PowerCom Pre-Payment. November Next Generation Smart Grid Solutions. For Further Information Please Contact:

Transcription

1 PowerCom Pre-Payment Next Generation Smart Grid Solutions November 2012 For Further Information Please Contact:

2 Overview Powercom prepayment system is an excellent platform for utilities who wish to implement future "Smart Grid" solution based on Prepayment infrastructure. Since 2008 PowerCom has significantly focused its efforts on pre-payment solutions. PowerCom has designed its Pre-Payment solution for the requirements in Africa, India, and South America. The PowerCom solution has adopted the NRS049 (Smart Prepayment/Metering) and NRS084 (Load management and Demand response) documents from ESCOM in South Africa which specifies smart metering in smart prepayment systems. The PowerCom Prepayment solution is based on the fact that revenue collection is a key to the success for any distribution company and is one of the major obstacles in their day to day operations. 2

3 Summary of Products UTILITY WAN Keypad & In Home Displays Smart Meters Meters Data Management Customer Portal PLC GPRS / LAN 2-Way RF Electricity Electricity Comms. Water/Gas Communications Gas Smart Meters Water Concentrator, Under- Frequency & Verification Meter Repeater DCU 2-Way RF 3

4 Smart Pre-Payment Payment Each PowerCom smart meter has the flexibility to switch between pre-payment and postpayment from the control center without having to change the meter. PowerCom has eliminated the need for the keypad to enter the pre-paid token numbers by being able to credit the meters directly over its reliable communications network. This has saved the cost in purchasing separate keypad units (keypads are still offered as an option). PowerCom s reliable two-way communication verifies that the credit was successfully loaded and accepted into the meter, and sends an automatic (optional) SMS or to the customer advising that the transaction process has been completed. PowerCom point of sale direct access is an optional functionality of the system which features basic customer invoicing and payment reconciliations reports, as well as incorporates a STS code generator for producing the pre-paid token numbers. Security against fraud is enhanced by the automatic cross verification of every increase in meter credit balance against logs of legal transactions in the billing and vending system. Remote connect/disconnect from the control center. 4

5 Smart Pre-Payment Payment (cont.) Limits to automatic disconnections when credit is exhausted can be configured according to groupings of customers. For example: providing a limited amount of friendly credit or trickle flow the amount of available energy; non-disconnection on weekends, holidays or extreme weather events; and suspension of disconnections to critical need customers. Automatic alerts by SMS/ to send a reminder to the customer when credit is low. The PowerCom Customer Portal is a website where each customer enters their unique username and password to access their consumption history in graphs according to user selected intervals. System expansion upon needs. Possible addition of smart home applications, load management systems, forecasting models, statistics, etc. Use the existing power line or GPRS infrastructure. High speed long distance communication. Limited data transfer costs. 5

6 Loss Analysis Utilities substantially reduce tariff collection losses by automatically identifying meter or grid tampering. The hardware and software continuously monitors and calculates energy losses, looking for changes in power consumption behavior of users which show an unnormative consumption profile. By installing a master meter at the output of the LV transformer, POWERCOM can measure the total power consumption of this root. All the meters under the same root report total consumption. This line loss analysis enables the system operator to identify tampering within this network root. Alert notifications are automatically programmed into the system to send an SMS or to the system operators providing real time notification of losses for rapid response. 6

7 Prevention of Tampering The Meters are protected against the following tamper attempts: Bypassing meter Bypassing neutral Inter-changing incoming and outgoing leads Reversing the connections in one or two phases of 3 phase meters Inter-changing phase and neutral and providing a local earth to act as neutral Breaking of CT lead wires in one or two phases Breaking seals and tampering with the recording mechanism, resetting the reading, etc. Tapping off from the service main before the meter Tapping off from the incoming lead wire 7

8 Choice of Prepayment Processes Option 1: PowerCom Point of Sale Direct Access This is a stand-alone solution where every Point-of-Sale clerk is provided a username and password in order to access a central server and report on payments. All payments are saved by the PowerCom Point of Sale. Each transaction is stored in the system to verify that the point of sale location transfers the exact payment received amount to the central financial department. 8

