Energy Management System Innovation
-Every Japanese power meter has carried IP and ECHONET Lite-

Masaki Umejima
Deputy Chairman, Smart House Committee, JSCA
Keio University
Tatsumi Miyazaki
Executive Producer of NTT holdings

In July 2012, Tokyo Electric Power Company [TEPCO] announced that it has
decided to adopt an open system based on international standards for
smart metering. 

Contrasting to a previous specification, renewed one was expected to
reduce deployment cost for new metering infrastructure and enable
companies, not affiliated to TEPCO, including international vendors, to
participate in the procurement process. Importantly, this decision will
ensure that TEPCO’s smart meter infrastructure connects to other
companies’ system such as telecom network and a new entry. 

This decision has been based on Japanese national strategy which has
addressed Demand Side Management [DSM] by installing newly developed
Home Energy Management System [HEMS] in every Japanese house.

Prior to it, Japanese government and JSCA ,which is government
subsidiary gathering over 400 companies in network industry and energy
utilities, announced that HEMS carries Internet Protocol [IP] and
ECHONET Lite as an communication interface. ECHONET Lite is the
communication interface invented after 15 years’ continuous R&D by
Japanese manufactures and utilities, e.g. Toshiba, Panasonic, Hitachi,
Mitsubishi, Sharp, NTT, and TEPCO, enabling to connect HEMS and a power
meter and bring network connection to 100 typed home appliances such as
EV and air conditioner. 

Discussion on standardization and architecture for HEMS is in process in
international bodies such ISO and IEC. However, web will be major human
interface for controlling and seeing energy consumption via HEMS. In
that sense, compatibility on ECHONET Lite and Web makes happen new
innovation, attributing to new business model for DSM. 

Our two authors have addressed this standardization as a part of member
of JSCA, so our participation can contribute to discuss about how to
create compatibility ECHONET Lite and Web architecture, attributing to
new HEMS platform over HTML.