STMicroelectronics Releases Modular Smart Meter Solution

With the surge in the installed capacity of smart meters for domestic and commercial use worldwide, STMicroelectronics (ST) has introduced new energy meter chipsets to provide the most accurate and cost-effective solutions for the next generation of smart meters for the meter industry.

The traditional induction watt-hour meter is easy to wear, and the anti-theft power is poor. The function is very limited. The smart meter is also called the electronic watt-hour meter. Unlike the traditional watt-hour meter, the internal structure has no moving parts and supports advanced thief detection and two-way communication. Helps improve grid management and tariff collection. In addition, the smart meter can realize the remote automatic meter reading of the power supply company, and the user can view and directly manage the power consumption information. The US market sold about 8 million smart meters in 2009. It is expected that Asia will become the world's largest smart meter market by the end of 2014. The smart grid projects in Italy, France and Spain will enable the installed capacity of smart meters in Europe to exceed the end of 2015. 100 million units.

Pietro Menniti, vice president of STMicroelectronics and general manager of industrial and power conversion products industry group, said: "We believe this new chipset is an important milestone in the development of smart meter chips and will help strengthen the Semiconductor's leading position in the smart meter chip market, the new products STPMC1 and STPMS1/S2 support new modular smart meter solutions, providing meter manufacturers with advanced industrial multi-phase smart meters with higher metering accuracy and lower cost ."

Smart Grid and Power Line Communication Smart meters are one of the key technologies needed to implement the smart grid concept. Smart grids are widely used to describe next-generation smart digital power networks with monitoring, analysis, control, and communications capabilities. Smart grids can increase the reliability and energy efficiency of electricity, reduce control costs, and increase network capacity. The purpose of the smart grid is to help the world meet the energy challenges of the 21st century, such as reducing energy consumption, managing the generation of renewable energy into the grid, and handling the charging needs of the increasingly popular hybrid and pure electric vehicles.

In addition to smart meters, Power Line Communication (PLC) is another key technology for implementing this reliable smart grid. STMicroelectronics' PLC chips, as well as advanced metrology chips (also known as measurement chips), have been widely used by many national-level smart meter infrastructure projects worldwide.

Modulation and metering functions in a modular meter The smart meter has two functional modules: a high-precision modulator that modulates the detected current-voltage signal, and a dedicated power metering processor that calculates the power consumption. In the coming years, smart energy metering will also be widely used in home appliances, air conditioners and power systems. Single-phase meter chips such as STMicroelectronics' existing solutions STPM01, STPM10 and STPM11/12/13/14 integrate these two functions in one chip.

However, in industrial three-phase or multi-phase smart meters, the modular design method that separates the current/voltage detection and metering circuits can improve meter accuracy and economy. The modulator chip in the sensing circuit can be mounted close to the metering transducer to reduce noise interference to the circuit. In addition, the same design can be used repeatedly in a variety of meter products without the need to redesign the power metering section, as long as the required number of modulators can be added, resulting in a significant increase in cost efficiency.

New STPMC1 and STPMS1/S2 Multiphase Metering Chipsets STMicroelectronics' new STPMC1 and STPMS1/S2 devices create the industry's most cost-effective modular smart meter chipset, supporting 0.2-level accuracy from both IEC and ANSI International Standards Organizations 50-60Hz AC power meter standard. The STMPC1 measuring chip has 5 input channels, three of which are used to receive digital measurement data from the three-phase modulator. The fourth channel can be used to connect an anti-theft electrical sensor or temperature sensor. The fifth channel receives Hall sensors. Magnetic field signal. The configuration and calibration of this product supports all international power distribution standards.

STPMS1 and STPMS2 are two delta sigma-delta modulators that convert each phase's analog current and voltage values ​​into digital signals for transmission to the STPMC1 metrology chip. The modulator can be placed closest to the current sensor to avoid long analog lines and high noise signals. In addition, due to the reduction of the connection lines, using a discrete implementation method, three voltage divider resistors can be used instead of the rather expensive isolated sensors through low-cost isolation in digital data channels. STPMS1 has a first-order modulator and STPMS2 has a second-order modulator for higher conversion accuracy.

Product main features:

STPMC1

• Supports Rogowski coils, converters, voltage dividers, or Hall current sensors • Rippleless power algorithm • OTP memory for configuration and calibration • SPI interface STPMS1/S2

• Dual Delta-Sigma Modulator • Programmable Amplifier, Chopper Stabilized, Low Noise, Low Offset Voltage • Accuracy Voltage Reference: 1.23V and 30ppm/°C Max • Supports IEC and ANSI Class 0.2 AC Watt-hour Meter Standards