SMETS1 meters may have a MAP but they can still get lost

I touched on some of the problems around SMETS2 firmware in in a previous post. At the risk of sounding fixated, firmware raises its head again in this piece — but, this time, with reference to SMETS1 and the less than smooth process of enrolling and adopting SMETS1 meters into the DCC.

Let’s take a look at the adoption process. I’m simplifying things slightly but I believe these are the key steps:

• BEIS Decides which meters and variants are going to be Enrolled and Adopted by the DCC
• Before adoption, the SMETS1 firmware must be updated to a version the DCC finds acceptable
• The qualifying devices undergo enrolment (at this stage, these devices will disappear from the head end and then — magically — appear in DCC inventory some time later)
• Bonus Step — If the SMETS1 meters fail the enrolment, they are usually taken off the wall and replaced with a SMETS2 meter.

Two things to bear in mind, here. Firstly, if I’m a MAP, how do I know what’s happening — and when? Secondly, if I’m a traditional MAP who tracks SMETS1 meters by serial number, what do I do when they hit DCC and all I get to see are Device IDs — if I have any DCC reports at all? (And you can’t try and compare by firmware because it was probably upgraded since you last received any sort of head end report.)

Depending of the delivery frequency of the report on their devices from the head end, a MAP may believe that one of its SMETS1 meter portfolio has been disconnected one month to the next because they have no visibility that it has been enrolled in the adoption process.

And without access to the DCC inventory, the MAP may never know whether a meter has been successfully adopted or simply discarded and replaced.

So, how is the MAP supposed to follow the progress — or failure — of the adoption of its SMETS1 portfolio?

This is not simply a matter of data quality: for the MAP failed adoption can have serious financial implications. Why, then, has the MAP apparently been forgotten in the whole adoption and enrolment process?

As you might guess, in the absence of any help for MAPs from the DCC, we’ve put together a reporting tool that will provide the visibility of the adoption process that a MAP needs to stay on top of the practical — and financial — implications.

More details next time but feel free to contact us now to discuss what you’ll get from the reports and how to access them.