9 Choice of Prepayment Processes Option 1: PowerCom Point of Sale Direct Access (cont.) The system provides invoicing that includes: customer name, customer number, kilowatt per hour tariff, quantity of kilowatt hours the meter is charged, an optional fixed deduction on every transaction per day of usage; and the logo of the utility on the invoice. This option requires internet access to the server at every point of sale location in order to report on the payment. It also requires a local printer to print the STS token and the receipt for the customer. 9

10 Choice of Prepayment Processes Option 1: PowerCom Point of Sale Direct Access (cont.) PowerCom point of sale is provided by PowerCom at an unlimited number of points of sale locations. This vending transaction solution avoids the cost to the utility of the extra payment for the vending payments process. In South Africa, ESCOM and other municipalities pay in the range of 4-6% for all payment made in the prepayment system. By using the PowerCom Point of Sale Direct Access, the utility saves all this cost. 10

11 Choice of Prepayment Processes Option 2: Integration and Connection to Existing Vending Solutions (Scratch cards, Vending machines, POS, etc.) With this solution, the 3rd party vending platform manages the database of transactions and provides the PowerCom system with the amount of kilowatt hours and money paid by each individual customer. PowerCom integrate our STS code generator module into the vending software platform and connects to the 3rd party vending database platform. PowerCom receives the information from the vending platform which includes the customer number and the amount of kilowatt hours that the customer needs to charge in the meter. PowerCom then generates an STS token and provides the token to the POS software platform. The POS provider passes the STS token number to the customer for entering into the split keypad solution. 11

12 Choice of Prepayment Processes Process Common to Both Methods The PowerCom Meter Data Management (MDM) sends, via the communication, the same STS token to the meter to charge the kilowatt hours. The system works on the basis of first come first serve, meaning if the customer manually enters the STS token into the keypad before the communication has credited the meter, the meter will accept the customer entered STS token. The meter will then not accept the communication attempts of entering the same STS token credit. In most cases (> 99%), the PowerCom communication system will enter the token to the meter before the customer reaches the keypad. When the customer attempts to enter the STS token number in order to load kilowatt hour to the meter, the keypad unit will display confirmation that the last credit amount was already loaded into the meter. 12

13 System Advantages Two Way Communications When the PowerCom system downloads the token into the meter the system receives a conformation from the meter through the two way communication that the token has been successfully loaded and it then reads the credit balance in the meter. This is to validate the transaction and to ensure that the meter has accepted the exact value. There is an option to automatically send an SMS or to the customer as confirmation to confirm that this process is complete. 13

14 System Advantages Security The PowerCom prepayment solution is the most secure in the world as it uses two elements. As well as using the STS prepayment token system, the PowerCom system benefits by having hourly consumption readings from the meters as well as the balance of KW hours stored in the prepayment meter. With every increase in the KW hour balance within the system, the system will automatically verify with the billing and vending system whether that increase is backed up by a legal transaction. The system logs all activity with the meter so that it is able to maintain records of the individual who loaded the credit whether it was performed automatically or manually, information of the user, the time of the transaction and the amount. All this information is stored in the database and is available for mangers to verify. 14

15 System Advantages Option to Set Parameters According to Each Customer (or Group) Profile Set friendly over-draft credit. A small amount of emergency credit, so that customers can avoid loss of service in the middle of the night. The average amount can be immediately subtracted from the next payment. Another option in the case that the customer did not pay on-time is to allow the customer to consume small amounts of energy (only for lights and refrigerator) before full disconnection. Not automatically dis-connect on weekends or holidays, Designate different rates to different classes of customers. Flagging of accounts for critical need or lifeline customers (who use, for instance, vital breathing equipment), so that disconnection does not endanger health and safety. Suspension of disconnects during adverse weather conditions that could prevent customers from getting to a pay point. 15

16 System Advantages Automatic Alerts Send a reminder that credit is low. As the account balance approaches zero, the billing system initiates a message to the customer and sends it via an outgoing voice or text message, an , or a website. 16