In recent years, with the conception and construction of smart grid concepts in countries such as China and the US, the accompanying smart meters have once again become the focus of attention in the industry. The Chinese government plans to install 240 million smart meters throughout the country in the next five years. This means that in the three years between 2012 and 2015, the number of newly installed smart meters in China will reach 80 million. In the long run, taking into account China’s 1.3 billion people, the total number of smart meters installed in China should be 500 million, and China will become the world’s largest consumer market for smart meters. The rapid growth of the smart meter market has become a battleground for various semiconductor manufacturers with its huge chip demand.

Strong demand for smart meters to drive demand for semiconductor devices The good news is that although the world economy is deeply affected by the financial crisis, there is a strong demand in the global smart meter market. It is predicted that the annual global demand will only increase 18 million smart meters for the US smart grid program, bringing the total number of smart meters in the United States to 40 million, which does not include the supporting meter reading system. The International Energy Agency predicts that by 2020, the smart grid will cover 80% of the world's population. In 2013, the number of smart meters installed with the smart grid will reach 760 million, which is double the number estimated by ABI Consulting of the United States. Information, please visit: iSuppli Corporation predicts that smart meters will be 3G smart phones, netbooks, Blu-ray DVD players, LCD TVs, surveillance and medical electronics will become the most popular electronic products in 2010, will greatly stimulate Including power supply, metering chip, MCU and RTC, LCD display and communication port and other additional modules. The world's major semiconductor manufacturers have bet on the smart meter chip market under the smart grid demand.

Accuracy is more reliable and powerful. Smart meters are far better than inductive meters. Due to the particularity of electricity meters and residents' lives, the civilian three-meters represented by electricity meters have become the main target of consumer complaints. The most important issue is meter metering. The late electronic meter solved the problem of inductive metering accuracy. As Chen Jie, an engineer at Yantai Dongfang Wisdom Electric Co., Ltd.'s R&D department, said: At present, there is no problem in the accuracy of civilian electricity meters. We are operating in accordance with national standards and even higher than national standards. The measurement chip technology is already very mature and will never be. The reason for the chip affects the accuracy of the meter.

At the same time, with the improvement of the manufacturing process, the quality problems that plagued the meter have basically been solved. The sudden failure of one component causes the entire meter to fail. This has become a thing of the past. Zhejiang Tongneng Power Co., Ltd. R & D hardware engineer Tong Xinyi said: We have selected industrial-grade integrated circuits and chips, rarely due to the chip causes the meter to fail. Yuan Zhiming, deputy manager of the system department of Ningbo Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., also stated that: Generally, there will not be a phenomenon that strikes the meter due to the chip. However, devices that are prone to aging, such as capacitors, may fail due to aging, but at present there are few There is this quality problem.

Yuan Zhiming, deputy manager of the system department of Ningbo Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.:

The practical meter reading system needs to be considered in many aspects. First of all, you cannot be too expensive. Second, there are realizable possibilities.

When it comes to electricity meters, it has to be said that the real problem of stealing electricity. With the more diversified and hidden ways of stealing electricity, the requirements for electricity meter protection against theft have become higher and higher. Mechanical watches have become increasingly uncomfortable, and electronic energy meters have shown strong advantages. Tong Xinyi said: Anti-theft of electricity requires hardware and software in order to solve the problem. In the case of no problem with the hardware, the current chip can effectively prevent theft.