and prone to making odd technology decisions. Cellular has changed, she claims. It has often competed with these different technologies, but it has changed since then. It is simpler, less complicated, and more affordable. Yet why? What’s altered? Of course, the answer is eSIM. The introduction of embedded SIM ( eSIM ) technology promises easier logistics and longer service, as well as a wider rollout of cellular IoT networks.
According to Loic Bonvarlet, senior vice president of product marketing at Kigen,” Length in the field, which is true for any type of meter, but specifically gas and water ] meters ], which are not connected to a power supply, is one major constraint for the practice. On a single-charge battery that you rarely touch for the rest of your life, some of these have to last in the field for 20 years. which presents two difficulties: a long-life battery, or power supply, and – life connectivity service, which operates in occasionally challenging environments and can withstand telco and network changes.
Unlocking Service Continuity: eSIM Technology and Longevity in Utility IoT Modules
The reasoning behind service continuity is obvious: if an radio contract is originally signed for a five-year period and the operator misses targets, goes bankrupt, or the utility secures better terms, the option to mildly port the service to another provider constitutes an important advancement. ” In the past, you could buy a variety of SIM cards for various SKUs, solder them on, and hope you never need to replace them.” In the new world, you can download a new profile as needed and load the profile later in the manufacturing process. Therefore, after production, you don’t have to touch the actual SIM.
But hold on. twenty years? That’s correct, correct? And how can that be accomplished using a mobile IoT module? Yes, that is the North American rule regarding water meters, which states that you must provide 20 years of service or face the monetary penalty. Which means that[ manufacturers ] have had to consider creative ways to accomplish it, such as by optimizing energy-intensive items. And in the end, the transmission of data, not its computing, is what causes the actual drain. The expensive component is connectivity. Therefore, you want to make sure that the information you transmit — specifically, the meter data— is worthwhile.
Limiting transmissions from water meters to probably no more than one message per day is a part of the discipline. However, according to Bonvarlet, the art of power optimisation in battery-powered IoT is a community production that spreads throughout the entire supply chain. To optimize, test, and validate these kinds of accelerated usage scenarios,” the great meter makers are looking at their supply chains- who is supplying the data transport, whether it is public or private infrastructure, about the device management platform, either third-party or in-house.”
It goes right along to SIM level as an ecosystem exercise, he claims. They collaborate with businesses like Kigen to optimize everything related to eSIM management and connectivity management.
